Final CHAPTER: Our Personal Thoughts

All things come to and end, so here we are, listing down our thoughts and statements on the experience we have gained and what we think the kampung should be like in the future in relations to architecture and the built environment. 

Wei Wen:

Close to nature: lush greenery around the kampung

Three days of  kampung life (one day interviewing one of the villagers, one day preparing the Raya food and one day celebrating Hari Raya) has come to an end. We took our time to experience kampung life at the Hulu Langat kampung, and it is important to enjoy and learn about each thing from this event.

When I go to the kampung, the life there is close to nature and the villagers are kind and helpful. Together, we learn how to cook Malay food from the villagers and even though we are of different race, we can get along harmoniously. The kampung is much more tranquil compared to KL and it is good to be celebrating Hari Raya Aidiladha with our friends , lecturers and the villagers.

A short digression, my hometown is considered as a suburb or maybe a village and even though the environment and culture differs from the kampung's, it is also harmonious and tranquil, and I really like to stay in my hometown as compared to big cities that are flourishing and bustling.

In my opinion, the kampung can remain traditional since the Malay house is one of the significant and representative buildings in Malaysia because the houses are build from timber with the inherited techniques of their ancestors. If all the kampung house changes to skyscrapers, surely we will feel bored. "Development is important , but tradition deserves to be retained", don't you think so?

Leo (Tee Zi Yuen):

The kampung: experiencing culture and nature

Years ago, I have been looking forward to living a kampung life because of the cleanliness and simple life in kampung, living without Wi-Fi or internet connection, and of course, the burden that are caused in city life. After this trip to the kampung to experiencing culture, I found that I really love the kampung life. The relaxing ambiance and fresh air gets me out from the strain of modern life. During this trip, the responses from the villagers were warmer than what I expected.

During this trip, we were given 'missions' like analyzing Malaysian traditional houses, cooking Malay traditional cuisine and also celebrating Hari Raya with the villagers. We learnt to communicate with villagers, gain knowledge on Malay traditions as well as respecting each other and more.

In my opinion, the kampung Malay house is really important to Malaysian architecture as it is likely a starting point of Malaysia architecture. By using timber only as the material and having perfect ventilation, these houses are the uniqueness of Malaysia architecture. However the kampung in Malaysia are slowly turning into towns and also the impression of their original kampung life are rarely seen nowadays. To be honest, I actually prefer the kampung life more than the city life.

Ee Von:

The kampung through my eyes: the houses, the people and the food

Personally, I cannot imagine living in a kampung permanently as they have zero internet connection and being someone used to the city with easy communication, it was difficult to sit there and do nothing while waiting for the next agenda to happen. Even though that is the case, I wouldn't mind visiting the kampung now and again to experience some peace and quiet along with the very affectionate warmth of the people there. The Hari Raya celebration that we had was something familiar to me and oddly comforting, especially the preparation of the dishes where people gather to cook and chat.

Furthermore, I think the kampung is a gem and should be preserve as a traditional entity without all the stress and superficiality of a modern city. As the kampung is one of the earliest establishments in Malaysia, it does have a significant identity that ties it to Malaysian architecture. Timber houses in kampungs are easily identified even to a common person and that is what gives it the important role in Malaysian architecture, a culturally accepted symbol of the traditional house.

Emma  (Wong Choon Yien):

Kampung time: bonding with friends, lecturers and the villagers

For me, I kind of like kampung life because... Yay! NO ASSIGNMENTS!! Okay, it is actually because of the lifestyle there that is totally different from the city. City people live life in a fast-paced environment while the kampung is different and it is out of the town so the lifestyle there is more relaxing and there would not be so much burden bringing down one's physiological and psychological health. I like how the kampung life has a toned down living pace and that's how we human should enjoy life, right? We also experienced the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration at the kampung and it was fun and interesting. I also like how friendly the kampung people are in welcoming us! We learned to cook the Malay traditional food that we rarely find or see in the city. One of the best thing is, we ate a lot while cooking and what happened after the dishes were all cooked? You can imagine it.

The kampung will of course need to remain traditional as it is one of the representatives of Malaysian architecture. It signifies the religious and cultural aspects of Malaysia. The materials used and
the way of the structure being built and even the kampung layouts are all based from Malaysia's own resources, techniques and idea respectively. Kampung is attached to us, Malaysian, Malaysia and it is something to be proud of!

All in all, it could be said that the four of us enjoyed our time spent at Dusun Tua and unanimously agreed that the kampung should remain traditional and not be modernized. We hope you have enjoyed keeping up with our posts. Goodbye until then.