Belinyu – The acting governor of Kepulauan Bangka Belitung (Babel) Suganda Pandapotan Pasaribu visited the customary village of Memarong in Air Abik, Gunung Muda village, Belinyu district, Bangka regency on Tuesday (18/04/23).
According to one of the villagers, Arsi Harmoko, Memarong or customary house of Mapur’s tribe has become extinct. Therefore, the villagers try to revive it by building some houses to form a customary kampong.
“Memarong is inherited from our ancestors. It was our ancestors’ house. It has become extinct because the villagers build semi-permanent houses. Therefore the customary institution built memarong so the young generation knows their own traditional house,” said Arsi.
The acting governor was pleased to see the house which was the local wisdom of the tribe.
“I learned anthropology when I took my master degree in sociology at Indonesia University. This kind of concept is known as social empowerment. It needs to be supported by the government, private sector, and society,” said Suganda.
He expected to preserve the kampong as a regional cultural asset.
“We must preserve it. It’ll be valuable in the future. If we don’t do it, our generation will not know that there is an old tribe in Bangka. This is the diversity portrait of our country. It means that Mapur customary institutions educate the diversity among Indonesian people,” he added.
According to Suganda, the kampong will offer economic value if the people can optimally manage it as a tourist attraction. One of the empowerment concepts to be developed is related to tourism, culture and other extraordinary things in Babel. (Hasan A.M./SAS/ZE)
