ONE
of the best ways to preserve traditions and culture of Kampong Ayer is to let
the villagers build their houses rather than developers, suggests a PhD scholar
who is studying the development of the water village.
Remy LeBlanc, a former architect and PhD
scholar from Victoria University of Wellington, who is in the country to study
the historical development and urbanism in Kampong Ayer, said space represents
the culture of the people, and the way the people organise their living space
tells a lot about their social organisation and way of living.
"Therefore, space is important to people,
it's going to change their culture."
He said significant changes in the water
village during the past three years were apparent with the increase in floor
area and density of the homes in one area.
The increase in density of homes is a result
of children moving out of the main house and settling nearby with their
families after marriage.
Modern high-rise buildings impose urbanism on
the people as they are often created by developers, who are usually from a
foreign culture. Having foreign developers impose a certain kind of living
space on the people could be a threat to the culture of Kampong Ayer, he added.
"When you see images of Kampong Ayer of
1920s or 1950s and now you see the expansion getting more and more dense and
sometimes going to one or two storeys, but each time it's the people that build
their houses," he said.
"This is what is so important for
(Kampong Ayer's) expansion."
LeBlanc said that the future development
should promote the culture of the people, which is translated through their
living space and settlements. He said how the culture is reflected through the
arrangement of settlements in Kampong Ayer, where relatives settle close to
each other, creating a cluster of houses.
Preservation of Kampong Ayer comes from
recognition of the existence of its culture, he said, and hence, the people
should be given the preference to build and alter their homes according to
their way of life instead of having developers construct them.
"This culture has created these things
and you have to recognise its existence and it should not be someone from
outside to tell people how they should do this."
"You should recognise there is a
community... there are people living here and you give them the right to
change."
LeBlanc predicted that the future of Kampong
Ayer's development would be similar to the Italian city of Venice.
He said that the next 10 years will perhaps
see a "huge surge in construction the same way it had been in the 1950s
and 60s" following the culture of the new generation of Kampong Ayer
residents.
"Because people build at the same period
of time, they have the availability of same material and they build also
following the same culture, the result will be something uniform that is very
remarkable."
"And what makes it special is it is on
the water exactly like Venice, and it will be a preservation of the way of
living."
LOW LENG MAY
The Brunei Times
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