Minister Indranee Rajah
Members of Friends of Ubin Network
Partners and distinguished guests

Introduction

Today it's Ubin Day!

It has been over a year since I've taken over from Minister Desmond Lee as Chairman of the Friends of Ubin Network (FUN), and we've done so many different things over the past year., And together with a very dedicated and also passionate community, putting together so many different things for our Ubin community.
Highlights of Pesta Ubin

There are a few things I wanted to highlight, because while I hate to share a report card, it's also because we have put together a set of programmes and set of updates to share with all of you.
As you know, we have now put together infrastructure developments, we put together biodiversity developments, and we've also put together something to better promote Ubin. So, I have five different updates for all of you.

Pulau Ubin's Rich Biodiversity

First, I'm happy to launch an e-publication that will highlight Pulau Ubin's ecological significance to Singapore and our broader region.

This e-publication is titled " An Update of the Biodiversity in Pulau Ubin, Singapore". Why is it significant? Well, because it is the first publication of its kind that comprehensively records Ubin's biodiversity.

This is also important because it consolidates the findings from biodiversity surveys across 11 taxonomic groups, and nine of this come under the Comprehensive Ubin Biodiversity Survey conducted by NParks over three years, and this is in collaboration with researchers from our tertiary institutions.

Among the 1,300 native fauna species documented by the surveys, two species were first identified globally - Piranthus kohi, a spider, and Anomala cf. matricula , which is a scarab beetle. Now this is the fauna survey, but the flora survey is also equally remarkable, with over 550 native species recorded, adding over 260 species since the surveys were conducted last in 1992 and 2003! Now the findings are also important because they include surveys that included several nationally Critically Endangered species, including the greater club rush, which had been presumed Nationally Extinct until its rediscovery in 2023, as well as the first Singapore record of the nationally Critically Endangered elegant fig. Now, if you're interested in this, it's already up on the NParks website.

Update on Cryptic Painted Frog

So, the first update is basically on our flora and fauna. And talking about fauna, remember last year I talked about our frogs. This year I wanted to give you an update on our Cryptic Painted Frog, formally known as the Cinnamon Bush Frog. Now, this tiny orange frog is a nationally Vulnerable species, which was introduced to Pulau Ubin under the NParks' Species Recovery Programme in 2024. The Cryptic Painted Frog is now showing encouraging signs of thriving and natural breeding on our island.

In fact, last year, if you remember, here I announced that we had observed the first Ubin-bred tadpoles on the island and also recorded the first Ubin-bred adult Cryptic Painted Frog. Now, in April this year, we observed that the tadpole numbers continued to rise, suggesting that the population is thriving and in fact reproducing well.

And also, kudos to our youths, our Youth Stewards for Nature. They're here today. There's a small group of them that are currently conducting a research project on the island to acoustically monitor the calling patterns of the Cryptic Painted Frog. If you want, you can ask them later to also mimic the calling patterns later. The research by the Youth Stewards for Nature also helps us to better understand how the frogs' calling activity relates to breeding. So it is really wonderful to see our Youth Stewards for Nature being very much involved in this project in conservation, and we look forward to the results of their research.

I also want to thank one of our very strong partners - the Herpetological Society of Singapore - for helping to translocate these frogs to Pulau Ubin. You continue to contribute your expertise on species' breeding and life cycles, and provide reference calls for bioacoustics monitoring work.

Update on Kampung House Restoration Programme

These are two updates on biodiversity in Ubin. In addition to enhancing the biodiversity movement, we also want to build on the infrastructure and also to strengthen the heritage value of Ubin and to also make it more accessible.

So, my first infrastructure update is that we have already started to set up a FUN workgroup to roll out the Kampung House Restoration Programme. And remember that the purpose was to repurpose five vacant kampung houses for both community as well as commercial use.

Now I'm pleased to share with all of you that our work group has bene meeting, and we've been discussing the design patterns and how we can better use these houses. Because the intent was to breathe new life into urban heritage spaces, and at the same time to preserve Ubin's rustic charm. Now these discussions are ongoing, and they will form the design brief as we progress into the next phase of the design consultancy works.

We expect to award this tender for the consultancy works for these houses by Q4 of this year. So we are very committed to preserving these homes.

Update on Accessible Ubin

The second one is on Accessible Ubin. So Collin, as well as Albert, are here. I'm very pleased to announce that we have started constructing the wheelchair-friendly floating pontoon jetty in April. So congratulations to Collin and Albert, you've been working very hard together with us to do so. So congratulations to Accessible Ubin. Now, this floating pontoon will have an arrival pavilion at our Ubin Living Lab, and it will make it even more accessible for those with mobility needs to visit Ubin.

Earlier on this year, Accessible Ubin with Albert was helping Madam Kamariah's mother to come across. We helped to facilitate her visit during Raya, but you know we've already done the thorough preparation, including an environmental Impact Assessment, and I'm glad to announce that the floating platform will be completed by next year. So, congratulations. We look forward to this.

Official Facebook and Instagram pages for FUN

We talked about both the biodiversity work that we're doing, as well as the infrastructure work that we're doing. But many of you have been saying, how do we make Ubin come to life? Do we even have a centre - home - online where everybody can say, what's happening in Ubin? What can I do to contribute to Ubin?

And so the Friends of Ubin Network have been scratching our heads, and we've been thinking, can we build a consolidated home online? So the team has been working very hard, and I'm very pleased to announce that today we are officially launching the official Friends of Ubin Network Facebook and Instagram page, so congratulations to the team.

Now, we are not starting from scratch, and I wanted to acknowledge Ria and Yung Kang. Yung Kang is here, you've been building the past Ubin Facebook and Instagram page, and now we are housing them under one family.

What we're doing is just last night, actually midnight, we managed to get the blue ticks - the verified ticks for both the Facebook as well as Instagram page - and NParks, the Friends of Ubin Network, they're coming together.

We're going to boost the page, we are going to collaborate with Wan's Ubin Journal, with SWAG, and many of the other partners to ensure that visitors and community lovers of Ubin can come together, know what's happening in Ubin, and we can make Ubin even more accessible to all. So, congratulations to the team.

Conclusion

And I wanted to just end by saying this. These five different announcements are just the start of what we've been doing. Over the last couple of months, Heng Loon and his Dramabox team have also been working very hard at the Ubin Night Skies. Our NParks team has also been on the ground to help to do rabies vaccination for the animals here as well, so there's so many things you could do at Ubin. So I wanted to thank our NParks team again, I wanted to thank our Friends of Ubin Network team again, as well as everyone of you for making Ubin the vibrant island that we all love and enjoy. Congratulations to all and Happy Ubin Day! Thank you.