Abstract:
"Orang Seletar" is a diminishing maritime
indigenous people or known as "Orang Laut
Asli" who lived for centuries along the coast
of Straits of Johore in between Malaysia and
Singapore. There are currently less than two
thousand remaining people and they are not
wary of their own declining population,
unaware of the modern world and caught in
hardcore poverty problems. The current
settlement which was built for them in
Kampung Bakar Batu was once an estuary
with rich sea lives which sustain the existence
of these sea people. Unfortunately the
settlement is now badly populated and has
been targeted for major urban development
area in the future Iskandar Region
development. "Orang Seletar" settlement
(built by Natives and indigenous people
concern department) consists of small
singular single storey stone houses were built
in the middle of the land, away from the sea,
disregarding the importance of sea to their
existing maritime lifestyle, believes, culture
and heritage.
The paper aims to understand the existing
Orang Seletar socio-culture as a basis for their
future resettlement at Kampung Bakar Batu.
This paper will capture the research and
design process carried out with a group of 32
students and three lecturers on failure of
existing government initiated housing.
Community Participation has been used as a
method to rectify and understand these
people needs. Data from questionnaires and
interview were analyzed to form a master
plan and design concept that mainly targeted
at reviving the socio culture and improving
socio-economy of these people. The team will
explore design alternatives from modern to
traditional vernacular in approach. The
options will be presented to Orang Seletar
community and these people's priority is to
not about preserving their culture and
tradition, but to survive further to adapt to
the modern world. Design of resettlements
must put into account their self-sufficient
ways to modernized and be competitive in the
future worlds. Thus, this directly impacts their
vernacular resettlement futures in their
architecture.
