Ubin's Prickly Affair

PUBLISHED: 14/07/2019 01:00 PM
UPDATED: 13/02/2020 02:32 PM

Hi all!

While history have witnessed the rise and fall of great and mighty kings, there has been one particular king which may hold on to his throne till quite possibly the end of time, and that is none other than the king of fruits - durian.

And if there's one thing that Singaporeans are crazy for other than complaining about the MRT breakdowns or hogging all the free stuff, hunting for durians could possibly reign high in the list of many Singaporeans' to-do lists. While many wild durian trees have been removed in Singapore in the name of development over recent years, only a few of them can still be found today; mostly in the wild forests of the Central Water Catchment or even in HDB estates such as Yishun, which according to NParks' new urban forest website, Trees.sg, is home to the most number of durian trees in Singapore!

But if we really want to know where the best durians in Singapore really are, Pulau Ubin is the champion of our local durians. Why do you think we have an entire kampong here named after the fruit? I'm not saying this out of bias just because I'm a descendant from the Ubin community, I'm saying this based on facts. Ubin's durians are known to be among the most tender, creamiest and flavourful of all that I have ever eaten and many Singaporeans and even visitors from other countries know this very well.

Which is why every durian season, probably hundreds of people would flock over to Pulau Ubin to keep a look out for the freshest durians. Some would come heavily equipped with huge gunny sacks, cotton gloves, market trolleys and bright torchlights for the nocturnal hunters, and some might even put on safety helmets on their heads just to make sure the durians won't fall on them.

My mom would often share with me her tales of growing up in the kampong and recalled how durian season was like on Ubin. There were a few durian trees around my late grandparents' house and she would always share with me how fun and exciting it could get. She might even wake up in the middle of the night just because of the loud thuds that she could hear from the durians dropping onto the earth around her. Every time a durian dropped, you can be rest assured that my mom and her siblings would be running out to eat it at its freshest, with no fear in the world if one might even drop on their heads!

So it is no wonder why durian hunting is such an enjoyable thing to do, especially on Ubin where the kampong environment really enhances its mood and ambience. However over recent years, there have been many bad, if not ugly instances where there were conflicts regarding the prickly fruit.

As painful as it seems, there are actually a majority of Singaporeans who are not aware that people still live on the island. Recently there have been many cases of trespassing into our residents' properties and houses and a lot of the durians were stolen from them. Some occurred in the dead of night but there were also instances where it happened in broad daylight as well.

Another of such instances that have occurred also is when people not just consume the durians, but also dispose their husks and seeds nearby residents' houses. While the house may seem unoccupied at the moment, most of the time it is because the residents were away in the mainland and would only return on the weekends. Which is why some residents who returned home after a tiring week in the mainland were shocked to be greeted with a rude sight of heaps of durian husks thrown all around their yards and gardens. Not only is the sight and smell of decomposing durians unbearable, the rotten leftovers could still be very well edible by the wild boars, macaques and other wild creatures around, posing a greater safety risk for the residents.

Just because the houses may seem empty or run-down, it is not abandoned as one might assume.

But I guess the greatest concern that residents have is when people who come to the island, do not come here with the simple intent of eating and leaving - but moreover to commercialise and make a profit selling the durians found within the residents' grounds. This was highlighted in a recent newspaper (premium) article on June 8th, 2019 from The Straits Times called, "Durian war on Pulau Ubin: Islanders and visitors clash over the spiky fruit"

It is an upsetting thing to see visitors and tourists often at throats with the residents just over durians, which for the residents could have already been planted by their generations before them.

Mr Heng Buck Lim (above), one of many Ubin residents who are concerned that their durians will be stolen or made a profit of by others in the mainland, as reported in the Straits Times. Photo courtesy of Gin Tay, ST.

Currently there have been many ongoing talks to look into this thorny issue, with ideas such as a durian festival on the island being surfaced as one probable solution. While it may seem like a good first step, I personally believe that we are still a long-shot away from tackling this issue completely for as long as the culture of "meddling with another person's rice bowl so that you can fill your own" is still prevalent among us.

However nonetheless, I have a humble request from all of you when it comes to durian picking in Ubin and it's just to follow these 3 simple guidelines:

1. Please do not trespass into our residents' yards and gardens to pick the durians found around it.

2. Please do not dispose the husks and seeds of durians near houses.

3. Some of our residents are also selling durians at affordable rates and prices, too! So why not support them by patronising from them after a long and tiring day on Ubin?

So let the foulness only come from the smell of the fruit, and not from our attitude and behaviour. Drawing from a comic that I enjoyed reading recently, enjoying our prickly fruit doesn't have to be a prickly affair, you know?

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

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