Welcome to my busybody corner...: Our vanishing kampong...

Read about the Government’s plans to demolish and develop kampong Lorong Buangkok, our last surviving kampong (village) of its kind in our country. Thus, like many other kiasu guys, I decided to make a trip there to see for myself the kampong in question before it is destroyed.

Located in some corner of Yio Chu Kang, at the junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Lorong Buangkok Road is a quaint little village that's so near, yet so far from urban civilisation, far from the maddening crowd.

Chat with a few residents there. One reminisced about the good old days when the kampong was a lot more alive. The different races mixed around freely then, taking care of each other as if they were a big family. While some residents lamented about the uncertainty of Kampong Lorong Buangkok's future, there some residents who were not bothered by the news at all - they are still renovating their houses!

Glad that I made this trip today, otherwise, I would have missed what a real Malay culture was like! Most of us urbanites live in flats and once home, we are confined in our four-walled cells without knowing what’s happening outside the 4 walls. Though a short chat with the folks but enough to transport my mind back to when it was quieter, where the air was crisper and when life was, well, a lot simpler. If you want to get a real feel of Singapore history, I strongly recommend you to visit this place, our last kampong, before it is gone.

left: a old-fashioned letter box of house no. 13
right: their toilet and bath

left: this Guan Yin statue stands behind house no. 13
right: card playing is the past time of these friendly uncles.

right: this house belongs to a Chinese; notice the "Tu Di Ye" below the right window;
left: the side of the same house.

left: This house has a signboard above its main door, maybe they are operating a home business?