WUJ Kampong Clean-Up Feb '19

Hi All,

This post will talk about the experience of WUJ's 2nd Kampong Clean-Up which took place on February 24th, 2019.

7 wonderful people came down to Pulau Ubin to dedicate their Saturday morning to join me in making a difference for the residents there - and this time round, we headed down to Pak Ahmad's House where he kindly requested additional assistance.

When we gathered at the house, Pak Ahmad and Nenek Piah were having a relaxing time in their serambi. I also passed to their family helper, Kak Ratnah, a memory card filled with over 102 P Ramlee songs following their request to be able to listen to their favourite songs once more. After the volunteers got to know more about Pak Ahmad and Nenek Piah, I asked Pak Ahmad what does he need a helping hand in - to which he joked and said that it would be an extremely challenging task.

I have already been helping Pak Ahmad many months prior to organising the kampong cleanups and I told myself that I might have been seasoned enough in carrying such tasks - but boy was I surprised on the task that day.

Pak Ahmad requested our help in clearing out his backyard. His generator shed and water pump is found at the outer edges of his backyard which was currently filled with massive overgrowth, leaf litter and dead fall debris. All of which pose as a safety hazard for Pak Ahmad and God forbid, the pile of debris and leaf litter could potentially be a mosquito breeding ground or nests for snakes and other dangerous wildlife creatures who ventured too far off the woods. I was honestly pretty surprised to see this because I honestly didn't know that he had a huge backyard too! It really went to show that Pak Ahmad had a very big plot of land around his house.

 Pak Ahmad's backyard when we first began to assess the situation.

Anyway, we wasted no time in trying to clear the debris. We formed a human chain to transfer the debris to Pak Ahmad's front garden, where he would eventually burn the leaves and wood at night in a controlled and safe boundary; such as is the traditional way of clearing leaf litter in the kampongs. Furthermore, the smoke from the fire also helps to repel mosquitoes, so it was actually a very beneficial and efficient method.

 Photo courtesy of Anila

Photo courtesy of Anila

After the main task of clearing the debris was done, we ventured out to various areas around his house to help sweep away the other leaves. Despite just having seven volunteers on the ground, we were still able to effectively remove a lot of litter from Pak Ahmad's garden, drink stall and yards. At the end of it, we were all very pleased with our efforts as his whole backyard has now been cleaned which makes Pak Ahmad's journey to his water pump and generator shed much safer and easier for him!

 Before

After

As a token of appreciation, Pak Ahmad had bought the team a wonderful and delicious meal of mee rebus to thank them for their hardwork and contributions. While we were having our lunch, I took the time to share with the team more about the life of Pak Ahmad - including stories about his experience during World War II and how he helped his father to build the house that we just helped to clean.

We were done by 12pm and had an hour to spare, too. I asked if they were up for a tour around the Malay kampong and they were all excited to go. So yeah, those who come along for my kampong cleanups don't just clean up the surroundings, they also get a chance to learn about the history and heritage behind the kampongs and the folks there - all for free!

 Let me show you the kampongs! Photo courtesy of Anila

Sharing with the team behind the stories of Pak Ibrahim. Photo courtesy of Anila

Pak Rahmat Yusof was at his home when we were walking around and he warmly welcomed everyone and shared a lot about his home with the team. He also invited us to travel downhill to where his sampans are docked and it was a very stunning view to see! Afterwards, we made our way down to the beach and everyone was ready to update their Instagram feeds right there, hehe.

I call this pose the "like real only". So how? Like real right?

Right before we parted ways at the Malay kampong, as by tradition now, I told everyone how significant their actions were on that day even if they felt as though they did not do much. All of their deeds on that day were fully appreciated by Pak Ahmad and his family and by me as well. I thanked everyone from the bottom of my heart and I hoped that they all managed to walk away from Ubin, knowing that they have played their part in reviving the kampongs of Ubin.

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the names of our heroes and heroines of WUJ's 2nd Kampong Clean-Up! Thank you for being awesome!

★★★

Anila D/O Sivasadan

Jasmine Tan Hui Min

Liyun

Mun Fei

Si Jing

Sue Min

Wei Hao

★★★

As of end February, a total of 27 people have made a difference to over 3 households on the island through WUJ's Kampong Clean Up Project. I hope that in the future, we will continue to see more people joining us in making Pulau Ubin beautiful again.

WUJ's Kampong Clean Up will now take place on every last Saturday of the month! 

Our next cleanup will take place on March 30th, 2019. More information will be distributed soon.

I hope you may join us in making a difference to the lives of our Ubin residents (:

May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.

--

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