CHUI CHAK

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UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY

PROJECT REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

CHUI CHAK, PERAK

Project carried out by:

Name of student ID Course Year /Trimester

Liew Soon Cheong 10AAB06763 Public Relations Y1T3

Sua Siew Ting 11AAB00305 Public Relations Y1T1

Yeoh Chee Kang 11AAB00512 Public Relations Y1T1

DATE OF COMPLETION:

March 2011

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ABSTRACTS

Chui Chak established in 1950, has more than five thousand villagers at the

moment. Located in Perak, it is the second largest village in Hilir Perak. It is a

well developed village, with a lot of modern day amenities. It is famous for its

agricultural products. Many of the villagers work as farmers. The environment of

the village is beautiful and attractive, especially the paddy field area. Many

outsiders like to come here to view the sunset at the paddy fields.

Kampung Baru Chui Chak

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HISTORY

The Chui Chak New Village was established in 1950 during the British rule.

Chui Chak is a typical Chinese New Village in Perak. Most of the villagers speak

the Hokkien dialect, which is the reason why the British called this place based on

their dialect. This place was a forest area before it was turned by the British into a

paddy and tobacco fields. This is a flat land rich with nutrients and therefore

suitable for farming. Tobacco was firstly planted in Chui Chak before paddy.

Paddy fields started only after half a year after tobacco was planted due to the

launch of a British government plan which turned 5000 hectares of tobacco field

into paddy field.

Our team has interviewed the Head villager, Mr. Hu Tong Sang.

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POPULATION

The population of Chui Chak in the mid-1950s was about 100 families with

approximately 3000 villagers. Each family was given 6 hectares of land for paddy

field and 2 hectors of free land for other purposes such as building houses,

planting vegetables and fruits. But in the early 1950s, the British described Chui

Chak as a ‘black area’ due to rumors that this area was hiding communists. The

situation improved after 1958 when the British announced this place as a ‘white

area’. Subsequently, the population increased to 5000 villagers.

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INFRASTRUCTURES

Infrastructures that were available in late 1970s were a kindergarten and a

primary school. The kindergarten, “Sekolah Taman Kanak-Kanak Kg. Chui Chak”

was built in 1978 and the primary school, “S.R.J.K. (C) Chui Chak” was built in

1982. There is no secondary school in Chui Chak—the nearest secondary school,

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato’ Sagor, is at Langkap.

Sekolah Taman Kanak-Kanak Kg. Chui Chak

S. R. K (C) Chui Chak

The Chui Chak villagers built a temple in 1968. After the 1980s, a

multipurpose hall was built in front of the temple. Several activities can be held in

the hall such as badminton practice and dancing practice.

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Guan Yin Temple

Guan Yin Temple

Multipurpose Hall

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The Chui Chak villages have electricity, water supply and sewage

disposable systems to make the villagers life more convenient. Electricity is rarely

disrupted and their water source is from Tapah with one big tank for storage of

water in case of any water cut. In addition, Chui Chak village also has adequate

public facilities such as a mini ambulance center, a garden, a basketball court, a

football field, an activity center, a market, a police station, and a clinic.

Public Hall Mini Voluntary Fire Brigade Centre

Pasar (Market) Clinic

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Recreation Park Basketball Court

Police Station Football Field

CULTURE

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Almost 99% of the villagers in Chui Chak are of Chinese descent, while the

remaining 1% are Malays and Indians. The predominant religion in this village is

Buddhism, followed by Taoism. Most of the Chinese here speak Hakka, Hokkien,

Cantonese, Mandarin, and Teow Chew. During festive seasons, Chui Chak village

becomes lively especially during the Chinese New Year festival. The villagers

celebrate the festival traditionally, such as displaying lion dances. The mid-

autumn festival also sees a lot celebration going on. In the night, the children with

their parents would take their lanterns to walk in the streets. During the Dragon

Boat Festival, every household would be preparing dumplings. In addition to these

festivities, weddings in the village are also usually a communal affair, with the

whole neighbourhood helping out in the celebration.

