BAGAN SUNGAI BURONG

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UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY

PROJECT REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

BAGAN SUNGAI BURONG 双武龙

PERAK

Project carried out by:

Name of Student ID Course Year/Trimester

Amy Chew Lew Ting 1104593 Accounting Year 3 Sem 3

Seah Yong Zhi 1103417 Accounting Year 3 Sem 3

DATE OF COMPLETION:

MAY 2015

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History/ Background Of The Village

Bagan Sungai Burong is one of the eight biggest fishing villages in Hilir Perak. It is

also one of the oldest fishing villages among the eight and was established about 100 years

ago before Malaya gained independence. It is located at Bagan Datoh district. The nearest

town is Batu 12 Sungai Sumun, Perak. One of the major towns that is located nearby is Teluk

Intan which is an hour’s drive from the village.

The first generation of villagers were immigrants from China. When it was first

established, the village did not have electricity, water supply or sewage system. Villagers

then had to collect rain water for home usage. At that time, families operated their own power

generators for electricity.

Fishing is the main source of income in Sungai Burong. Unfortunately, many youths

are not keen to continue in this industry and they prefer to look for work opportunities in

urban areas. This problem is especially serious in the past decade and foreign workers have

been brought in to deal with the shortage of labour. The population size of this village is

clearly declining.

Many villagers have looked for an alternative source of income in recent years –

tourism. The blue luminous plankton at Pulau Sembilan are a tourist attraction. Besides

tourism, some villagers own oil palm smallholdings while others operate birds’ nest farms

and small business.

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Population, Housing and Transports

According to the Head of village, Mr. Hing Kong Ming, there are about 700 to 800

villagers staying in Sungai Burong. 40% of them are children, while the remaining 60% are

elderly people. Majority of the younger generation have moved to other states to look for

better job opportunities. They will only be back during festivals, such as Chinese New Year.

The highest population since the establishment of the village was 1200 to 1300 people.

The first generation of settlers shared the same family name which is “Wang (王)”.

These early immigrants were from the Teochew dialect group and many of them were related.

In Chinese culture, it is taboo to marry 2 people with the same family name. Therefore, many

villagers married people from nearby villages. Over time, this strengthened the bond between

villages in this area and brought in more people to live in Sungai Burong. At the village

economy expanded, more and more people settled at this village.

Houses in the village are built near the sea. Most of the houses are handed down from

one generation to another. To meet the space demands of increasing family size, many old

houses have been renovated and expanded. Most houses are built on high stilts so that they

are above water level even during high tide. As the majority of houses here are built by the

same construction company from Teluk Intan, it is no surprise that they share very common

layout and design.

In the past, villagers had to travel by boat to neighboring villages, and all goods

transported to and from Sungai Burong used the river for access. At that time, there was only

a very narrow mud covered path between villages. Nowadays, most villagers travel by cars

and motorcycles to nearby towns. The tarred roads they use were built in the 1980’s.

Before the tarred roads were built, villagers who wish to travel by bus had to walk to

nearby towns before boarding the bus to Teluk Intan or other towns. After the tarred roads

were completed, most villagers bought their own motor vehicles and relied less and less on

buses. As a result, the bus service is now less frequent – once every 2 hours – and it may be

terminated soon because there are very few passengers.

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Photo taken with the former Head of village

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Economic Activities

The main economic activity of the village is fishing as the village is surrounded by

sea. The villagers have around 35 big fishing boats and 45 small fishing boats. The small

fishing boats are known as Type A fishing boats that are used to catch prawns near the village.

The fishermen usually catch prawns at one nautical mile. The big fishing boats are known as

Type B fishing boat that are used to catch fish at five nautical miles from the coast. However,

according to the Head of village, the amount of seafood caught is decreasing and this affects

the income of villagers.

This situation has led some villagers to look for a second source of income: oil palm

smallholdings and birds’ nest farming. Villagers buy oil palm smallholdings not far from

Sungai Burong. Birds’ nest farming provided a good source of income for over 10 years.

However, the price o birds’ nest has dropped dramatically in recent years because of

oversupply.

