Chapter 5: Individual Statement

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

Kampong visit can be one of the closest retreat for every Malaysian. Quiet and calm environment, fresh air and peaceful scenery, warming and friendliness of local people. The atmosphere in the village slows down the time, gives more space for a mind to relax. I truly enjoy myself there.

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. 

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.

~Farewell~