Case Study 1; Saving Chek Jawa

Puiling iogetherto turn the iide for Chek Jawa

SAails Times, The (Slngapote)-December 29, 2001

Althor:LYDIA

This year, some nai!re-loving mer.bers ofihe public found and helped save a beautiful beach on Pulau
Ubin caled Chek Jawa. Our correspondeni iraces how their efforls led to a rare pollcy U-turn in Singapore

ITWAS by chance thai botanlsi Joseph Lai,41 siumbled on the lagoon and sand bars ofTanjung Chek

Fle was acting as avolunteer guide for some studenis from Raffles Girls School, who were exploring ihe
coaslalforests in the area

They just happened to be there when ihe tde was low, and he remembers thai the rlchness of ihe marine
habltat left h m 'speech ess with wonde/.

A few weeks aier, he learned thai ihe beach ai the easiern tip of Pu au Ub n was to be reclalmed

'This iime, was shocked," he recalls

ln [,!ay during a pub ic fofi]m organised by the Urban Redev€lopment Authority (URA) to dlscuss and use
he made an impassloned plea to ihe Govemment to save Chek Jawa.

liwas at the forum, chaired by Nailonal Deveopment IU iniste. I\,'lah aow Tan, that the issle was aired ln
public for the firsltjme.

'l slrcerely believe ihat there are a lol of people who, like me careforihe nature a.eas leftin Singapore

'Since L know about Chek Jawa ihe mosl natural thjng for me to do is to share the knowledge that ihere is
a wondefulmarne habitat here,' he told lnsight in an e maiLreply.

At ihat poini, few peopte knew about Chek Jawa's sand and mud flais rich wiih sand doliars and other
types ofstailish, sea horces and octopi

Or its sea-grass meadows ihat harbour catpet and peacock anemones

Orthe coral rubble that is home io sponges ofvarous hues.

Chek Jawa is actualy a collection of six distinct habltats - coastalforest' nrangrove sandy beach sand
and mud flats, coral r!bbie and a iiny island called Pulau Sekudu or Frog lsland lt is unique because all these
differeni habitats are clustered rn an area iust 1 sq km n size

Even members ofthe Nature Socety were new to the sjte, hav ng discovered it only at the end of Last
year

It was like findlng 'a rlch family heirloom s ecreied among your jun k ', says the society s ptesident Dr Geh
It4in.

Since ihen. Dr Geh has been refeciinq on how the group's members could have missed ihis treasure

"Our marine sub-group members were more focused on coralreefs they were usedto diving forwhaithey
wanted to see. "The t;treatrial people were aware ihat ubln has va uable mangrove swamps and bird life ,' I
guess you could say itwas a case of over-specialisation," she notes wryly

As a result, no one from the society alerted the National Development l,4inistry to ihe significance ofChek
Jawa as a natute area,

Back in 1992, the Govemment approved plans io reclaim the beach and olher pads cf Pulau Ubin to
create "reserve land" thalwould eventually be used for military training.

By ihe time Laispoke up at ihe public forum, iiwas iusi six months before reclamation was due to start
last month. '\Ir

Time was running out for Chek Jawa.

The aclion was fusi and fudous in the next few months as marine biologists, fesearch oiticerc and lay
people descended on Chek Jawa to survey its bio-diversity, coilect specimens and pholograph the area.

The NationalParks Board (NParks) asked DrTan Koh Siang and other ma ne biologists from the Natlonal
University of Singapore's (NUS) Tropical l!4atine Science lnsiitute fortheir inpui.

They reported that Chek Jawa was indeed unique, and one ofihefew estuafine eco-systems left here.

Dr Tan adds: "There are several organisms that are unique to the existing eco-systems lhatwe have, such
as the large stadish ofthe genus Proto€aster.

''fhe main atiraction is the sea grasst I have not seen lhat in such abundance anwhere else in
Singapore."

At the same iime, research officers from the Raffles llluseum of BiodiveGity Research embatked on a
salvage operation, aiterthey were alerted by NParks ofthe site's pending reclamation.

