Pulau Ubin visitors to get safety, security tips

SINGAPORE — With Pulau Ubin drawing about 2,000 visitors each weekend and more people making trips there in recent times, tips on crime prevention, fire safety and safe cycling will be given to islanders and visitors as part of a new safety and security initiative launched today (Jan 17).

A recently-formed Pulau Ubin Safety and Security Team will be stationed near the island’s jetty and outside the Chek Jawa Wetlands, every third Sunday of each month, to help create awareness on these concerns. 

The team, which began patrols in December, is made up of grass roots volunteers from the Changi Point-Ubin Area Sub-Committee and the Siglap Community Emergency and Engagement Committee, as well as the Civil Defence Lionhearters from Temasek Polytechnic and ITE College East. 

There are about 30 to 40 volunteers, with about 10 of them patrolling alongside police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers each time it is deployed on the island, a police spokesperson told reporters at the launch.

The team builds on the Ubin Community on Patrol, which began patrols on the island in 2009 to promote safe cycling practices. Some of the safety tips that the new team will offer include reminding riders to dismount and push their bicycles when they arrive at dangerous spots, such as steep slopes, and to wear proper safety gear. 

Madam Doreen Ling, 61, a retiree on the team, noted that six in 10 cyclists would heed advice to rent a helmet, while others were wary that it could be unhygienic. Student volunteer Norfikah Samsudin, 21, recalled how in December, a cyclist ignored their advice to dismount and push his bicycle near Chek Jawa Wetlands, where tracks are quite uneven, and ended up falling and injuring his knee. 

The team members, who underwent a one-day training programme conducted by the police and SCDF, also impart fire safety and crime prevention advice to visitors and residents by means of patrols and house visits. 

Madam Ling said that members were trained to detect signs — such as persons in drenched clothes particularly on Chek Jawa Wetlands, which is  adjacent to the sea — that could indicate that they may have entered Singapore’s shores illegally.