UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF THE VILLAGE KG. KWONGSAI 广西村 JOHOR Project carried out by: Student Name ID Number Course Year/Trimester 1. Lim Hui Ling 1302683 Bachelor of Communication (Hons) Advertising Y1/T3 2. Lee Xin Ting 1302691 3. Vanessa Chin Pau Yee 1500258 4. Lim Yi Xin 1500393 Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Banking and Finance Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Chemical Engineering Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Chinese Studies Y1/T3 Y1/T1 Y1/T3 DATE OF COMPLETION JANUARY 2014
ABSTRACT Kampung Kwongsai was established in the year 1957. It is located in the district of Segamat in the state of Johor. Towns close to this new village are Tenang and Segamat with approximate distances of 4km and 13km respectively. Most villagers earn a living from the oil palm and rubber estates and smallholdings estates in this area. 1
INTRODUCTION Kampung Kwongsai is located in Segamat, Johor. Some of the nearby towns include: Tenang which is 4.6 km southeast of the village. Segamat which is 13.2 km southeast of the village. The village is surrounded with oil palm and rubber plantations/ smallholdings. The settlement pattern of the village is scattered. Most of the villagers built their own house based on the land given when they first settled in the village. The new village was founded in the year 1957 after Malaysia obtained its independence. In the early days, the village was populated by Chinese Guang Xi ( 广西 ) people. After decades, other dialect groups especially the Hakka ( 客家 ) and Fu Zhou ( 福州 ) also settled in Kg Kowongsai. Figure 1: Road sign leading travellers to Kg.Kwongsai 2
POPULATION AND HOUSING Figure 2: A house in Kg.Kwongsai According to Ms. Tham, a lady who has lived in the village since her childhood, there are currently around 200 peoples and more than 30 households in Kg Kwongsai. The population of the village has decreased over the years as most of the young people have migrated to urban areas in search of better employment opportunities. As a result, the remaining villagers are mainly children and the elderly. This village has not been represented by a headman for approximately 20 years. Instead, the headman from neighbouring village has taken over the role. Although the original settlers in this village are mainly Guang Xi Chinese, other dialect groups especially the Hakka and the Fu Zhou moved to the village group in later years. Nevertheless, the Guang Xi from the majority of the population. Mandarin and the Chinese dialects are the most commonly used languages in this village. Many existing houses in the village were built by the original settlers and handed down over generations. Houses were built in a scattered manner, depending on the land available. 3
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES The rubber and oil palm estates and smallholdings provide villagers with their main source of income. Ms Tham informed us that most families in the village own at least 10 acres of land which are planted with oil palms or rubber trees. Villagers also plant vegetables and a variety of crops such as corn, jackfruit, dragonfruit and bananas in their backyard. This is mainly for their own consumption as the nearest town is quite a distance away. Figure 3: Oil Palm Figure4: Rubber trees 4
Figure5: Banana trees Figure6: Corn grown in the backyard Figure7: Dragon fruit plant 5
Figure 8: Jackfruits Ms Tham was very generous to give us 2 jackfruit from her backyard. We were informed that these jackfruit were from a special breed- thin, sweet and crispy flesh. Figure 9: Ms.Tham plucking jackfruits from the tree 6
Figure 10: Team photo under a jackfruit tree Figure 11: The 2 jackfruit from Ms Tham There is a slaughterhouse for quails in this village. It is owned by AZAM IM ENT SDN. BHD. The slaughterhouse also processes the quails and packs them for sale outside the village. 7
Figure 12: Quail slaughterhouse 8
SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES Originally, Kg. Kwongsai was populated with Guang Xi people. After decades, Hakka and Fu Zhou people also settled here. The villagers communicate mostly in Mandarin or their respective dialects. Surprisingly, we found out that Ms.Tham was able to speak fluent Malay and Basic English, besides Mandarin and Chinese dialects. Taoism is the main religion in Kg Kwongsai. There are three temples in this village: Datuk Temple ( 拿督宫 ), Thean Hou Temple ( 天后宫 ) and Guan Di Temple ( 关帝宫 ). The main festivals in this village are religious festivals when villagers gather at the temples to worship the temples deities. Lately, MCA organized a Mid-autumn festival in the village and visitors came to the village to celebrate with the villagers. Figure 13: Datuk Temple ( 拿督宫 ) 9
EDUCATION According to Ms.Tham, there is no kindergarten, primary or secondary school in the village. The children in the village have to go to schools outside of the village. Parents have to send their children to the nearest school with their own transportation. 10
INFRASTRUCTURES AND FACILITIES The village has piped water, electricity and telephone lines. Ms.Tham mentioned that electricity was first available in this village back in the 1980 s and piped water supply was available in the 1990 s. We were able to take a look at the old wells that were used before the village was supplied with piped water. Now, the village gets their water supply from Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) and electricity from Tenaga Nasional (TNB). Figure 14: Old well A community hall in the village serves as a place for most group activities and gatherings. Sometimes, local MCA meetings are held in this place too. There are no medical facilities such as clinic or hospital in the village. However, every two weeks on Sunday, Klinik Bergerak 1 Malaysia (Mobile Clinic 1 Malaysia) will come to the village to offer basic medical services at the community hall. 11
Figure 15: Community hall in Kg.Kwongsai Even though there is no police station in the village, there are frequent police patrols. The village roads are tarred and this makes it easy for villagers to move around. In fact, most villagers own motorcycles and cars. There is no garbage collection service provided in the village. Hence, the only way to handle the garbage in the village is to burn it or use landfills. For sewage disposal, village houses have flush toilets. Figure 16: Abandoned old house 12
TOURISM VALUE Kg Kwongsai s tourism value comes from its tranquil environment and surrounding greenery. It is also interesting to observe the activities in the rubber and oil palm estates. 13
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES Villagers should explore the market for homestay programmes. Visitors from the city are likely to appreciate and enjoy Kg Kwongsai s related lifestyle and scenery. Besides, the village s history provides rich material for tourists who are interested in the origins of the village and its place in Malaysian history. Perhaps the authorities could conduct workshops or training sessions on the management and marketing of homestay programmes. If the villagers are willing to take up the challenge, they are likely to reap an additional source of income. 14
PROBLEMS AND NEEDS Villagers have access to fixed line telephones, unfortunately, the service is not stable and this poses a problem, especially in cases of emergency. The absence of schools in the village means that villagers have to transport their children to neighbouring towns to attend school. Perhaps public transport could be improved to transport students and the elderly. Some villagers complained about air pollution caused by factories near Kg Kwongsai. If this condition continues, it will affect the health of the people in the village. 15
RECOMMENDATIONS Villagers need to appeal to Telekom Malaysia to improve their service. They could also seek the assistance of the education Dept. to provide better education opportunities. Take for examples, a tuition class in the village to help the students in their studies after their hours. Next, we would like to suggest that public transportation, such as buses, should be arranged to accommodate the needs of villagers who need to travel to other villages or neighbouring towns. Lastly, the authorities should deal with the factories which cause air pollution around the area. This is important for the health of villagers. 16
CONCLUSION Kg. Kwongsai was a new village that is populated with Chinese people from different dialects groups. We are glad to visit this village and to meet its friendly and hospitable residents. We hope that this village will be able to keep its true identity for as long as possible and we look forward to visiting it again in the future. Figure 17: A warm hug from Ms.Tham Figure 18: Group photo with Ms.Tham 17
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: 03-79582628 ext 8274, 8656, 8269 (Klang Valley Campus) 05-4688888 ext 2295/2297/2299/2300 (Perak Campus) 18