月度归档： 2022年6月

Growing economic potential outside the city

Work life balance is the starting point for a young family
By Foong Pek Yee
After five years studying in Kuala Lumpur and  in UK, he is hesitant about returning to the laid back lifestyle in his hometown.
It takes Ooi Choo Teck about three years of contemplation before he returned to  Jering New Village in Manjung, Perak for good.
That was in 2008.
Today , Choo Teck is a tiger prawn farmer and has set his sights on the China market.
Making progress:  Choo Teck’s prawn farm in Segari, Manjung.
Scalability:  The quest for food security worldwide sees growing potential for farming.
A typical day for the  41-year-old farmer sees him juggling  between his house and farms  in Segari, Manjung, about 35 minutes drive apart.
He is already  in the business for eight years .
Prior to that he was helping his father Datuk Ooi Jing Ting in the family business.
He says  a relative taught him prawn farming.
“It involves much work and attention to detail ,and the need to be hands on,” he says.
While Choo Teck has workers to handle the job, he goes to the farms daily to stay on top of things.
Unlike living in a big city like Kuala Lumpur where traffic congestion can be  time consuming and stressful, Choo Teck says work-life balance is better away from  the  hustle and bustle.
Nowadays he has time to play badminton and goes jogging with his wife Yap Oi Leng.
The couple who are both  41 are blessed with three children.
Cultivating a future:  Rising economic opportunities outside the city.
 On what it takes to stay on in a village while many young people are leaving for the cities, Choo Teck says he makes new friends,  focus on his business and bringing up his family.
With food security  a rising world concern, he says food production has good business potential.
He has plans to expand his prawn business and export to China in five years’ time.
To date, his prawns go to Pantai Remis in Perak.
“We must have a certain volume of production in order to qualify to venture into the overseas export market,” says Choo Teck who has a degree in marketing.
Prawn and fish farming is a big business in Manjung.

Turning adversity into strength

Down with polio at three and orphaned at five, Too Hing Huat sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
By Foong Pek Yee
At 82, Too Hing Huat still rides a tricycle and tends to his vegetables and fruit trees daily.
Having to support himself with a walking stick does not stop him from moving around and being  productive.
A typical day for him  revolves around his village – his vegetables and fruit trees,  his home that double up as a sundry shop and the coffeeshop to meet up with friends.
Hing Huat from Raja Hitam New Village in Manjung, Perak says he  sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
Never give up:  Hing Huat’s life motto 
Born in 1940 and growing up in a turbulent era, he learned survival at a very young age.
“I woke up one morning and cannot  walk.
‘The day before I had fever .”
Hing Huat who regained his mobility but with a limp, has likened it to a new lease of life.
Youngest among nine siblings, they lost their mother during World War Two.
In 1945, Hing Huat ‘s ailing father who wanted to seek treatment in China wanted to take him along.
Barred from boarding the ship  when they found him limping, his father went ahead, and that was the last time he saw him.
“Until today we don’t know if our father had arrived in China.”
Without formal education, Hing Huat took up odd jobs when he turned 13.
He was 16 when he landed  a job at a Foochow pau shop in Ayer Tawar town.
It was at the shop that Hing Huat  made some friends, including Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh, who is three years his junior.
“He (Dr Ting) used to ride a bicycle from his village and parked it  at the back of the shop before taking a bus to his school in Sitiawan.
“We did chat a bit when he returned to get his bicycle after school,” Hing Huat  recalls  the good old days, and a friendship that has remained over the decades.
Hing Huat married Tin Chon Heong in 1968, and they returned to his village the following year to set up their Foochow pau shop and raised their five children – all sons who are aged between 52 and 41 now.
 
Old faithful: The tricycle that serves Hing Huat well over the decades
Choice location: Raja Hitam New Village is conducive for living and doing small business since the old days.
Community first : A well kept garden and playground for the villagers.
Education a priority:  The village’s Chinese primary school SJKC Pei Min Kg Raja Hitam.
Hing Huat’s wife passed away about
eight years ago, shortly after the couple retired and closed down their pau business.
Two of his sons settled down in Johor, one in Singapore and one in Pantai Remis, Perak.
Hing Huat stays with his youngest son,  Too Song Yee and his family in their shop house in the village.
Song Yee and his wife Joan Law have two children.
Orphaned at age 5, Hing Huat has come a long way.
“Three generations living under the same roof is a blessing.
” Due to my physical disability, I dare not think of marriage  initially for fear of not being able to provide for my family.
 “It is my wife who gave me the confidence that we can together raise our family.” 
Perseverance runs in the family.
Song Yee, 41, works about 15 hours a day, six days a week running his sundry shop.
A typical day for him starts at 5.00am.
He will be in Ayer Tawar town, about 10 minutes drive from his village,  to get fresh vegetables for sale in his shop.
His shop opens by sunrise and closed at 8.00pm daily.
Returning to his village from Singapore for good 12 years ago, Song Yee never looked back.

