Wan's Ubin Journal

Hi All! In this post, I will share about my day on the island back on October 27th, 2018 as I go around the island spreading the news of the big event in two weeks' time and some artwork as well. It would have been a consecutive four weeks in a row that day, having spent every single Saturday of October back on the island. How fast time really flew by! The whole week prior to this trip was a pretty busy one, too - mainly because I am in the midst of organising something that had not been done before in a very very long time. In the previous post , I talked about planning something big and so now with just two weeks to go, it's about time I share with you what exactly is going to happen: For the first time in decades, our former Malay residents of Pulau Ubin will be having their first homecoming and YOU are invited to join in our simple celebrations! Wan's Ubin Journal presents to you "Jom Balik Kampong Halaman! (Let's Go Back Home!) Former Malay Residen...

Hi All! In this post I will be sharing with all of you my adventures in the forests of Ubin as I joined my secondary school friend, Zhi Hao, as he goes into the forests in search of abandoned and forgotten kampong houses back on October 20th, 2018. It was a very overcast morning that day and I was actually quite concerned as to how the weather might be for the rest of it. I woke up early and I frequently looked into the weather app to see what the weather outlook was going to be, and I saw that somewhere in the south of Singapore - intense rain was sweeping northwards towards Tampines. However, the app suggested that Pulau Ubin would not be expecting such rainfall; or so I thought. While en route to Changi Village via bus, the rain started pouring like no tomorrow. I checked in Zhi Hao to see how he was doing and said that perhaps it was much better to just have a quick breakfast at the hawker centre while we waited the weather out. I also agreed and waited for the bus to driv...

Hi All! The New Paper (TNP) has recently published an article titled "Keeping Pulau Ubin alive" where familiar faces in the Ubin community such as Village chief, Mr Chu Yok Choon, residents Ms Mary Tan, Mdm Ong Ang Kui (Lye Huat Soh) and Mr Lee Ah Yong were interviewed by TNP on their current views in the preservation efforts and status of Pulau Ubin. Chipping in their views and opinions as well included members of the Friends of Ubin Network (FUN) such as executive director of the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS), Dr Chua Ai Lin, Director NParks Pulau Ubin, Mr Robert Teo and even myself as well (but in a separate article)! I was completely thrilled when Ai Lin texted me earlier in the morning, sending pictures of the hardcopy version of the TNP article. To be honest, I almost completely forgot that I had been interviewed by the TNP via phone late last month; so when I read towards the end of the main article and came across a sub-article with the header "Man finds r...

Hi All! I am completely humbled to have recently been featured in a sub-article of The New Paper (TNP) under the main header of "Keeping Pulau Ubin alive" which you can read about it here ! TNP had interviewed me in the previous weeks, after they have come across reading my posts on Wan's Ubin Journal and having watched my featured video on Our Grandfather Story titled "Finding a Lost Home" which can be found in my " About Me " page and also on the Our Grandfather Story website as well! The following are the full excerpts of the TNP article dated October 15th, 2018: "Man finds remains of his late grandparents' home on Ubin Mr Syazwan Majid grew up on stories about life on Pulau Ubin. His parents would tell him about his late grandparents, who died before Mr Syazwan was born, and what it was like to live in a kampung, drawing water from wells and growing a large sireh (betel) tree plantation out back. Mr Syazwan, 22, a full-ti...

Hi All! This post will be sharing on the community service engagement from the wonderful volunteers of Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade, Sea Angels and Faith Baptist Church (Marine Parade), held last Saturday, October 13th, 2018. It had been a hectic week of work, so much so that I had to spend my Thursday and Friday at home on medical leave, following how overworked I was the three days before. I was partially upset because on Thursday and Friday, I was supposed to join my friends in the office for a learning journey visit organised by Youth Corp Singapore in conjunction with my division's mental resilience campaign. But it almost slipped my mind that on Saturday, I would be given another opportunity to volunteer and get myself into community service. I recalled receiving a last-minute text in the midst of my stressful schedule from Phillip that there would be volunteers coming in to Pulau Ubin on October 13th, which was in fact a Saturday but I di...