Happy Ubin Day 2019!

Hi all,

It's been an extremely long time since I did a proper post about my adventures on Ubin. Be rest assured, I'm still around on Ubin; believe it or not even more frequent than the more recent posts. For those who are not aware, I have started working on Pulau Ubin as a community liaison officer. It is on a temporary contract till September this year, but I can be happy to say that I have achieved a lot within this short period of service thus far, with the major one being Pesta Raya@Ubin (don't worry this is a post I cannot miss)

Anyway, let me dedicate this post to a more recent activity on Ubin which happened just a week ago on June 29th, 2019: Ubin Day 2019! The standard for Ubin Day had always been the same, the setting up of booths by passionate individuals, groups or stakeholders who place Ubin in a special place in their heart. But this year's Ubin Day actually felt more like a nostalgia for me, even though this is my second time attending Ubin Day. The reason why I would feel nostalgic was because I can still remember clearly my first Ubin Day in 2018, and why it is such an important moment in my Ubin journey, too.

Last year's Ubin Day, I was the so-called case study for the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS) Exhibition. The booth that they prepared was called, "Finding 818K: Syazwan's Journey Home" and yeah, it sounds as cool as it is. 

Here's a link to last year's Facebook post by SHS.

So yeah, it was really; I would say the beginning of my passion for sharing Ubin's heritage at the time.

It was here where I got to meet Second Minister for National Development (2M) Desmond Lee for the first time and I also got to share with him my stories and hopes for Ubin's kampongs to be resuscitated. On that day, our guest-of-honour was Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Chan Chun Sing and I also got to share with him everything I knew about my family heritage on the island. This small nobody didn't feel so much of a nobody that moment especially when all the media were covering the ministers everywhere, hehe. But aside from shaking hands with the ministers, it was the impromptu heritage tour to my grandparents' house that really impacted me.

To have brought down an entire group of 30 over people into the forests to show them the remnants of my grandparents' house felt almost surreal. It was the thought that people would actually be so interested in knowing my story and really brave through the dense forest just to listen to me share my stories with them felt very heartwarming. To be honest, I really was such an introvert at the time (pretty much still am now, hehe) but it really helped to boost my confidence and self-esteem, that it made me comfortable to conduct my own heritage trails during my monthly kampong clean-ups.

Right, back on topic - this year's Ubin Day. There wasn't really much fanfare for this year as there wasn't really a distinguished guest-of-honour whom 2M Desmond Lee invited, but nonetheless it was a simple yet meaningful occasion. It was well-received too, around 200 guests and participants were around to fill up the entire Assembly Area. We kicked off the event with the opening address by 2M Desmond Lee.

In his speech, he highlighted on key events and plans for the future of Ubin, the topics being that of the announcement of a new wheelchair-accessible floating pontoon jetty, better conservation efforts on Ubin for nature enthusiasts and for more educators to make full use of what Ubin has to offer as a huge outdoor classroom.

You may read up more about these highlights in The Straits Times by clicking here.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to send my heartiest congratulations to Albert, Colin and their Accessible Ubin team for constantly pushing hard in making the dreams of a more accessible Pulau Ubin possible for our former residents as well as other visitors to develop a more inclusive and gracious society on Ubin as well. I look forward to seeing the building of the floating pontoon at Ubin Living Lab commence in the near future.

2M Desmond recognising Albert and his team's efforts to create a more gracious and inclusive society for everyone, including our people with mobility difficulties. Photo courtesy of The Straits Times, Shintaro Tay

In 2M Desmond's speech, he also brought Pesta Raya@Ubin into the spotlight. I was invited up onto the stage as he brought out how Pesta Raya@Ubin was the highlight of this year's Pesta Ubin and how it also serves as a milestone in our efforts to revitalise our kampong and its community. It felt unreal to be standing in front of a huge crowd - being complimented, recognised and appreciated for my efforts and dreams. Because I knew, that just the year before - I was just a nobody, but then a year later, there I was making a difference for the people around me.

"I am very happy to be back. I was just here just two weeks ago for Pesta Raya@Ubin, one of the highlights of this year’s Pesta Ubin. More than 350 former islanders returned to celebrate Hari Raya over makan, games, and fellowship with each other.

It was very heartwarming and wonderful to see so many Ubin families of all races coming together, bringing their children and grandchildren along, reconnecting with their shared heritage on his island. 

The event was organised by Mr Syazwan Majid, who is a Friends of Ubin Network (FUN) member, and whose family members are also former Ubinites. Over the course of three months, Syazwan worked closely with NParks and FUN to organise this homecoming for the Ubin families. Volunteers from Kawan Ubin and other FUN groups helped to ensure the event ran smoothly. "

You may read up more on 2M Desmond's full speech in the official transcript from the Ministry of National Development's website here.

After the speech, 2M Desmond and his entourage made a loop around the booths and he really took the time to listen to them as they shared their passion for the island with him and his team. He also went on tours and trails around the island shortly after his tour around the Assembly Area. While the guests of honour went on with their items, I also took the time to have a look at all the booths on display, too.

This year, SHS also held an exhibition booth - this time to showcase the life of Mr Chua Yong Liang, also another proud descendant of the Ubin community. Just like me last year, they had a tour down to Mr Chua's pastime and locations of interest on Ubin. I am very happy to see that more lives and stories of the descendants of the Ubin community are being placed into the spotlight and more people get to learn, appreciate and celebrate the heritage and history behind Pulau Ubin, which still has a lot to be documented. I hope and wish that Ubin's heritage will continue to gain more interest with the general public.

Managed to take a pic with Mr Chua Yong Liang (in white) together with the SHS team after they wrapped up their heritage tour.

Ubin Day 2019 came to a close that afternoon and it was just encouraging to see that there are still people out there who dedicated their Saturday mornings to come down to Ubin to show how much they loved and cared for the island. It didn't matter if you were a nature-enthusiast or heritage kaki, teachers, students, civil servants, volunteers or residents, everyone who placed Ubin in their hearts really had a wonderful time that day.

Stay tuned for my coverage of Pesta Raya@Ubin and why this Hari Raya celebration will forever be etched into my mind. Till, then thanks again for your time in reading this post; especially so after such a long hiatus on Wan's Ubin Journal's official blog.

You may take a look at the pictures of Ubin Day 2019 taken from MJ Photography here or from 2M Desmond Lee's Facebook post here.

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

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UPDATED: 13/02/2020 02:20PM