UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: BUKIT KANGKAR 武吉港脚 JOHOR

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1 UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: 武吉港脚 JOHOR Project carried out by: Student Name ID Number Course Bachelor of Economics Wong Win Liang 11ABB05094 (Hons) Financial Economics Year/ Trimester Y2/T2 DATE OF COMPLETION: NOVEMBER 2013

2 ABSTRACT Bukit Kangkar was established in It is located in the district of Ledang in the state of Johor, it is located right after Tangkak toll on the way to Muar. The nearest town to Bukit Kangkar is Sungai Mati which is about 6.4 km away. The population of this new village in 2013 is around 4000, a fourfold increase since its establishment. Rubber tapping was its main economic activity. However, since the drop in rubber price and the rise of synthetic rubber, the main economic activity in Bukit Kangkar has switched to the oil palm industry. Besides villagers earn a livelihood from fruit orchards, swiftlet farms and coffee shops. 1

3 INTRODUCTION Bukit Kangkar is located in the district of Ledang in the state of Johor. Mr Tan Tong Leong is the current village head. He asked one of the villagers, Mr Chua, to be our tour guide to show us around. Mr Chua briefed us about the history of Bukit Kangkar which was administrated under Kangchu System from The new village was established in During the period of emergency in Malaya, when the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) fought a fierce battle against the british forces, many rural folks moved to Bukit Kangkar.In the early days, villagers main source of income came from the rubber estates in this area. Today, however, this village is known for its fields of watermelon. In fact this has given the village the nickname of 美人村 which means village of beauty because the chinese pronunciation of 美人 is similar to that for melon. 2

4 ECONOMICS ACTIVITIES We were imformed by Mr Chua that the main economics activities in Bukit Kangkar include fruit orchards, oil palm plantation and swiftlet farming. There are quite a number of big buildings which are constructed to attract swiftlets. Besides, there are also a few coffee shops which have been in business for decades. Next, there is also a wet market in the village. Figure 1: One of the buildings for swiflet farming. Figure 2: The only wet market in the village. 3

5 Figure 3: Picture taken in one of the coffee shops with Mr Tan (second from the right) and Mr Chua (middle). 4

6 SOCIETY, CULTURE AND RELIGION In Bukit Kangkar, 70% of the villagers are Chinese and Hokkien dialect is widely spoken. Most of the villagers are Buddhist and the village is famous for one of its Buddhist temple called 天后宫 which was built by port workers in the late 1920s. Mr Chua pointed out that it is quite a pity that the temple was demolished and rebuit several times, leaving no historical value. Nonetheless, some of the old assets are kept in a store room. Besides, there are also one church and 4 mosques in the village. Like many other new villages, many youths of Bukit Kangkar have left the village as there are not many job opportunities in this village. This is why the elderly and young children make up the majority of Bukit Kangkar s population. Figure 4: The famous 天后宫. 5

7 Figure 5: A well that has a legend behind it. Figure 6: The original sign board of 天后宫. 6

8 Figure 7: Mr Chua showing us some old photographs of the village. Figure 8: One of the mosques in the village 7

9 Figure 9: The only church in the village, It has a history. Figure 10: Old house that used to be accommodation for workers in ports. 8

10 Figure 11: Abandoned outdoor toilets. Villagers of Bukit Kangkar still practise one of the old traditions of putting red candles in front of others houses when someone in the village passed away. This practice has been reported in newspapers before as it is a very old Chinese tradition which many youngsters are not aware of. Figure 12: Newspaper cutting showing an article on traditional practice. 9

11 Figure 13: Second page of the newspaper article. Figure 14: Two big water tanks built in 1936 by the British government serve now as landmark of Bukit Kangkar. 10

12 EDUCATION There used to be 3 primary schools in Bukit Kangkar but 2 of them have merged because of their declining enrolment. One of 2 primary schools SJK (C) Nan Hwa is well-known for its girls basketball team which has won the regional championship for many years. Figure 15: The front view of SJK (C) Nan Hwa. Figure 16: Basketball court in the primary school. 11

13 Figure 17: Kindergarten and childcare centre under SJK (C) Nan Hwa. Figure 18: School magazine showing the glorious achievements of its girls basketball team. 12

14 Figure 19: Another kindergarten in the village. 13

15 PROBLEMS There are no Telekom Malaysia office and fire station in the village. The absence of a fire station very worrying as there are almost 300 wooden houses in the village. The villagers also have to travel to the next town to pay their electricity bills. The roads in Bukit Kangkar are narrow and steep, making the place very accident prone. There is a clinic in the village but it is located quite far from the town and it is inconvenient to travel to the clinic. The village also faces problem of poor public transport and social amenities. Figure 20: One of the tragic accidents happened in Bukit Kangkar. Fortunately, Mr Chua has taken the initiative to promote Bukit Kangkar via social network like Facebook and to connect all villagers through it. This is beneficial to the village as it has the potential of attracting more visitors to the village and boosting the local economy. 14

16 Figure 21: Newspaper article praising the Mr Chua s initiative to promote Bukit Kangkar using social media. 15

17 RECOMMENDATION More public transport facilities and social amenities should be built in the village to enhance the standard of living of the villagers. A fire station or a local firefighting group with the necessary equipment is important for this village of wooden houses. Clinics should be set up in the centre of the village where villagers can easily walk or drive there. It would be ideal if a secondary school were established in Bukit Kangkar. Besides, Mr Chua voiced out concern to preserve historical buildings and assets in the village as those are irreplaceable and can attract tourists to Bukit Kangkar. Figure 22: Mr Chua sharing his thought on preserving the historical part of Bukit Kangkar. DISCLAIMER: Information contained in this report was compiled by the University s students on voluntary basis. Although every effort has been made to check the accuracy of the report, the University accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any errors or omissions, if any, the University reserves the right to make changes on the information at any time without prior notice. Should there be any queries regarding contents of the report, please contact: Department of Soft Skills Competency Tel: ext 8274, 8656, 8269 (Klang Valley Campus) ext 2295/2297/2299/2300 (Perak Campus) 16