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Smile May 2019 10/4/19 7:14 PM Off the mainland When people talk about Singapore, they’re usually referring to its main island, also known as Pulau Ujong. Yet, there is much more to the city-state than this land mass: more than 60 surrounding islands reflect its history of industry, warfare, occupation and folklore

BY JONATHAN EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK TEO

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ingapore might be main island of Pulau Ujong. What’s Though long championed as a city many things, but a more, these islands, both natural escape, is still underrated: bastion of geographical and artificial, serve up some of the This unspoiled, authentic rustic idyll diversity is not one country’s most rewarding, scenic is not merely a window into a fading of them. Sure, like and affordable day trips, not to world, but a living, breathing mini- many cities, there’s a mention a serious dose of history. In universe where life goes on much as it Little India and a Chinatown, heritage this bicentennial year, marking two did in the days before independence. buildingsS and skyscrapers, public centuries since Sir Stamford Raffles In the modest village surrounding the parks and business hubs. But for all the transformed the fate of this city, here’s jetty, past a row of stores renting out swoonsome destination architecture a guide to some of Singapore’s most bicycles to day-trippers — and before in the Downtown Core, its suburban overlooked and underappreciated the Fo Shan Ting Da Bo Gong Temple development is underpinned by island experiences. and popular Season Live Seafood an undeniable homogeneity. This restaurant — drop by the Cheong Lian is a heartland of neatly manicured Pulau Ubin Yuen coffee shop. In this vintage café, flatness, HDB towers and cookie- the walls are bedecked with fascinating cutter malls, whether you happen to Old-town nostalgia monochrome time capsules of the be in its northernmost towns such as As Singapore develops at a breakneck island in the 1960s, when the Bin Kiang Yishun or HarbourFront in the south. pace, ushering forth wave after wave School still operated here, before the Though many visitors — and of pristine ultramodernity, there’s one population gradually began flocking to even some residents — don’t realize place within its national boundaries fast-developing Pulau Ujong. it, there’s an easy antidote to the where construction sites and cranes From here you can lose yourself uniformity of Singapore’s streetscapes remain happily absent, and the vintage amid an array of circuitous eastbound readily available to anyone willing landscapes of mid-century kampung routes leading toward the Chek to step off the ever-expanding (village) life are reliably intact. Jawa Wetlands. Along shaded paths

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with names like Jalan Durian, you’ll pass quintessentially tropical palm- fringed ponds, an orchard, abandoned These islands, both natural and quarries, cemeteries, wild-boar- inhabited woodland, an observation artificial, serve up some of the tower and the multicolored Malay houses of a tiny settlement. Quite country’s most rewarding, scenic apart from its aesthetic qualities, Ubin and affordable day trips acts both as a nature reserve and a conservation area: fearless monkeys cluster around trees, monitor lizards moodily patrol the forest and rare birds At Chek Jawa, a circular boardwalk Pulau Serangoon (Coney Island) such as the majestic white-bellied sea ushers visitors around a seascape eagle and oriental pied hornbill make populated by frenzied mudskippers Beachside amusement their homes in towering treetops. and crabs — a vantage point where In the mid-20th century, a wave of the sight of the skyscraper-strewn theme parks arrived in Singapore landscape across the water suddenly with names like Great World, Gay 1 The old days are not quite gone on Pulau Ubin 2 Chek seems strangely surreal. World and Wonderland, offering Jawa Wetlands 3 Free- Pesta Ubin, a month-long a colorful mix of fairground rides, roaming monkeys are among celebration of the island, starts May food markets, circus attractions and the island’s inhabitants 4 18 and includes activities such as puppet shows. In the midst of this Lush forest just on the other heritage tours, nature trails, kayaking new thirst for entertainment, an side of a metal fence 5 A wild boar not quite living up to and cycling (more information can be Indian businessman named Ghulam its name found at fb.com/pulauubinday). Mahmood acquired an island just

