ANNOUNCEMENT: WUJ wishes everyone a Happy Ubin Day 2020! WUJ launches "WUJ Wan Go Jalan? (Virtually)" in conjunction with Pesta Ubin 2020 and Ubin Day 2020 celebrations Play your part in fighting COVID-19: Be socially responsible, uphold strict personal hygiene and social distancing measures

The New Paper: Man finds remains of his late grandparents' home on Ubin

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-time national serviceman, found the site of his grandparents' home in April after searching for about a month.

He has since joined the Friends of Ubin Network, formed in 2014 to drive the Ministry of National Development's Ubin Project, which aims to preserve the island's charm.

The network came up with the idea of having a single agency to manage Pulau Ubin, and the National Parks Board (NParks)took on the role of the island's central management agency in June 2016.

Its director for Pulau Ubin, Mr Robert Teo, told TNP: "This management model allows NParks to have a greater overview of Pulau Ubin and better manage it to achieve The Ubin Project's vision."

Apart from greenery management, nature conservation, recreation management and public outreach, NParks now takes charge of additional functions such as the maintenance of roads, bridges, drains, beaches, quarry lakes and cemeteries.

TEMPORARY
Mr Teo said it also manages about 70 temporary occupation licences issued to the local community and has been conducting community improvement works.

The board has helped to dispose 15 tonnes of bulky refuse and debris accumulated over decades, improved drains and repaired trails leading to residents' houses.

Designated as a nature area, Ubin is home to 730 native plant species, including at least eight not found elsewhere in Singapore, more than 300 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and 240 species of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

Mr Teo said NParks, together with the community, has undertaken numerous initiatives to conserve Pulau Ubin's rich biodiversity over the years, such as field research, surveys and habitat restoration efforts.

For Mr Syazwan, only the foundation of his grandparents' house remains.

He said: "I honestly believe that the future of Pulau Ubin will still be bright.

"But what we really need is to put in more effort and to really spread the word around that Pulau Ubin needs to have more people, and more volunteers to help around."- KOK YUFENG"

--

You may also read the entire article on The New Paper website as well!
"Man finds remains of his late grandparents' home on Ubin"

Read up on the main article here!
"The New Paper: Keeping Pulau Ubin alive"

Read up on other news articles about Ubin in my "Ubin In The News" series!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pulau Ubin's Constant Vulnerability to Redevelopment

Putting the Saga in Saga Seeds

The Legend of Pulau Ubin - The Elephant, The Pig and The Frog