Akampong (this term is inZa'aba Spelling,kampung in both modernMalay andIndonesian) is a type ofvillage inBrunei,Indonesia,Malaysia,Philippines, andSingapore and a 'dock' inCambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especially of indigenous peoples.
This term has also been used to refer to urbanslum areas or enclosed developments and neighborhoods within towns and cities in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia,Sri Lanka, andChristmas Island. The design and architecture of traditionalkampong villages have been targeted for reform by urbanists and modernists. These villages have also been adapted by contemporary architects for various projects.
The wordkampung orkampong is derived from theMalay and is commonly translated into English as "village". In Singapore, the traditional spellingkampong continues to be used, while the spellingkampung is standard in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Brunei, both spellings are interchangeable.[1]
The English word "compound," when referring to a development in a town, is thought to be derived fromkampong.[2]
In Brunei, the termkampong (alsokampung) primarily refers to the third- and lowest-levelsubdivisions belowdistricts (Malay:daerah) andmukim (subdistricts). Somekampong divisions are villages in a social sense as defined by anthropologists, while others may only serve for census and other administrative purposes. Others have been incorporated into the city limits of the capital,Bandar Seri Begawan, or into nearby towns.
Akampong is generally led by aketua kampung orvillage head. Infrastructure-wise, it typically has aprimary school and abalai raya ordewan kemasyarakatan, the equivalent of acommunity centre. Because manykampongs have predominantly Muslim residents, each may also have a mosque for theJumu'ah or Friday prayers and a school providing the Islamic religious primary education compulsory for Muslim pupils in the country.[3]
In Brunei,kampong andkampung are considered to be correct spellings, and both alternatives are common in written media and official place names. For example,Keriam, a village inTutong District, is known asKampung Keriam by the Survey Department butKampong Keriam by thePostal Services Department, both being government departments.[4][5]
In Cambodia, "kampong – កំពង់" is used to describe a place on a river or lake-shore where people can dock their private small boats. It also refers to a dock facility for commercial or passenger ferries and boats, such as Neak Loeung's ferry-dock (កំពង់ចម្លងអ្នកលឿង) and Akreiy Ksatr's ferry-dock (កំពង់ចម្លងអរិយក្សត្រ).
The termkampong has been widely used in Cambodia, likely for thousands of years due to its proximity with theAustronesianChams, to name places such as provinces, districts, communes and villages. Some examples include: the provinces ofKampong Som (ក្រុងកំពង់សោម; currently Sihanoukville),Kampong Cham (ខេត្តកំពង់ចាម),Kampong Thom (ខេត្តកំពង់ធំ),Kampong Chhnang (ខេត្តកំពង់ឆ្នាំង), andKampong Speu (ខេត្តកំពង់ស្ពឺ); the districts ofKampong Trach (ស្រុកកំពង់ត្រាច),Kampong Trolach (ស្រុកកំពង់ត្រឡាច), andKampong Siem (ស្រុកកំពង់សៀម); the communes ofKampong Khleang (ឃុំកំពង់ឃ្លាំង) andKampong Kdei (ឃុំកំពង់ក្តី); and the villages ofKampong Prasat (ភូមិកំពង់ប្រាសាទ),Kampong Krabei (ភូមិកំពង់ក្របី), andKampong Our(ភូមិកំពង់អ៊ួរ). (Page 37, Chun Nat,Dictionnaire Cambodgien, Institut Bouddhique, Phnom Penh, 1967).
Based on the examples above, the meaning ofkampong in theKhmer language can also arguably be defined as "an area or place located near a river or lake that people named as their own after they arrived, or formed their community at afterward."
InIndonesia,kampung generally refers to ahamlet, which is considered the opposite of theIndonesiankota ("city" in English). However, most Indonesian cities and towns initially consisted of a collection ofkampung settlements. There are four typologies ofkampung. They are: inner citykampung, which has very high density and is inhabited by 100,000 people per square kilometer; mid-citykampung, which is inhabited by 20,000–40,000 people per square kilometer; ruralkampung, which has very low density; and squatterkampung, where people are scattered in metropolitan areas.[6]
Kampung also usually refers to a settlement or compound of a certainethnic community, which later became incorporated into a place name. Some examples include: theKampung Melayu district inEast Jakarta;Kampung Bugis (Buginese village);Kampung Cina (also known asPecinan), which refers to aTionghoa village or could be equivalent toChinatown as well;Kampung Ambon (Ambonese village);Kampung Jawa (Javanese village); andKampung Arab (Arab village).
