76. UBIN

Pulau Ubin (Granite Island) is off the northeastern corner of mainland Singapore. If it was'nt for a visiting English friend, I may not have ventured across in this native weather with its infernal heat and humidity (!)

It was a walk back in time. It was a Malaysia I grew up in. There are areas in Malaysia which would still look like this - mangrove swamps, noisy diesel generators for electricity, well water, mosquitoes, kampong houses, elephant grass.
 
Ubin was one large granite quarry in the 19th century, which attracted its early Chinese settlers who became fishermen in later years after the granite was mined to death. The granite industry was developed by the British than.






Local tourist.The bumboat ride took just 20mins one way and gave a nice perspective of the Changi Jetty and Changi Village area






















Gems of Wisdom from one Marcus Aurelius, outside the premises of this greenie NGO.
Its so neat to come across this in a rustic village, hand-written too, I would have died if it was a lightbox.

 
















 

Chinese islanders, Malays too for that matter, would have their shrines by the waterfront to pray for good catch, good weather and their safety when they go out to sea. The islanders on Ubin are predominantly Chinese

 












Such old trees tell a story of an ancient piece of rock. Its original inhabitants may have been sea nomads - Orang Laut, an aboriginal people.












 

The island is a green lung with bicycle tracks throughout and camping sites and holiday chalets. During school breaks and weekends, the place is invaded by youths

Ripening fruits wrapped up to protect them from birds, squirrels and fruit bats are a throwback to my growing up years, for Grandmama and ma climbed the mango and jackfruit trees to wrap them up with gunny sacks. Other trees growing in my community were guavas, durians, jambus, rambutans, chempedaks. 

They belonged to no one in particular and were just there, so during harvesting time, the fruits were shared with whoever wanted them. There were times when passersby would ask if they could pluck the fruits, the answer was always 'yes' and they would harvest extra and left that behind at the foot of the trees for us.
Those were the days when people were kinder and gentler.