Walk With Us To The Last Kampong In Singapore: Kampong Lorong Buangkok
A beautiful memory of the past still exists in the North-Eastern part of Singapore – Kampong Lorong Buangkok. Although Singapore is surrounded by many villages and islands, many of them are inaccessible to the public. Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving village on mainland Singapore, which once had 220 scattered kampongs around Singapore. Before it was a kampong, this place was once a swamp that was vastly different from the kampong we see today. In 1956, a traditional medicine seller named Sng Teow Koon bought the land and rented out small plots of it to Malay and Chinese families. These families then built their own houses, which are the houses that we see today.
Nicknamed Kampong Selak Kain, it refers to the way villagers used to hitch up their traditional skirts as they made their way through the floodwaters. Stilt houses built with wooden walls and thatched roofs made with palm fronds (also known as attap) were the basis of a Kampong house. However, these materials were fire hazards, and along with the high population density, this increased the risk of fires in villages. This resulted in the demolition of the kampongs, eliminating the “kampong spirit” that brought the community together. The team at Walk Walk personally went down to Kampong Lorong Buangkok to take a look for ourselves. When you arrive at that area, it is pretty obvious where the Kampong is from the looks of it. Situated in the middle of all the HDBs, you will walk past the Coast to Coast Trail on the way. When you first arrive at the entrance of the Kampong, you will be greeted by a sign as shown below.
Kampong Lorong Buangkok now houses less than 30 families, including Sng Teow Koon’s daughter, Sng Mui Hong. While housing prices have increased in the surrounding areas of the village, Sng Mui Hong still keeps her monthly rent for each house more or less to the original rate of S$4.50 to S$30 (£2.40 to £16.20) today. The low monthly rental is thus arguably the most affordable housing one can get in Singapore. However, getting a house in the village is not that simple. These houses can only be occupied if someone has moved out or passed away, and the new occupant has to be connected to the past and present tenants. The community remains tight-knitted as they are all long-time occupants of the village and/or descendants of the occupants, helping to keep everyone close together. This village’s community spirit relives the memories of the “kampong spirit”, long lost with the development of HDBs in Singapore. Though the government has tried to maintain the “kampong spirit” through communal living and shared spaces in housing estates, the “kampong spirit” within Kampong Lorong Buangkok differs from that of the HDBs. If you look closely at the area around the kampong, you will notice that nearby power cables hang overhead, which is a feature of the past in Singapore. Singapore’s rapid development has shifted the power cables underground, which prevents safety risks compared to overhead power cables. So, the next time you visit the area around Kampong Lorong Buangkok, be sure to look out for the overhead cables!
Singapore's last surviving village
Away from its soaring skyscrapers and urban sprawl, one rural oasis shows how Singapore used to look
If you turn off the busy Yio Chu Kang road in north-eastern Singapore and follow a long, earthen path that winds and snakes for about 300m, you will find something of a time capsule. Nestled here, on three acres of verdant land, is Kampong Lorong Buangkok, Singapore's last surviving village, where remnants of the 1960s are alive and well. Little resembles modern-day Singapore's panorama of slick skyscrapers. Instead, the cluster of squat bungalows looks like a vintage postcard of the city's yesteryear.
The kampong – which means "village" in Malay – is a rural oasis in a city-state synonymous with urban sprawl. Roughly 25 archetypal wooden, single-storey dwellings with tin roofs are spread around a surau (small mosque). Forgotten flora that once covered Singapore before all the concrete – like the ketapang, a native coastal tree – grow freely. Nearby, power cables hang overhead, a rare sight since most have gone underground in the rest of the city. Elderly residents sit out on their verandas; chickens in their coops cluck endlessly away; and the chorus of chirping crickets and crowing roosters – the sounds of a bygone era – drown out the city's noise pollution and provide a soothing, bucolic soundtrack. Rustic idyll isn't what usually comes to mind when most people think of Singapore today. Rather, it's the boat-shaped Marina Bay Sands towers, the soaring skyline, or the colourful and futuristic Gardens by the Bay. Yet, until the early 1970s, kampongs like Lorong Buangkok were ubiquitous across Singapore, with researchers from the National University of Singapore estimating there were as many as 220 scattered across the eponymous island. Today, while a few still exist on surrounding islands, Lorong Buangkok is the last of its kind on the mainland.
