According to my elderly relatives, tapioca was a staple for those living on Pulau Ubin (Note: Pulau Ubin is an island northeast of current day mainland Singapore). They would steam it and eat it whole, skin and all.

Drying ikan masin (salted fish) in the sun

Illustrated by Julia Tay

Fish was readily available from the sea, and they preserved it by salting and drying it in the sun to make "ikan masin" (salted fish).

Foraging for wild mushrooms

Illustrated by Julia Tay

Wild mushrooms were another food source, often found in the rubber tree plantations on Ubin, particularly after thunderstorms.

My family originally lived on Pulau Tekong before moving to Pulau Ubin in the 1950s. While on Pulau Tekong, they would hunt for carpet anemone, which they would prepare by pan-frying or cooking it with spices like rendang and lemak (cooked in coconut milk with cut long beans). To prepare the sea anemone, they first removed its mucus by covering it with firewood ashes before boiling it. Once prepared, the sea anemone was cooked like meat, chopped up, and used in various dishes.

Illustration of the sea anemone cooking process

Drawn by Julia Tay

Foraging for intertidal creatures was a common practice, with a focus on mollusks like gonggong (pearl conch snail) and lala (Mandarin for clams) along the shores and mangrove areas. They used parangs to sieve through the sand and dislodge the mollusks from rocky surfaces.

My great-grandparents used to rear ducks on Pulau Tekong and also cultivated a variety of vegetables, including tapioca, kangkong (water spinach), papaya, banana, chili padi (bird’s eye chili), pandan leaves, and lemongrass. Similarly, Pulau Ubin residents also grew rambutan and durian, in addition to the aforementioned plants. It was a lifestyle deeply connected to the natural resources of the islands, where self-sufficiency and resourcefulness were essential for survival.