Bukit Selambau Kedah Date of Completion
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UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: BUKIT SELAMBAU KEDAH Project carried out by: Student Name ID Number Course Year / Semester Chang Wooi Chee 13AAB05131 BA Y3S3 DATE OF COMPLETION: OCTOBER 2018 ABSTRACT Bukit Selambau is located in Sungai Petani, Kedah. In 2018, the population of this village was approximately 300. Agriculture is the main economic activity, followed by logging. Educational institutions range from pre-school to primary school only. INTRODUCTION Bukit Selambau is a village that is near to Sungai Petani. This new village was established before 1957. When we reached the village, we interviewed Mr Lim and his father. Both of them were previously village heads. They briefed us on some of the unique places in the village. The villagers prefer to do grocery shopping, make social visits and visit the doctor in Sungai Petani, which is about 20 km away. Its current population is approximately 300. When the village was first founded, it had a population of 800. Over the years, the population declined. HISTORY This village was formed before 1957. Most of the villagers chose to stay in the jungle. After World War II, the British colonial government set up a series of Chinese settlements in a 12-year state of emergency. This was to prevent the Chinese in the rural areas from making contact with the Malayan Communists in the forest. These concentration points later became new villages where the Chinese lived. ECONOMICS ACTIVITIES We also interviewed the village head in Bukit Selambau. He told us agricultural activities included rubber plantations and the oil palm sector. Most of the villagers earn a living by planting rubber trees and oil palm trees. Because it is near the river, the land here is suitable for this purpose. The residents do some logging activities here too. Figure 1: Lorry sending the logs to another town The villagers also do grocery and hardware businesses. Most of the time, the lorry drivers who send the crops, namely latex and oil palm will pass by and rest there. They will have quality time drinking tea in the kopitiam before leaving the village. The kopitiam is also known as the Chinese Coffee Shop. Figure 2: Hardware shop in Bukit Selambau There used to be a wet market in Bukit Selambau. It could not compete with some of the markets near to the village in town. Thus, some of the shops have been neglected, but some are still continuing with their business. They sell mostly grocery items and coffee products. Figure 3 Grocer’s shop Figure 4 Coffee shop SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES The largest population in Bukit Selambau is Chinese and the Teochew dialect is widely spoken. Minorities in the village are Malays, Indians and small numbers of Siamese. Most of the villagers have Taoism and Thai Buddhism beliefs. There are two Taoist temples in the village, “Shi Zhu Miao” and “Tian Gong Tan”. There is also one mosque. Figure 4: Thai temple Figure 5: Mosque Most of the youths leave the village due to lack of working opportunities. Those who remain are the elderly and children. In this new village, the villagers live leisurely. There are not many entertainment outlets and it is hard to see a park or playground. Fishing and swimming in Sungai Lalang are the villagers’ first choices during their free time. While some villagers modernise their homes, some have chosen to maintain tradition in their daily lifestyles including home renovation and decoration. Figure 6: A new house Figure 7: A traditional house EDUCATION There is only one primary school in the village, which is SJK(C) FU SHAN. The total number of students in the school is around 110. There are 60 Malay students and 50 Chinese students studying there. There is one government pre-school within the primary school. Figure 8: Fu Shan primary school INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES Medical facility that is available in the village is the government clinic. Figure 9: Government clinic Other facilities available are the post office and police station. The security in Bukit Selambau is still under good control despite a few robbery cases reported previously. The road system needs to be improved, as one accident had occurred there. Figure 10: Road in between shop lots is too narrow Figure 11: Road accident The government appoints a waste management company to collect garbage daily. The green environmental awareness in the village can be considered quite low, as they do not dispose of construction residues in a proper way. Figure 12: Disposal of construction materials at the roadside The water supply in Bukit Selambau is by Syarikat Air Darul Aman (SADA) and electricity is from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). Currently, the high-speed broadband service, UNIFI, is not available in this area. Some areas are still using streamyx to access the internet. Overall, telecommunication coverage in Bukit Selambau is good There is also one volunteer fire station located here. It is much appreciated by the villagers in case of fire. Figure 13 Fire station A bus station has been built, but due to declining population, the bus does not come to the village to pick up passengers that frequently. The villagers have already changed their mode of transport by driving to other places instead. If not, they need to spend a lot of time waiting for public transport. If there is an emergency and there are things to settle in town, they would rather take the taxi or ask for help from neighbours in order to avoid disappointing themselves. Figure 14: Bus station PROBLEMS Bukit Selambau is a small village. There are 75 houses with a total population of 300 living here. The village looks very quiet as the youths have left for job opportunities in the urban areas. Internet coverage is still under streamyx. Therefore the villagers have many difficulties with high-speed internet access. Public transport is also a big problem due to infrequent bus service, which affects the villagers going to Sungai Petani or to the secondary schools. It is very hard for the elderly to go to the town area when they are sick or face some emergencies. The atmosphere in the village is not good due to many lorries and big trucks passing by every day. The condition of roads is also poor. Firstly, if the road is on a higher level than the shops, it will create more problems for the shoppers. The government does not show any concern for the safety of the shoppers who carry the goods, especially the elderly. When floods occur, the villagers also suffer losses if the drain system is down. Due to many abandoned premises, drug addicts may take advantage of the situation to be involved in criminal activities. Villagers also face land lease problems with the government. Some of them tried going into agricultural activities but could not obtain approval from the government for the land to do so. After a few years of unsuccessful applications, the villagers give up on their efforts. The village does not have any secondary schools. The secondary school student is forced to go to another place to study. This is too troublesome for the villagers. There is a lot of land that is flat and fertile, but not well organised, hence the villagers cannot make a living from the land. Bukit Selambau is quiet and near to Lembah Bujang. The government does not highlight Lembah Bujang although it is already recognised by UNESCO. In Kedah, most of the tourism activities are focused on Langkawi rather than the mainland. RECOMMENDATION The villagers should consider social media platforms, like Facebook, to highlight their dissatisfaction with the government. The government should reserve land for the villagers in order to create job opportunities inside the village. The government should increase public facilities in the village, such as building basketball courts and parks. The road condition, broadband coverage and public transport system should also be improved in order to make the villagers’ lives easier. Improving road condition is also one of the ways to reduce pollution from lorries passing by every day. The youths very often move out from the small village once they have finished secondary education. They refuse to stay due to their hometown not having much job opportunities, and which keep reducing. They also cannot get the income they desire. If government changes the policy for agricultural sector to only Kedahans owning the land in Kedah, and not multinational companies, this will motivate the youths to build their career in the village. Next, set up an agricultural university to train the youths on managing plantations and have exchange programs with foreign countries to learn how to produce good products. This is better than just giving the chance to third parties to develop the plantations. The village should discuss the issue with the state government of changing the painting of old shops, as the refurbishment will attract more customers and increase sales. 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: 03-78582628 ext 8274, 8656, 8269 (Klang Valley Campus) 05- 4688888 ext 2297/2299/2300 (Perak Campus) .