SEKINCHAN

UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

SEKINCHAN A, B& C
适耕庄 A, B& C

SELANGOR

Project carried out by:

Year /
Student Name Student ID Course
Semester

Choo Fu-Hwang 09UEB05712 Civil Engineering Y1S3

Tan Tian Kai 09UEB05955 Civil Engineering Y1S3

DATE OF COMPLETION:
APRIL 2011

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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.

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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.

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HISTORY

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”.

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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

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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 fully-

equipped". 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

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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

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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 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

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Paddy field in Sekinchan

Bird nest‟ house in Sekinchan

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The wet market in Sekinchan

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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

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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.

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SMJK Yoke Kuan

The photo we took with Pn.Yong Lin Thye(Vice president of SMJK Yoke Kuan)

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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.

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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 9th 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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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)

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