Ubin

Prawn farming used to be thriving in Pulau ubin. Inland swamps are parceled out with dykes. Sluice gates are constructed to control the flow of water.

Water pollution contributed to its demise. See further story below.

From GoogleEarth, one can see its scale by its tell tale remnants.

With GoogleEarth, we manage to plot our course by connecting dots of white roofs peeking through dense trees canopy seen under satellite. The course or path is then downloaded into our handheld GPS.

It led us first to a swing.

Then a lovely kampong house

Finally a sweeping view from the remaining sluice gate, also a prime spot for bird watching.

Natural swamps are an important spawning grounds for fishes and with young fishes finding easy refuge. The sluice gates continues today as barriers. At low tide, the remaining fish are easily caught by fishermen casting fine nets.

The demise of prawn farms contd..
Other operators went in the big way into growing prawn hatchlings and using artificial feed. Their high density farming required plenty of electricity and fuel to keep the water aerated and filtered. But no man can mimic the power of God to turn deserts into fertile farmlands. The prawns could not survive to adulthood. Even fish farming did not work when holes appear on heads of the fish. Some even turn to sai kongs or taoist priests to purify their leased land.

The Government’s decision to raise price of diesel was the final nail in the coffin. In the end lease were eventually given up back to the Government and building structures demolished. There was a Japanese entrepreneur in the late eighties who failed after spending $5 million and committed suicide when he returned back to Okinawa. Many Ubinites feel Pulau Ubin is cursed but even now it have not deterred people from seeking El-Dorado or being conned into it. If you are approached with a money making idea for Ubin, remember that the real God of Pulau Ubin is not Earth God or tu-di-kong but SLA who controls the fate of Pulau Ubin and who makes sure you cannot move an inch of earth or transfer any lease or build an English manor without their expressed permission.

The last English bungalow in Ubin

Prawn Fishing at Ubin
The last lease holder at Marman river used the traditional method of harvesting prawns. A trawling net is placed where rushing water from outgoing tide flow through a narrow gate. The catch isn’t much, just one or 2 styrofoam box, enough for beers and food for a 3 men operation. The work is dangerous too as falling into the net means certain death from drowning. The method of farming is destructive as any unwanted fish or horseshoe crabs are either dead or trashed. We used to visit them at night curious to see what they have caught. But that was a few years ago when it was abandoned as catches became meagre.

You need to battle legions of mosquitoes to go prawn fishing there and if lucky get yourself a jumbo prawn after surviving the sticky heat and insect bites.

Its also a spooky place too. People have seen Na Tuks and one have seen an extra person among them. There was once a sai-kong who claimed to have cleared the area of wondering souls so they would not bother the living anymore.