From the 1960s on, residents
of Singapore's idyllic southern islands were forced out of fishing villages and
into high rises.
In 1963, five days after Singapore had
merged with Malaya in what would become a fling of a union, the city went to
the polls. In the South Islands constituency, which no longer exists, 5,048
voters, mostly fishermen and tribesmen, played their part in shaping the future
of what would, two years later, be an independent nation. A nation that, in the
years that followed, would devastate, and then forget, their rural
existence.
St John’s Island - Sir Stamford
Raffles’ anchorage in 1819. By the 1930s it had become a screening
centre for Asian immigrants and pilgrims returning from Mecca, and a quarantine
station for those with infectious diseases. Today, it’s popular for its holiday
bungalows.
Lazarus Island - Formed by land reclamation that
joined Pulau Sekijang Pelepah and Pulau Seringat and created a
crescent-shaped beach, this is a picturesque getaway for tourists.
Pulau Sudong (off-limits) - Sudong and Pawai
became a range for live-fire exercises and training in the 1970s.
Pulau Semakau - Once a small fishing village,
today it’s the world’s first ecological landfill, clean and free of odours
thanks to an efficient waste-processing system. Pulau Seking was joined.
Pulau Satumu (off-limits) - Raffles Lighthouse
was built on One Tree Island, as the name translates, in 1855. Today, only
lighthouse staff and visitors with permission are allowed to visit.
Pulau Kusu - Once two outcrops on a reef, which served
as the burial site for immigrants and those who died in quarantine on nearby
islands, this is now a 8.5-hectare holiday resort.
Pulau Bukom (off-limits) - Kerosene was stored
here in the 19th century. In 1974, the Shell oil refinery located on the island
was bombed by the Japanese Red Army terrorist group. Fishermen once lived on
the island, away from the industry, but today, it’s exclusively the site of the
refinery; only Shell employees can live here.
Pulau Blakang Mati - A fortress and military base in
colonial times, it was used by the British in the second world war, and was
later a killing field for the Japanese. Today, it’s the pleasure island known
as Sentosa.
Pulau Brani - Once home to Malay fishing villages, a
navy fort and the Straits Trading Company’s tin smelting plant, it’s now a
container terminal.
Pulau Senang (off-limits) -The site of a penal reform experiment in
the 60s, which failed when a riot broke out and four prison staff
were killed. A cemetery suggests it had once been home to islanders.
Today, it’s a military training area for live-fire exercises.
"That generation had about
seven to eight children per family, so I'm guessing the population of those
islands back then was nearer to 10,000," says photographer Zakaria Zainal.
Singapore's modern identity is that of a
single, diamond-shaped island; yet, in reality, it is comprised of 63 islets
(land reclamation is increasing their size and squeezing their number; seven
were joined to form Jurong, for example), many of which, just a generation ago,
were home to Melayu asli - indigenous Malays - who lived in kampungs;
fished for their meals; and spoke in distinct dialects. Each island sustained a
community overseen by a pengulu ("village chief"). Some had
amenities such as schools, a mosque and a police station; others were far more
basic.
Singapore is comprised of 63 islets, which a generation ago were home to
indigenous Malays
From the 1960s, Singapore industrialised
at a frenetic pace, and outlying territory in the land-poor nation was rezoned
for the sake of efficiency. Three of the 20 or so coral-rich southern islands
were devoted to a petrochemical plant (owned by Shell) and the world's first
eco-friendly landfill (which saw two islands become one), others became
military bases and leisure destinations, such as Sentosa, which receives 19
million visitors a year.
By the mid-90s, all of the indigenous inhabitants
of the southern islands had been evicted, compensated and rehoused in high-rise
tower blocks on mainland Singapore.
As Singapore celebrates 50 years of
independence this year, Zainal, 30, and fellow photographers Edwin Koo, 36, and
Juliana Tan, 25, have traced more than 100 former southern island inhabitants,
and recorded their stories for a multimedia documentary called Island Nation
www.facebook.com/islandnationsg
"We were worried they'd say, 'It's
been too long,'" says Zainal. "But they felt not enough had been said
about their history. Even as we are documenting this, one lady we interviewed
has passed away, so it's a race against time.
Some [islanders] felt they had lost their paradise. People broke down
and cried, talking about their old wooden boat, their corals, their fish
"When the state offered compensation
to acquire their land, some were OK with it because their children would no
longer have to wake up at 5am to take a one-hour boat ride to school. Others
felt they had lost their paradise. People broke down and cried, talking about
their old wooden boat, their corals, their fish; they felt their parents' and
their grandparents' way of life, for which no money was needed, had been
lost.
"These people had built their houses on the
shore with their boats tucked underneath, because that was the ultimate
freedom. Their new flats are like prison cages; the wounds haven't healed.
"Many still harbour hopes of
returning to their islands, even if just for a day."
Anthropologist Vivienne Wee says the
Singaporean authorities never considered letting the southern islanders remain
on their land; only recently has an official nostalgia emerged for these
communities, with the government last year announcing plans to preserve the
heritage and nature of Pulau Ubin, a northern island still home to 100
villagers.
"What has been lost is a sense of
history," says Wee. "There is a post-colonial perspective on our
past, but Singapore is not only 50 years old. These islanders had a continuous
genealogy on their territories going back to the 17th century; their families
had lived there for hundreds of years. It's important we don't forget."
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