Locaied at NIJS, the museum has one of the argesi collections ol South-east Asian fulna ln the world.

The offcers launched ihreefield expeditions - each lasting iwo days - in I\Iay, July and August- The aim
was io collecl samples ihai represented the siie's bio-diversity. They thought it was their last chance to get

At the end ofthe field trips, research officer N.Sivasothiand some othervolunteers decided that Chek
Jawa was a secreithat should be shared.

So ihey invited more people ihere.

'Wewantedtosowmemoriesoftheplaceandtoteachpeopleebouttheirownhedtage,'hesays.

Through the museum's eiectronic newsletter, ihey announced thatthey would be holding two public
education weekends, one in September and the olher in October.

The response was overwhelming. About 1,000 people tumed up forthe Octoberweekend, with the last
visitor getting back to Changijetty only at 10.30pm on one night.

Spuned by their enthusiasm, the organisers declded to go one slep furthet: They would document people's
reactions during those visits and send them to the National Development lllinister.

They wanted ihe Governmenl to know that many well-travelled Singaporeans who visited Chek Jawa said
they never expected lo find such a place in their own backyard.

l\,,1r Sivasothi and his friends also included thei suggestions on how Chek Jawa could be iumed into a
marine park and how to manage the flow ofvisilors.

Al the same time, nature love$, teachers and Pulau lJbin residents were writing io the press and the
mlnistry, urging a review ofthe reclamation plans.

The appeals were not in the form of letiers alone. The URA says that among the 30 appeals ii received
were CD-ROl\,4s, iield daia and detailed reporis on Chek Jawa's bio-diversity.
 Dr Geh and DrChua Ee Kiam, author ofseveral naiure books includjfg pulau Ubln - Ours To Treasure,
wrole to The Siraits Times Forum page while part-time leciurer and self-described sociatactivst Nga Thto ping
came up with a petitjon and collecied hundreds ofsignaiures d!ring hts bicycte rides round Ubrn.

The 53-year-old who made 'six or seven" submissions to the mtnistry recals that things djd not took
promising even as late as Sepiember.

ln fact, the atmosphere at one public seminar about Pulau Ubin, he d ihat month was practica ty funerea .

'Everyone was very despondent They were prepar ng ior C hek J awa's b urja and saytng 'B etter go and
have a last look before they close the cask€t', he noies.

The mjnistry told ihe nterested padies to be patient.

Two months passed ln November l\rr Nga went cyc ng on Ubin again and saw power cabes which, he
thought, were being aid in preparaton for the recamation

On Dec 20, all the ndividuals who had spoken up, written n or submitled reports io the Govemment io
r-ge ll^e prese^alior of Cl'ei -awa ece ved a sL.p-'se

They were inviied for a closed-door meeUng atthe N aUon at Deve opment tVintstry during whch [,,tr [,4ah
announced ihat Chek Jawa would not be recla med

Those who atlended the meet ng say i/r tvah atso iotd ihem that the data they had sent tn had helped He
asked them for more feedback on how io proiect the marine life at Chek Jawa, given thai other pads of Ubin
would be reclair.ed

Some walked out ofihe hvo-hour meeting too stLrnned to say mLjch.

Needless to say, a who attended were etaied ai the outconre

iVany including [.lr Nga had words of praise for the minister.

'Compliments io l\,lr f.lah ior iaking a personat interest afd undedaking a review ofthe jniiiat decsion io

'l wecome this possibiliiy of reversats and the entertaining of Lasi-diich atiempts,,,he toid tnsighi.

When word got round via the lnternei, some Singaporeans jndutged in a rare show of exuberance.

One posting on the Chek Jawa homepage, created by nalure tover Ria Tan reads: Whai a wondedut
Chrislrnas and New Year present from I\,4ND - even the siadish on the beach are smiting, I befl

The man who first tLrned the spottighi on Chek Jawa, l\,1r Joseph Lai, says the eflorts of a whote.ange of
ndivid!as ensured the beachs survival.

