"Once Upon An Island" is the title Dr Ivan Polunin gave to his opus that has become the book of the same name. A work that captures the soul of developing Singapore, his book is over 400 pages with over 1,000 photos. "Once Upon An Island" shows vanished sights of 1950-80s Singapore in colour with details that bring memories of past times vividly back into the present. Captured in photos and film over a generation ago, the Singapore of the past presented in this volume is a wondrous new multiverse to youths of the digital era. Forgotten over time while Singapore made leaps of economic success and development, these images of pioneering Singaporean life will bring back memories for many who lived through decades of both dramatic changes and growth. What began as a two-year tour of duty, turned into a lifelong passion for discovery as he settled down and then married Fam Siew Yin, making Singapore his permanent home. Besides becoming an Associate Professor at the Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Dr Ivan Polunin’s many interests went far beyond academia. With his insatiable curiosity and passion for exploration, Dr Polunin extended his interests beyond medicine to cover subjects as diverse as industry, everyday life and hidden aspects of the natural world. Until his passing in 2010, Dr Polunin toiled at compiling one of Southeast Asia's most significant interdisciplinary audiovisual archives. His book leads us on a fascinating journey in time, weaving through the realms of science, art and nature and giving us a glimpse into a vanished world from Singapore's past.