The village in a garden

Living life on their own terms 

By Foong Pek Yee

The tree-lined road and lush greenery from the entrance to  Merbau New Village is a sight to  behold.

Located along Jalan Pantai Remis in Manjung, Perak, its 700 meter long “Great Wall ”  gives it a distinctive look from afar.

It was just like any other village until the early 1990s when it took part  in a clean and beautification campaign organised by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

The village is among  a few villages in Manjung which emerged champion.

Outstanding: The 700 meter long  wall also double up as a walking path
Made his mark: Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh
Adding to the joy of the Merbau villagers is that the Minister who initiated the campaign, Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh, also grew up in the village.
And the village today is testimony to the campaign’ s success.
 Finishing touch : The little pagoda and children’s playground enhanced the landscaped garden.
Simplicity: Nature’s beauty
Timeless beauty: The road leading to the houses in the village
Going all out  to spruce up their village some 30 years ago, what is most remarkable is that the villagers are able to maintain it well all these years.
Merbau New Village was once a barbed wire settlement under curfew during the Emergency (1948-1960)
Set up by the then colonial government, there are 452 such  settlements which were named new villages.
Fast track to the present,  the villagers are mostly second, third and fourth generation in the village.
Majority of some 200 attap shacks in the village in the early years have since been rebuilt into modern concrete houses.
House-proud: Villagers take good care of their houses and surroundings.
There are  six coffeeshops in the village which serve as the meeting point for villagers rain or shine.
The network : The village coffeeshop is the place to connect and recharge
Welcome: Entrance to Merbau New Village
Landmark: The village’s temple
Fitness first: Exercise equipment for the villagers.
Time to go home: Primary school pupils after school
 Top priority: The villagers have education at heart, and this Chinese primary school in the village is more than 70 years old
Safe and near: The Chinese primary school SJKC Kg Merbau Ayer Tawar is  inside Merbau New Village
Ayer Tawar town, about nine kilometers away,  is where villagers run their errands.
The village is a predominantly agricultural community.
In the very early days, each household was given a plot of land for them to build their house and plant vegetables, fruit trees and rear chickens and pigs.
Villagers sold the animals for money to pay for essentials like rice and education for their children.
In the old days, a  grand feast means having one chicken for the entire family during  Chinese New Year.
“We ate the entire chicken except the feathers,” recalls a former villager who is eldest among 10 siblings.
Life was hard but improved substantially  when the colonial government gave them land to plant rubber.
Many including Dr Ting grew up tapping rubber in the early hours of the morning before going to school.
There was no electricity supply in the old days.
The rubber tapper carbide lamp also double up as study lamp at night.
It was some 20 years ago when many of the rubber smallholdings were turned into oil palm smallholdings,  in favor for the less labour intensive  and more lucrative commodity .
From the 1970s , some villagers started venturing  out of the village in search for economic opportunities in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
A villager who introduced himself as  Soh Kow  says he went to work in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1970s, taking up different types of jobs, from construction worker to plain clothes security guard.
In his 60s now, he had returned to the village for good – bought some land and doing oil palm cultivation nearby.
He  says his children who have better formal education have more options in life.
“Unlike myself  in my era then, the  younger generation are in a position to chart their own future and they have my blessings,” says Soh.
For some, the village remains their only shelter during tough times.
A villager in his 40s, says he returned to the village shortly after the start of the Covid 19 pandemic.
“I was staying in Johor Baru and working in Singapore before the pandemic.
” I cannot afford staying in Johor Baru  when I don’t have a job.”
 And if there is anything that has remained unchanged over time, it is  their roots  in the village.

