Pulau Ubin Part 2

Oops, can't believe I totally didn't explain what /where/why is chek jawa! As described by wikipedia, chek jawa (aka Tanjong Chek Jawa) is at the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin. It has several ecosystems in one place, namely mangrove, sandy and rocky beach, seagrass lagoon, coral rubble and coastal forest. In 2001, the Singapore government abandoned plans to reclaim the land and leave it untouched for the next 10 years, after a successful petition led by Joseph Lai. Check out the link for more info. What is significant about the chek jawa story, is that public petitions do exist in Singapore, and the government does listen and accede to your request! If you know Singapore culture, we are known to leave things to the government, don't bother petitioning because the government has already decided. Hopefully the chek jawa turnaround can inspire more such cases. Maybe save Pulau Ubin itself from redevelopment. 

We continue the Pulau Ubin exploration. First up, nipa palm. These mangrove plants have horizontal trunks, how cool is that?? And they are under the mud, what you see if just the leaves and flowers. Nipa palms have many uses, probably most commonly known is their leaves are used to make the roofs of houses (attap house) and the immature fruits....ATTAP CHEE!! Found in sweet local desserts such as ice kachang and chendol.





Here's a series on the different stages of a nipa palm.

The flowers

Small cluster of fruits

Big cluster of fruits

Fruits drop to the ground

....and dies.

What really annoys me is the sight of rubbish in places like chek jawa. I mean, leave your rubbish in the city, there's already tons of it, I'm immune. Chek jawa is a rare place to appreciate nature, and your rubbish is NOT part of it! Sorry nothing against Mountain Dew, I love it actually. 

The "other side" of chek jawa sits this queer looking house with a European flavour, Tudor style. It has an address! Number 1 Pulau Ubin! You wouldn't think this was in Pulau Ubin would you, let alone chek jawa. It used to be the holiday house of Chief Surveyor Landon Williams during the 1930s. It houses the ONLY fireplace in Singapore! If you have been to Singapore, you will wonder why they even built the fireplace in the first place! As if the weather is not hot enough! I love the architecture of the house though, especially the stony walls! Like! The interior is surprisingly cool, even without fans nor air conditioning, something of a rarity in humid and stuffy Singapore. The roof tiles were from....France! There's also a private jetty for boat travel from mainland. 

Doesn't it just reminds you of the gingerbread house in the story of Hansel and Gretel? 

Walking to the end of the jetty, you can see a clear view of the Frog Island, aka Pulau Sekudu. As explained previously, a (stupid) frog tried to swim from Singapore to Malaysia, failed and turned into Pulau Sekudu. If you look at the far right corner of the island, you can see a whitish rock that resembles the body of a frog. I guess that's the real reason why it's called Frog Island. The background of the picture is Changi. 

After visiting chek jawa, you take a different route to return to Ubin Village. That's the beauty of it, you see a different scenery. And what a scenery! This is one of the quarry lakes in Pulau Ubin. The island used to be for excavating granite, thus there were a several granite quarries. After the quarries were abandoned, they collect rainwater and became a lake. Wish I could jump in and swim or kayak! 2 of the quarries are managed by Republic Polytechnic and Outward Bound Singapore, try contacting them to use the quarries. 

The Malay name for granite is "jubin", which explains why the island is called Ubin. The granite from the island contributed to the construction of the Woodlands causeway to Johore Bahru, as well as the Horsburgh Lighthouse at Pedra Branca. 

To be continued....