Living in island Singapore, it’s very easy to forget that Singapore comprises of 62 other island masses – but most of us would not have heard of the major ones such as Sentosa Island (formerly known as Pulau Blakang Mati), Pulau Ubin, Jurong Island, and of course, Pulau Tekong. Jerome blogs about a trip he made to Pulau Sekijang Pelapah… where?

A trip I made to the islands in 1970 that I have some memories of, maybe because of the photographs that I still have, was one on which I had accompanied my mother, who being a school teacher, was taking her class on an excursion (excursions were what school children always looked forward to at the year’s end – I am not sure if they still do) to one of the islands, Pulau Sekijang Pelapah, now known as Lazarus Island. I made it a point to sit by the opened access door of the ferry to catch the salt scented wind on my face as the ferry broke through the waves stirred up by the north east monsoons. The seemingly long and slightly uncomfortable passage, which may have caused discomfort to several of the ferry’s passengers, was finally broken by the sight of the green islands that lay ahead. As the ferry approached, the wooden structures of the houses on stilts that lined the shoreline, some extending well into the sea, connected by raised wooden walkways that doubled as kelongs beneath them, came into view.

Jerome blogs about the Southern Islands of Singapore in his post, My Islands in the sun. Read more here.