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  Straits Times Forum 19 Dec 06
Don't price boat ride to Sisters' Islands out of reach to ordinary folk
Letter by Siti Rohani Daed (Mdm)

The Straits Times 17 Dec 06
Lifestyle - Hot: The beautiful South
Teo Cheng Wee

Looking for an idyllic spot that doesn't require a passport and loads of cash?
Singapore's Southern Islands are all that, and more

THEY are just 30 minutes away by boat from Singapore's mainland, but they may as well be a million miles away from the city buzz. They are Singapore's six sleepy Southern Islands, where you can wander on virtually deserted, picture-postcard beaches, disturbed only by monitor lizards and curious monkeys.

Over the decades, shelters have been set up, land reclaimed and man-made lagoons put in place, but the Southern Islands - Kusu, St John's, Pulau Seringat, Kias, Lazarus and Sisters' Islands - still seem frozen in time.

These sunny, southern isles have been earmarked as a possible development site by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), as part of its overall drive to attract 17 million visitors to the country and $30 billion in tourism receipts by 2015.

STB is seeking ideas on how to develop the islands, according to an earlier report that said investors may be invited next year to tender for the project.

But STB tells LifeStyle that the search for concepts is 'still in a preliminary stage' and that more details will be revealed next year.

LifeStyle went on a lazy seven-hour jaunt when we hired a boat from Marina South pier to the islands last Sunday. We managed to visit Kusu, St John's, Lazarus and Sisters' Islands, but could admire Kias and Pulau Seringat only from afar as the boatman said there was no place to dock.

The busiest islands were Kusu and St John's, which were accessible by public ferry. Even then, there were no more than 20 or 30 people on each island at one time. Some were fishing, some were having a picnic in the sun, and others were there to sightsee.

But most of them were just busy doing... nothing.

This bit of paradise in Singapore's own backyard has not always been a sleepy backwater, though.

Indeed, the Southern Islands are an integral part of the country's history.

Madam Chua Seok Huan can vouch for that. It has been more than 50 years since she set foot on Kusu Island but she remembers it well. That was when, as a five-year-old, the China native first stepped onto Singapore soil after a week-long ride in a cargo boat from Chao An.

Along with the other immigrants on her boat, she had to be quarantined there for two days before being allowed onto the mainland. More significantly for Madam Chua, now 56 and a mother of three, it was the first time she ate bread.

'We had it for breakfast. I had eaten only rice before this, so I was wondering what it was,' she quips. She hungrily gobbled it up anyway.

She has not returned to Kusu Island since, but she will always remember that slice of bread she had that day.

Nowadays, the islands attract 100,000 visitors a year, mainly pilgrims to the temple on Kusu Island, campers, day-trippers and canoeists. Many take along their own food to make up for the lack of amenities and shops - but that only seems to add to the idyllic appeal.

The islands provide a tranquil break for the likes of civil servant Terence Sim, 33, who travelled there on an $11 ferry ticket last Sunday and told LifeStyle: 'There's no other place in Singapore like this. This is what I mean by getting away.'

Straits Times Forum 19 Dec 06
Don't price boat ride to Sisters' Islands out of reach to ordinary folk
Letter by Siti Rohani Daed (Mdm)

I refer to the article "The beautiful South" on December 17.

It was mentioned that a trip to Sisters' Islands is accessible only by private bumboat operators and the total cost comes up to $120 or more.

This price is too steep, especially for groups smaller than 10 people.

I'd been to this gem of an island (or islands) three years ago but the high price deters my family and I from going there again even though we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I hope the relevant authorities or bumboat operators will consider lowering the price so that more Singaporeans can enjoy this island paradise.
links
More about our City Reefs: 30mins from the central business district -- paradise!
Related articles on Southern Islands Development Plans including the Sentosa IR
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