BATU 14 PUCHONG

UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

REPORT

NAME OF VILLAGE:
BATU 14 PUCHONG, SELANGOR.

Project carried out by:

Student Name Student ID Course Year /

Semester
Lui Chen Cheong 0903622 Civil Engineering Y1S3
Tan Chee Siong 1004847 Civil Engineering Y1S3
Alexander Chia Yee Tsun 0907436 Quantity Surveying Y2S3

DATE OF COMPLETION:

MARCH 2011
 BATU 14 PUCHONG

ABSTRACT

Batu 14 Puchong New Village, located in Selangor, was established in 1950. The
name “Puchong” comes from a bird, green Heron which is also known as “Burung
Pucung” in Bahasa Malaysia. Batu 14 Puchong New Village has a population of
about 10,000 currently. The majority of the population are Hakka Chinese. The
famous Bak Kut The restaurant and Yong Tau Fu shop are the tourist attractions
of this new village.

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

HISTORY

The new village was set up to segregate the villagers from the Malayan
Communist Party. There were 452 new villages set up and one of the new villages
was Batu 14 Puchong. Batu 14 Puchong New Village, located in Selangor, was
established in 1950.

The name “Puchong” comes from a bird, the Green Heron. The Malays call this
bird “Burung Pucung”. “Puchong” is a homonym of the Hakka “Pucung”. When
the village was established, it had only 86 families with a population of 500
people. In the1960’s, 240 families from Kampung Pasir were included in
Kampung Batu14 Puchong.

Before the new village was set up, Puchong was a thick forest that was almost
uninhabited. In the early 20th century, the British opened rubber plantations and
mined tin. After independence in 1957, the British mining company changed
ownership. Chinese companies began to acquire ownership. In the mid-1980s, the
collapse of tin price in the international market resulted in the slow demise of the
tin industry.

The rubber industry also began to decline. Most of the rubber plantations began to
be replaced by oil palm cultivation. Many residents around Puchong began to
work in these oil palm plantations.

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POPULATION AND HOUSING

Batu 14 Puchong New Village has currently a population of around 10,000 people.
The majority of the people in Batu 14 Puchong are from the Hakka community,
followed by Gaozhou, Hainan, Guangdong and Fujian communities. Nowadays,
the residential and commercial districts are rapidly developing in Batu 14
Puchong. However, there are still houses with poor conditions like rusty zinc
rooftop and planks.

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

ECONOMY

We observed that there were a lot of economic activities going on in this area. The
morning market beside the main road has a lot of people in the morning. There are
a lot of stalls in the market selling items such as fruits, vegetables, and meat.
Residents buy their fresh food from this market. There are also a lot of shops
selling various kinds of items, such as the restaurants, hawker centres, car services
centre, and traditional medical centres.

There is a supermarket in the new village, which is the Hero supermarket. People
can buy their groceries at the supermarket and it is located nearby the shop lots.
We noticed a hardware trading shop which sells all kinds of hardware and paints.
Other than that, we also noticed that there are several small recycle warehouses
that collect tin for recycling purposes.

Morning market at 10am

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EDUCATION

In Batu 14 Puchong New Village, there are two primary schools. One of it is
called S.J.K(C) HAN MING PUCHONG which is a Chinese-medium primary
school and another is called SK PUCHONG which is a Malay medium primary
school.

Front Door of New

S.J.K(c) Han Ming Puchong

SK Puchong

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Old S.J.K (C) Han Ming Puchong

Because of the large population of the Chinese people in Batu 14 Puchong New
Village, S.J.K(C) HAN MING PUCHONG has grown rapidly since the 1980s.
According to one of the clerks who worked in this school, Ms Lee, the old
S.J.K(C) HAN MING PUCHONG had 3 small blocks and ran about 10 classes.
The number of students was about 200 and there were only twenty teachers. Now,
S.J.K(C) HAN MING PUCHONG has expanded to about 6 to 7 blocks and has
about 50 classes which can fit more than 2000 students at one time. This school
has about 4000 students and more than 100 teachers and the school session is
divided in to two - morning session and afternoon session. There is also a newly
built hall near the front door of S.J.K(C) HAN MING PUCHONG and it can fit
about 500 students.

