Today Online 11 May 13;
Can we call a place home if the old keeps vanishing and the young keeps forgetting?
How well do those from the younger generation know Singapore’s rural history and the kind of living conditions their grandparents had, beyond what is in the museum or in textbooks?
Students learn that their grandparents used to stay in kampungs, but they do not have a first-hand experience of how different it is from the comfortable homes they live in now.
We should preserve the last standing kampung in Singapore, Kampong Lorong Buangkok, to educate future generations about the past.
The National Heritage Board could turn one of the vacant homes into a museum for tourists, while the other vacant homes could be used for educational programmes, such as a homestay for students. Why spend extra to take students overseas if they can get the same experience here?
Students may also feel more connected to the place, and keeping the kampung helps retain the kampung spirit.
We should cherish our last standing kampung and not let it be consigned to history.
We should let it be a bridge to bring future generations closer to the past.
