Chek Jawa

Chek Jawa is actually a collection of six distinct habitats - coastal forest, mangrove, sandy beach, sand and mud flats, coral rubble and a tiny island called Pulau Sekudu, or Frog Island. It is unique because all these different habitats are clustered in an area just 1 sq km in size.

Slated for land reclamation in 1992, the wonderful secrets of Chek Jawa were unveiled only in December 2000. As public attention was drawn to this site, thousands of Singaporeans flocked to visit this wetland treasure. At the same time, appeals from nature lovers and the general public led to a review of its reclamations plans.

After carefully considering all public submissions and extensive consultations with scientific experts and relevant government agencies, it was announced in 2001 that reclamation works would be deferred for as long as Pulau Ubin is not required for development.

To create greater access to Chek Jawa, visitor facilities were put in place since July 2007, such as a visitor centre with a viewing jetty, a 1km boardwalk (Mangrove and Coastal Loops), and a 20 m viewing tower called the Jejawi Tower. This development constitutes part of a long-term sustainable visitor management plan to protect the rich biodiversity.

In order to ensure the long-term survival of Chek Jawa, a fixed number of people will be allowed onto the tidal flats during low spring tides and a booking system will be initiated.

Although the reclamation of Pulau Ubin has been deferred since 2002, the release of the January 2013 white paper on population elicited concerns from environmental groups. There were fears that the accompanying land-use plan and the proposed reclamation of Singapore’s coastal and marine areas might affect Chek Jawa.37 Under the plan, Chek Jawa and parts of Pulau Ubin are still marked as reserve sites for reclamation.38 Unlike Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Chek Jawa does not have any legal protection, and remains vulnerable to development.

In late March 2007, NParks suspended guided tours to Chek Jawa in order to give the wetlands time to recover after being badly affected by heavy rains. The rains had altered the salinity of the water surrounding Chek Jawa, resulting in the death of much marine life.

In July that year, Chek Jawa was reopened to the public and tours resumed. The reopening was accompanied by the launch of new facilities – a 1.1-kilometre boardwalk, a 20-metre-tall viewing tower, and a visitor centre with a viewing jetty – to facilitate and enhance visitors’ learning and appreciation of Chek Jawa’s biodiversity. CPG Consultants were the architects behind the S$6.2-million redevelopment. In 2007, the repurposed Tudor-style visitor centre was named one of six winners of the URA’s Architectural Heritage Awards.

Some of the flora and fauna that can be found at Chek Jawa include stick insects, flying dragons, oriental pied hornbills, jungle fowls, wild boars, otters, seashore nutmeg trees, sea anemones, seahorses, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, cow fish, octopuses, stingrays, starfishes, decorator crabs, shellfishes, seagrasses, seaweed and sponges

Some would say Chek Jawa was almost loved to death by the unregulated visitor traffic that trampled on many of the marine creatures such as sea anemones and sea stars.

Back in 1992, the Government approved plans to reclaim the beach and other parts of Pulau Ubin to create 'reserve land' that would eventually be used for military training. By the time Mr Lai spoke up at the public forum, it was just six months before reclamation was due to start

Hero: It was by chance that botanist Joseph Lai, 41, stumbled on the lagoon and sand bars of Tanjung Chek Jawa in January. He was acting as a volunteer guide for some students from Raffles Girls' School, who were exploring the coastal forests in the area. They just happened to be there when the tide was low, and he remembers that the richness of the marine habitat left him 'speechless with wonder'.

A few weeks later, he learned that the beach at the eastern tip of Pulau Ubin was to be reclaimed. 'This time, I was shocked,' he recalls.

In May, during a public forum organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to discuss land use, he made an impassioned plea to the Government to save Chek Jawa.

Volunteers and researcher from Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) went to Chek Jawa to collect as many samples as they can before the reclamation. They decided that Chek Jawa was a secret that should be shared. So they invited more people there. 'We wanted to sow memories of the place and to teach people about their own heritage,' he says.

They announced that they would be holding public education weekends

The response was overwhelming. About 1,000 people turned up per weekend, with the last visitor getting back to Changi jetty only at 10.30 pm on one night.

Spurred by their enthusiasm, the organisers decided to go one step further: They would document people's reactions during those visits and send them to the National Development Minister. They wanted the Government to know that many well-travelled Singaporeans who visited Chek Jawa said they never expected to find such a place in their own backyard.

Other aspects of the campaign to save Chek Jawa included public petitions, distribution of leaflets, talks, photo exhibitions and the publication of articles in the NSS magazine Nature Watch and Asian Geographic: The Journal of our Environment

All the individuals who had spoken up, written in or submitted reports to the Government to urge the preservation of Chek Jawa received a surprise when they were invited for a closed-door meeting at the National Development Ministry, during which Mr Mah announced that Chek Jawa would not be reclaimed. Those who attended the meeting say Mr Mah also told them that the data they had sent in had helped. He asked them for more feedback on how to protect the marine life at Chek Jawa, given that other parts of Ubin would be reclaimed.

This was a rare policy U-turn in Singapore

With Chek Jawa, the reasons for protecting it extend beyond nostalgia.

The area's marine bio-diversity means it has something to offer future generations of Singaporeans in terms of education, recreation and scientific research.

A long, long time ago, a frog, a pig, and an elephant took part in a challenge. They dared each other to swim from Singapore to Johor, and whoever did not succeed would be turned into a rock. Alas, the waters were choppy and swimming was impossible – and so the three animals turned into rocks. The elephant and the pig became Pulau Ubin, and the frog became Pulau Sekudu.

