I will always remember Pulau Ubin fondly. It is almost empty nowadays with most of its inhabitants resettled on the Singapore mainland, but we can still go there for a cycling tour, a trek through its largely undeveloped forests, visit the abandoned granite quarries, attend a Malay cooking class, fish, dive and visit the beautiful marine life in Chek Jawa…

I still see myself more than 10 years ago carrying my mountain bike up a slope (I’m useless), buying drinks from grocery shops in kampung huts, eating seafood near the wooden jetty. Ubin is Singapore before we got all urban and developed, I hope we’ll keep it as it is to remember those long-lost days by.

Dad used to bring us swimming at Changi beach when we were kids and sometimes we would hop on a motor boat and visit Ubin…Thinking of that still brings tears to my eyes.