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south of Malaysia from the Burmese Though the remote beachside park 6 A sandy stretch of beach tycoon brothers responsible for both has appeal aplenty in its own right, on Coney Island 7 There are over 80 species of birds in the Tiger Balm ointment and the island’s with its overriding tranquility, cycle park 8 Restaurants and retail creepiest theme park, Haw Par Villa. path and a family of otters, it’s the establishments at the Punggol His grand scheme was to turn Pulau dusk walk back to civilization via Settlement 9 A beachside walk Serangoon into an Eastern counterpart Punggol Jetty — one of Singapore’s to New York’s Coney Island resort. finest sunset spots — and Punggol courtyard, bonsai exhibits, fish While the name “Coney Island” Waterway Park — one of its most ponds and a tea house are among its stuck, this plan, like those of scenic boardwalks — that really seals prominent features. subsequent owners, came to nothing. the deal. The garden was designed to remain Instead, the land was reclaimed and scrupulously faithful to the timeless expanded, with a stretch of sand added Chinese Garden tropes of Chinese horticultural art, and to its western flank, before bridges were its marquee attraction is the Peking- built to connect it to the mainland. Romantic surprise style “Double Beauty” bridge that The island was finally reopened to the This stop-off in the western suburbs elegantly crosses the lake near public in 2015 and became an overnight could have been a disaster: an ersatz the entrance. While you’ll doubtless sensation among avid Instagrammers. approximation of imperial-era China be preoccupied with photographing Curiosity seekers went on the lookout built in 1975 by a Taiwanese architect this entrancing structure, a stroll for a solitary Brahman bull (sadly now on an artificial island. Yet this across it reaps huge dividends, for deceased) that had mysteriously ended traditionally inclined lake island — set the southern side opens up to up there, ruminating among casuarina amid unlikely industrial environs — parkland complete with a show- trees ordinarily frequented by exotic adds up to an exceptionally stopping red bridge, guesthouse and birds such as orioles, kingfishers and romantic excursion: stone lions, garden, landscaped along Japan’s blue-throated bee-eaters. pavilions, pagodas, a Suzhou-style medieval template.

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH , St John’s Island Island John’s St Island, Kusu and Island Lazarus and Southern beauty Southern and StJohn’s represent thechain’s between these two extremes, Kusu and overdeveloped (). In (Sisters’ Islands)to themass-touristy from theobscure anduninhabited wildly diverse landmasses ranging Southern Islandsare achainofeight Adrift intheSingapore Strait, the lovely open-airexperiences. the city’s mostunsungandundeniably belated recognition for what isoneof upgrades completed inspring2019: heartlands”, withafirst phase of “new national gardens inthe this stunningexpanse thenation’s western ends bridges onits eastern and to themainland via Coney Islandisconnected Singapore’s government declared embrace ofmulticulturalism. encapsulates Singapore’s studious a worthwhile trek backintimethat only suitablefor thephysically it’s fit, members ofapiousfamily. Though commemorating three “Datok Kong”), it at thetop of152steps (marked kramat and Confucian pilgrims. Three yellow more than100,000 Taoist, Buddhist centerpiece andannuallyreceives a fanning palm,that remains its century-old temple, shadedby into abeach-enhancedislet. redeveloped in1975 from two outcrops of thecity’s penchant for reclamation, “Turtle Island”)was anearlyexample immigrants —Kusu (also known as a burialsite for disease-stricken in polytheisticfolklore —andonce quirkier, historical side.Shrouded Thankfully Kusu retained its , orMalay shrines, standabove minutes to theconnecting causeway. John’s pierandwalk for around 10 To visitLazarus, turnrightattheSt and cost S$18(P way services runthroughout theday ticket from oneof thebooths. Two- North-South MRT line, andbuya station of thesame nameonthe Visit MarinaSouth Pier, next to the and Lazarus islands Kusu,St John’s towards thegarden. distance that’s clearly marked line, alight and walk theshort station ontheEast-West MRT Take atrain to Chinese Garden Chinese Garden Coney Island. then cross thebridge to enter Punggol Settlement restaurants), around thecoastline (past the walk northalongPunggol Road, or Damai LRT (lighttrail) station, Take atrain to Punggol MRT station Pulau Serangoon (Coney Island) 10-minute crossing to Ubin. How to get there get to How Pulau Ubin the boatman S$3(P Terminal, wait for aferry andpay short distance to ChangiPoint Ferry Alight atthefinal stop, walk the on anumber2busto Village. the East-West MRT line, andclimb Travel to Tanah Merah station, on

