The Kusu Pilgrimage Season (KPS) is an annual event which usually sees thousands of visitors make their way to Kusu Island, one of Singapore’s Southern Islands, during the Ninth Lunar Month. The small island is home to the popular Da Bo Gong Temple, as well as the “keramat” built to commemorate the 19th century pious man Syed Abdul Rahman, his mother Nenek Ghalib and his sister Puteri Fatimah.

However, this year’s KPS, which took place from 17 October to 14 November 2020, was a bit different. Vigilance was key to ensure that the safety of visitors remained the highest priority amidst the pandemic and no effort was spared in doing so.

To that end, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) worked hard to put in place Safe Management Measures (SMMs) to provide a safe environment for visitors to Kusu Island. For better crowd management, the daily number of visitors to Kusu Island per day was capped at 500 while ferries to the island observed a limit of 50 passengers for each hourly departure. In addition, visitors had to check in via SafeEntry and have their temperatures taken before boarding the ferry. The maximum capacity of the temple on the island was capped at 30 people, while the keramat could accommodate up to 15 people at any one time.

SLA also implemented a reservation system, which meant that visitors had to fill up an online form indicating their intended date and time of visit, as well as the number of visitors. Visitors would then receive a confirmation email, which had to be shown at the KPS 2020 counter located at Marina South Pier, before they could purchase tickets for the ferry to Kusu Island. This meant that SLA could keep track of the daily number of visitors and deploy their manpower on Kusu Island and at the Marina South Pier accordingly.

With the limits on the number of visitors, the island, along with the temple and the keramat, was able to safely accommodate all the visitors while maintaining a safe distance between them, even during the popular time slots on the weekends. SLA staff were also deployed to Kusu Island to remind visitors of the SMMs and provide assistance where necessary.

Despite all SMMs in place, KPS 2020 did not lose any of its spirit. SLA is glad that KPS 2020 could be conducted safely, and would like to thank all visitors for their cooperation and vigilance.