Intan Azura Mokhtar, representating Ang Mo Kio GRC, suggested in the Singapore parliament that Kampung Lorong Buangkok be preserved as a conservation site or a heritage education site.
There are plans to build a major road and two schools in the area occupied by the village.
There are 26 families in Kampung Lorong Buangkok, which occupies about 1.22ha of land. It comes under Intan Azura’s constituency.
The Straits Times quoted Intan Azura as saying: “Surely we can explore ways where the kampung can co-exist and, in fact, enhance and bring value to urban life.”
Suggesting that the village be integrated within the two schools being planned, she added: “The kampung and its residents should be allowed to carry on their lives, but it can play the additional role of a community living lab, for our students to learn about our shared history, culture and traditions, race relations, and experience for themselves values-in-action such as communal living, the spirit of neighbourliness and community activism.”
According to the ST report, she proposed that the People’s Association or the ministry of culture, community and youth consider taking ownership of the kampung after the current generation of residents had passed on.
Responding to her, Singapore’s Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said there was no intention to implement the road and school developments in the “near future”.
The report said he informed parliament that the government would engage residents when the time came.
The ST quoted him as saying: “Some may not want to move away from the kampung, but they may also not want their community to be turned into an educational or heritage attraction drawing crowds of curious visitors.”