Pulau Ubin - Current Situation

Current Situation

Pulau Ubin is one of the last areas in Singapore that has been preserved from urban development, concrete buildings and tarmac roads.

Pulau Ubin's wooden house villages and wooden jetties, relaxed inhabitants, rich and preserved wildlife, abandoned quarries and plantations, and untouched nature make it the last witness of the old "kampong" Singapore that existed before modern industrial times and large-scale urban development.

The Singapore Government's development projects on the island in the last few years has been controversial and debate has been able to find its way through government-controlled media. So far ideas to build public housing on the island connected to Singapore island via undersea tunnels carrying MRT lines have remained on the urban planners' drawing boards. Although the government has highlighted the area for future development, the island is unlikely to be urbanised because many foreign tourists visit Ubin and it has become a tourist attraction.

Though recent government action has been limited to widening the paths for bicycles, building shelters for trekkers and other facilities for the growing number of visitors, it is already discreetly changing the face and nature of Pulau Ubin from untouched to planned, and paving the way for further developments.

In 2007, the Singapore Government decided to reuse the Granite Quarry in Pulau Ubin because Indonesia might restrict exports of granite to Singapore.

The future of the island is in the hands of Singapore Government, which may postpone its development in order to concentrate on re-developing existing space on Singapore island and nearby Pulau Tekong. For now, Pulau Ubin is a haven as a former rural way of life will most likely disappear with its last "kampong" generation passing.

There are a few tarmac roads on Pulau Ubin but most roads are gravel. There are a number of minibuses, jeeps and motorbikes on the island, all bearing PU (for Pulau Ubin) numbered plates.

Schools visit Pulau Ubin for overnight school trips. Although the locals try to keep the island un-urbanized, they need some small boosts of money to support them.