SK PUCHONG only has about 500 students and 50 teachers because of the
smaller population of Malay people in Batu 14 Puchong New Village.

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

In Batu 14 Puchong New Village, there are about 10000 people and they
are mostly Chinese Hakka people, followed by Gaozhou, Hainan, Guangdong and
Fujian people. However, there are also Malays and Indians in the village. People
here live peacefully. Most villagers know each other and people greet each other
openly on the streets.

Due to its strategic location near the capital city which is about 22km, the
youngsters in this village normally do not move to other cities for working
purpose. This is a good phenomenon for family bonding and the population of the
village could also be maintained steadily.

In Batu 14 Puchong New Village, there are several clubs and associations.
For example, there is the Pergerakan Pemuda M.C.A., M.C.A. Bahagian Wanita
and Pusat Perkhidmatan M.C.A. This MCA centre is for people who have
problems and need assistance and advice.

Pergerakan Pemuda M.C.A. dan M.C.A. Bahagian Wanita and Pusat

Perkhidmatan M.C.A.

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

Most of the villagers in Batu 14 Puchong New Village are Buddhists and
there is one temple nearest to the housing area that is “Guan Yin Temple”观音堂.
According to Ms Teng who sells incense, this temple has a history of about 50
years and it is very famous among the villagers because it is very near the housing
area. Guan Yin is an important deity for the Chinese. The worshippers celebrate 3
important ceremonies for Guan Yin namely the birth of Guan Yin on Lunar 19th
of February, the day Guan Yin became God on Lunar 19th of June and the day
Guan Yin became a monk on Lunar 19th of September.

Guan Yin Temple观音堂

Interview With Ms Teng

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

Other than that, there is also a mosque located very near to a school. This mosque
is called Masjid Jamek Batu 14 and it has a very long history of about 60 years.

Masjid Jamek Batu 14

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

TOURISM

Although this is a new village, there are several tourist attractions. The
famous Yap Chuan Bak Kut Teh is one of the tourist attractions because it is the
first Yap Chuan Bak Kut Teh. Bak Kut Teh is a mouth watering dish and is loved
by the local people. Other than that, the Yong Tau Fu shop is also one of the
tourist attractions of this new village. The Yong Tau Fu is famous among the
locals because of its delicious taste. There is also a restaurant which serves exotic
animal dishes and it attracts many non-locals to dine in the restaurant. Other than
that, there are some Chinese temples in this area.

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 BATU 14 PUCHONG

The following photos are the Guan Yin temple which we visited. It is located not
far from town, around 5 minutes of driving distance and it is easy to find.

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PROBLEMS

Batu 14 Puchong New Village has common problems like many other new
villages, which is migration. Although the population of the village has increased
but many young adults have left the village for the cities and only the elderly and
children remain in the village.

This village also lack facilities like a bank, telecommunications services and a
post office. These have caused inconvenience to villagers to pay bills and seek
financial assistance. Besides, there is no fire station and police station in this
village. The nearest police station is about 6.1 km away and the fire station is
about 7.8 km away from the village. Garbage is also thrown into the drains and
this has caused the drain to clog and damage to the piping system.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

We recommend that colleges and universities to be set up in this area to address

the lack of facilities in education. With such facilities, the teenagers and young
students do not need to leave town to further their studies. Other than that, the
economic activities of the new village are also limited, so young adults tend to
seek jobs in other areas, like in the next nearest city.

An operation hall for the voluntary team (sukarela) on night patrol could be built
so that safety measures are covered. This is to address the non-existence of a
police station or “Pondok Polis” in this village.

The problem of the clogging of the drain can be solved by emphasizing the
importance of cleanliness to the people living in the new village. The locals could
impose a fine on people who throw rubbish into the drain. A “gotong-royong”
could be organised to clear the drains. Warning signboards should be erected to
remind all villagers and outsiders not to dispose garbage into the drains.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, Batu 14 Puchong New Village is a combination of a historical

and a modern place. It was a learning experience for us to explore the village and
to learn about the place through not just our observation, but through the eyes of
the local 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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