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Bandar Seri Begawan – There was a tear in her eye. Perhaps. Maybe it was the smoke from the nearby tamu. You were not sure. But she was certainly in earnest.

There was no doubt. Her feeling was deep. How many were like her, you wondered. What made her so emotional was the subject of her home and village: Kampong Ayer, the very heart of Brunei, where she and her ancestors were born and raised. ‘‘It is going. Fast disappearing,’’ she said sadly. ‘‘So many things have happened since I was a little girl,’’ she added. The country’s very heart is bleeding. ‘‘Yes, Brunei’s heart is bleeding away,’’ she repeated. She was puzzled. ‘‘I do not know why that has happened.’’ She had watched her neighbours moving away. So many had gone to a new life on land. Frequent fires did the rest. But she would never leave. ‘‘This is the place I was born and I plan to end my life here.’’ She will be with 30,000 or so villagers on the water in their ancient stilt homes to her last day. However strung along Brunei River like a garland, Kampong Ayer is threatening to become a thing of the past.

As time goes by the lights that twinkled like so many distant stars in an arc on the dark waters are going out one by one. ‘‘That is very sad,’’ she remarked. ‘‘In time there will be no Kampong Ayer.

The heart of Brunei will cease to beat.” And she is right, and regrettably so. Yet it is hard to believe that Kampong Ayer, in years gone by, was the centre of a vast empire. It was once the throbbing centre of trade and commerce. An interesting description of 19th century Brunei capital by Dr D.E Brown, a well-known writer on Brunei history has this to say. “Substantial communities were found at or near river mouths where a usually Malay populace attempted to control trade and in some eases tax and control upriver people.

“By far the largest such community was the capital city having a population in tens of thousands. “Estimates varied tremendously as low as 10,000 toward the end of the century,” he adds in a footnote writing in the Brunei Museum Journal. “Almost wholly composed of houses on stilts, it was located in a bend of the Brunei River, some 10 miles inland from a large bay rich in seafoods.

“The city was laid out in three sections, one along the south bank of the river and two along the banks of a tributary where it joined the Brunei River. The mosque, the palace and the homes of most of the nobility clustered in wards or villages (both called kampong) near the centre. Commoner wards of high status were generally upstream of the centre, those of low status generally downstream.

The wards within the capital were distinct social entities, usually similar in structure to a village and commonly named after the occupation of the inhabitants or after a leading man. Occupationally specialized wards included those of dip net fishermen, drag net fishermen, throw net fishermen, shell fishermen, palm fibre weavers, rice cleaners, wood workers, brass founders, gold and silversmiths, iron smiths, oil manufacturers, and so. Given a vague tendency for the wards to be ranked, and given the endogamous marriage tendencies of the Brunei’s, the occupationally specialized wards were somewhat similar to castes. At any rate, occupational specialization was elaborate by Bornean standards, and clearly linked - albeit loosely - to the status system as well as the village or ward divisions.

The capital city was a trade emporium which, with the aid of far-flung outposts of Brunei, dominated most coastal and international trade throughout the empire,” Professor Brown added. Yet you do not have to go too far back in history to savour the teeming, living, vibrant Kampong Ayer that once was. It was so until living memory of many older Bruneians. “Something terrible is happening,” the woman said. “And that is taking place before my very eyes, as each day passes.”

What is happening is the result of sheer neglect, others said. There was once a master plan. That was, perhaps more than a decade ago. Very little is heard of it now. Perhaps it is gathering dust in a forgotten corner of some department.

Effort to revive what is now considered as Brunei’s heritage, has been so far half hearted. There has been no concerted push. One of Brunei’s treasures is in danger of being lost forever. What then can be done to save it? That is a matter that should be taken seriously, many here believe. If Kampong Ayer is to be rebuilt, its character should be preserved, they say. Barrack like habitations should be avoided. Each house should have its own characteristic based on Malay architectural outlook. Already many thinking Bruneians are concerned. That is good. The only thing that remains is sufficient vision and followed by implementation.