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St John’s, 15 minutes away by largest of Singapore’s islands after ferry, was reputed to be Sir Stamford Pulau Ujong, it once hosted a sizable, Raffles’ anchorage point in 1819, but MORE primarily Hakka Chinese population its distance from the city lent it the who worked on agricultural land unenviable status of a quarantine MYSTERIOUS among rubber plantations, wild station, leper colony, drug-rehab pigs and deer. But as the landscape center and penal settlement in the ISLES developed — in a telling foreshadowing early to mid-1900s. of Singapore’s all-consuming A 1975 refurb transformed f Singapore’s 60 or so islands, urbanization — work opportunities St John’s into a weekend island most are uninhabited or dwindled, wildlife diminished and the complete with lagoons, beaches, Ootherwise largely deserted and last inhabitants left in 1987. trekking routes and a homestay; unused, a result of their inaccessibility Despite being emptied of human neighboring Lazarus Island, whose or distance from the mainland — or, in residents, Tekong didn’t stop making Maldives-esque waters and beaches the case of , because it headlines. In 1990, three Asian are rarely trodden, can also be has been turned over for military use. elephants swam onto the island across visited from here. Despite the challenges of getting there, the Straits of before being some of these islands could still make repatriated to the Malaysian jungle. In for an interesting day out. 2004, meanwhile, three armed robbers 10 Prayerful pilgrims and who fled Malaysia were captured there visitors to the temple on after a huge manhunt. One unexpected Kusu 11 A walkway leads Pulau Tekong: Into the wild knock-on effect of Tekong’s ongoing visitors over the water to Closer to Malaysia than the Singapore expansion is that its Sanyongkong Field the temple 12 The Kusu Chinese temple (pictured mainland, this mangrove-rich island’s Camp has provided sanctuary for rare here at low tide) is about a current status as a military training species such as the Sunda slow loris century old site belies its colorful history. As the and even the endangered pangolin.

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079 085 R1 FEATURE 2 - SINGAPORE KF KG.indd 85 15/4/19 3:24 PM How to get there Pulau Tekong Currently, due to the sensitive nature of the military training at Tekong’s BMTC (Basic Military Training Centre), visits are only offered occasionally to overseas for familiarization trips.

Pulau Hantu Charter a private boat for around S$300 (P11,540) or join a dive trip at West Coast Pier (take a taxi) or Marina South Pier. OFF THE BEATEN PATH THE BEATEN OFF Visitors need to both obtain a Letter of Approval from the National Environment Agency and charter a ferry from Marina South Pier to visit Semakau. Alternatively, check the website of Jane’s SG Tours, which specializes in excursions to Singapore’s lesser-known corners. nea.gov.sg; janestours.sg

Pulau Satumu Though visits are restricted, keep an eye on the Maritime and Port Authority’s website for invitations to occasional tours organized during Singapore Maritime Week. Recreational water sports mpa.gov.sg off St John’s Island

Pulau Hantu about three meters out — but that doesn’t deter hobbyists looking to get Mysterious haunt their scuba fix on a weekend. Light from afar “Ghost Island” has had the Singapore’s southernmost island, most unlikely evolution of any tiny Satumu lies halfway to the Singaporean island. Made up of Pulau Semakau Indonesian industrial hub of twin islets, Pulau Hantu was the Conservation at work Batam and holds serious bragging site of ferocious battles between Normally, if someone suggested you rights as it’s closed to the public Malay warriors, two of whom visit a landfill, you’d tell them it was except for occasional tour offers. were immortalized in the names a rubbish idea. But Pulau Semakau, Hang in there, though, as the of its constituent parts (Kechil southwest of Sentosa, has achieved the gleaming white and Besar, or “small” and “big”, rare distinction of combining a high- — made using granite from Pulau since one warrior was superior tech dump with a conservation area Ubin — is a historic (but still- in size). Now, it’s arguably the rich in coral, marine life and rare birds. functioning) curio from 1855 nation’s best-kept maritime After trash is incinerated in plants that will instantly boost your secret: a sort of Singaporean mini- islandwide, the ash is transported to Instagram kudos. Siargao, it’s become a favorite Tuas in Pulau Ujong’s far west before of in-the-know weekend divers being loaded onto barges and steered and snorkelers entranced by a to Semakau. Though you might not Cebu Pacific flies to thriving ecosystem that includes expect this to be the most conducive Singapore from Manila, seahorses, nudibranchs, clownfish, environment for nature, these waters Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, damselfish and mushroom coral. receive plenty of animal guests, and Clark. Visibility isn’t great — at best, including great-billed herons, otters, cebupacificair.com divers report, one can only see starfish, turtles and sea bass.

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