Gordon Benton, an architect of life

Dewi Santoso Contributor/Jakarta

"Never lose your roots, because from where you came is where you are going," is what Gordon Grant Benton always advises people.

Indeed, Benton, a director and senior technical advisor of PT Lippo Karawaci, never forgets his Scottish roots, although he was born outside his beloved country of Scotland.

"I was born in Malaysia, so in that sense I'm a Malaysian. But my culture is Scottish and thus, I'm of a Scottish nationality. It may not be true in other people's culture, but in my culture, it's very much so," Benton said in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

Born in Kuala Lumpur, on Jan. 10, 1932, Benton has spent most of his life living abroad as he believes that it is one way to build one's experience.

"I've moved quite a lot. When you can no longer learn, you move, I tell that to myself," he said.

That is also what he advises others to do.

"When (you are) on (your) way down and have lost interest in whatever, you can express a lot of bitterness, but it's not gonna make a lot of difference.

"Instead, that's the time to move. Move to a new area, a new place, a new environment with new challenges, an in this way you build your experience," said Benton.

The professorial, broad-minded architect, who firmly believes that experience is the best way for a person to learn, received his diploma in architecture from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1956.

He began his architectural career in numerous, often specialized industrial, education, recreation, housing and central business district projects in several countries around the world -- Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia.

He is currently the Town Manager of Lippo Karawaci in Tangerang, Banten, and he has won the Jakartabaru New Town invitation Competition.

"Architecture offers a whole garment of human life, from psychology of color to treatment of sewage. And I think I was fortunate enough to have been able to turn my hand to macro planning, and was asked to run Karawaci town," Benton told the Post.

He was entrusted to set up, plan, develop and run Lippo Karawaci, to which he introduced the concept of town management and created community discipline.

"We try to create community discipline here, that is respect for the rules, respect for your neighbors and respect for the community that you are in. We try to create very modest rules and encourage people to behave in a community-minded way," said Benton.

For example, he said, in Karawaci, no walls more than two meters high are allowed. The purpose, he said, was to allow fresh air and the sun in, which would be healthier.

"We also have zero tolerance for mosquitoes, which means we have to keep our gardens free of still water, we have no gutters in front of our houses, we don't allow the mosquitoes to breed," he said.

These rules, he said, had made Lippo Karawaci a town of its own, as people found safety, security and property appreciation there.

"I've been very honored to do the job, I've been intellectually thrilled that I've explored the potential of the job. We've been very fortunate, I think," said Benton.

Yet, as grateful as he is for the unique experience he has had, Benton believes that human efforts in trying not to dwell on mistakes is crucial.

"I think that on the one hand I've been very lucky. But I have made my own luck, or tried to. Where we made wrong decisions we tried to correct them very quickly.

"At the end of the day, there are no certificates, no medals ... nothing really for what you've done in life. If you've been fortunate like me to have the opportunity to run a town, it's really been an extraordinary end to my professional career," he said.

An adventurer at heart, Benton has also done a lot of traveling in his life.

"I've traveled to many places including Bali, West Sumatra, Yogyakarta and Bengkulu. I'm the first guy to have ever walked across Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). They (local villagers) thought I was crazy. But it's been a great experience in my life. I've climbed the Himalayas, I've climbed in Africa. But the greatest experience of my life is to have walked across Kalimantan. I'd like to write a book on that," he said.

When asked how much he loves Indonesia, Benton paused for several moments before finally giving his answer, "I have a dilemma. I'm not sure if Indonesia has made it particularly welcome (for foreigners) because of its bureaucracy. But it's been very good to me and my family. My children have had a fantastic education, education in life, in living.

"There are moments where I'd like to retire, back in Scotland where I've got my grandchildren and perhaps write, because I've got an exciting life and I'd like to write about it. But my family, my children say 'no way -- this is our home', so we have to understand that and take that on board.

"I'll be here for a couple more years, I suppose, until (my youngest children) finish school and have their own life and so on, and then perhaps I'll do that (retire)," said Benton.