Kampongs Lost and Found

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 drive through the downpour to my destination.

By 8.45 am, I finally met up with Zhi Hao; whom at that moment I had not met up since our graduation in 2012. He was sipping away on some fresh sugar cane juice and we caught up on all the matters but the most important thing I asked him was how life was like after ORD, haha. I was pleased to know that he had been doing well and that he had also finally clenched onto a job after months of searching to which I wished him the heartiest of congratulations.

Thankfully the storm stopped pretty soon and by 9.15 am, we headed down to Changi Point Ferry Terminal to get ourselves on a bumboat ride to the island. At this point in time, I had become so used to riding bumboats and I might even actually have a favourite spot to sit in as well! The bumboat that we were on that day was unique though as it was more towards the smaller side; but that just meant that the ride was going to be cosy throughout.

We arrived on Pulau Ubin with the smell of fresh grass and soil, a result of the rain evaporating into the sun. I had to plan out the best possible option for Zhi Hao as I knew that entering the forests immediately was not really the best thing to do immediately after a storm - what not with the mud, slippery ground and swarm of mosquitoes. Zhi Hao was wondering how things might have looked like if they were restored and luckily enough, I knew just the place to show him - Ah Ma Drink Stall.

I was tempted to rent a bicycle that day thinking of how far the locations we planned to roam were, but yet again we might find it inconvenient to constantly ride and dismount should we discover something new along our paths. So we began our walk to Ah Ma Drink Stall, hoping that the sun might help to dry up the forests a little bit more before we began our adventure.

Ah Ma Drink Stall's newest staff! Photo courtesy of Zhi Hao

Ivy as usual was sitting down by the counter and always aggressively welcomed me to the stall. I am still so happy to see her - being happy to see me, too. The new puppy was also there at the front of the stall and being adorable as he was the last time I saw him. He continued to run around the stall and play around in the mangroves. I forgot to ask what Ivy and her family named him, but at least for me I'm just going to call him "Bakau" which means mangrove in Malay. Seems fitting, don't you think? Hehe.

After getting ourselves some 100 Plus bottles, we bade farewell to Ivy and Bakau and began our adventures in locating some remnants of the house. Prior to all of this, I did ask Zhi Hao why he wanted to find these abandoned places on Ubin, to which he replied saying that he wanted to document and find new hidden gems all around Singapore. He had previously ventured into the forests of Labrador where he came across what appeared to be an abandoned British fort! I did tell him that he won't really find anything as magnificent at that on Ubin, but he was more than happy to uncover remnants of houses on Ubin; as he liked to ponder on how life might have been like for the people who used to stay here on the island.

This house along Jalan Batu Ubin could not be missed as the road leading in was made of stone!

As soon as we exited Jalan Jelutong, we headed left into Jalan Batu Ubin and began looking around for possible trails that might have led to openings of abandoned houses. Of course, given my experience in finding my grandparents' house - paths would definitely no longer be traceable. Nonetheless, it was still fun to see if we could find some.

Zhi Hao with his sharp eyes spotted what appeared to be a foundation inside the forest but not too far off the main road. He climbed up a ledge of muddy soil and got himself much closer to the structure. The foundation was a compilation of bricks and cement and we could see that a tree had grown right next to it. Whether or not that tree was there when the building was around remained a mystery to us; but it served as a reminder of what mother nature could do when man's structures had been left behind.

 The perimeter of the foundation was pretty small

The trunk and roots of the tree had overwhelmed a part of the structure

We then headed back to the main road and continued our journey down. Jalan Batu Ubin was one of the few paths that I had yet to explore especially since this would actually be my second time down this road. To the best of my understanding, there might have been quite a handful of houses down here and I believed that Jalan Batu Ubin would be where one of the many Chinese kampongs existed.

One thing for sure though, Jalan Batu Ubin had been quite a scenic one.

View overlooking a valley

You've got mail!

This house was located uphill from the mailbox we saw. I didn't dare to go that far in because the owner was outside tending his garden

Let's see if you could find him in this picture. He had quite a massive garden though!

Towards the end of the road, we finally reached the yellow house that I always saw behind the Headman's house. Apparently it was not occupied, which surprised me seeing how decent the state of the house was. If I am not mistaken, this might be one of the few houses scheduled for restoration by NParks but it had not been cordoned off from the public - yet.

Chinese kampong houses are known for their amazing symmetry. 

I was amazed to see the kitchen house to the right of the house having no walls. I wondered if that was how their kitchen really looked like because if it were; then that's definitely an open concept idea that was made way ahead of its time! I was excited to come across the stoves as that was how people used to cook back in the kampong days.

Stoves like these were common in kampong houses, now I wonder if my grandparents' house's stove was just like this too!

It's a pretty neat house isn't it, Mr Iguana?

We concluded our visit to the Chinese kampong along Jalan Batu Ubin and proceeded to head down to the Malay kampong, particularly Kampong Surau. We passed by Pak Ahmad's house and I was eagerly looking ahead to spot the sign created by the wonderful volunteers of Faith Baptist Church (Marine Parade) and the Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade 86th Coy just last Saturday. I was a little worried when I couldn't spot it down the path but little did I know that the sign had been moved to a new location!

Right smack at the front of the stall, goes to show how much pride Pak Ahmad had for his new gift!

We did not pay Pak Ahmad and Nenek Piah a visit just yet as I figured that we would best drop by once Zhi Hao had concluded all of his findings needed for his personal documentation. We headed down back to see Cik Radiah's house, which had been left uncared for given Cik Radiah's health and immobility. It was such a sad sight to see, as I could sense the amount of heartbreak for her knowing that she was never able to return to take care of the house like how she always used to the years before.

