Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last kampong (Malay: "Village") in the main island of Singapore. It was built in 1956. Kampong Lorong Buangkok is also known as "Kampong Selak Kain" (Malay: "Village of the Sarong Lifters") because during floods the people of the village would lift their sarongs to be able to walk with ease through the flood waters. Kampong Lorong Buangkok retains the "Kampong Spirit" through not only the rustic wooden houses with aluminium roofs, but also through its traditional roots reflected by its residents.
The land on which Kampong Lorong Buangkok sits on was acquired by Mr. Sng Teow Koon (a traditional Chinese medicine merchant) in 1956. Mr. Sng had a dream about the Chinese diety Tua Pek Kong (Chinese: 大伯公 Literally: "Grand Uncle"), this dream led to him to buy the land. After settling in the village, he started renting out the land to people to build homes, charging them SGD 2.00-SGD 3.00 for rent.
By the 1960s the village housed about 40 families, half part Malay half part Chinese. Now the village has about 13 houses, residents now pay rent of SGD 13.00-SGD 30.00 per month to Ms. Sng Mui Hong (Mr. Sng Teow Koon's daughter, who interited the land and still lives in the village). For the tenants who cannot pay the rent, Ms. Sng accepts fruits, vegetable and rice and payments in kind.
Today, the land is about the size of 3 football fields (131,837 square feet). Despite the kampong's rustic rural charm, it is still not safe from the progress and modernization of Singapore. Kampong Lorong Buangkok is still destined to be delomished and undergo redevelopment. The Urban Redevelopment Authority stated that on an unannounced date Kampong Lorong Buangkok will be developed to provide a site for future housing, schools and other facilities.
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| Surau (Malay: "Prayer Room") |
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| Surau Alfirdaus |
It is sad, to think that another kampong will soon disappear from Singapore, but when it does go, it will still leave its kampong spirit to the future HBD flats, schools and future residents that will call its land home.
The residents of Kampong Lorong Buangkok, enjoy a slower and more peaceful pace compared to their neighbors who live in the HDB flats and modern style houses nearby. The kampong has this "feel at home" vibe that welcomes you in and transports you to a time when everything was simpler and more relaxed. It was like travelling back in time for awhile. Reminising the good old days where mobile phones would have been considered magic wands and where the radio or television was what would bring the village together.
I grew up in the city, but my love for the environment, sustainable agriculture, forests and indigenous cultures would bring me to become one with the villages and villagers in some provinces in the Philippines. And because of that I have been "adopted" by many farmers and indigenous people back in the Philippines, particularly in the Philippine provinces of Kalinga, Benguet, Laguna, Mindoro and Bulacan. These people have become family to me and important and integral parts of my life, and the villages have become places where I have left pieces of my heart.
So I as walked on that familiar dirt road in Kampong Lorong Buangkok, I couldn't help feel a bit emotional and remember my adopted families and the way we would just tell each other stories until the day becomes night and everyone goes to bed.
If you have not yet seen the last kampong in mainland Singapore, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is worth a visit before it disappears. It is definitely a nice change to the modernity of Orchard Road and provides a window was to how Singapore was before all the high rises and other developments sprung up.
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| That familiar dirt road.... |
Kampong Lorong Buangkok is located at:
#7 Lor Buangkok, Singapore 547557
From Buangkok MRT Station:
Walk to Buangkok Stn (Bus Stop ID: 67601)
Take Bus 43 or 43M (towards Upp East Coast Ter)
Alight after 5 stops; Blk 969
Walk straight down Buangkok Green (towards Yio Chu Chang Road)
Turn right on Gerald Drive, walk straight
Turn right on Lorong Buangkok
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