There is a large boulder on the island which is in the shape of a frog.(Visible at low tide only) And someone has even added eyes to the boulder to aid in your imagination along

This enormous anemone bigger than your face is commonly seen on many of shores. In sandy areas, among seagrasses and also on coral rubble.

Diameter 40-50cm when fully expanded, but is said to reach up to 75-80cm. The large oral disk is densely covered with short tentacles so that it resembles a short-pile carpet.

Carpet anemones harbour symbiotic single-celled algae (called zooxanthellae). The algae undergo photosynthesis to produce food from sunlight. The food produced is shared with the anemone, which in return provides the algae with shelter and minerals. The zooxanthellae are believed to give the tentacles their brown or greenish tinge. Carpet anemones may also feed on fine particles that are trapped on their bodies.

On Chek Jawa, you might notice that there are many carpet anemones on the hot, dry sand bar at low tide. Why are they there when they could be in the cool pools instead? On Chek Jawa, the sand bar is the first to emerge at low tide and the last to submerge as the tide comes in. As fishes and other animals enter the lagoon with the incoming tide, or leave with the outgoing tide, they have to negotiate this minefield of anemones. Some unlucky creatures might blunder into a Carpet anemone. Carpet anemones on the sand bar may thus have a better chance of a meal.

Most people see sand dollars only after they've deceased. Those white "shells" found along the beach are their skeletons; when the marine animal is alive, its pigment can vary from a rich reddish-brown to a vibrant shade of purple

This rather featureless disk-shaped animal is commonly seen on some of our Northern shores, on sand bars and sandy areas near seagrasses. Often found in groups of large numbers of individuals, half buried in the sand. Sometimes also seen on the Southern shores.

Sand dollars may appear dead, but they are very much alive. A living sand dollar is covered with fine spines and appears velvety. The skeleton (test) of a dead one is smooth, without any spines, and the details of skeleton can be seen more clearly. The skeleton is fragile and will shatter at the slightest pressure.

On Chek Jawa, many sand dollars are observed flipped over with their undersides broken. From the prints around the sand dollars, it seems they were flipped and pecked by birds. Strangely, some sand dollars are flipped but unpecked. Perhaps only egg-bearing females are pecked?

Sand dollars move across the ocean floor using their miniature spines.

Sand dollars will try to avoid predators by hiding in the sandy seafloor. They use spines to dig sand.

They're Related to Sea Stars and Sea Urchins

Mantis shrimps seen on our intertidal shores are mostly juveniles rarely exceeding 10cm, but some species can grow to 30cm as adults! While those found among seagrasses tend to be well camouflaged, mantis shrimps found in deeper waters near reefs can be quite colourful.

Mantis shrimps got their common names from their huge front pincers that snap with great speed and force. These resemble those of the praying mantis insect or the blade of a pocket knife that folds into the handle.

The pincers of smasher mantis shrimps are modified into clubs. These are used to bludgeon shelled prey. While snails and clams are simply dragged back to the burrow, crabs are often first immobilised by blows to the claws and legs. In the safety of the burrow, the victim's shell is further cracked. The blows of smasher mantis shrimp are so powerful that they have been known to break aquarium glass!

Mantis shrimps have other modifications that make them deadly predators. They have compound eyes that are considered among the most complex. They can see more colours than we can, and can see both UV and infra-red light

Mantis shrimp are said to be edible but not worth collecting commercially because they hard to catch. Their solitary and anti-social nature makes them impossible to farm. They are also not popular for the aquarium trade as they are ferocious predators. Smashers also can damage aquariums.

Knobbly sea stars are not venomous, although they are often brightly coloured and covered with dangerous-looking knobs, nodules and spines. They are also called Chocolate Chip sea star.

Knobbly sea stars are harvested from the wild for the live aquarium trade, often selling for only a few dollars. In captivity, they are unlikely to survive long without expert care. In the past, Knobbly sea stars were among the most common large sea stars of Malaya. They are now listed as 'Endangered' on the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore. Chek Jawa is among the few places left in Singapore where they can be seen regularly.

They have no brain and no blood: Starfish use filtered sea water to pump nutrients through their nervous system.

They can regenerate: But it takes a while. It can take u to a year for a lost limb to grow back.

Sea stars prey on bivalves like mussels and clams as well as small fish, snails, and barnacles. If you've ever tried to pry the shell of a clam or mussel open, you know how difficult it is. However, sea stars have a unique way of eating these creatures.

A sea star's mouth is on its underside. When it catches its food, the sea star will wrap its arms around the animal's shell and pull it open just slightly. Then it does something amazing: the sea star pushes its stomach through its mouth and into the bivalve's shell. It then digests the animal and slides its stomach back into its own body.

This unique feeding mechanism allows the sea star to eat larger prey than it would otherwise be able to fit into its tiny mouth.

Not All Sea Stars Have Five Arms: While many people are most familiar with the five-armed species of sea stars, not all sea stars have just five arms. Some species have many more, such as the sun star, which can have up to 40 arms.

Sea Stars Have Eyes: Many people are surprised to learn that starfish have eyes. It's true. The eyes are there—just not in the place you would expect.

Sea stars have an eye spot at the end of each arm. This means that a five-armed sea star has five eyes, while the 40-armed sun star has 40 eyes.