Small village with a big story

Compassion : Mazu also known as Chinese Sea Goddess
By Foong Pek Yee
The tallest Mazu statue in Malaysia is in Sungai Lembing Village.
Measuring 3.65 meter× 3.65 meter and 8.07 meter in height, it is housed in the  Sungai Lembing Hainan Association’s Thean Hou Temple
” Mazu is an integral part of Hainan culture,” says the association chairman Datuk Dr Sunny Chan of the towering statue which went into the Malaysia Book of Record in 2019.
The village is about 45 minutes drive from Kuantan, Pahang.
Always together: Thean Hou Temple and Hainanese community.
Flagship: Sungai Lembing Hainan Association also housed HillVille Inn which is a guesthouse with a Hainanese restaurant on the ground floor.
The association was set up in 1910
Loyal and strong: Sungai Lembing Hainan Association chairman Datuk Dr Sunny Chan (in coat) with members at the entrance to the Thean Hou Temple.
Mazu, also known as the Chinese Sea Goddess, is believed to provide divine
intervention for seafarers especially fishermen.
The Goddess is widely worshipped by Chinese in Asia, especially those living in coastal areas.
Dr Chan harbours hope the towering Mazu statue will  attract more tourists and help revive the economy.
About 3,000 tourists thronged Sungai Lembing over  weekends prior to the covid-19 pandemic.
Another beautiful day : Watching sunrise in Sungai Lembing known for its natural beauty
Old world charm: the little commercial square next to Sungai Lembing Village
One for the album: Tourists flocked to Sungai Lembing over weekends.
Dr Chan who grew up in Sungai Lembing  says the little mining town was home to his forefathers from China who set foot in then Malaya.
The 60-year-old businessman says he witnessed the heyday of Sungai Lembing which last till the world tin market crash in the mid 1980s.
According to him, Sungai Lembing, a thriving mining town since the 18th century, had turned into a ghost town after the crash.
After almost two decades it staged a comeback with  eco tourism and  its rich historical background as selling  points.
According to Dr Chan, Sungai Lembing was once the longest and deepest underground mining point in the world.
Topping the list of must visit places in Sungai Lembing are the  Rainbow Waterfall,Thean Hou Temple and Sungai Lembing Museum.
International wonder : The Rainbow Waterfall in Sungai Lembing drawing tourists from all over the world
Unfortunately, Sungai Lembing is prone to big floods at least once a year.
Under the coordination of the association, villagers will come out in full force to clean up the area.
Dr Chan who is chairman of the association since 2017 , also heads the post -disaster reconstruction committee after a big fire in the village end of 2021, says he has his hands full in rebuilding the village.
He is confident the 112-year-old  association together with the villagers will be able to overcome any challenges life throws at them, and they have proven it time and again.

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.

Where chickens are free to roam

A day in the life of a healthy free range chicken.
By Foong Pek Yee
The chickens need to eat, move and sleep well.
Three meals a day,  exercise and a good night’s sleep is a must .
Free range chicken (zou di ji in Chinese) farmer Ling Kok Seng also known as  Chicken King, says customers can tell the difference when chickens are well bred.
The Chicken King : Ling Kok Seng is synonymous with quality free range chickens in Manjung, Perak.
The chicken meal  comprises corn and  chopped vegetables mixed with chicken feed.
He fenced up two acres 0f his four-acre oil palm holding for his chickens to roam all day long.
The chickens are released to  the fenced up area in the morning.
They are rounded up to a secured section in the evening to protect them from predators like wild boars at night.
While a two months old chicken is ready for the market, Kok Seng says he keeps his chickens for another month.
According to him, a three  months old chicken is at its prime – in terms of meat texture.
“An extra month of exercise enhances the meat texture,” he shares.
Healthy : A good diet makes a difference
Kok Seng who learned chicken rearing while working for a relative says passion for the job and experience is important.
“I am happy when my customers are happy with their purchase,”  says Kok Seng from  Jering Village in Ayer Tawar.
His customers are mostly regulars  from Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan in Manjung, Perak.
Kok Seng will be in the market in Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan thrice a week to sell his chickens.
On market days, he will wake up 4.00am to make his way to the market early.
He says he enjoys market days – mingling with traders, friends and customers.
Kok Seng had taken up different jobs before he became a chicken farmer six years ago.
He was a construction worker in Singapore for four years  before he returned to his village for good in  2004.
Kok Seng, 40 and his wife Ting Ping Ping, 38,  have  a five-year-old son Ling Ke Yong.
While his zou di ji (free range chicken) business can be hectic, Kok Seng says it is not stressful and that he has time for his family and friends in between work.