A young nation with international aspirations, Singapore rapidly urbanised in the 1980s and quickly transitioned from an agricultural to industrial economy. Overcrowded shophouses were replaced with high-rise flats and sprawling skyscrapers, ushering in the so-called "era of expressways" that saw small roads replaced with multi-lane highways across the city-state. With land at a premium on the island, the rural kampongs had to give way. And so hundreds of traditional villages were bulldozed, the native flora stripped, earthen paths levelled and livelihoods razed to the ground as part of a government-wide resettlement programme. Village residents – some reluctant to give up their valuable real estate; others eager to swap countryside living for flushing toilets and running water – were herded into government-built subsidised flats erected atop their old homes. Today, more than 80% of Singaporeans live in these structures. With the rural villages' demolition also went the famed "kampong spirit", a term used by Singaporeans to describe the culture of camaraderie, trust and generosity that existed within them. In kampongs, residents didn't need to lock their doors and families welcomed neighbours, who often stopped by unannounced to borrow whatever they needed. It's a way of life that the government has tried to recreate in its apartment blocks by increasing the number of shared communal spaces to encourage social interaction.
At Singapore's last kampung, villagers cast a wary eye on the future
An aerial view of Kampung Buangkok. Photo: Najeer Yusof/TODAY
The sleepy rhythms of Kampung Lorong Buangkok are thrown off kilter with some regularity these days, and given the interest re-ignited in the area by this week’s Parliament sitting, things are set to get a lot busier for residents. If anything, residents are more than prepared for “intruders”. On a visit earlier this week, a sprightly woman approached a reporter and asked, in Mandarin: “Yes? Another reporter? You want to ask me about what I feel about this kampung, right?”
Mdm Sng Mui Hong, 65, has had a front-row seat to the times of Kampung Lorong Buangkok — from the massive floods of the mid-1970s to its current status as a curiosity of sorts for all manner of Singaporeans and tourists. She is, after all, not just another kampong-dweller. To some, the resident of 62 years is known as ‘towkay’; to others, she is their landlady, who oversees day-to-day administration of the village. Her father, the late Mr Sng Teow Koon, bought the land on which the kampung now sits in 1956, and began renting out space at low prices to a mixture of Malay and Chinese families. In the over 50 years she has lived in the village, she has greeted all manner of visitors - from tourists to students to the Prime Minister himself. To the residents of the 26 houses in Kampung Lorong Buangkok, living in mainland Singapore’s last surviving kampung is a badge of honour.
And while they are, in true kampung spirit, welcoming of one and all, they draw a line at being viewed as some lost tribe that is now a beacon for the curious, reduced to being exhibits in a quaint fishbowl. They remain proud of their way of life, and want to be treated with respect. But while there has always been a smattering of visitors, things are about to get a lot more hectic for the residents. Kampung Lorong Buangkok was thrust back into the spotlight earlier in the week, when Member of Parliament (Ang Mo Kio) Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar raised an adjournment motion on the need to preserve green spaces and heritage in her Jalan Kayu constituency.
Singapore’s Last Village With 4-Digit Postal Code Street Signs
Village that has been around since 1956 with its exposed electrical lines & 4-digit postal code street signs
High-rise skyscrapers, bright city lights, and back-to-back traffic on the PIE – that’s what everyday life looks like in Singapore. But past all the modern-day frenzy, you can still find a quiet pocket of untouched greenery: Kampong Lorong Buangkok, with its brightly-painted wooden houses and domestic chickens scuttling about.
