GALLERY: A day in the life of a Pulau Ubin postman
Rain or shine every weekday afternoon, you’ll find Mr Haron Jomahat sitting on the brown benches at Changi Point Ferry Terminal.
Like anyone else who wants to go to Pulau Ubin, Mr Haron has to wait for 11 others to fill the bumboat before it leaves the terminal.
Then it’s a 10-minute journey to the island.
But unlike other boat passengers, who might be going on a rustic adventure, the 73-year-old part-time postman makes the daily trips to deliver mail to the island’s last remaining residents.
A Singapore Post spokesman said Mr Haron is the oldest postman in Singapore.
On good days, he can be on his way within minutes of arriving at the ferry terminal.
But rainy days mean fewer people travelling to Pulau Ubin, and he may have to wait for hours.
Mr Haron, the only postman in Singapore to take a bumboat to deliver mail, said with a chuckle: “I spend the time reading newspapers or just relax on the benches.”
Yet there is a lot more to his job than having to rely on an irregular ferry service.
He knows each residential address on the island, and sorts the letters at the SingPost delivery base off Loyang Avenue, starting with houses nearest to the jetty.
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