VOA新闻杂志2024--People on Island Near Singapore Face Uncertain Future

People on Island Near Singapore Face Uncertain Future

A short boat ride from the wealthy city-state of Singapore is something rare - a small, quiet island.

People living on Pulau Ubin still talk about the arrival of solar power 11 years ago. They call it a "miracle."

Although the electricity was expensive, Chu Yok Choon said he loved the convenience. He could just press a button, and a pump would send water to his home from the village well. Until 2013, Chu had to carry water from the well by hand and use generators² to provide electricity.

Chu is one of 30 people living on Pulau Ubin. The island measures only 10 square kilometers. He spoke³ to Reuters recently and compared life on the island to life in Singapore, or as he calls it, the mainland.

"Life on the mainland doesn't feel natural," said the 79-year-old. "Life here is quieter."

Pulau Ubin includes forest areas and wetlands. The wetlands were once under threat from development until the plans were postponed⁴.

The island offers visitors walks along thick greenery and lakes that were formed from rock quarries⁵. They can ride bicycles on roads free of vehicles and eat seafood⁶ meals by the water's edge.

For those living in Singapore, the island is an escape. It can be reached in about 10 minutes by ferry. But for those who live on the island, those ferry rides can be inconvenient⁷. Trips to the mainland to buy food and other necessities can be delayed.

Also, ferries can be costly⁸. For visits to the city, Chu said he would have to wait until the ferry filled up with 12 passengers. Each person pays $3. This cost is similar to Singapore's public transportation. But if he is in a hurry, he would have to pay $36 for the whole boat.

Still, the residents stay. They say they are enjoying a life different from the busy, stressful conditions in the city.

"The energy is so fantastic," said 54-year-old Koh Bee Choo. She lives in a house on top of wooden supports that extends out over the water.

"I go for morning walks and I absorb the energy in the jungle," added Koh. She lived in Singapore for nearly five years but returned to the island to run a bicycle rental⁹ shop.

While the older generation enjoys island life, their children have moved to the city after going there to attend school.

This has left an aging population. The island's youngest residents are in their 50s. Conservation experts worry about the island's future. No one is permitted to move to the island from the city. In 2001, the government said the island was safe from changes until changes are required for development.

At the height of its popularity, almost 4,000 people lived on the island. They worked in granite¹⁰ quarries and on farms. But the largest quarry¹¹ closed in 1970. Then, many people moved to the city where a policy to develop industry grew the economy and covered a once-struggling nation in new developments, roads and factories.

A disappearing way of life

Each June for the past nine years, Singaporean officials have celebrated¹² "Ubin Day." The goal is to help people value and love the island's heritage and ecosystem¹³, the National Parks Board says on its website.

Games and enrichment booths mark the celebration. So do plans for the island's future.

In 1991, the government stopped a plan to extend the subway to the island. Now there are talks about saving the island for future generations. But there will come a day when no one will live there anymore.

"The old people have died off, one by one...," said Chu. He told Reuters that young people do not want to stay.

Koh said she hoped officials would let more people stay in guesthouses. "Not the high-end ones but the kampung-type," she added, using the Malay term for a village.

Lim Csye See is a 69-year-old who runs a bicycle rental shop. Lim said he did not want the island to become like Sentosa, Singapore's theme park island which is crowded with costly hotels and homes.

"If this place becomes like Sentosa, then that's the end," said Lim.

Words in This Story

miracle -n. a wondrous¹⁴ or amazing event

convenience -n. a quality or situation in which things are easy and do not involve hard work

generator¹ -n. a machine that produces electricity usually from burning fuel

quarry -n. an open place where rock is cut to use for building purposes

stressful -adj. something that causes tension and worry

fantastic -adj. wonderful or especially good

absorb -v. to take in

conservation -n. marked by a desire to save maintain and save something for the future

guesthouse -n. a place where visitors can stay, usually for a modest price and with modest rooms and accommodations

theme park -n. a place with many mechanical rides and exciting events that are meant to entertain people

1 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

2 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

5 quarries   

n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石

参考例句：

• This window was filled with old painted glass in quarries. 这窗户是由旧日的彩色菱形玻璃装配的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They hewed out the stones for the building from nearby quarries. 他们从邻近的采石场开凿出石头供建造那栋房子用。 来自辞典例句

6 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

7 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

10 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

11 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

12 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

13 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

14 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。