Fishing Boats on Sungai Burong

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There is a fish ball factory named Hai Shun Wan Food in Sungai Burong. It is a

family run business which has been operating for about 20 years. Some villagers are hired to

help the family in the processing of fish balls. They normally work 6 hours a day but this

increase to 12 to 20 hour days during Chinese New Year. The fish balls are made from fresh

fish caught by local fishermen. They are sold as far as Teluk Intan, Perak and Kuala Lumpur.

The sale of fish balls has improved as Pulau Sembilan becomes a popular tourist destination.

The process of making fishballs

The Heng family in Sungai Burong run a successful “satay fish” business. The fish is

placed under the sun for two days. After that, they will be sent to the factory for further

processing into satay fish. The business is very brisk. However production many be affected

by rainy weather.

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Dried Satay Fish Satay fish for sale

Some villagers earn a living by operating restaurants. Tourists who visit Pulau

Sembilan often eat at these restaurants which are especially busy during weekends and public

holidays.

Restaurants in Sungai Burong

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Social, Cultural & Religious Practice

There are about 100 houses in the village with 3 to 4 person in each household. The

village has more females than males and all of them are Chinese. This population size has

been stable for many years. Most of the villagers are from Teo Chow dialect group but a

small percentage are Hokkiens. Generally, marriage and religious ceremonies in Sungai

Burong follow Teo Chew Tradition.

One of the major celebrations in this village is the Chinese New Year. This normally

quiet and serene village will transform into a busy hub of activities as those who have moved

to the cities will return home to celebrate the New Year with family and friends. Furthermore,

tourist will flock to Pulau Sembilan during the festive holidays and this brings more business

to Sungai Burung.

Most fisherman work 4 hours a day fishing at sea and loading their catch. After

working hours, villagers spend their time socializing at coffee shops while sipping a cup of

coffee or tea. Some of them spend time under the wishing tree where the sea breeze sets a

relaxing atmosphere for chit chats or short naps before the second session of work in the day.

99% of the villagers are Taoists or Buddhists, there are only 1 or 2 villagers who are

Christians. The village has a big temple named Xian Fa Shi Gong Temple Xian Fa Shi Gong

is a god who protects those who go out to sea. Villagers who worship this deity believe they

will be blessed every time they go fishing. This temple was built by early settlers from China

who worshipped the Xian Fa Shi Gong in their homeland. The temple building was renovated

and expanded about ten years ago. During religious festivals, devotees come from the village

as well as neighbouring villages.

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Wishing Tree in Sungai Burong

Xian Fa Shi Gong in Sungai Burong

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PROBLEMS AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE

There is only one kindergarten and one primary school in Sungai Burong. This means

that secondary school students have to commute to schools in Teluk Intan, Kampar and other

neighbouring towns. This commute is time consuming, costly and inconvenient for students

and their parents. In recent years the enrolment in Sungai Burong primary school has

declined.

This old building was used as a kindergarten in the past

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The only primary school and kindergarten in the new village

The giant waves of the Tsunami in 2004 destroyed many fishing boats in Sungai

Burong. This disaster also reduced the population of marine life in this area. All in all, this

natural disaster led to considerable reduction on earnings of local fisherman.

The government policy to ban trawl net fishing will be effective from 2016 and this

will definitely have negative impact on the fishing community’s livelihood. According to the

Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the ban will

first be imposed within Zone B, which is between eight and fifteen nautical miles

(approximately 14.8 km and 28 km) from the shore and it may be extended further after

discussions with fishermen associations and related agencies. According to Headman of new

village, Mr. Hing Kong Ming, there is less marine life beyond eight nautical miles from the

shore because of limited breeding ground. Furthermore, the threat of pirates increases as

fishermen move further away from the shore.

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Different types of boats used for fishing.

Bagan Sungai Burong does not have a proper waste disposal method. The villagers

tend to dispose their waste by burning or throwing into the river and this will subsequently

cause pollution of air and water. The ecosystem will be negatively affected.

