\n<\/p>\n
For most Singaporean teenagers, a boat trip to Pulau Ubin<\/a> probably means cycling, exploring Chek Jawa and spending a few good hours away from the city.<\/p>\n For one Singaporean Gen Z, it’s practically going home.<\/p>\n Isaac, 18, a Republic Polytechnic student studying Design in User Experience, has been splitting his time between Pulau Ubin and mainland Singapore for most of his life.<\/p>\n “I mainly live with my parents on the mainland during weekdays, and on weekends and holidays, I live with my grandparents on Pulau Ubin,” Isaac shared in an episode of\u00a0Gen Z Crash Course<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0where he gave host Zhu Zeliang<\/a> a glimpse into his life on Pulau Ubin, where only around 30 residents are said to remain.<\/p>\n And he’s been making that journey for years.<\/p>\n “The bumboat fare used to be $1.50 when I was young, but now the bumboat fare is $4,” he shared.<\/p>\n While most Singaporeans can simply turn on a tap or step into a shower, things work rather differently at Isaac’s grandparents’ home in Ubin.<\/p>\n Their water supply comes from a well, with pipes connecting the taps around the house.<\/p>\n “If I turn on this tap, all the other taps in the main house will have very little water pressure, like drips of water, as all the piping is connected,” Isaac explained.<\/p>\n “For bathing, we’ll first boil the water then pour it into a big tub of water, then we’ll use a pail, scoop out the water and pour it over ourselves as we have no shower head,” he added.<\/p>\n And forget about blasting the air-con when the weather gets unbearably hot — Isaac relies on two fans to keep himself cool.<\/p>\n There’s also no Wi-Fi at the house, though mobile data has made things easier.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “My great-grandparents started it for tourists,” Isaac explained.<\/p>\n “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.”\u00a0<\/p>\n And when weekends get busy, Isaac helps out too.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n Wait, monkeys? Seems like keeping an eye on the cash register is the least of Isaac\u2019s worries.<\/p>\n Growing up on Pulau Ubin also means Isaac has known many of the island’s residents for most of his life.<\/p>\n “Everybody watched me grow up from young, they treat me like their own grandson,” he shared.<\/p>\n And there’s something about the slower pace of life that he appreciates.<\/p>\n While his peers might head to malls or caf\u00e9s to unwind, Isaac has an entire island to explore.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n He often heads to places such as Chek Jawa to take photographs, including pictures of planes flying near Changi Airport.<\/p>\n But even with all that nature around him, Isaac admits he occasionally feels lonely.<\/p>\n “Once in a while. I mean, I’ve been calling my friends a lot more to play online games with them,” he said.<\/p>\n As much as Isaac loves the island, living there full-time isn’t quite so straightforward.<\/p>\n For one, there’s the daily commute.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n But Isaac isn’t ruling out a future on Pulau Ubin either.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And there’s a reason he’s so attached to the island.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n