As the very last kampong on mainland Singapore, it’s a place that has intrigued many curious visitors over time. You’re free to have a look too – just remember that Kampong Lorong Buangkok is a residential area that’s home to ~30 families, so be respectful and avoid taking photographs of private homes. Let us take you on a virtual tour instead. This is a village that has been around since 1956. With its exposed electrical lines and 4-digit postal code street signs, it’s obvious that this kampong is as old as many of our boomer parents. Back in the day, it was an area prone to flash floods and people supposedly had to hike their sarongs up to wade through the murky waters – the very reason why there’s now a canal right next door.
“Kampong” isn’t so much in our normal Singlish vocab unless as “kampong spirit” – a neighbourly camaraderie that’s said to exist in the old days. Besides treating each other with respect, it also means you can leave your doors unlocked and casually pop by your neighbours’ to borrow all the fresh eggs and milk you need. And that’s still happening at Kampong Lorong Buangkok.
Exploring the last kampong in Singapore: Kampong Lorong Buangkok
Kampong Buangkok's postal code back when Singapore still used only four digits. Photography: Delfina Utomo
The last surviving village in mainland Singapore, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is located right smack in the middle of modern developments. Will it remain there forever? With so much of Singapore’s iconic and historical buildings slipping away (we’re still heartbroken about the fate of Rochor and Pearl Bank), we’re taking a moment to shine the light on various heritage buildings around the island. From the brutalist Golden Mile to the neo-Renaissance architecture of Lau Pa Sat, for many of us there’s definitely a bittersweet appreciation for all things old in Singapore. Still, it doesn’t get more nostalgic than an actual kampong (a village) in Singapore. While most kampongs in Singapore have given way to high-rise condominiums and apartments, there’s one that has resisted the onslaught of development: Kampong Lorong Buangkok.
Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving village in mainland Singapore. Originally a swamp, the land was purchased by a traditional medicine seller, Sng Teow Koon, in 1956. Small plots were rented out to Malay and Chinese families for them to settle down and build houses. It’s also known by its Malay name, Kampong Selak Kain, meaning the action of hitching one’s kain or skirt, referring to how flood-prone the area was. At its peak, there were over 40 families who made the kampong their home. Today, Sng Teow Koon’s daughter Sng Mui Hong is the landlord and she still lives on the kampong grounds where she continues to lease pockets of land. With less than 30 families residing here, the community still remains tight-knit where everyone knows everyone.
Life in a kampong is much slow-paced and quieter to the usual bustle we’re accustomed to in the city. If anything, we were happy to swap views of tall buildings with rows of low-rise single-storey houses made of wood with zinc roofs. At times, it feels odd that Kampong Lorong Buangkok is surrounded by so much modern development – new HDB BTO flats on one side and the private Gerald Mugliston Estate on one side. Though there’s only one main entrance to the kampong area, it stretches quite deep inside which is unsurprising, given that Kampong Lorong Buangkok sits on 1.22ha of land. Residents strolling back from a grocery run, houses painted in pastel, burgundy and emerald, a household having dinner out on the patio, another having a birthday party, chickens running around, overgrown gardens, and the peaceful kampong mosque at the centre… it’s hard to believe a place like this still exists in Singapore. Which makes it more difficult to accept that someday, this piece of history will likely disappear.
Visiting Kampong Lorong Buangkok, Singapore’s Last Mainland Village
Growing up in modern Singapore, it can be hard to fathom what it must have been like in the past when much of the island was still rural. However, on a recent visit to Kampong Lorong Buangkok, led by Let’s Go Tour, a group of us had a chance to have an interesting and eye-opening kampong experience. The land which Kampong Lorong Buangkok sits on was originally swampland. It is owned by Madam Sng Mui Hong, who inherited it from her father who originally purchased it in 1956.
