Welcome to Spotlight.
I'm Gillian Woodward.
And I'm Roger Bassack.
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Tall buildings reach to the sky.
Crowds of people walk past on their way to work.
The roads are filled with cars and other vehicles.
And the whole area is completely clean.
It is the perfect example of modern city life.
This is Singapore Today.
This small island country is one of the most modern in the world.
Everybody here lives in the city.
Well, almost everybody.
A small group of about 25 families do not.
They live in a place that many people from Singapore do not know exists.
It is the only remaining village in Singapore, Lorong, Bangkok.
On today's Spotlight, we hear about some of the people still living in this village.
They explain why they like living in Singapore's last village.
They tell us why it is an important place to be.
Fatima lives in Lorong, Bangkok.
She is happy to live in a part of Singapore's history.
She said, In this village, all of us are friendly towards each other.
We like to help each other.
That is why we like to stay in the village.
The village of Lorong Buangkok was created in 1956.
Over the past 60 years, the village has grown and changed.
But it has not changed as much as the rest of Singapore.
In the 1980s, the country quickly expanded.
Its government wanted the country to become a centre for trade and industry.
They succeeded.
Today, Singapore's people are some of the wealthiest in the world.
Over six million people live in Singapore.
That might not seem like a big number, but Singapore is very small.
It is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.
On average, 8,250 people live in every square kilometre of Singapore.
That makes it about 19 times more crowded than India.
It is the second most densely populated place in the whole world.
Finding room for everyone to live in Singapore is an important issue.
That is why most people now live in large buildings with many homes.
These homes are apartments or flats.
These flats were built by the government's Housing and Development Board.
People call them HDB flats.
HDB flats replaced all the other villages, but not Larong, Buangkok.
Shin Mi Fong owns this village.
She refuses to sell the land.
She believes it is important to keep a reminder of the country's rural past.
And people living in Larong, Bangkok say life is better in their village.
Ainun has lived in both Larong, Bangkok and an HDB flat.
She grew up in the village.
Now she lives in the city with her husband.
She says she enjoyed living in the village because it is so friendly.
At the village it is all about the relationships between people.
Gathering with other villagers and getting to know each other is easy.
If we need anything, it is easy to meet them.
But if you live in an HDB flat, it is very difficult.
You cannot just go to their door.
You have to call them first to tell them that you are coming today.
Anand's husband, Ahmad, does not enjoy life in the village.
He is most happy in the city where he grew up.
I like staying in the city more than staying in the village.
I feel that it is more exciting.
In the city you get to meet a lot of different people.
In the village it is just the same people.
So the way you look at life may be a bit limited.
The city and village do have one thing in common.
They are full of people from many different ethnic groups.
Singapore grew rich by being a centre of trade.
People from all over the world would come to the island and buy and sell their goods.
This has given Singapore a rich mix of ethnic groups.
The biggest ethnic group is Chinese.
Other Singaporeans are from the Malay ethnic group.
Some are of Indian origin and many come from other parts of the world.
In the 1960s, this mix created trouble between the ethnic groups.
But in Larong Buangkok, there was no such trouble.
People living in the village say there was a special feeling of togetherness there and that there still is.
In the village, even though we are different races, we are family.
We mix around.
Some of the grandmas and grandpas have watched me grow up, so I love these old people.
They have been almost like my own parents because we are from the same village, so I do not care if they are Malay or Chinese.
Today the special qualities of Lorong, Bangkok are finally being recognized.
Though the government once wanted to develop the land, there are now no plans to do so.
People visiting Singapore take trips to the village.
Runners and walkers pass through every day to get out of the noise of the city.
In a place with little natural life, the village is a good place to rest.
Experts agree that living in a city makes people tense.
Being near a place with plants and animals, like Larong, Bangkok, reduces this tension.
Nassim lives in Singapore's last village.
He spoke to the British Broadcasting Company.
It is good that the government now sees the importance of our village.
You need to leave something behind.
A reminder to our young of how this country came about.
We came from these simple buildings.
It is also good that the public comes here.
It helps them understand us.
It helps them understand why Lorong Buangkok needs to be saved.
The future of Lorong Buangkok is not sure.
Singapore is so small that it will always be difficult to know what to do with land.
But it seems that, for now, the last village of Singapore is safe.
As long as it exists, Lerong Buangkok will remain a powerful reminder of the past, something that even a country as young as Singapore needs.
What are the historic small communities in your area?
Have you visited or lived in a small town?
You can leave a comment at www.spotlightenglish.com.
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Writer Dan Christman revised this script from an earlier version.
The producer was Dan Christman.
The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States.
All quotes were adapted for this programme and voiced by Spotlight.
This program is called, Saving the Last Village.
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
Goodbye.
