SINGAPORE - Rustic and rural, Pulau Ubin's charm has always lain in its quiet surroundings with kampung houses and forest paths, reminding Singaporeans of a slower time in years past. The 10.2 sq km island, about the size of Changi Airport, hit the headlines in April when a notice by the Housing Board led islanders to believe that 22 homes would be evicted for the development of an "adventure park".

The Government has since clarified that the island is to be kept in a "rustic state for as long as possible". On Ubin Day last Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted how the Government, working with the community, will roll out a series of initiatives to retain Pulau Ubin's charm as a rustic haven over the coming months. These include studies that tackle the erosion of its shoreline, which has receded by as much as 40m in areas in northern Ubin, to planting trees and supporting the recovery of endangered bird species.

In the meantime, we look back at the island over the years in pictures.

The backwaters of Pulau Ubin photographed in 1995. -- ST PHOTO: TAN SUAN ANN

Residents of Pulau Ubin queuing up at Pulau Ubin CC polling station to cast their votes in the General Elections in 1972. -- ST PHOTO: MAZLAN BADRON

Full time artist Pang Teng Khoon stumbled upon this vacant shed in Ubin in 1998 and has since turned it into an artists' meeting point on the island -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW

: Pulau Ubin was flooded during a heavy storm in 1999. -- SHIN MIN PHOTO

Pulau Ubin was hit by floods in 1999. -- SHIN MIN PHOTO

The rustic charm of Pulau Ubin is the last bastion of kampung life Singapore. -- ST PHOTO: ALAN LIM

Mr Chong Ah Tong, 64 goes wherever he can find something to paint. He loves the natural scenery found on the island and immerses himself into his painting once he sets his easel and paints down. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW

Scene at Pulau Ubin in 1997 - ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM

Seafood dishes at Pulau Ubin in front of the Wanyang stage. -- ST PHOTO: SAM YEO

Mr Othman Mohamed stands in the kitchen of his Pulau Ubin house as his partner, Ms Fadilah Noor, stares out of the living room window. -- ST PHOTO: THOMAS WHITE

A Pulau Ubin family moves into a flat on mainland. Mr Othman Mohamed and a friend move Ms Fadilah's sewing machine. -- ST PHOTO: THOMAS WHITE

Mr Othman Mohamed, a former resident of Pulau Ubin, carries a box along the jetty as he moves from the island to mainland. -- ST PHOTO: THOMAS WHITE

Four old men unload a refrigerator in 2002 from a bum-boat onto a lorry at a river inlet on Pulau Ubin. -- ST PHOTO: GEORGE GASCON

Mr Kek Ah Sang, 70, has been depending on three wells on his family land for water all his life. He stands beside one of two wells in 1997, both of which have dried up. A third, 50 metres behind his house, is the only source of natural water left for him and his family. -- ST PHOTO: GEORGE GASCON

Mr Lim Chor Tee, known as the headman of Pulau Ubin, draws water from a well in 1996. -- ST PHOTO: ERNEST GOH

One of Pulau Ubin Lagoon Resort's lifestyle attractions in 2000. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Pulau Ubin Trainer Chong Chun Voon takes a wild descent off the Team Challenge Pyramid on the flying fox at Ubin Lagoon Resort in 2001. -- ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN

Australian cliff diver Joey Zuber, 28, dives into a disused quarry in Pulau Ubin on Sept 12th 2005. As part of a reconnaissance trip organised by Red Bull, Zuber hopes to find a suitable location here in the Republic so as to promote the sport on a competitive level.-- ST PHOTO: TERENCE TAN

Students from Greendale Secondary School taking a picture on their third and final day of their Secondary 2 camp at Pulau Ubin on 14 March 2014. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Chek Jawa Wetlands in Pulau Ubin -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

House number 1, also the island's Visitor Centre. It was converted from a Tudor-style house built in the 1930s. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

A sensory trail pond at Pulau Ubin. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

A grey heron perches on a branch at Ketam Quarry in Pulau Ubin -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

A field near Ketam Quarry in Pulau Ubin. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

A man holds up an oriental whip snake at Pulau Ubin. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

Zavier Tay, 13, retrieves an empty can from Pekan Quarry on Ubin Day in 2014. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

/Cyclists touring Pulau Ubin on Ubin Day in 2014. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

Students from Temasek Polytechnic on a group cycling outing at the village centre. The village centre was described by a resident as the Orchard Road of Pulau Ubin. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

A visitor to Pulau Ubin explores the sensory trails ponds on Ubin Day in 2014. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN