Kampong Lorong Buangkok

Over the years, there have been many people talking about the last surviving kampong (village) in Singapore and I have heard about it quite a number of times over the years. So I decided to make a trip down to the area to see the kampong before it disappears.

Getting there
The nearest bus stops are "Opp Ch Of St. Vincent De Paul" and "Ch Of St. Vincent De Paul". The buses that go to the bus stops are 70, 70M, 103 and 854.

Kampong Lorong Buangkok
The kampong is rather distinct. When you are there, you know you are at the right place because that's the only kampong. That make sense right?

At the entrance, you will see this signboard. If you don't, you might not be at the right place.

D.I.Y. Swing

Near the signboard, I discovered this chair hanging on the tree. An intelligent guess would be this is a makeshift swing. I didn't dare to try the swing though.

Walking in, i saw this nicely painted house. I like the colour combinations. It feels like a kampong house with a modern touch.

In contrast, this house looks more rundown. But this house belongs to the landlord here.

Some of the paths seems to lead to nowhere, but I did went on and explore all the routes. Somehow they will lead back to the kampong. So feel free to explore when you are there, but take note that some routes require a little bit of bashing through.

The place is pretty quiet, so I don't know if all the houses were occupied. Anyway, check out their signboard. Their postal code is 1954 (4 digit), compared to the current 6 digit post code.

From left: Malay lady resident, Me, Landlord, KC

As we explore, we were lucky to see some residents of the kampong so we decided to approach them and we started talking. The people were very nice. The landlord was there to collect rental from the old Malay lady. I bet you can't believe how much is the rental fee. It is just SGD2.10! The landlord told us that the rental fee has always been this amount since her father's time till now. That is pretty awesome right? The landlord also told us about her past and it was pretty interesting and few hours just passed very quickly.

The Malay lady could only speak Malay and I couldn't understand it, so the landlord had to translate for us. The Malay lady insisted that we need to take pictures with even number of people, as odd number is not good. Luckily, we have even number.

The hand print can found right outside the old Malay lady house. This hand print belongs to her son back in 1995.

There were some wooden clogs as well. It has been a long long time since I see all these things.

After the long hours of chatting, we continued to explore the remaining places.

We spotted some houses were drying the leaves. I am not sure what these leaves could be used for though. If anyone of you know, maybe you could provide me with the answer.

Behind one of the houses, they have this huge garden filled with pots and flowers. It was a very pretty sight.

Right at the back of the kampong is a park connector. I was told that it leads to Sengkang Swimming Complex. If you look carefully, you will see that on the right side of the park connector is where the kampong is located. Across the canal, the houses are bungalows! Such a huge difference in housing.

Overall, it is a good experience at the kampong. I would probably go back and visit the landlord when I am free since she is such a nice lady. It is also good to get away from the usual urban city and relax in a rural site once in a while.

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