BEDONG

UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

BEDONG

KEDAH

Project carried out by:

Student Name ID Number Course Year / Semester

Choong Yi Theng 14AAB03097 Public Relations Y4S1

DATE OF COMPLETION:

OCTOBER 2018

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BEDONG

ABSTRACT

Bedong is a small town in and located to the north of , . It was established in 1950. Tin mining and rubber tapping were the main economic activities. Later, these economic activities declined and now their main sources of income in this village are from employment. The educational institutions in Bedong range from kindergarten to primary school. Secondary schools are available in nearby Bedong.

HISTORY

This village was formed in 1950 and most of them 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 in order to prevent the Chinese in the rural areas to from contact with the Malayan Communist in the forest. And these concentration points later became new villages where the Chinese lived.

The British colonial government surrounded a piece of land with fencing and the people living in the enclosure needed to follow rules created by the former. Then Bedong was established. Over some years, the British gave the villagers a piece of land each to build their own houses. As the Chinese did not have much money to build their new homes, the Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA) created the social welfare lottery in order to attract investment from the people. Each of the family received RM300 to build a new house. Now, the social welfare lottery has become “Big Sweep”.

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BEDONG

INTRODUCTION

Bedong is located in and located 12 km to the north of Sungai Petani. This new village was established 68 years ago. There is a river nearby and Gunung Jerai can be seen from Bedong. Its current population is approximately 500. When the villages is was founded in 1950, it had a population of 2000. Over the years, the population declined.

ECONOMICS ACTIVITIES

During the past, the main economic activities were tin mining and rubber tapping. Many females came to Bedong to be a rubber tappers. Over time, tin mining and rubber tapping declined and many residents lost their jobs. Therefore, they began to leave the village to find jobs and caused the population to decrease.

There is only a one market in Bedong where the villagers go to buy their food ingredients. The market is still operating unlike some markets in other new villages, which are neglected.

Figure 1: Market in Bedong

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BEDONG

There are several streets with shops around Bedong. Some of the shops have been neglected but some are still continuing with their business. The shops selling mostly grocery and food. The exterior design of the shops is very old.

Figure 2 : View of a shop along the street

Figure 3 : View of some neglected shops

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BEDONG

Figure 4 : Shops that are still operating

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES The ethnic groups in Bedong are made up of the Chinese, Malay and Indian. Proportion of the three races is average, but the Indian population is increasing. For the Chinese, 90% are Teow Chew and 10% are Hakka. Most of the Chinese are Buddhists and Taoists. Therefore, there are many temples in the village. There is a hall in front of a temple used by the Chinese during weddings, but it is now used for Indian weddings. Many residents donated money to renovate the hall. It was renovated twice in 2003 and took four years to complete.There is one mosque and one church in Bedong.

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BEDONG

Figure 5 :One of the temples around Bedong

Figure 6 : Plaque with names of donors

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BEDONG

Figure 7 : Hall in front of temple

Figure 8 : Fu De Shi Temple （福德祠）

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BEDONG

Some of the villagers maintain the old style of houses while some renovated their houses to be more stable and stylish. People live leisurely in this new village. There is not much in the form of entertainment facilities.

Figure 9 : Old style house in Bedong

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BEDONG

EDUCATION

In Bedong, there is one Chinese primary school, SJK(C) Sin Kuo Min and one Indian primary school, SJK(Tamil) Bedong. There is a kindergarten inside SJK(C) Sin Kuo Min. In the past, there were over 500 students, but now around 100 students only,which comprises all three ethnic groups.

Figure 10 : Tamil primary school for Indians in Bedong

Figure 11: Kindergarten in Bedong

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BEDONG

Figure 12 : Kindergarten inside SJK(C) Sin Kuo Min

Figure 13 : Front view of SJK(C) Sin Kuo Min

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BEDONG

INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES There is one government clinic in Bedong with two to three doctors and four to five nurses. It takes around ten minutes to reach the nearest hospital, which is outside the village.

Figure 14 : Clinic in Bedong There is also a post office in Bedong.

Figure 15 : Post office in Bedong There are many social welfare centres in the village to help out the needy.

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BEDONG

Figure 16 : Welfare centre in Bedong

Figure 17 : Female welfare centre in Bedong There is a volunteer fire station in the village, which was set up by the villagers in case of fire.

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BEDONG

Figure 18 : Volunteer fire station in Bedong

Water supply in Bedong is by Syarikat Air Darul Aman (SADA) and Indah Water comes to Bedong to handle waste disposal. Electricity is supplied by TNB. Currently Unifi has not covered the whole area of Bedong yet. Some areas are still using streamyx for internet purpose. Telecommunication coverage in Bedong is good.

A railway station that was operating in Bedong last time has now been dismantled. There are public buses going through Bedong, but their frequency is every two hours. Thus, the villagers began to depend on their own cars instead of waiting for the bus.

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BEDONG

PROBLEMS

The main problem in Bedong is the declining population. Almost all of the young adults have gone to the cities to look for better job opportunities.. They then settle down with families of their own, and most do not return. Therefore, the number of students is decreasing also. Villagers wish to rebuild the schools, but due to a lack of students, the government will not do so.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Better infrastructure and social amenities will benefit the residents in Bedong. Facilities needed include a hospital, stationery shop, government fire station and police station. Besides that, the villagers are calling for a secondary school so that their children do not have to travel long distances for secondary school education.

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.

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BEDONG

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)

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