Fatimah's
Kampung
Iain Buchanan
Fatimah's
kampung was the last kampung the city consumed. It was a small
kampung, which Fatimah's moyang had begun when he built a house
from the forest. Nearby was the keramat, with its doves and its
sacred tree. And on the hill was the last patch of forest, where
great rattans grew and tigers hid.
For
generations, the keramat had kept the kampung and its forest safe
from Development. Everywhere else, villages had been flattened,
precious landmarks destroyed. But Fatimah had been blessed: she
still lived in the house her moyang had built, and she could still
hear the banana leaves clatter in the rain outside her window.
She could explore the keramat, talk to the doves... and still
walk in the shade of ancient trees.

Then
Development came. The forest was cut down, the kampung demolished,
and a great factory went up. But it was not the end of the house
that Fatimah's moyang had built. And it was not the end for the
doves in the keramat, when their home too was finally flattened
... or for the tiger that had haunted Fatimah's thoughts for so
long. Fatimah's story is a parable, for children and adults, about
a fast-changing world. It is a reminder of how wonderful the world
can be, and a warning of how barren we can let it become.
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