Choosing Pulau Ubin as an alternative to the Causeway traffic over the long weekend turned out to be a popular choice, but it seems many others had the same idea. On May 2, TikTok user Glenn Lim shared a video showing the overwhelming queue at Changi Ferry Point Terminal, where passengers wait to board the bumboats to the island.
In the 23-second video, Lim, a 43-year-old operations manager, exclaimed, “This is the queue to enter Pulau Ubin. OMG!” The footage revealed the line stretching far beyond the ferry terminal, with over 100 people waiting.
Lim explained to AsiaOne that he and his family had planned a biking trip to the island, but after arriving at Changi Village around 11 a.m., they abandoned the plan after waiting in line for 45 minutes. “We only made it a quarter of the way, and if we kept going, it might have taken more than two hours. Plus, our two-year-old was starting to get cranky,” he said.
Estimating the total number of people waiting at around 300, Lim mentioned that his video was originally two and a half minutes long. Despite visiting Pulau Ubin about six or seven times a year, this was the first time he had witnessed such an enormous queue.
The video garnered a variety of reactions, with some users questioning the rush to visit the island, while others suggested staying home was a better option. Interestingly, one netizen noted that the long queues could be seen as a positive for those operating the bumboat service.