The floors of Cik Radiah's house had been studied by Dr Imran and his NUS team of architecture students to be fragile and could give way soon.

The kitchen of Cik Radiah's house

One could not help but feel sad looking at how the house is like today. We pray and hope that Cik Radiah could return back to see it still standing.

Cik Radiah's house was right next to Cik Kamariah's house, which was opened at the time as they welcomed a group of people who might have joined a tour conducted by NParks. Somehow, Cik Kamariah spotted me from one of her windows and even invited Zhi Hao and I in. I was quite surprised actually as I would have thought that she might not have recognised or known me since I had not formally introduced myself to her, but I guess it was because of that Ubin connection.

I told her that I would be heading back to pay her a visit after I brought Zhi Hao down to the final spot, Sawall's house, 810T Kampong Surau. If you were wondering why the number seemed so close to 818K, that was mainly because Sawall was among the five neighbours that built their houses along the path opened up by my late grandfather.

Previously in early 2018, a part of Sawall's house was still standing as I recalled seeing a small hut. However, some time in the middle of the year it had collapsed inwards. The remnants of the house still remained, unclaimed and untouched.

The remains of the late Sawall's house.

You could see that the house collapsed towards the left, given the framing and direction of the roof. I just couldn't help but feel distraught looking at it.

One of quite a few toys found underneath the rubble

 Just like my late grandparent's house, a cemented wall still survived the test of time

The generator that once powered 810T still remained as the rest of the house was left to rot

With that, Zhi Hao had gotten more than enough photos for his documentation and we decided to head back out. He actually had to rush elsewhere to meet his friends back in Singapore and was unable to join me to visit Cik Kamariah. Before we parted ways, we spotted an interesting structure downhill which had a stairs leading into the water inside it.

After showing this image to Pak Ahmad later on, he told me that this was where people gathered to do their laundry

We stopped at another house's foundation closer to Cik Radiah's house on our way back to take a wefie that really concluded what our day on Ubin was all about. Before we parted ways, Zhi Hao handed me a book titled "Singapore's Living Heritage: Pulau Ubin Ours to Treasure" which he said I would appreciate more than him - which he also gifted to me for my efforts and journey on Ubin. I thanked him for the wonderful present and he was right, I loved the book!

Wefie with Zhi Hao

This book had so much insightful information and pictures and it was published back in 2000! All of the pictures inside were taken nearly two decades ago - including a much younger Pak Ahmad.

As Zhi Hao headed back down to the jetty, I paid Cik Kamariah a visit as promised. She invited me in with such hospitality - even as she was in the midst of cleaning up from the tour group earlier on. She handed me a glass of plain water, some gendang kasturi and jelly and asked more about myself. Turned out that she and my mom were both classmates as they were both born in the same year!

Cik Kamariah's house as previously mentioned, is one of the most iconic Malay kampong house on Ubin as it had been standing for more than 100 years! Of course, she expressed her worries and concerns with me as the house started to show signs of extreme disrepair.

The blue wooden plank seen here is responsible for keeping the roof in tact; unfortunately it had started to bend inwards and if left untreated, the entire roof will come crumbling down.

Another wooden plank which had been eaten up by termites also threatened to bring down the kitchen roof as well if nothing is being done.

She concluded how emotionally attached she was to the house; rightfully so given that she was born and raised there. Cik Kamariah was one of the lucky ones who still had her kampong house and after spending the entire day with Zhi Hao looking at abandoned and forgotten houses, the thought of having to witness Cik Kamariah's house collapsing in on itself was nightmarish and something that we prayed would never happen to her and her wonderful family.

As Cik Kamariah prepared herself to head back to Singapore at 12pm, I headed down to Pak Ahmad's house to pay them a visit as I always do every time I'm back on the island. This time round, I came across Cik Kam, who apparently was their direct neighbour. I had always wanted to know who exactly were the owners of the houses along that path on during that visit, I got my answers.

I have always wanted to befriend and know everyone in the Malay kampong, and God Willing in the weeks to come, I might have that opportunity within reach.

Having immersed myself with such an adventure that day, I could not help but reflect on the state of our kampongs today. Having witnessed many houses being wiped off the map was bad enough, but seeing some of them still standing and just waiting to go was the part that killed me. More often or not, these houses were never abandoned without a valid reason. Just like the case of Cik Radiah, many houses that have been left behind were once taken good care of by the family that grew up in them. It was only due to their age and health that they were unable to return back home.

Having seen the state of Sawall's house also stabbed me in the heart as it reminded me of how my late grandparents' house suffered the same fate that many years ago. Knowing that a tree might have came crashing down over 818K to bring the whole house to the ground also showed me the brutality of mother nature. But it was being inside Cik Kamariah's house that helped to rekindle a sense of hope even in the midst of uncertainty. Cik Kamariah had still been blessed with good health and also children who would do their utmost to take care of the house should she be unable to take care of it anymore in the future.

Cik Kamariah's century-old house

We need to take care of our kampong houses, and we need to preserve our delicate kampong heritage. The amount of emotional connection a person has to the home is immeasurable. I have seen this through the eyes of the residents including my mom. For some, a kampong house is seen as a slum or just some dirty outdated wooden structure. But for others, especially for me - it is more than that, much much much more than that. 

It was through what many might consider as inconveniences that people grew up living such a simple and happy life.That sense of kampong spirit bloomed into our Singaporean lifestyle mainly because of somebody deciding to build a wooden house next to someone else's. We helped one another. We cared for one another. We loved one another.

I hope and I pray that our kampong heritage will never die, not for as long as I'm still around. That is my promise and dedication for the residents of Pulau Ubin, and to you.

Read on my previous chapter in "My Ubin Journey"!
"Regardless of Faith"