Even till today, the kampong spirit is strong in the village. There are currently 26 families staying in the kampong. Madam Sng rents out the various homes which can be found at Kampong Lorong Buangkok to her tenants for around $30 a month, many of which are descendants of first-generation residents. Some long-term renters only have to pay $4.50 a month! The sights of old, rural Singapore came to life from the entrance of the kampong itself. It did seem odd that right next to the kampong were tall HDB flats – but in Singapore, it is not unusual for the old and new to sit side-by-side. Most of the electrical cables in Singapore are buried underground. However, at Kampong Lorong Buangkok, electrical cables still run overhead, converging at the old-style lampposts.
Other than the electric wires hanging overhead, we also saw the water level indicator that was used in the past to indicate when water levels were too high during heavy rains. Thankfully, due to our drainage systems, flooding is less common than it was in the past. The zinc-roofed, wooden houses were a throwback to the past and around us, we could hear chickens clucking away. One particular sign that stood out to us was a sign that had the numbers 1954 on it. We later found out that the numbers were actually a four-digit postal code used in the past.
Remember Singapore - Kampong Lorong Buangkok
Established in 1956, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving kampong on mainland Singapore.
Located near Gerald Drive (off Yio Chu Kang Road), the kampong currently houses less than 30 families, Malays and Chinese mixed with harmony. The houses, connected by dirt roads, are mostly made of wood with zinc roofs.
The roaming dogs, cats and chicken co-exist with one another in this peaceful village, where time seems to be frozen since 40 years ago. Children likes to play and fish at a big canal behind the village. The residents of Kampong Lorong Buangkok pay a small monthly token of not more than $30 to the landlord Madam Sng Mui Hong, who inherited the plot of land from her father decades ago. The little kampong received electricity and water supplies in 1963, two years before the independence of Singapore.
There are unconfirmed news that the land where the kampong is situated will be used for development in the near future, which means the 40-plus year-old kampong will not escape the rapid urbanisation of Singapore. The region of Buangkok, situated not far from the kampong, is now filled with modern HDB flats of less than 5 years old, a stark contrast compared to the humble kampong. Let’s hope the unique “kampong spirit” will last forever!
From Kampongs to Flats
The rapid urbanisation of Singapore in the past four decades has seen hundreds of villages demolished and the lands freed up for redevelopment. The life of many Singaporeans of the last generation changed dramatically as they shifted from their kampong to the high-rise public flats. The days of living in dilapidated wooden attap houses with hygienic concerns and limited supplies differed greatly from the comfort of the public housings fitted with electricity, water and gas.
On the other hand, the community, or kampong, spirit is lost when more people tends to coop themselves up in their own flats nowadays, and interaction with neighbours become a rarity. Children of the newer generation have also lost the chance to come in contact with nature; many of them probably have not seen a live rooster in their life.
Nevertheless, there is still one kampong existing on mainland Singapore today, although the land it is standing on is currently facing the prospect of being acquired by the government. Kampong Lorong Buangkok, established in 1956, has a mixture of Chinese and Malay residents living in harmony. There are about 28 single-storey zinc-roof houses here, on a landsize roughly equaled to three football fields. The land belongs to the Sng family, who lives here among the residents and collects only small tokens from the other families as rental fees.
The last Kampongs in Singapore
Let’s be real: Singapore isn’t synonymous with the rural idyll. The slick, modern city-state is known for its urban sprawl, and shiny, soaring skyscrapers. And even if you think of Old Singapore, you’re likely to picture the iconic, colourful shophouses instead. However, back before brick and mortar are a thing, pockets of verdant land were occupied by villages – or ‘kampung’ in Malay. Each kampung featured traditional Malay attap houses, complete with thatched roofs made with attap leaves, and walls made with hardwood planks overlapping each other. Some had houses with zinc roofs instead – this is the more common version in Singapore’s last remaining villages.
As your grandparents – or even parents – would tell you: kampung life was simple back then. The elderly would sit out in their verandas, the chickens would cluck away in the coops, the neighbours would pop by unannounced, and the whole village would come to your rescue if you needed any help. Rooted in the country’s humble past, the kampung spirit refers to a culture of camaraderie, trust and generosity. While this continues to exist in modern Singapore, it’s more apparent in the kampung where residents are close-knit and neighbourly towards each other – something you rarely see in HDB flats anymore.