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Ignatius, why you bother about the rise and fall of our Kampong Ayer. Let it be lah bah...In the 50's and 60's we enjoyed the atmosphere of Kampong Ayer. Now, there is no originality on the beauty of Kampong Ayer. Because we have leaders of "copy and paste mind".

Anyhow when we still keep the Kampong Ayer... Does Brunei need to build proffer sanitation. No need lah bah... Just squat and deposit. Wait for, the "ikan bedukang" is ready to swallow and digest the faeces of mankind. It will not kill the people who live in Kampong Ayer as what happened to the hero of the National Geographic with the crocodile. Crocodiles did not kill him, but a small creature did it for him.

Sad....sad...

Brunei need not take care of the rise and fall of Kampong Ayer, because it is already dead. Different leaders have different opinions, let them think for the rise and fall of Kampong Ayer. Buat sakit kepala saja.

Thank you Ignatius...

This can help Brunei government and the engineers to save cost of another development project. The engineers can sit on the sofa and relax in the airconditioned office. Show their power and do and less work, more meetings and more food and drinks on the table for a short time "Muzakarrah"

Name: Writer

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Sad but indeed true. Even if we live in the era of modernization, there isn't any reason why Kg. Ayer has to perish. What's there left in Brunei if Kg. Ayer disappears? The least people could do now is protect Kg. Ayer and stop the pollution. I had a boat ride in Kg

Ayer recently and I was appalled with the ugly sight of rubbish floating on the water. Plastic bottles, cans, styrofoams and others very painful to the eyes. Is this the exquisite Kg Ayer as described to the tourists?

They would be dismayed for travelling at a long distance just to see piles of rubbish floating on the river which used to be very precious assets but now abused by the people. Sad isn't it? I don't see why is it that people still don't use the rubbish bins provided? Is the river a better and larger bin? Think about it. What you are throwing into the river is actually damaging and destroying your own place. Maybe you haven't realized it yet but one day when things get worse and when it starts affecting your lives, then these 'stop the pollution' slogan will then click in your mind love the country =)

Name: fyan
Email: hrfickle@yahoo.com

I was reading Humphreys "Farewell Notes from a Great Island" and in the book, a long established housing estate came into being and managed to stay on through the ages by the government actively giving the estate what modern housing should have.It is no use to leave them derelict in the face of competition from other housing estates.

Therefore it is not enough to lament that the Kampung Ayer is losing its inhabitants to the land. But the Government should want it to preserve
the status of kampung Ayer being Kampung Ayer, then it has to provide modern houses therein and other amenities like those given on land. I like the Kampung Bolkiah's schemes. Give and take few amenities there, people will stay on. You don't expect kampung Ayer to stay on in the next century with houses still on wooden stilts.Something has to be upgraded.

Name: pushover
Email: pushover@gmail.com

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Of course, there is also the need to change the mindsets of the younger generation because most of the youngsters doesn't even know the history and some probably does not consider Kampong Ayer to be a national heritage. I've had an experience with some of the local ladies where they ask questions of Kampong Ayer that even a local 8-year old could answer. The ladies happened to be studying overseas, but this is not an excuse. This is a pity and an embarrassment. Surely their parents or grandparents or great grandparents originated from Kampong Ayer right. My point is that, it is time to promote local values at a higher stage at this moment. The establishment of a Cultural Village is a good step though. I applaud the government in doing so.

Name: katy
Email: katie867@hotmail.com

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Kampong Ayer from what I see right now is really disappearing fast. Although the government made some "perpindahan" water village nearby to preserve it but people from that village are moving to the shores, abandoning their old home, their heritage from their late ancestors, leaving it to crumble and be torn apart.

Kampong Ayer is our national monument it, without it, foreigners might ask "where is Brunei Darussalam and what is famous for?". It been here  for a very long time even before the 1st sultan of Brunei abdicated. It was there most Bruneian  originated.

Name: Hamiz
Email: mondeo8892@yahoo.com.sg

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I couldn't agree more but we still have to make way for progress. We can't move forward if we dwell in the past. Maybe it is time for it to go. Nothing lasts forever. But we could try and save as much of it as possible.

Name: Asmawi Hj Ibrahim
Email: wiraseni@hotmail.com 

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