SINGAPORE: Singapore's last "kampong," or village, faces extinction as the government plans to demolish it

Record ID: 825402

  • Title: SINGAPORE: Singapore's last "kampong," or village, faces extinction as the government plans to demolish it
  • Date: 23rd December 2007
  • Summary: VILLAGE RESIDENTS SPEAKING VILLAGE HOUSE BACKYARD CHICKENS VILLAGE HOUSE VILLAGE RESIDENT, RAMLAH BINTE KAMSAH, WALKING IN HER HOUSE BIRD CAGE KAMSAH STEPPING OUT OF HER HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAMLAH BINTE KAMSAH, VILLAGE RESIDENT, SAYING: "Like, Kampong they have more neighbours you know, gathering you know, help each other, we are more friendly you know, helping around when have some ceremonies or occasions we will mix around, help together, just do whatever we can, not like flats just close the door, just don't care about others, but Kampong is different." HOUSE PORCH MAIN STREET IN VILLAGE SENG MUI HONG, KAMPONG BUANGKOK'S LAND OWNER SENG SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SENG MUI HONG, KAMPONG BUANGKOK'S LAND OWNER SAYING: "When they come to ask me to sell the land, I would straight away say no." VILLAGE HOUSE BEHIND TREES
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Singapore
  • Country: Singapore
  • Topics: Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA1YRP9J4FIU2RPGP5ORJ50OW06
  • Story Text: In the modern city-state of Singapore where tall buildings, new cars and litter free streets are the norm, a small village, also known as a "kampong", still stands in the middle of the city's HDB (Housing Development Board) estates.
    Nestled in a forest clearing, Kampong Buangkok, Singapore's last village on the main island, is an oddity in the city-state where modernity can be seen on every street corner.
    Chillies and limes grow in lush gardens, in between colourful cement houses with leaking metal roofs and dirt roads where animals run freely.
    Once a bastion of disease and poor sanitation, kampongs, the Malay word for "village," went out of style when Singapore introduced government housing in the 1960s.
    The relocation to HDB flats saw the number of kampongs dwindle.
    Kampong Buangkok, built 60 years ago, which used to house 40 families, now houses only 28 who still enjoy the community lifestyle of the traditional Malay village.

    "Like, Kampong they have more neighbours you know, gathering you know, help each other, we are more friendly you know, helping around when have some ceremonies or occasions we will mix around, help together, just do whatever we can, not like flats just close the door, just don't care about others, but Kampong is different," says Ramlah Binte Kamsah, a secretary in her mid-forties who has been living in the Kampong for the past 40 years.
    Kampongs are more widespread in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, with lower urban populations.
    Seng Mui Hong is the owner of the kampong's land. She inherited it from her father and for 30 years now, she has been renting space for the same prices, with rates as low as S$6.50 Singapore dollars ($4.45 U.S. dollars) per month.
    Reflecting her sentimental ties to the village, Seng says she doesn't even increase the residents' rent when prices outside the village rise.
    Residents of Kampong Buangkok, she says, would not be able to cope with having to pay more.
    Seng tries to preserve the village as much as she can and ignores every attempt from private companies to purchase her land.

    "When they come to ask me to sell the land, I would straight away say no," Seng says.
    But she admits that she is powerless against any move by the Singapore government to take over the land.
    In Singapore, under the land Acquisition Act, the Government has the right to reclaim land for public projects such as schools, hospitals and housing.
    In a recent statement the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority told Reuters that the Government had plans to redevelop the land on which Kampong Buangkok is standing.

    "In the Master Plan 2003, the kampong at Lorong Buangkok and its surrounding land is planned to be comprehensively redeveloped to provide future housing, schools, and other neighbourhood facilities supported by a road network," the statement read.

    "Given the need to optimise the use of land in land scarce Singapore, it may not be viable to retain the kampong in its current state," it went on to state.
    Dr Hadijah Rahmat, Associate Professor at the Asian Languages and Cultures department at the National Institute of Education is the author of "Kilat Senja". The book's title literally means "Glimmering Sunset" and it tells the socio-cultural history of kampongs in Singapore.
    She believes it is not possible to conserve the last Kampong in the country.

    "The link to the past is gone with the demolition of the Kampong, but considering the stage of the Kampong, which I don't think is functioning you know, it is not functioning as in the past. So I don't believe the Kampong can be sustainable and it does not reflect the true, the genuine life of Kampong as we have experienced in the past," says Dr Rahmat.
    Rahmat, who lived in a kampong until she was in her twenties, says for villages to be genuine they need to have physical and cultural features such as schools, local shops run by residents, and religious venues such as mosques. These are all features which she says Kampong Buangkok sadly lacks.
    In Singapore, history and heritage are often found at the receiving end of a wrecking ball. The country, with one of the world's highest population densities, often razes landmarks to make space for development, despite public outcry.
    But Rahmat says the government plans to conserve historical sites such as China Town, Little India and Arab Street making them cultural centres, helping to preserve Singapore's cultural heritage.
    Despite the impending threat of extinction, some Singaporeans say that they still enjoy the kampong experience.
    Seventy-five-year-old Tan Choon Kuan comes to Kampong Buangkok every Sunday with his family to paint. He believes that making the short trip to the village offers him and his family a refreshing change from urban Singapore.

    "Now once they have free time I'll drag them here to paint, and give them a chance to get in touch with the nature," Tan says, speaking about his younger family members.

    "They have never seen things like a beautiful bird stopping on top of a branch and flying off. They are surprised when they come here to find such a beautiful place," he adds.
    Tan knows that the kampong area will be redeveloped and he says the only thing he can do about it is to paint the village to preserve its image.
    But until the kampong is destroyed, he will continue to come back to paint the images which will one day only be visible in history books, and escape from the fast urban life that is taking over the whole island.
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