Peop e riade the difference Ordinary peopte from a lwa ks oi ife, famj es studenis, ieachers, nature
'cvers governmeni people. etc, he says

;- . ci riose niervielved ag ree that the groundswel of pub ic sup pod was a crucia facior

--el a so credit the pollcy makers forthe I eagerness 10 tisten to other po nis of vtew, and for being
:--:-s ..ough ro visii Chek Jawa and check il out for ihemselves.
;ji.rg those who visited the sjte were [,4r [,4ah, BrgadieFcenerat (NS) Tan yong Soon, ihe URA chief,
:-a Dr ian Wee Kai who heads NParks.

Marine biologist Tan Koh Si:ng tauds the wittjngness to cons der vrews from dtfferent groups of peopte as
''a very imporiant advancemeni'.

'We probably can't expect a similar decision to be made every time we make noise bui I think this is one
habitat thai is quite unique and, hopefu ty, we't be abte io protect it " he says
 Dr Geh argues ihat Chek Jawa's potential to benefii future generations is precisely what dlfferentjates it
from the old National Library building, which many members of the public had also foughtio save.

"The approach ls essentia ly pragmaiic €iher than sentjmental. I don't think thal govemment policy has
changed since the National Library.

"l ihink ihey are thinking ot how lhey can benetit fuiure generations," she says.

ln the case ofthe library, the main reason for people wanting lo keep it was theit many "happy
associations" wiih ihe building, notes the granddaughier of late philanthropst Lee Kong Chian, who donaied
money to buijd the library as a gift to the people ofSingapore.

"l don'ithink this Government glves in to publc sentifient just for p!b ic sentiment's sake," she says
maiter-of-factly.

With Chek Jawa, the reasons for prolecting rt exiend beyond nostalgia

The area's marine bio-djvers ty means it has something to offer future generations of Singaporeans in
terms ofeducation, recreatron and scientiilc research

IVr Slvasoihi thinks the rational discussion thai evolved between non-government and government
individuals also helped enslrre a happy ouiconre.

"On conservation issues, examples from overseas iend to be conftontaUonaL.

"Here, we have evolved a more discussive approach lt was very civil sed, less emot onal - everyone
presenied ihe facts " he says.

Chek Jawa, he says, ls a iagship ofwhai can be achleved through public feedback

This gives an added dimension to a site akeady so rich naiurally.

Says Dr Geh: when you go there, you can feelihat you heLped io save it."

A FINGER ON THE PULSE'The Government listens.. bul people rnust speak upl I have always believed
thatjust as people are the soulof a nation, nature areas are the pulse oi a landscape. They neverfailio invite
us to ask ihe "big" quesiions aboui life, family, home and country.'

- Botanist Joseph Lai,41, ihe tirsl person to make the issue of Chek Jawa public when he raised it ai a

LESSONS lN THE DIRT'This is a rich teachlng ground for studenis. lf we don'i have actual siles for ihem
to get thelr hands diriy, they wlllonly sludy science from iheir personalcomputers and we won't getthe kind of
scientisis we need."

- Parl-Ume lecturer Nga Thio Ping, 53, who wroie a petiiion and collecied hundreds ofsignatures on
bcycle roes rourd Pr aL Llbin

TRULY A PUBLIC BEACH ChekJawa is like an icon ofthe effeciveness ofpublicconsutaton. When you
go tl^e'e. yoJ car leelthat you helDed lo save I

- Dr ceh lvin, president ofthe Naiure Sociely ofSingapore

A LANDI\,ARK YEAR'This has b€en an amazing year, notjlsi because ofChek Jawa but also ihe
gazetiing oftwo new naiure reseryes at Labrador Park and Sungei Buloh. Space is such a crazy issue here but
the Government is trying to do whai it can.'

-,4rN.Slvasothi,researchofficerattheRaffleslVuse!mofBlodiversiiyResearch.