Pay $10 to disembark. Singapore’s Seletar Island

Seletar Island was originally an inhabited offshore island.
To be precise, the Malay people who once lived here were a waterborne community who made their homes on small wooden boats.
Following instructions from the Singapore government, the waterborne community relocated to places like Malaysia across the strait.
Even as of 2025, there are still Singaporean descendants of these waterborne communities living around Yishun and Pulau Ubin in Singapore.
The waterborne communities originally numbered in the hundreds but have drastically declined. While I haven’t had direct contact with them, so this remains unverified, they may also share blood ties with the ethnic groups in this area.

Singapore was originally home to many seafaring peoples.
Experts point out that rising sea levels could submerge one-third of Singapore’s land area.
The Singapore government is undertaking large-scale projects to protect the land with seawalls and land reclamation, stretching from Sentosa Island to the east and north.
A hundred years from now, we may see a landscape and society transformed once again, with many more people living on the water.
It will be fascinating to witness the world’s transformations.