Let Kg Ayer people build their houses

Low Leng May
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

ONE of the best ways to preserve traditions and culture of Kampong Ayer is to let the villagers build their houses rather than developers, suggests a PhD scholar who is studying the development of the water village.

Remy LeBlanc, a former architect and PhD scholar from Victoria University of Wellington, who is in the country to study the historical development and urbanism in Kampong Ayer, said space represents the culture of the people, and the way the people organise their living space tells a lot about their social organisation and way of living.

"Therefore, space is important to people, it's going to change their culture."

He said significant changes in the water village during the past three years were apparent with the increase in floor area and density of the homes in one area.

The increase in density of homes is a result of children moving out of the main house and settling nearby with their families after marriage.

Modern high-rise buildings impose urbanism on the people as they are often created by developers, who are usually from a foreign culture. Having foreign developers impose a certain kind of living space on the people could be a threat to the culture of Kampong Ayer, he added.

"When you see images of Kampong Ayer of 1920s or 1950s and now you see the expansion getting more and more dense and sometimes going to one or two storeys, but each time it's the people that build their houses," he said.

"This is what is so important for (Kampong Ayer's) expansion."

LeBlanc said that the future development should promote the culture of the people, which is translated through their living space and settlements. He said how the culture is reflected through the arrangement of settlements in Kampong Ayer, where relatives settle close to each other, creating a cluster of houses.

Preservation of Kampong Ayer comes from recognition of the existence of its culture, he said, and hence, the people should be given the preference to build and alter their homes according to their way of life instead of having developers construct them.

"This culture has created these things and you have to recognise its existence and it should not be someone from outside to tell people how they should do this."

"You should recognise there is a community... there are people living here and you give them the right to change."

LeBlanc predicted that the future of Kampong Ayer's development would be similar to the Italian city of Venice.

He said that the next 10 years will perhaps see a "huge surge in construction the same way it had been in the 1950s and 60s" following the culture of the new generation of Kampong Ayer residents.

"Because people build at the same period of time, they have the availability of same material and they build also following the same culture, the result will be something uniform that is very remarkable."

"And what makes it special is it is on the water exactly like Venice, and it will be a preservation of the way of living."

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

As stated in Manifesto NDP 1427H/2006M - 1437H/2016M, the following are proposals under Urban Development and Environment:

• To improve the image of Kampung Ayer by providing facilities such hotels and guest houses, banks and business premises, to eradicate the perception of the area as the dwelling of poor landless people and to make it an attraction for tourists and traders and a landmark of the uniqueness of Brunei Darussalam;


• To make Kampung Ayer a commercial centre. For centuries, the concept of one village one product has been practised in Kampung Ayer. For example Kampung Saba is the producer of marine foodstuff, Kampung Lorong Sikuna is popular for songket weaving. Kampung Pandai Besi produces metal work such as various kinds of knives and cutters. Kampung Burung Pingai produces traditional Malay kuih-muih and Kampung Sungai Kedayan is produces gold and silver items. As such the Development calls for the possibility of reviving and revitalising this concept. It is not only capable of energizing local industry but it can also become a unique world tourist attraction;


• overcome the problem of local waste disposal in general, and of water pollution, especially in Kampung Ayer, where the efforts undertaken to date have yet to achieve asatisfactory results;

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