Well, after a long holiday, time to get back to work. I’ve just submitted a story on my ghost trip to Hawaii. This time round, let me get back to base, our home land, Singapore. Since my schooling days, I’ve heard many stories on ghost stories but I’ve yet the chance to get up close and personal.
Let’s talk about our little island Ubin, a place out of reach from the touristic changes that is currently growing in Singapore. Many stories have been told about our dear island Ubin. I believe you are no stranger to any of them. Let’s start with a little history on Ubin.
The settlement of people in Ubin and how it all started. The Malay village of Kampung Surau was founded by Encik Endut Senin who originally came from Kampung Kallang near the Kallang River. He sought the permission of the Sultan (then at Kampung Glam Palace) to live on the island, which at that time, had no name. 50 other Malay families later joined him to form a thriving Malay community at Kampung Melayu, Kampung Sungei Durian and Kampung Surau.
Attracted by the good fishing and farming on the island, the Chinese also came to Ubin and settled at Ubin Town and Kampung Jelutong. 25 families were the first to settle, followed by others as industries such as granite quarrying took off.
Ubin was once a bustling settlement, with a school and other amenities. Among its interesting historical sites is House No. 1 near Chek Jawa. There are also temples and shrines rich in history. Ubin Town itself is full of history.
World world 2 and how everything change. Pulau Ubin was the first point of landing by the Japanese on 7 Feb 1942. Opening fire on mainland's north-east coast, they gave the impression of an impending attack from that direction. Thinking that the Japanese intended to invade Singapore from the northeast, the British moved precious stocks of defence supplies like petrol and explosives from the northwest to the northeast. However, the Japanese main assault was on the north-west coast instead, encountering only minimal resistance.
According to an account, the Headman Lim Chye Joo recalls that intially there were clashes between the Teochews and Hokkiens. However, during the Japanese occupation, the two groups stopped bickering and banded together as Chinese. The Malays and Chinese have also gotten on well and there were no major incidents between the groups even during the racial riots of 1964.
Attracted by the good fishing and farming on the island, the Chinese also came to Ubin and settled at Ubin Town and Kampung Jelutong. 25 families were the first to settle, followed by others as industries such as granite quarrying took off.
Ubin was once a bustling settlement, with a school and other amenities. Among its interesting historical sites is House No. 1 near Chek Jawa. There are also temples and shrines rich in history. Ubin Town itself is full of history.
World world 2 and how everything change. Pulau Ubin was the first point of landing by the Japanese on 7 Feb 1942. Opening fire on mainland's north-east coast, they gave the impression of an impending attack from that direction. Thinking that the Japanese intended to invade Singapore from the northeast, the British moved precious stocks of defence supplies like petrol and explosives from the northwest to the northeast. However, the Japanese main assault was on the north-west coast instead, encountering only minimal resistance.
According to an account, the Headman Lim Chye Joo recalls that intially there were clashes between the Teochews and Hokkiens. However, during the Japanese occupation, the two groups stopped bickering and banded together as Chinese. The Malays and Chinese have also gotten on well and there were no major incidents between the groups even during the racial riots of 1964.
Well, I know you are going to fall asleep with all the historical write ups so let’s start with a small story of mine. I believe a lot of you knows about the datuk’s urn at ubin. If not here is a little write up about it. I know all these can be found online but hey where would stories be without history.
An urn in an obscure Pulau Ubin temple, said to hold the remains of a WWI German girl, has been attracting devotees since the 1930s. THEY call her the German Girl, or the Nadu Guniang - a Malay-Chinese appropriation of the words 'Datuk' and 'Miss'. She makes her home in a yellow shack by an Assam tree, among carpets of lallang and grass. The place: Pulau Ubin's south-western plains, far away from the cries of cyclists daytripping from the Singaporean mainland, or other gourmets slurping down prawns by the northern island's eateries. All around her wooden hut, the air is dead still. But signs of human activity show through the lick of flaming candles and smoking joss-sticks twirling around her altar of an abode every day. She is dead - and has been dead for more than 80 years.
Local folklore goes that the girl was the daughter of a coffee plantation manager who lived near the present temple site in the early 20th century. At the end of World War I, British soldiers rushed in to intern her parents but she was said to have escaped through the back door. In her haste, she fell into a quarry behind the coffee complex, stumbling to her death. Her corpse was discovered by Boyanese plantation labourers, who threw sand over her body and offered prayers, flowers and incense as a gesture of goodwill each time they passed her. Eventually, a group of Chinese workers on the island carted her remains to the crest of the quarry's hill and gave her a proper burial. In 1974, the grave was exhumed to make way for quarry excavation work and relocated to its present spot. Today, the supposed urn - a heavy white jar decked with tattered scarves - sits upright on a dust-caked altar strewn with a battleforce of eerie feminine tributes: hair brushes, nail polish, powder, Safflower Oil, Florida Water, Hazeline Snow and the odd tube of Revlon lipstick.
Well, my story starts in 2008, I went camping with a few friends. We lost our way to the camp site and we were all exhausted from the walk thus when we saw a flat ground we decided to camp there. After pitching up our tent, we started wondering around. We saw to our surprise a small little yellow hut. Our curiosity got the better of us and we went to take a closer look (it was only a few feet away from us.) Unable to read most of the writing, the only words we saw was datuk’s urn and when we went in, a white urn greeted us with incense being burned. An urn located in the middle of nowhere. We carried on having our plans of having a mini fire to keep us warm in the night and a mini barbeque. As the day started getting darker, we started hearing a lady voice singing from nowhere. Creepy thus we decided to investigate where the singing was from. Apparently, the singing came from behind a forested area which leads to the sea. As my friend and I venture further, he told me to stop and turn back. I question him and he said he say something jumped across his path (Both of us had our flashlights on.) I asked him if it was a rabbit or some animal and he replied no. He told me it was a shadow of something. We headed back to camp without going any further. The singing continued till pass midnight. The next morning, we woke up and went straight to the urn to offer our peace.
Here ends my long history of dear old Pulau Ubin. I hope you enjoyed reading, I’ll be writing more history with little stories either of me or on others.
