UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: SEKINCHAN, SELANGOR. Project carried out by: Student Name Student ID Course Year / Semester Choo Fu-Hwang 09UEB05712 Civil Engineering Y1S3 Tan Tian Kai 09UEB05955 Civil Engineering Y1S3 DATE OF COMPLETION: APRIL 2011 1
ABSTRACT Sekinchan, Selangor is located in the west of Selangor. It is about 30km north of Kuala Selangor, in the district of Sabak Bernam. The village was divided into several sections: site A, B and C by the British colonial government. The division of the village was to facilitate control of the villagers during the period of Malayan Emergency. Sekinchan had a population of around 17000 in the year 2004 and this has increased to around 30,000 in 2011. The majority of villagers are Chinese who speak the Hokkien and Cantonese dialects. Most villagers work as farmers and fisherman. Some villagers operate small business enterprises. Sekinchan is known for its fresh and reasonably priced seafood. 2
Most villagers are Taoist practitioners. This is closely intertwined with traditional Chinese culture which villagers adhere to. It is believed that 3 people founded this village and many villagers can trace their carry the surname Tse( ) and Pan_ an indication of their common roots in the past. History 3
Sekinchan New Village is a little town in the middle of the main rice-bowl area of Selangor, in the Sabak Bernam district, and it is one of the existing 450 new villages remaining in the country. It was built during the declaration of the Emergency by the British colonial government in 1953 to keep the Chinese people in Malaysia under guard so that they would not be in contact with any Communist Party of Malaya(CPM) members, and later also formed the existing reclamation A, B, C, and the sea fishing village. It is believed the born of Sekinchan was from the seaport. The early of Sekinchan is called Red Hair Harbour ( 红毛港 ). It was believed that British plant Nypa fruticans( 亚答树 ) in here for the make wine purpose. Due to the limited land transport in Sekinchan at that time, the Nypa fruit cans were transported to Tanjung Karang by ship to produce the wine. Sekinchan is rich in many resources, hence many residents gradually moved to other parts of the land; from seaport area to the village area. On the other hand, after the name of Red Hair Harbour, the village was not named Sekinchan yet. It was called Sixteen (16 支 ), because the distance from Sekinchan to Kuala Selangor was 16 kilometres. With the gradual form in seaport, the first alley was built. The principal of the first Chinese primary school in the Sekinchan named the place as Sekinchan which means suitable cultivation village. 4
Today, due to the unique geographical environment, Sekinchan not only has the broad area of paddy fields, but it also rich in fish, and therefore they are called land of plenty ( 鱼米之乡 ). Sign board in Sekinchan A Village Sign board in Sekinchan C Village Population & housing 5
Sekinchan has a population of around 30,000 people in which the majority of them are Chinese. Sekinchan is categorized into A, B, C and the seaport village. Village A has a total of 200 households -most Chinese were from Fujian, and 90% of them are farmers. Village A is described by the phrase - "sparrow may be small but fullyequipped". This is because it is surrounded by rice paddies and orchards, with various fruits and vegetables including mangoes, pepper, longan, and dragon fruit. Village B is the largest village in Sekinchan. It has about four hundred households and almost all residents are Hakka, and Cantonese. Many residents have farming business; the village has gathered many old shops, tea café and grocery stores which result in the streets being very lively. In recent years, Village B has been transformed into a luxury residential area and residential village. Village C is a small village with an estimate of 350 people which is inhabited by local rice farmers and most of them were Fujian. The urban area between village B and village C is Sekinchan commercial area and activity centers, like associations, political parties, and rural groups. While in seaport village, 90% of the residents are Teochew. Most o the residents work in the sea as fishermen. Usually the fishermen will go to sea in the 6
morning at 4am or 5am and return with their catch of the day at around five in the evening. One of the biggest houses in Sekinchan New Village Economic activities 7
Farming and fishing are the main economic activities in Sekinchan New Village. One of the biggest farming fields in Malaysia is in Sekinchan. Therefore, this industry has produced a lot of job opportunities to the residents. Besides, there are many companies which process grains into rice in this village. For the past 10 years, bird nest is also one of the main economic activities. When one passes through the village, one could see many bird nests houses built beside the paddy field. There are also many commercial business activities like tuition centre, grocery store, banks, and restaurants. The wet market in Sekinchan is the liveliest place in the early morning where the people are buying or selling their goods. Paddy in Sekinchan 8
Paddy field in Sekinchan Bird nest house in Sekinchan 9
The wet market in Sekinchan 10
