A true and once in a life time experience...
a Little Sharing of our Kampung Experience...
Our sweet, sour, bitter and hot (literally translate from Chinese proverb), means our joy and hard time experiences in village. One thing we can never deny is, we truly enggaged into this Kampong experience.
Chong Yiteng
I personally agree that kampong should remain traditional, perhaps, if can be redevelop to upgrade the lifestyle of the local people. Redevelop doesn't mean it has to be modernise like the rest of Malaysia. The traditional architecture within the village has to be well preserved, the lifestyle of local remain undisturbed. Here, for the convenient of the people to travel around, by adding more public transportation like buses, encourages more connections. Next, upgrade the telecommunication services which cover the television, radio and internet. With this, the local isn’t isolated latest happenings around Malaysia, as well as the globe. With these small development, it can bring big benefits for the people, it allows more network between the city and the village.
Kampong at Hulu Langat is definitely one of the significant identity of Malaysian architecture. From the last visit, I can clearly identify the traditional Malay houses as they are rich with all the elements of native timber construction methods. Traditional Malay timber architecture in Malaysia has to be well preserved.
Ervin Chua Yi Wei
My kampong life experiences at Hulu Langat are pretty AWESOME. The people there are kind and cheerful more than I can expect. I really like this kind of place. As living in kampong life, it feel like living a simple life where there is no rush of anything, no wifi and less stress which make me feel free of any thing. Like this kind of places, I really feel the freedom of getting away from technology and everything is manually especially during the preparation of the Hari Raya Aidiladha. During that preparation, the environment there feels so natural where everybody helping each other and no one is playing with their phone except for camera man that use camera. It really makes the relationship of architecture student, Mak Cik, and Pak Cik closer. On the next day which is the Hari Raya Aidiladha, the experience of that time is totally wonderful because everybody gather together along with the Mak Cik and Pak Cik which help us and give us knowledge during the preparation. On that time, it really pays off of our hard work during the preparation as the Mak Cik and Pak Cik also happy to joint us with the success of organizing this Hari Raya Aidiladha event.
In my opinion, the kampong should remain the traditional because it is a place where people get out of a busy city. It can be a family place and a holiday location as the place is very peaceful and interesting place. This is a place where people get knowledge and enjoying the traditional style of making thing. It also is a place of full of memory for whom who style there and has being visited there.
The kampong is one of the significant identities of Malaysia Architecture. For example, the timber house that being built at that kampong for long time ago which have strong identities of Malaysia Architecture. The timber house is built in such ways that really suit the climate of Malaysia. This kind of house still can being seeing at the kampong and people are still built and applying the concept of that timber house which is consider as a success concept the suit Malaysia climate.
Beauty, Kampung vs Urban City
KAMPUNG, a small village or community of houses in Malay-speaking lands. Urban city, you can found it in every country. There was urban city in Malaysia too, and it was nice too. But the destructive of something that remains is too cruel for the traditional culture.
Leow Zyn-Z
Remain or not. Firstly, I want to introduce myself, my
name is z. I came from Alor Star, Kedah. That was a place that full of paddy
field and kampung houses. No matter where you stop your car or you journey
around Alor Star, there will be the image of kampung houses and if you are
lucky, you will see they harvesting the paddy. The goldness of paddy and the
natural wood colour of kampung can actually locked you heart from inside. The
beauty of the traditional of our country, Malaysia, should not change from
decade to decade, it should and must remain as the same for the whole lifetime.
Have you ever seen a boy that play football with only their bare foots on the
field that created by themselves?
Try to imagine that if there was no grass
around the kampung. Where will the kids play? Where will the kids find their
happiness?
Beauty, Kampung vs Urban City
KAMPUNG, a small village or community of houses in Malay-speaking lands. Urban city, you can found it in every country. There was urban city in Malaysia too, and it was nice too. But the destructive of something that remains is too cruel for the traditional culture.
Appreciate that belongs to the earth.
Malaysia, a country that full of tropical nature and races of peoples. Malaysia come from the word Malay, which was the main races in our country. So, that means that the identity of Malaysia architecture should be full of the culture design. It was similar with Vernacular Architecture. Vernacular architecture was the identity of natural and sustainability.
The comparison between old vernacular
design and modern vernacular design.
This was so important that it will gives
the impression the tourist that came to our country. The one of the main
sources of economic is through travelling destination. If a country was not
significant by its own building, then there was no identity for the country to
show. Talking about Malaysia, what will our mind come out first if talk about
Malaysia. Traditional and natural. That’s the main elements that show and
emphasis Malaysia architecture.
Valerie Tan Wei Pin
Coming to an end of this remarkable trip of visiting Hulu Langat Village
at Kuala Lumpur. It was quite an experience for all of us who took part in this
history project. From the beginning of this project it wasn’t that pleasing
when all group members needed to choose a traditional house to write about and
we need to come across all sorts of hardship making the project work. Insects
bites, hot sun, research, ideas and discussion failures etc. All these experience
has helped us all to learnt and understand the meaning of team work and to
solve the problems as a team.