There is neither a clinic nor a hospital in this village. Villagers need to travel to the

clinics or hospitals in nearby towns and this often causes a lot of inconvenience for villagers,

many of whom are elderly. There is shortage of sports venues such as playing field,

basketball court, badminton court and recreation parks as well.

The asphalt roads built a long time ago are now in a bad condition and this will

increase the risk of accidents. The infrequent has service poses another problem for villagers

who wish to travel to neighbouring towns. For those who own motor vehicles, the absence of

a petrol station in Bagan Sungai Burong leads to great inconvenience.

There is no police station or fire brigade in this village and this is especially

dangerous during emergencies. Fortunately, safety and security in Bagan Sungai Burong is

good up to this point.

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RECOMMENDATION

It would be ideal for village youths if a secondary school was built in the village.

Another way of easing access to secondary school would be to provide better public transport

to nearby towns.

There is need for dialogue between the villagers/village Headman and the relevant

authorities on the following matters: policies on trawler net fishing and the security threat of

pirates. Villagers should appeal to the government for funds to repair their boats.

An appeal should be made to the local council to improve the garbage disposal system

and the condition of village roads. Better access is needed to a hospital, police station and fire

bridage. Perhaps a mobile clinic could serve the village at regular intervals. Local recreation

facilities certainly need to be improved – through fundraising among villagers and/or

government assistance.

There is certainly a need for new investments in Bagan Sungai Burong. This would

increase the number of job opportunities in the village and, hopefully, encourage village

youths to continue living and working here. Development of tourism in this area, particularly

Pulau Sembilan, is one way of bringing in new investments. Other opportunities for small

businesses are identified in the section an “Entrepreneurship”.

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Tourism Value

There is an island known as Pulau Sembilan which is located about 5 kilometers from

Sungai Burong. The island is a tourist attraction in the past 2 years and it welcomes many

visitors especially during weekends and public holidays. Currently, there are 2 local families

which provide transport, food, camping paraphernalia, etc. to tourist.

Boats are used to fetch tourists to Pulau Sembilan. There are only 2 boats which

provide this service and each boat can transport only 15 passengers per trip. It takes about 15

minutes to travel by boat to Pulau Sembilan from Sungai Burong. Tourists need to wear life

jackets before boarding the boats.

The main tourist attraction is the “bluetears” which are visible along the beach at

night. The “bluetears” are actually micro-organisms from the sea. Besides Sungai Burong,

these blue luminous/plankton are found only in Taiwan. The four package which includes

transport and food costs only RM250 per person.

The other main tourist activity on Pulau Sembilan is camping. Besides camping,

tourists enjoy jungle tracking, fishing and BBQ on the island. Scuba diving is another popular

activity. Some visitors are known to use this romantic setting for marriage proposals.

At the time of our visit, the authorities had closed Pulau Sembilan to tourists for 2

months. This is to upgrade tourist facilities on the island.

Information on Pulau Sembilan can be found on the internet. The contact number of a

local tour agency is 016-5584608 and 019-5576614.

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View of Pulau Sembilan

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Entrepreneurship

Sungai Burong is an ideal place for cottage industries or family business. The rich

marine life in this area provides many opportunities besides fishing. If funds were available,

villagers could invest in the processing and preservation of seafood. Perhaps new investments

could be brought in to set up factories which can the wide range of seafood in this village.

Homestay programme is another way of bringing in a new source of income for

villagers. Sungai Burong’s beautiful scenery and relaxing lifestyle could attract many city

dwellers. However, some assistance from government may be needed in order to support and

educate villagers on how to run this business.

Boats in Sungai Burong are currently maintained and repaired at Hutan Melintang

because this service is not available in the village. Perhaps there is opportunity to set up such

a business in Sungai Burong.

There is also opportunity to run a business which organises fishing holidays for

visitors. There are many fishing enthusiasts in Malaysia and abroad and organized fishing

trips to Sungai Burong would attract them.

Fishing farming is another business which could provide villagers with a sable income.

To develop this business, the government or investors need to educate villagers on new

fishing farming techniques as well as appropriate business models.

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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, 8656, 8269 (Klang Valley Campus)

05- 4688888 ext 2295/2297/2299/2300 (Perak Campus)