Education There is a primary school located in Sekinchan New Village called SJK(C) Yoke Kuan which was built in 1943. In 1943, this primary school was called as Hua Qiao Ye Xiao ( 华侨夜 ). But in the following year, the number of students has increased, and therefore the school compound was extended to accommodate larger number of students. As of thiis year, the total number of students is 1116 students with 58 teachers. It has mostly Chinese students, 36 Malay students and 4 Indian students. The current principal is Mr. Lee Ah Lek who had just transferred to this school in July 2010. SJK(C) Yoke Kuan 11
The photo we took with Mr.Lee Ah Lek (President of SMJK Yoke Kuan) Besides, there is the only one secondary school located in Sekinchan New Village called SJK(C) Yoke Kuan which was built in 1957. Today, it consists of 1650 students and 121 teachers. It consists of 80% Chinese, 15% Malay and 5% students from other races. The current principal is Mr. Chay Kin Siang who had joined this school for about 7 months. In 2007, there was a student from the science stream, named Chang Lin Hui who obtained 5As in STPM and who managed to attain scholarship to advance her education in Tokyo. In the same year, Lim Shu Yong and Tan Chin Huat also achieved 16A1 in SPM and are currently enrolled in the Biotechnology course overseas.. 12
SMJK Yoke Kuan The photo we took with Pn.Yong Lin Thye(Vice president of SMJK Yoke Kuan) 13
Entrepreneurship Opportunities Sekinchan is just a small village, but it has a potential to become one of the famous tourist place in the future. Sekinchan has many stalls which show the villager s entrepreneurial skills. Most of the stalls are beside the roads and some are based on mobility concept they run their businesses on motorcycles or van. All these stalls sell food such as fruits, bread & cake, rice noodle roll, (chee cheong fun), brewed bean curd ( 酿豆腐 ), bread and snacks. They also manufacture their own drink such as soya bean which is purely made by soya bean and it taste sweet. This shows that many entrepreneurship opportunities are available in Sekinchan as long as they are willing to work under the hot sun. 6211 Soya Bean In addition, plantation is another economic activity carried out by the senior residents in Sekinchan Village as there are plenty of backyard space in their houses. They fill their leisure time by doing plantation work instead of playing mahjong, chess or chat in coffee shop. This also helps them to earn extra income from selling products from their farm. 14
Social, cultural and religious practice There is a temple named Nan Tian Gong ( 南天宫 ) which is built with abundant of paddy fields surrounding the temple. The temple is painted mostly in red and heavenly glory yellow which has 2 towers on each side. On the highest level of the tower, we could feel a fresh breeze blowing in and we are able to see the simply beautiful endless green horizon which is the paddy field in front of the temple. As most of the resident is Taoism, all the Taoist will offer prayer at the Temple. The one of the most celebrated festival by the Chinese there is the Nine Emperor God festival. The festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9 th lunar month of Chinese calendar. On the eve of the ninth moon in the Chinese calendar, temples of the deities hold a ceremony to invoke and welcome the nine emperors. Since the arrivals of the gods are believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to 15
the sea-shore or river to represnt this belief. Devotees dressed in traditional white, carrying incense and candles; await the arrival of their Excellencies. During the nine day of the festival, most devotees stay at the temple, eat vegetarian meals and continuously chant prayers. It is believed that there will be rain throughout the nine days of celebration. View from the front of the temple 16
Tourism value Fresh fish The main attraction of Sekinchan is the fresh and cheap seafood and beautiful scenery because the restaurant is strategically located near the seaside. Most of the tourists who visit the village will definitely order seafood for their meal. Besides that, the mostly old building built before the independence of our country filled the town with its beauty and this is also one of the attractions of the village. 17
Problem Sekinchan New Village still lack of education facilities: primary school and secondary school. Besides, Sekinchan does not have any hospital in nearby. It has only a clinic and this clinic is not capable of providing full services i.e. for emergencies for the residents. Therefore, the residents need to travel for long hours to the nearvy hospital should an emergency happened. In addition, Sekinchan does not have any shopping mall or even a hypermarket. Residents do not have much choices when it comes to purchasing personal items. On the other hand, the lack of shopping mall makes teenagers feel left out as they do not have access to entertainment. 18
Conclusion In conclusion, Sekinchan New Village is an awesome place which has a strong historical heritage value. The historical heritage value must be retained so that the younger generation would have a chance to learn and appreciate it. Besides, we hope that the government will implement more facilities to the Sekinchan New Village which will improve the quality of live for the residents. 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 (Klang Valley Campus) 05-4688888 ext 2297/2299 (Perak Campus) 19