ECONOMY

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There are two major economic activities in this village—agriculture and trading.

Paddy Plantation (Agriculture) Awana Fish Breeder (Agriculture)

Oil Palm Plantation (Agriculture) Vegetable Farm (Agriculture)

Bird Nest Industry (Agriculture) Middle Men of the Oil Palm & Paddy

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Kompleks Pengumpulan Ladang (KPL)

There are also restaurants, grocery shop and a salon here in this village, which

also provide job opportunities for the villagers.

“Ban Yak Seng” the oldest shop at the Chui Chak

“Fu Fa Trading” “Chui Chak” mini market”

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“Peniagaan Yeng Sang” “Xian Jing” mini market

Home style hair salon Syarikat Soon Tat

Motorcycle and bicycle repairing shop

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Home Style Car Wash Shop Restaurant Sun Sun Brother

Home style biscuit and newspaper shop “Homes Mart” mini market

AGRICULTURAL: INTERVIEW WITH A PADDY FARMER –MR. OOI

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In 1950, the British government developed Chui Chak village as a paddy

producing area. The paddy farmers at the Chui Chak village were dependent on

the paddy cultivation for their livelihood. Most of the villagers were paddy

farmers and many of them still continue the paddy plating activities.

Our group interviewed Mr. Ooi, a paddy farmer, from the Chui Chak village

with 20 years of experience in this paddy plantation sector. During the interview,

Mr. Ooi explained the process of planting the paddy.

The Chui Chak paddy farmers harvest rice twice in a year. The water

source is from the Bidor River. Previously, the paddy farmers used traditional

ways to plant paddy. Now, the paddy farmers can enjoy advanced technology to

produce large amount of rice. The government also provides subsidies to the

paddy farmers for pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer and machine maintenance.

The paddy farmers will sow the rice seedlings into the land. The paddy

farmers make great effort to ensure that the rice quality is in good condition. The

paddy farmers use pesticide and herbicides to control the pest and weeds. The

major treat to the paddy is Siput Gondang Emas and flea. During harvest season,

the farmers use a large harvester machine to harvest the rice. The weather also can

affect the process of harvesting the rice. When it rains, it may slow down the

process of harvesting the rice.

After harvesting the rice, paddy farmers sell the rice to middle men. The rice

received by the Bernas factory is processed and categorized based on the rice

quality. The government records the amount of paddy produced in the Kad Daftar

Pesawah. This record will provide information on the amount of subsidy to be

given, which is based on the amount of rice produced.

The government introduced the installation of Tyto Alba (owl) nest at the

paddy farm to control the paddy field rat. The installation of the Tyto Alba nest at

the paddy farm is fully sponsored by the government. According to Mr. Ooi, the

project has failed. The local paddy farmers now use poison to poison the paddy

field rats. When the owls eat those poisoned rats, the owl will also die.

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Paddy Field

Harvester Machine

Tyto Alba (owl) nest

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TOURISM

During the interview session with the Chui Chak chief village, Mr. Hu Tong

Sang, Mr. Hu said that he and the village committee were planning to start a home

stay program in the. This program would contribute to Malaysia’s economy

especially the service, tourism and food sectors. The villagers also could educate

tourists on how rice was produced.

The main attraction of the Chui Chak village is the paddy fields and village

life style. In this home stay programme, the tourists would be introduced to the

process of planting, harvesting and processing paddy. In addition, they could also

savour the various food cooked and produced by the villagers. The Chui Chak

villagers are friendly and they welcome to their village. This warm hospitality was

evident when Mr. Ooi invited us without hesitation and accepted our request to be

interviewed.

The paddy field in the Chui Chak village.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITES

The Chui Chak villagers have fullly utilized the land. Consequently, there is

an increase of job opportunity in Chui Chak. This can prevent poverty and also

can give the villagers a better life. In Chui Chak, the villagers grow guava, lime,

and other vegetables between the paddy field plots. Usually the villagers plant

these for their own consumption but they should also think of ways to make a

business out of this.

