Loving the place they live

Dinding River is charming .
By Foong Pek Yee
The hot weather fails to keep Changkat Keruing villagers indoors.
As one villager put it: – Only Covid -19 MCO (Movement Control Order) can keep them at home.
Their favourite spots in the village  are  the  coffeeshops and a garden by the side of a river which they named it Taman Sungai Dinding (The garden of Dinding River).
Changkat Keruing Village is located along the  Dinding River in Manjung,Perak.
Villagers recalled sampans (small boats) plying the river in the past – their mode of transport then.
There were no main roads  in the old days.
An 83-year-od  villager surname  Ong says a lot has changed since then.
Today they will see a speed boat passing by once a while.
Safe haven: A sampan on the river bank
Ong says life in a village is simple and peaceful.
 The elderly keeps each other company in this greying community as majority of the youngster work  and stay outside the village.
Old friends: Ong (right) and Loo relaxing by the river side .
Ong who enjoys  playing  games on  his smart phone at home says this does not stop him from meeting friends outside.
His grandson has introduced the game to him and his wife to  keep them entertained at home during the MCO.
Welcome:  The signboard at the village’s entrance.
Changkat Keruing Village  which is more than 7o years old was once the talk of the town when then Prime Minister Tun Dr  Mahathir  Mohamad  paid an official visit to the village  in 1995.
Dr Mahathir was impressed by the villagers’ effort to come up with a garden near  the river bank.
The village took part in the clean and beautification campaign by the Housing and Local Government Ministry in the early 1990s and won the first prize.
Serenity:  A prize winning garden near the river bank
Three decades down the road, the clean and beautification  committee which was instrumental in coming up with the garden has continued to maintain it.
At 67, villager and committee member Ching Sia Tiong  credits the Old Boys Association of the village school (set up in 1973)  and the villagers for the clean and beautiful surroundings .
An asset : Ching says Changkat Keruing Village has eco tourism potential.
Changkat Keruing is a predominantly agricultural community with oil palm planting, prawn rearing and chicken farming these days.
Ching harbours hope that tourism can get more young people to stay on in the village.
A cool spot: The villagers’ favourite place
For now, the garden by the  river bank is for the villagers to enjoy.

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