On the island ofSumatra and its surrounding islands, theindigenous peoples have distinctive architecture and building features, includinglonghouses and rice storage buildings in theirkampungs.Malays,Karo,Batak,Toba,Minangkabau, and others build communal housing and tiered structures.
The termkampung in Indonesia could refer to a business-based village as well—for example,Kampung Coklat (lit. "the Chocolate village") inBlitar,East Java, which mainly produces and sells chocolate products (bars, candies, powders, coffee, cocoa butter, etc.) from the localcacao farmers;Kampung Seni (lit. "the Arts/Performances village") in various places across Indonesia where local artisans make and sell their crafts; andKampung Batik (lit. "theBatik village") which mainly produce and sellbatik, offeringbatik-making courses and training. In 2009, severalKampung Batik, in collaboration with the other official entities such as the Batik Museum inPekalongan,Central Java, were recognized byUNESCO regarding the "Education and training in Indonesian Batik intangible cultural heritage for elementary, junior, senior, vocational school and polytechnic students" as part of theMasterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in Register of Good Safeguarding Practices List.[7] Thekampungs in Indonesia have attracted global tourists as well, such asKampung Panglipuran inBali, which was awarded as one of the world's cleanest villages in 2016.[8]
In Malaysia, akampung is defined as a locality with 10,000 or fewer people. Since historical times, every Malay village has operated under the leadership of apenghulu (village chief), who has the power to hear civil matters in his village (seeCourts of Malaysia for more details). A Malay village typically contains amosque orsurau,paddy fields or orchards, and wooden Malay houses on stilts. It is common to see a cemetery near the mosque.Dirt roads are more common than paved roads for village people to travel betweenkampongs.
The British introduced theKampung Baru ("New Village") programme as a means of encouraging Malays to adapt to urban life. This is distinct from thenew villages established for the Chinese population under theBriggs Plan in 1950, which functioned asinternment camps intended to separate suspectedMalayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) guerillas of theMalayan Communist Party (MCP) from their rural civilian supporters during theMalayan Emergency.
Malaysia's long-serving prime ministerMahathir Mohamad lauded urban lifestyles in his 1970 bookThe Malay Dilemma[9] and associatedkampong village life with "backward traditionalism". He also had thekampung setinggan (squatter settlements) cleared and new buildings constructed to house their residents in proper housing.[10]
_Barangay_Hall%2c_Zamboanga_City.jpg)
In the Philippines, especially in the southern part which is dominated byMoro Muslims, the wordkampung was also adopted, but in aHispanized form, becomingcampo. This name itself was originally the influence of the Malayanized Muslim powers that had triumphed in the south of the Philippines, such as theSultanate of Sulu,Sultanate of Maguindanao,Sultanate of Buayan, andSultanates of Lanao.[11] Especially the Sultanate of Sulu, because it is close to the spread ofMalay culture, its influence is very noticeable, in terms of vocabulary, in this case the wordkampung. An example of a place calledkampung is abarangay inZamboanga City, namleyCampo Islam or Kampung Islam (lit. 'Islamic Village').[12]
Traditionalkampongs were once widespread across Singapore, but few survive today, mainly on outlying islands such asPulau Ubin. During the 20th century, manykampongs were located on themainland. Thesekampongs were often overcrowded and considered unhealthy and unpleasant places to live, with numerouskampongs lacking proper sanitation.
TheSingapore Improvement Trust (SIT), established in 1927 by the British to manage infrastructure and later public housing, struggled to keep up with demand and was slow to address Singapore's housing needs. Conditions only began to improve after the1959 general election, when thePeople's Action Party (PAP) underLee Kuan Yew came to power and the government formed theHousing and Development Board (HDB) to tackle the housing situation.[13]
Following theBukit Ho Swee fire in 1961 and the rapid modernisation after theindependence of Singapore in 1965, almost allkampongs across Singapore were removed andnew towns were established. In the subsequent decades, Singaporeans were resettled intopublic housing, and today around 80 percent of the population lives in high-rise apartments.[13]
Before its conversion into a military area,Pulau Tekong had severalkampongs, and others were also found on theSouthern andWestern Islands. Although most have disappeared, traces remain in the form offormer mosques once servingkampong communities, and historic districts such asKampong Glam retain the name. The best known surviving example isKampong Lorong Buangkok, one of the lastkampongs on the mainland.[1]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)