According to the Chief villager, Mr. Hu Tong Sang, the Chui Chak villagers are

also involved in the lime processing business. The Chui Chak villagers process the

lime into lime pickle and lime juice. If they have more resources, they can also

venture into secondary economic activities like setting up a factory. This will help

processing their products into another better product in terms of quality and

quantity. If they are not capable to have such a huge amount of capital, they can

seek help from bank loans. Establishing a secondary industry can also give them

an opportunity to export their products to other countries. In addition, they can

also promote Malaysia made products to other countries. If this plan is successful,

this can prevent the Chui Chak youths and young adults from moving to other

industries outside of Chui Chak.

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EDUCATION

S.R.J.K. (C) Chui Chak was established on 24 April 1950 which is the same

year as when Chui Chak village was established. Since the British government

opened up Chui Chak village as a paddy field in 1950, the number of the residents

in Chui Chak increased. S.R.J.K (C) Chui Chak started with two atap classroom

and 40 students.

In 1951, the number of students kept on increasing due to the fire in the

neighboring village. The fire victims moved to Chui Chak village. The villagers

suggested expanding the school by building additional classrooms.

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) has donated one thousand

ringgit and the government paid a subsidy of about nine thousand ringgit for the

purpose of upgrading the school facilities.

The vision and mission of the S.R.J (C) Chui Chak.

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In 1966, the number of students increased to five hundred students. Old

and dilapidated school buildings cannot provide a comfortable study area to the

students. The school is located near to the main road side and this affected the

students’ study and they had no area to expand the school. For a long term plan,

the headmaster decided to find an ideal land to build a new school to

accommodate the rising school population.

During the fund rising, Mr. Lim, the headmaster at that time, led the

building committee to Ipoh and Kampar to collect funds. On 27 June 1967, the

building committee bought three and half acres of land.

Currently, Ms. Cheng Swe Cho is the headmistress. She is assisted by three

deputy principals and she has 20 teachers to work under her. Currently, there are

272 students in the school.

Dewan Dato Mah Khing Yeow

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Lantern Making Competition

Sport Event

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OTHERS

Every Thursday night, the Chui Chak village has a pasar malam (night market).

The villagers can get the daily provisions from the night market.

The Scenario at the Night Market in Chui Chak Village

Recreational Area

Favorable and delicious food in Chui Chak –“Wongha Mee”

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PROBLEMS

The clinic in Chui Chak village lacks specialist doctors. The clinic only

provides gynecological check up. This situation have inconvenient the Chui Chak

villagers. The Chui Chak villagers need to go to the next town hospital which is in

Langkap.

Rubbish disposal is also a problem in Chui Chak village. This situation has

threatened the health of the villagers. The rubbish attracts pests like mice,

houseflies and mosquitoes. This pests can help spread diseases.

Weed grows fast in the village but no action has been taken. The

unmanaged weed area would provide a hiding place for snakes and this would

also be dangerous as there might be broken glasses among the weeds. This will

threaten the Chui Chak villagers’ safety. In addition, it makes the landscape of the

village ugly.

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There is also an improper way of disposing building and agricultural

equipment. The agricultural equipment may contain harmful chemical materials

that can affect the villagers’ health and environment. Improper disposal of

building equipment after a house renovation will also affect the safety of the

villagers, especially children.

Narrow rough roads create inconvenience to the road users. In the night, this

may pose a danger to users as this may cause accidents. The narrow roads are

especially inconvenient for lorries and buses.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The government should arrange more doctors to be on duty in this village.

This will help to improve the villagers’ health.

The rubbish disposal company should collect the rubbish on schedule to

avoid the accumulation of rubbish. The villagers also need to be reminded and to

learn how to recycle their products.

The government also needs to arrange more workers to cut the grass and

weed regularly to prevent the increase of pests. It will also ensure that the village

is clean and leaves a nice impression to tourists.

With regard to the improper management of building equipment, the owners

should be warned and remove the equipment or store it immediately at a safer

place so that any accident can be prevented.

Lastly, the mayor can request from the government to upgrade the tar road

so as to ensure there is convenience and safety for cyclists and motorcyclists.

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)