UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: Batu Sembilan Village (Kampung Batu Sembilan) Project carried out by: Name of Student ID Course 1. LIM YONG SHENG 09UEB05337 QUANTITY SURVEYING Year/ Trimester Y2S1 DATE OF DATE OF COMPLETION: DECEMBER 2010 1
ABSTRACT Batu Sembilan is a new village located in Cheras. There are many stalls and shops foods and drinks in the village. Most villagers are Buddhists and Taoists. There are also several churches there. Two of the main concerns brought up by villagers are vandalism and narrow roads in the village. Finally, some suggestion are discussed to address the concerns in the the Batu Sembilan New Village. 2
HISTORY Since 1945 the Chinese population has reached 40,000 and the village became center of attention to the government. The government had to spend about RM300 million per year in order to have a good defense system and weaponry to curb communism. In the September 1948, Sir Henry Gurney was appointed as a British High Commissioner in Malaya. But not long after that, he was murdered in October of 1951, by a group of the communists in Bukit Fraser. On 21st March 1952, Lieutenant General Sir Harold Briggs was then appointed to head the emergency operation in Malaya. He also took over Sir Henry Gurney s duties. He has in-depth experience in guerrilla warfare was an asset to fight the communists. In Malaya, a total of 572,917 people have been moved to the 480 villages from June 1950 until the end of 1952. The Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) contributed a lot in establishment of the new village. At that time, MCA President who originated from the Selangor branch, Tun Lee Hau Shik announced that the MCA had spent RM65, 345 to build and develop the new villages since June 1950. By November 1951, about RM55, 000 was used to build a school at the Batu Sembilan New Village dan Batu Sebelas New Village. 3
EDUCATION The one primary school that we visited at the Batu Sembilan Village is the SRJK (C) BATU 9, CHERAS. There are some background and history related to the school: 1932 A small Chinese community contributed money to build a first primary Chinese school at the Batu Sembilan Village. At that time, only few students enrolled in the school. 1934 Mr.Tan Shi Xian ( 陳石相先生 ) contribute a lot of money in the development of the school. 1992- A four-storey building was completed. The total number of the students had increased to 1500. The building costs RM 300,000. 2002- Another new building is completed. This building is used for school activities purposes (first floor); staff room and general office (second floor). 4
HOUSING AND POPULATION In 1950, there were 400 villagers and 60 houses in Batu Sembilan new village. Sixty years later, its population has been increased to 25,715,819 people and now it is having more than 100 houses and 900 villagers. In the past year, most of their houses were built using the traditional method and wood finished. But now, most houses are made of concrete and have modern designs. Traditional wooden house Concrete house with modern amenities Developing of the housing The land area in the Batu Sembilan Village is only 329,847 km 2.The size of the is quite small, but it has a lot of space for commercial housing developers and contractors to build modern houses and buildings there. 5
CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES In the village, the majority of the villagers are Chinese who are either Buddhists or Taoists. Chinese festivals such as Mooncake Festival and Chinese New Year are celerbrated with much grandeur in the village and temples. Most temples are public property but there one temple which is privately owned by a villager. There is a small group people who are church-goers. Hence, there is a small church in the village. SAFETY The closest police station is located near to Taman Suntex - about 0.1 kilometer away from Hulu Langat. It is quite far away from the new and need to travel about 30 minute to reach the police station there. It is so inconvenient to the Batu Sembilan Villagers who want to report important cases or emergency cases to the police. Fortunately, Batu Sembilan new village is peaceful town with a very low crime rate. The villagers are very cooperative, kind and helpful to each other. They also look out for each other. Hence, if there are any thieves, the villagers will surely catch them first even before the police arrive. 6
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES The economic activities in the village are of a moderate level. There are a variety of food and drink stalls at the village. The village also has the bakeries, restaurants, grocery stores and others. This stall is strategically located and prices are reasonable. This is a popular green bean dessert. It is good and delicious. This bowl only costs RM1 and it is good for health. 7
Bakery Vegetarian food stall 24-hour Indian Muslim restaurant Grocery shop A car workshop A motorcycle shop 8
Another popular economic activity among the villagers is to maintain a small farm or vegetable plot. During my visit, I realized that most of the villagers like to plant vegetables for their own consumption and whatever is in excess will be sold in the market. Mr. Lim, a house-owner has a small farm in his garden. He plants types of vegetables such as green peas, scallions, turnip, lettuce and others. He will harvest the vegetables for his own family and the excess will be sold in the market at reasonable prices. I also observed that most villagers there are very concerned about their health. They are aware that we need to consume high proportions of vitamins, pro-vitamins, dietary minerals, fiber and carbohydrates to stay healthy. Mr. Lim told us that if we eating sufficient amounts of vegetables; we can lower our risk of heart diseases and diabetes. In addition, the health benefits of a diet rich in vegetables also can lower blood pressure; stroke, and probably some cancers, besides lowering the risk of eye and digestive problems. 9
PROBLEMS The main problem for village is the vandalism. There are many vandalism cases in this village. First, the main function of the communication facilities especially public telephones already seriously ruined and vandalized. This picture is taken by a place whereby near to the SJK(C) Batu Sembilan Cheras. Students are not able to use the public telephone during times of emergency. Road signs were also vandalized. Vandalized caution sign Drains posing a danger to road users 10
Narrow road Stray dog Besides vandalism, the roads in the village are too narrow. Only one vehicle can go through at any one time. Hence, it poses a great danger to other road users if heavy vehicles such as school buses and lorries need to go through the narrow roads. Plus, it does not have any safety barricades along the both sides of the road. Children who are walking or playing by the side of the road are vulnerable. Furthermore, the village also has many of stray dogs. The dogs often chase children, cyclists and motorcyclists who use the roads. 11
Recommendation Here is my suggestion and recommendation in order to improve and changes the quality life of the villagers in new village. 1. Widen the roads and install barricades on each side A wider road would provide greater convenience to villagers and road users. Heavy vehicles can also move with greater ease. 2. More frequent police patrols Issue on-the-spot fines to people who vandalize public property. 3. Villagers need to be informed of whom they can call to capture stray dogs. 12
Conclusion First, one important things that I realize that the people at the new village are so much nicer compared to those living in cities. Interestingly, each villager holds a walkie-talkie and they are able to communicate with each other easily. Besides, at the new village, everyone is practically like family and they treat strangers like close friends too. In other words, they have an enthusiastic and kind characteristic. For instance, I was brought around the new village to conduct interviews with the locals and they were more than willing to share their cultural stories and historical facts about the village. I hope this project could help improve the quality of life of these new villagers. 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: 03-79551511 ext 157 (Klang Valley Campus) 05-4662323 ext 2297/2299 (Perak Campus) 13