Buangkok villagers charge 'entrance fees' for visits
It's compensation for intrusion - residents of Singapore's last kampung explain why they charge for visits to their homes lasting hours
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos-
Visitors are free to walk though the kampung or take pictures of the outside of houses but residents baulk at people barging into private areas like porches (above) or taking photographs or videos without permission, which they say shows a lack of respect for their privacy. -- PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
- PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
-
Visitors are free to walk though the kampung or take pictures of the outside of houses but residents baulk at people barging into private areas like porches or taking photographs or videos without permission, which they say shows a lack of respect for their privacy (above). -- PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
Visitors are free to walk though the kampung or take pictures of the outside of houses but residents baulk at people barging into private areas like porches (above) or taking photographs or videos without permission, which they say shows a lack of respect for their privacy. -- PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
Visitors are free to walk though the kampung or take pictures of the outside of houses but residents baulk at people barging into private areas like porches or taking photographs or videos without permission, which they say shows a lack of respect for their privacy (above). -- PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
For most people, weekends are a time for calm and relaxation and, some might say, privacy at home.
But then, most people do not live in Singapore's last kampung.
Housewife Sharifah Rodziah, 43, a resident of Kampung Lorong Buangkok, said her family can no longer sit on their verandah without having their pictures taken by passing shutterbugs. Some pictures and videos have surfaced online and on YouTube.
Others in this 27-house kampung off Yio Chu Kang Road agree that the stream of nostalgia hunters treat the area like a tourist attraction and forget the houses there are private homes.
Background story
Right to privacy
"Would you allow people to just walk into your house to take photographs? Some visitors think they have the right to just walk into our homes."
MS SNG MUI HONG, the kampung's landlady
Passing interest
"Some visitors just go there to take a few nice snapshots on a Sunday afternoon. They're not interested in getting to know the residents and their way of life."
WRITER YU-MEI BALASINGAMCHOW