However, with the increase in high-rise buildings, many kampung houses have been bulldozed. Today, there are only two villages left in Singapore, but their future remains uncertain. This piece of heritage could soon be nothing more than a memory if not preserved. Here, we shine a light on the last remaining ones and the tours that will give you a taste of kampung life, as well as some known villages that are gone but not forgotten:
- Kampong Lorong Buangkok - This historic slice of land has narrowly avoided redevelopment once, but its future remains uncertain.
- Pulau Ubin - Other remaining kampung can be found on the offshore island of Pulau Ubin where time seems to have stood still since the 1960s.
- Kampung Khatib Bongsu - Said to have existed by 1889, it was situated in the forested area in Yishun, near the mouth of Sungei Khatib.
- Geylang Serai - Geylang Serai’s roots can be traced back to the 1890s when the Malays and Orang Laut were forced by the British to relocate further inland and away from their original settlements at the mouth of the Singapore River.
- Nee Soon Village - Located at the intersection of Thomson Road and Sembawang Road, Nee Soon Village was one of the oldest Chinese kampungs.
- Changi Village - Changi was an idyllic village in the pre-war years, then somewhere between the 1890s and 1920s, the British troops moved in and transformed it into a bustling place of recreation where military men and their families, as well as local bargain hunters, gathered for cheap buys and more.
- Kampong Gelam - Back in the 1820s, Kampong Gelam was a fishing village due to its location by the Rochor River. It was also once reigned by Malay Sultans and housed Sultan Hussain Mohammed Shah, his family and entourage – all reportedly to be over 600 people.
- Pulau Tekong - Before it became the setting for many National Service (NS) ghost stories, Pulau Tekong was a thriving trading station for Pulau Ubin and Johor and by 1898, the offshore island had many kampungs dotted around the island.
- Pulau Seking - Pulau Seking was Singapore's second last offshore village with 44 kampung houses and no roads and cars. It's believed to have roots dating before 1819, with villagers being descendants of the original Orang Selat.
The Last Kampong in Singapore
As the last surviving kampong on the mainland, Kampong Buangkok serves as a juxtaposition against the modern cosmopolitan city, highlighting the camaraderie and kampong spirit that is paradoxically absent in today's world
In cosmopolitan Singapore, everyone and everything is hectic and fast-paced. Yet in a corner of Singapore, exists a place where time slows down to a peaceful pace, and residents enjoy a simple yet relaxing lifestyle, content with their status quo.
This xanadu of greenery and nostalgia exists in the North-Eastern part of Singapore. Established in 1956, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving kampong (Malay term for village) on Singapore's mainland. The kampong was also known as Selak Kain, which meant 'hitching up one's skirt' as people used to hitch their skirts up to wade through floods whenever the kampong experienced flash floods in the 20th century
The land was first acquired by Mr Sng Teow Hoon, a traditional Chinese medicine seller, who rented out land for people to build homes. It was later handed down to his children, one of whom is Miss Sng Mui Hong, who is currently still living in the kampong. Kampong Buangkok used to house about 40 familes, but has since shrunk to the size of approximately two soccer fields with less than 30 families now. Each family pays a token sum of less than $30 to Miss Sng as monthly rent.
Kampung Spirit & Gotong Royong
Kampung Spirit: Blast from the past
Those were the (kampung) days. An important part of Singapore’s treasured heritage, the kampung (village) spirit refers to a sense of community and solidarity.
Life in a kampung was mostly harmonious and it was not uncommon for people to readily offer their neighbours food, help and support. Oral history interviewee Chan Chong Beng remembers that he could even sleep with his doors open in the kampung without worry.
As the nation progressed and these villages made way for housing estates, the kampung spirit can still be seen, most recently in how neighbours have reached out to each other during COVID-19. Check out this curated selection of photos, audiovisual content and oral history extracts to find out more.
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