This 18-Year-Old S’porean Spends Weekends Living A Kampung Life On Pulau Ubin

“So what do I do here when there’s no Wi-Fi? Luckily nowadays data is cheaper, so I use my own data to do my schoolwork or go through social media. Back when I was young, data used to be quite expensive, so it’s a huge inconvenience for me,” he explained.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Isaac’s weekends is the family business. His grandparents run a provision shop on Pulau Ubin that Isaac says is more than 100 years old.

“My great-grandparents started it for tourists,” Isaac explained.

“We sell snacks, drinks, coconuts and ice cream. But for the residents, this is more like their mini-mart. We have rice, canned food, soap and all their daily essentials. And they also come specifically for my grandma’s coffee.” 

And when weekends get busy, Isaac helps out too.

“From 9am onwards, the island is full of people. So I help out watching the store, collecting payments, and making sure the monkeys don’t come and steal anything,” he said.

Wait, monkeys? Seems like keeping an eye on the cash register is the least of Isaac’s worries.

Growing up on Pulau Ubin also means Isaac has known many of the island’s residents for most of his life.

“Everybody watched me grow up from young, they treat me like their own grandson,” he shared.

And there’s something about the slower pace of life that he appreciates.

While his peers might head to malls or cafés to unwind, Isaac has an entire island to explore.

“On the mainland, it’s all concrete and everything, but in Pulau Ubin you just walk five minutes and you get all these nice views. That’s why I started photography,” he explained.

He often heads to places such as Chek Jawa to take photographs, including pictures of planes flying near Changi Airport.

But even with all that nature around him, Isaac admits he occasionally feels lonely.

“Once in a while. I mean, I’ve been calling my friends a lot more to play online games with them,” he said.

As much as Isaac loves the island, living there full-time isn’t quite so straightforward.

For one, there’s the daily commute.

“Right now, with all the work and everything, it’s really troublesome if I have to travel by ferry every day. I have to wake up like two to three hours early,” he explained.

But Isaac isn’t ruling out a future on Pulau Ubin either.

When asked whether he’d consider taking over his grandparents’ provision shop one day, he said: “If given the chance, I would definitely like to take over the shop. I would keep the kampung style, but I’ll definitely rebuild the house a bit, because it’s a bit too old, needs some maintenance work done,” he said.

And there’s a reason he’s so attached to the island.

“Sometimes, the same view, but it’s like… it’s my love for the island that keeps me coming back here. It’s my passion, like I want to really preserve this place. It’s not very often you get to see this type of really rustic, not built-up places,” he shared.