jajajajaja. Those are very high ideals. I think to even consider a SIngapore Kampong for WH will spoil the market and demeans the estimation of prior choices. How can you compare whole medinas in Morocco and centuries old tenements in Lijiang which characterise whole cities to a ramshackled wooden hut with zinc roofs? If they want to honour an authentic kampong house, I insist the toilet has to be the bucket system!

perhaps :)

OT a bit: there's one WH site i've been to which believe does not deserve the title - Hoi An in Vietnam. the ancient buildings are there.. but it's reduced to a site which sell tourist junk to ang mohs.

The same applies to Li Jiang. Every single house is occupied by a souvenir shop selling junk for the entire old city! No a single original tenant left. But I think they are honouring the architectural heritage, not its plebian usage..

Found more pictures of it here. Quite sad to see it go though, looks like part of Malaysia

I hope the government will preserve these .... Its a heritage.

Thank you for bringing this topic up again, hougang and siron. And indeed it's true: those buildings are some of Singapore's architectural heritage! Once destroyed it can't be the same again; another reminder of the past gone and forgotten. :(

I hope it's not too late to preserve those buildings. :) After all the commerce being conducted there ("a souvenir shop selling junk," and probably not just one) as Liebling calls it is not the fault of the buildings themselves, right? Why condemn a place for its current use? The building is man made; the use is man made. The big difference is the age of the building)s). Singapore is such a huge conglomerate of new, modern buildings. They predominate now and are sure to do so in the future.

But what about the past? If there is nothing to look back to because it has all been demolished there is no past. And thus no present or future.

SEAFan, totally agree with you, esp the last few statements.

but think it's hard to reverse decisions unless there's some means for the place to be commercially viable and yet retain the place as is, or unless the kampong is internationally recognized through the gaze of recognition and confirmation by others :(

have not been to the place.. think I should during one of the weekends :)

^^^ Yes please, and do take your camera! :)

"Commercial viability" seems to be the prime consideration in so many preserve or destroy situations these days.

But should everything really be measured by that criterion?

I don't think so. We make personal sacrifices in our own lives to keep and preserve certain things that we consider worth it. Should cities and countries not do the same thing with their precious possessions, which include the old heritage buildings? And don't they have certain ways and connections to make things flourish and thereby become "commercially viable" again if they choose to do so? I am reminded here of Singapore's rich architectural heritage districts, and I believe they are totally "commercially viable."

I know there are countless gorgeous historic buildings, and also districts of such buildings, suffering with deterioration and neglect. I believe they all play a crucial role in Singapore's present and future, and I hope they will be refurbished rather than torn down because, known or unknown, they are an essential part of its very heart.

A question comes to my mind: does one kind of "commercially viable" outweigh the other?

As in revenues from huge big new highrises versus the ultimate accumulated benefit of retaining old timey buildings that will need a considerable investment to be refurbished, plus possible relocation costs for the current inhabitants?

SEAfan, interesting thoughts :)

It's very sad, but it wont be the only heritage gone.. among many others, we have previously lost a national library building.. and even statue (of Lim Nee Soon, of Yishun district).. which had led some to question whether the statue of Raffles, founder of Singapore, will someday be torn down (probably not as the Raffles brand name has commercial value too..)

The reason I mentioned commercial viability is because many of historical buildings which have been preserved have been successfully converted to hotels, restaurants and museums. So that seems to be a key criteria on whether the building/area is preserved.

Think in the first place, there's lack of awareness of the kampong. The other issue is it's easy to see a kampong by a visit to our neighbouring countries. And come to think of it, we do have one more "kampong".. at Pulau Ubin island (though it's rural existence in next decade or so is questionable).

The only memories we will be having would be photographs.

hello guys! my group and i are engaged in a project to conserve the kampong. you can join the facebook group to support out cause: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=90315637430

or even better still, sign the petition against possible plans to demolish the site:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-kampong-buangkok

here's a survey to take:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=UEypKu5RMK7zFm_2bCY06jmQ_3d_3d

please, please sign the petition - it's the most important of the three. if you have any queries, ask away!

i tot the kampong belongs to a lady. how can anyone tear it down? read in the news the whole area there belongs to her. been wanting to visit this kampong for a while. maybe members here should organise some outing there.

the chinese have a saying. luo ti sheng geng. always remember where u come from , go back to your roots. something like dat. maybe someone has a better translation than me.

what would be the best time of the day to explore this intriguing place. =)

morning before 11am and after 4pm. cuz not too hot and there will be at least some life in there. i would say ubin kampongs are more lively

And yes, Ubin Kampongs are all gone. Dont know for what also. Some rubbish sanitised development. I think they scrapped the chalet projects? That one, I very sad.

it;s still possible to rent land in Ubin and build ur kampong. will be going there again this week to see the place. sightseeing.

Really? You can rent the land and build a kampong house?? Then why did they evacuate all the kampong dwellers out of the Ubin village?

Where got such thing one? rent land build kampong. Who 1 2 to this kind of biz? U mean like the lim chu kang kind is it? but i find it too commercialised liao.