UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: SEKINCHAN, 适耕庄 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
ABSTRACT Sekinchan, Selangor is located in the west of Selangor, which is about 30km north of Kuala Selangor. It is situated in the district of Sabak Bernam. The village is divided into several villages which was site A, B and C by the British government during World War 2 (WW2). The division of the village was mainly due to the presence of Communism. It has a population of around 17000 in the year 2004 and has increased to around 30,000 in 2011 which mostly are Hokkien and Cantonese. Most of the occupation in Sekinchan village is mainly fisherman and farmer. Among the residents in Sekinchan, most of them have a surname of Tse ( 谢 ) and Pan ( 潘 ).It was lastly said that there are 3 persons who found this village. Almost the entire resident in Sekinchan is Taoists practitioners. The economic activities evolved in the village are mainly from fishing, farming and other various business activities. The main food attraction of the village is the fresh yet reasonable price seafood that can be easily attained from the nearby sea. 2
HISTORY Sekinchan, a 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 under guard so that they would not be in contact with any Communist Party of Malaya(CPM) members. It is believed Sekinchan was a fishing port. At first, Sekinchan was called Red Hair Harbour ( 红毛港 ). It was believed that British planted Nypa fruticans( 亚答树 ) here for make up wine. Due to lack of land transport in Sekinchan, the Nypa fruit cans were transported to Tanjung Karang by ship to produce the wine. Since Sekinchan is rich in many resources, residents gradually moved from coasted areas to the village proper. At first, the village was not named as Sekinchan. It was called Sixteen (16 支 ), because the distance from Sekinchan to Kuala Selangor was 16 kilometers. With the gradual improvement at the 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. Today, due to its unique geographical environment, Sekinchan is not only has a broad area of paddy fields, but it s also rich in fish, and therefore it is known as land of plenty ( 鱼米之乡 ). 3
Sign board in Sekinchan A Village Sign board in Sekinchan C Village 4
POPULATION & HOUSING 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 paddy fields and orchards, with various fruits and vegetable gardens including mangoes, pepper, longan, and dragon fruit trees. Village B is the largest village in Sekinchan. It consists of about four hundred households and almost all residents are Hakka, and Cantonese. Many residents have farming activities; the village also consists of many old shops, tea café and grocery stores and as a result, the streets are very lively. In recent years, Village B has been transformed into a luxury residential area. Village C is a small village with an estimate of 350 people who act padi planters and most of them were Fujians. The urban area between village B and village C is Sekinchan commercial area and activity centers, like associations, political parties, and rural groups. While at seaport village, 90% of the residents are Teochew. Most of these residents work as fishermen. Usually the fishermen go to the sea in the morning at 4am or 5am and return with their catch around five in the evening. 5
One of the biggest houses in Sekinchan New Village 6
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES 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 rice factories in this village. For the past 10 years, bird nest is also one of the main economic activities. When one passes through the village, he/she could see many bird nest houses built beside the paddy field. There are also many commercial activities like tuition centers, grocery stores, banks, and restaurants. The wet market in Sekinchan is the busiest place in early mornings where people are buy or sell their goods. Paddy in Sekinchan 7
Paddy fields in Sekinchan Bird nest houses in Sekinchan 8
The wet market in Sekinchan 9
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 ). In the following year, the number of students increased, and therefore the school was extended to accommodate more students. Now, the total number of students is 1116 students with 58 teachers. The students are mostly Chinese students; however there are 36 Malay students and 4 Indian students. The present headmaster is Mr. Lee Ah Lek who was transferred to this school in July 2010. SJK(C) Yoke Kuan 10
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. The student population 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 7 months ago. In 2007, there was a student from the science stream, named Chang Lin Hui who obtained 5As in STPM and 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 pursuing their studies in Biotechnology in overseas.. 11
SMJK Yoke Kuan The photo we took with Pn.Yong Lin Thye(Vice president of SMJK Yoke Kuan) 12
ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Sekinchan is just a small village, but it has a potential to become one of the famous tourist places in future. Sekinchan has many stalls selling home made goods. Most of these stalls are beside roads. However, some business men run their businesses on motorcycles or using vans. They sell foods 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 drinks such as soya bean which is purely made from soya bean and it tastes 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, gardening is another economic activity carried out by the senior residents in Sekinchan Village as there are plenty of backyard spaces in their houses. They fill their leisure time by gardening and playing mahjong, chess or chat at coffee shops. This also helps them to earn extra income by selling the products from their farms. 13
SOCIAL, CULTURAL & RELIGIOUS PRACTICE There is a temple named Nan Tian Gong ( 南天宫 ) which was built in a paddy fields surrounding. 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 endless green horizon, the paddy fields in front of the temple. As most of the residents act Taoisists, they offer prayers at the Temple. The one of the most popularly celebrated festival by the Chinese is the Nine Emperor God festival. The festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration, begins on the eve of 9 th lunar month of Chinese calendar. On the eve of the ninth moon in the Chinese calendar, deities hold a ceremony to invoke and welcome the nine emperors. Since the arrivals of the gods, believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to the sea-shore or river to represent this belief. Devotees dressed in traditional white, carrying incense and candles, wait for the arrival of their Excellencies. 14
During the ninth day of the festival, most devotees stay in the temple and eat vegetarian meals and continuously chant prayers. It is believed that there will be rain throughout the nine days celebration. View from the front of the temple 15
TOURISM VALUE Fresh fish The main attraction of Sekinchan is the fresh and cheap seafood and beautiful sceneries because the restaurant is strategically located near the seaside. Most of the tourists who visit the village will definitely order seafood as their meal. Besides that, the old buildings built before the independence, add to its beauty and this is also one of the attractions of the village. 16
PROBLEM Sekinchan New Village still lack of educational facilities for primary school and secondary schools. Besides, there is no hospital there. It has only a clinic and this clinic is not able to provide full services i.e. for emergencies. Therefore, the residents need to travel for long hours to the nearest hospital. In addition, Sekinchan does not have any shopping mall or even a hypermarket. Residents do not have much choice when it comes to purchasing personal items. On the other hand, the lack of shopping mall makes teenagers feel bored as they do not have an access for entertainment. 17
CONCLUSION In conclusion, Sekinchan New Village is an awesome place which has a strong historical heritage. This historical heritage must be retained so that the younger generation would have a chance to learn and appreciate it. We hope that the government will provide more facilities to the Sekinchan New Villagers to improve the standard of living of the people there. 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) 18
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