On the other hand we have gotten to learnt and appreciate the way of how
the local villagers work and live together in a harmonious way of life. To be
precise, it is how we acknowledge of how the Malay race live like in their
daily activity of the every bits and little things they did or done in their
daily lives. By interviewing one of the family in this village, we deeply
understand and appreciate on how they work well with each other in a peaceful
way. At the activity held for example like building house for the poor- one in
the village, having gotong-royong annually, having feast during certain
festival (Hari Raya, Hari Raya Haji etc). All this activities helped have
create a great bonding with each other in the village. By this it helps to
unite and have the idea of respecting one another. Which is very crucial
because nowadays in this society it is very rare for people to acknowledge one
another even they are neighbors.
Not to forget by understanding how traditional Malay house works and
constructed, it gives us the basic idea and the functions of the house which
includes with the passive design and how they construct adapting on the local
climate. Educating architecture students like us, empowering our design
thinking would definitely improve us in our design thinking.
Lastly for my perspective point of view, it is good that the village
have been remaining the traditional way for their construction, although some
alteration on the construction is done due to technology nowadays. The Village
from Hulu Langat has shown the significant identity of Malaysia in
architectural aspects. Due to the layout of housing by the road side or all around
the village and the style of Malay house is very obvious from the first day of
visiting. It is a fundamental style of the Malay traditional house. If this
type of houses are not remained then there will be no more symbol for the
identity of Malaysian Architecture any more.
Tan Yanxian
This whole project of exploring a ‘kampung’, Malay
village in Hulu Langat from learning their history, knowing the villagers to
experiencing of their culture and lifestyle is indeed an amazing experience to
me. They live a simple and happy lifestyle which are quite different from us
who are living in a busy city. The people are friendlier, the air is fresher,
the grasses are greener and the water is cleaner. My journey to the kampung
with my groupmates was welcomed warmly by Pak Cik Bakar and his family. Though
our 3hours conversation, I can feel that the people living in the kampung are
very friendly, helpful and scratching each other’s back.
During
the last trip to the kampung, we were celebrating the Hari Raya Aidiladha with
the villagers. The first day was the preparation day to cook the food. Everyone
got their hands dirty and helped out of each other’s task. We were so blessed
that the Pak Cik (uncles) and Mak Cik (aunties) were there to guide us and
together cooking the food. They even cracked jokes with us too. That’s
‘gotong-royong’ in Malay sayings. Although it’s tiring, but the learning
experience has made it worth the sweats. The celebration on the next day was a
fun moment. Everyone dressed up handsomely and prettily in traditional costumes
to lighten up the celebration. We enjoyed the food that we cooked as well as
the villagers who celebrated this festival with us in the hall. The event was a
great success under the cooperation and teamwork spirits contributed by
everyone and this would be a remarkable memory to me.
Without
any doubt, the kampung should remain tradition in its form and culture in my
opinion. Kampung is still the living place of many people, although the
population has decreased over the time. Modernizing a kampung is not a solution
to overcome the problems and difficulties faced by the villagers. Indeed, the
authorizer should planned and reorganize the facilities to them to ease their
daily life. In fact, the greater impact of modernizing a kampung will only be
eliminating one of Malaysia’s important identity and equally to the act of
forgetting our own roots.
The
kampung is definitely a significant identity of Malaysian architecture. The
pitched roof, louvered walls, raised floors and the use of timbers are easily
recognized and a beautiful art and culture that we should preserved. This
uniqueness from our country has also become a famous landmark and icon to the
tourists. Malaysian architecture should be practiced and continued to ensure
this valuable art does not extinct and appreciated over the generations.
Paniz Darabi
In this project, we have studied about Malaysian History, culture and
Architecture styles, studied and searched on some case studies, and come up with
some information and sketches, also preparing and celebrating Hari Raya with
kampong villagers in Hulu Langat.
During this short trip we
had appreciated how the people in kampong live together and do their daily
lives. They were happier than people in crowded cities, because they have fresh
air to breath, fresh food to eat, there is no stress and traffic. Instead of
high rise buildings, there is more green area, trees, and flowers.
The preparation day was a
bit tiring and takes a long time to make some food. However, we learnt how to
cook some Malay food, which taste good. The second day was celebration day
which was nice, because we all dressed up Malay dresses, Which was new to most
of us.
Malaysian Architecture was
seen there a lot. Pitched roofs, High floors and wooden structure are the main
features. Timber houses as one of the well known example that adapt Malaysian climate and it is a Passive
architecture.
In my opinion, the kampong
is nice and amazing itself and remain tradition kampong can save the
traditional Architecture, culture and lifestyle in many aspects like
celebrations, dresses, foods and all the other things that has changed in the
rest of Malaysia because of merging with technology.