Singapore is a city-state with a high level of urbanization and vertical housing landscapes dominating most of its landmass. Amidst the rapid urban development, one traditional settlement still survives on the main island. The settlement is called Kampong Lorong Buangkok.
Geographically, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is located in the Hougang area. Its territory stands on an area of about 1.22 hectares and is surrounded by modern housing and highway networks. The area preserves the shape of a traditional village and serves as a home for residents who have settled there for a long time.
Life in Kampong Lorong Buangkok
Kampong Lorong Buangkok features around 26 buildings. The buildings are inhabited by 25 families. Inside the area, there is also a prayer house named Surau Al-Firdaus.
Most of the residents living there come from Malay and Chinese ethnic backgrounds. They live side by side in a single neighborhood.
The villagers' houses generally take the form of simple structures with zinc roofs. Access within the village consists of pathways surrounded by trees in the house yards.
History of Kampong Lorong Buangkok
The settlement in Lorong Buangkok was first established in 1956 by a traditional medicine seller named Sng Teow Koon. He purchased the land when the surrounding area was still swamplands and orchards.
In the past, the area was also known as Kampong Selak Kain because it frequently experienced flash floods that forced residents to pull up their sarongs. After Sng Teow Koon passed away in 1997, the private land ownership was passed down to his daughter, Sng Mui Hong.
To this day, the status of the land remains in the hands of the original heir family without being converted into commercial property. Sng Mui Hong continues to maintain ownership of the land to protect the existence of the residents living within it.
All the land in Kampong Lorong Buangkok is managed directly by the heir family, whom the locals call "Tauke" or "Toke". The villagers do not own the land privately, but instead build houses on rented plots.
The land rental rates in the village range from S4.50toS30 per month depending on the size of the building. The pricing is maintained by the landowner so that long-term residents and their families can continue to settle from generation to generation.
Such a management pattern is rarely found in Singapore today. Amidst a majority population living in HDB flats, the residents in the village are able to survive due to long-standing kinship ties with the landowner's family.
Although Kampong Lorong Buangkok still maintains its original form, the area surrounding the village has developed into a modern district.
The Government of Singapore briefly planned the development of the village area through the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan in 2014. The village's public facilities were briefly projected for development through road widening and school area construction.
Nevertheless, the government stated that the plan would not be executed in the near future. To this day, the village still survives thanks to the desire of the management and residents to protect their living space.
References:
Dahlan, A., Faozan, A., Alfalisyado, Aprianto, N. E. K., & Voak, A. (2024). Social Cohesion of Kampong Lorong Buangkok: Community Amidst Singaporean Industrialization. International Journal of Religion, 5(7), 237–247. https://doi.org/10.61707/22xy3c45
Mokhtar, I. A. (2020). Project Kampong Lorong Buangkok — Singapore Mainland’s Last Rural Village. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.18178/ijssh.2020.V10.1017
