S'pore's 'lost' and redeveloped islands

Before Sentosa became Singapore's premier getaway spot, locals looking for a nearby break headed to Pulau Damar Laut, an island off the western tip of the mainland that is now no more.

The island paradise of 1950s and 1960s Singapore boasted water-skiing facilities and holiday bungalows with names such as Passion Pit and Wine House.

But recreation gave way to redevelopment in the 1970s, when port and industrial developments in Jurong expanded and took over nearby islands, including Damar Laut.

However, its story is not lost forever. An exhibition called Balik Pulau: Stories From Singapore's Islands was launched by the National Heritage Board yesterday.

Pulau Damar Laut was one of more than 70 islands that once made up Singapore's archipelago, though redevelopment and land reclamation mean there are now about 40.

Ms Angelita Teo, director of the National Museum of Singapore, where the exhibition is held, said: "Although the islands are small in size, their stories are anything but that. They are big in heart and soul, and speak volumes of island life back in those days."

The free exhibition runs until August. Each of its nine sections represents a different island - such as Pulau Ubin and Kusu Island - or island cluster, such as the Islands of Coral, which include Pulau Hantu and Pulau Satumu.

Featuring sand and artificial turf, each section displays old photographs, video interviews with ex-islanders and bits and pieces of island life, such as musical instruments, old textbooks and even marine specimens.

There is even a kolek sauh, a narrow boat used as transportation between the islands.

Individual narratives feature prominently. Mr Teo Yan Teck, 82, recounts in a video interview his sense of loss when he moved from Pulau Seking, his home of almost 40 years, to the mainland in 1994 as residents were resettled to make way for a landfill. Almost breaking down, he says: "It was expensive to live in Singapore... and islanders were unskilled and uneducated."

Madam Lee Poh Yoke, 55, who visited the exhibition, said the Kusu Island section reminded her of when she was a little girl and her parents took her to the island to visit the Chinese temple.

"The exhibition is a good way to rekindle the memories," said the housewife. "I might take my nieces back to the island, since my children have all grown up."

This article was published on June 11 in The Straits Times.

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