Gordon Benton, an architect of life

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.