About Pulau Ubin Singapore 乌敏岛

Pulau Ubin 乌敏岛, is the second largest off shore island of Singapore, after the well known , Sentosa Island in term of area.

Located off the North Eastern end of Singapore, it has an area of 1020 hectares, in a rough sharp of a boomberang. Its core geological make up is  granite over five smaller islands,  interspersed by low lying mangroves and the tidal rivers. The tidal rivers were bunded for prawn breediing thereby connected all those smaller islands into a single  island known as Pulau Ubin.

Pulau Ubin, literally means Tile Island, according to the Malay and Indonesian dictionaries, where 'ubin ' means  tile. It was also known as Pulau Batu Ubin ( Granite Tile Island ) to the local Malays and  "Chieo Suar" ( Stone Hill ) to the older Chinese generation in Fukien dialect. In the early 20th Century, the granite were quarried supplying to the building industry, in the  form of blocks , slabs and tiles for floors and walls.  The original  causeway from Singapore to Malaysia was built in 1923, using the granite from Pulau Ubin.

The mining of granite ceased in the 1960s and those defunct quarries became lakes and its vicinity colonised  by vegetation into secondary jungles.

Pulau Ubin has been a forgotten backyard for many years and finally came onto the radar for redevelopment by the government due to the limited land mass on the Singapore Island. Pulau Ubin was earmarked for redevelopment and the process of resettling the villages to the Singapore Island , commenced early 1980's, There are remaining pockets of those who prefer to remain as long as they could on Pulau Ubin until the redevelopment commenced, particularly the older generation of inhabitants.

When comes towards the end of the 20th century, everything things seemed in place for the revedevlopment, there were public outcry from the groups of nature lovers , the conscious public, as well those remaining inhabitants on Pulau Ubin. The biodiversity of Chek Jawa was
discovered when the resettlement reaches its final phase, where the once  inaccessible south eastern coastal strip of Pulau Ubin became approachable.The discovery of the rich marine life along the coast did not escape the media and there was a frantic surge  of interest , from the many nature deprived Singaporeans.

At the beginning of 2002, the government surprisingly conceded to appeals and granted a conditional extension for Pulau Ubin to remain in its current state for at least the next 10 years, until there is a need for its redevelopment . In the following couple of years,  the  government took interest on Chek Jawa and  gingerly improve the common amenities on Pulau Ubin with paved roads, shelters,  information kiosks as well as a visitor centre at Chek Jawa . The government also played its part in the conservation and protection of Chek Jawa's  coastal and its wetland, in creating a enviornmental and visitors  friendly santuary  with  an observation tower, boardwalks and viewing jetties,  reaching to the coast and the lands between, where nipah plams, mangroves trees  and other coastal vegatation thrives. 

Currently, there are less than 45 families living in Pulau Ubin (as of September 2009).