UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

GEMAS BARU 金马士峇鲁

JOHOR

Project carried out by:

Student Name ID Number Course Year / Trimester

1. Chang Li Jing 1101082 Bachelor of

Accounting (Hons) Y2/T3

2. Yee Sok Quan 1201511 Bachelor of

Accounting (Hons) Y2/T2

3. Ghooi Ling Shing 1103571 Bachelor of

Accounting (Hons) Y2/T2

DATE OF COMPLETION

SEPTEMBER 2013

GEMAS BARU

OBJECTIVES

To survey and do research on lifestyle, background, history, economic

activities, social and and cultural activities in the new village, Gemas Baru, Johor.

INTRODUCTION

Gemas Baru is a new village located along the border between Johore and

Negeri Sembilan. It was established since in 1948. On 24 September 2013, 18 UTAR

students who were accompanied by 2 lectures visited Gemas Baru and collected

useful information about the village. We departed from UTAR Sungai Long at around

7.30 morning and travelled by UTAR bus. In the bright morning at 10.30am, we

reached one of the highway stops. At around 11.30am, we reached Kebun Baru and

Kampung Abdullah in Segamat. Our lectures guided us on how to conduct our survey

when we reach our destination.

After dropping off fellow students who were conducting surveys at for Kebun

Baru, Kampung Abdullah and Jementah, we continued our journey to Buluh Kasap.

At Buluh Kasap, the generous village head treated the whole team to a sumptuous

lunch. At around 4.30pm, after dropping off the survey groups in Buluh Kasap and

Batu Anam, Segamat, our project team finally reached Gemas Baru, Johor.

GEMAS BARU

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF THE VILLAGE

Figure 1 Gemas Baru Shoplots

Figure 2 Gemas Baru’s Village Head

We were welcomed by Gemas Baru‟s current village head as well as its old

village head. We felt honored to meet them and gave them a small token of

appreciation. The village head, Mr Lee Shui Lai, drove us around Gemas Baru. He

informed us that most villagers travelled by car or motorcycle. However, many

elderly residents ride bicycles to the morning market or “pasar pagi”.

GEMAS BARU

Figure 3 Oil Palm Plantation along the way to Gemas Baru

During our tour of Gemas Baru, we found that a lot of land is used for oil

palm plantations and fruit orchards.

Figure 4 A signboard showing a durian

In fact, Gemas Baru is famous for its durians and the sale of‟ this fruit

provides villagers with an important source of income. In addition, many villagers are

engaged in the processing of logs of wooden planks or “papan”. Most of the wooden

logs come from Pahang and Sabah.

GEMAS BARU

Figure 5 Lovers’ Bridge across Gemas River

Mr Lee bought us to visit a very well known bridge in the village: „Lovers‟

Bridge‟ which is built across Gemas River. It was built in the 1970‟s and it marked

the border between 2 villages: Gemas Baru in Johor and another village in Negeri

Sembilan. According to Mr Lee, he this bridge was originally made of wood but it

has since been rebuilt with metal. It is used a route between Gemas Baru and Kg

Gemas.

GEMAS BARU

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Figure 6 Dewan Raya Gemas Baru

There are around 5,000 villagers and approximately 1,000 houses in Gemas

Baru. The village population consists of Chinese, Indians and Malays. However, the

majority of the population are Chinese from the Hokkien dialect group. Several

religions are practiced: Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and Christianity. Gemas Baru

village is managed by an organization called Village Security and Development

Commitees (JKKK). Two main political parties which have offices in this village are

Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian People‟s Movement Party

(GERAKAN). The population of the village has been declining over the past 10 years.

Most youngsters had moved out from the village and seek better employment

opportunities in urban areas.

GEMAS BARU

VILLAGE INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES

The Jambatan Kerja Raya (JKR) manages the piped water supply while

Tenaga National Berhad (TNB) handles the supply of electricity. Telekom Malaysia

as well as many mobile phone service providers are available here. However, there is

neither a clinic nor police station in Gemas Baru. Nevertheless, many facilities are

found in this village. There is a community hall, a playing field, a rest house, shops,

stalls, a wet market and a night market in Gemas Baru.

Figure 7 Mornings and Night Market

Figure 8 Tables and Chairs in classroom Figure 9 A Classroom in the local kindergarten

Mr. Lee also bought us to visit a kindergarten which had only 80 students and 4

teachers. It was established about 20 years ago. The classrooms were upgraded last

year from wooden floor to tiled floor and they were equipped with air-conditioners

too.

GEMAS BARU

Figure 10 of SJK(C) Tah Kang

Figure 11 Students involved in sports

After visiting the kindergarten, he took us to a primary school named SJKC

Tah Kang. It was established in 1946 and around 200 students and 16 teachers were

there currently. This school is equipped with projectors, monitors, software and

hardware which are similar to that found in schools in Kuala Lumpur. This school

receives generous financial support from local benefactor.

Figure 12 KTMB Railway

GEMAS BARU

Malayan Railways Limited (KTMB) has a station near Gemas Baru. This

provides an important link between Gemas Baru and various parts of West Malaysia

as well as the city state of Singapore.

GEMAS BARU

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The majority of villagers are engaged by local wood processing plants which

are make wooden planks from logs. The wooden logs are bought in mainly from

Pahang and Sabah. Besides employment in these factories, villagers also earn a living

from the local oil palm and rubber estates and durian orchards.

GEMAS BARU

ISSUES AND PROBLEMS

1. The absence of a secondary school and tertiary education institutes in Gemas

Baru means that children either travel to nearby towns daily or they leave the

village after primary school to further their studies. Many do not return to

reside in the village.

2. Limited employment opportunities in Gemas Baru, is another factor behind

the outmigration of youths. As a result, the village has a declining population

with an aging profile. Those are bad signs for the survival of Gemas Baru in

the long term.

3. Villages have to travel quite a distance to seek medical care in a hospital. This

causes great inconvenience and is a serious problem in cases of emergency.

4. In addition, the main problem of Gemas Baru village is the low-lying

topography of the area. According to our survey, we find out that every 3 to 5

years, the village will experience serious flooding. The village head, Mr. Lee

informed us that there was a serious flood in the village in year 2011. About

80% of the village was flooded and only 20% of the primary school and some

houses near the school were not flooded. After the floods, some villagers had

to renovate or rebuild their homes. It is noted that villagers often throw

garbage into the local river thus exacerbating the problem with floods and

creating an environment not conducive to healthy living.

Figure 13 Villager’s house in Gemas Baru Figure 14 This house was renovated after

the floods

GEMAS BARU

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Access to health facilities need to be improved. Perhaps a new local clinic or

mobile clinic would help. While the small population of Gemas Baru many

not warrant the establishment of a hospital, perhaps the authorities could look

into ways of improving emergency transport.

2. New investments and businesses are urgently needed to boost the local

economy and hopefully to retain the younger villagers. This is needed to

justify the establishment of a secondary school and other facilities.

3. The authorities need to look into flood mitigation project.

4. Villagers also need to be educated on the serious consequences of throwing

garbage into the river.

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)