UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

KAMPUNG MATA AYER

KELANTAN

Project carried out by:

Student Name ID Number Course Year / Semester

1. Chew Long Way 15ABB04222 Marketing Y3S3

2. Lee Zhi Cheng 15ABB04327 Finance Y3S3

3. Leon Chun Mun 15ABB04233 Marketing Y3S3

DATE OF COMPLETION

APRIL 2019

KAMPUNG MATA AYER

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ABSTRACT

Kampung Mata Ayer was established in 1810. It is now over 200 years old. It is located

in Pulai Chondong in the state of Kelantan. Towns close to this new village are Kota

Bahru, Machang, and Tanah Merah. Tourist attractions in Kampung Mata Ayer are

“Xin Tian Gong Temple” and Sungai Kelantan. Its main economic activity is in

agriculture. The major sources of income in this village are from agriculture.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Kampung Mata Ayer is located in Pulai Chondong, Kelantan. Nearby towns include:

Kota Bahru which is 35 km to the north of Mata Ayer.

Machang which is 17.2 km to the south of Mata Ayer.

Tanah Merah which is 27.8 km to the north of Mata Ayer.

A river called Sungai Kelantan flows through the village. According to Mr. Cheng Kim

Tiang (PIBG SJKC Poey Sit), current population in 2019 is approximately 400. There

are 74 houses in the village. When the village was founded in 1810, it had a population

of 500. Over the years, the population declined due to low job opportunities in Mata

Ayer forcing the youths to move to other states to find jobs with higher pay.

Figure 1.0: Mr. Cheng Kim Tiang

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2.0 ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The main sources of income/economic activities in Kampung Mata Ayer are as follows:

Agriculture. Villagers plant durians, bananas and papayas for own consumption.

Any excess will be sold locally, and fruits such as the durian will be sold to

Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan at a higher price.

Livestock. Animal husbandry in has greatly developed. Villagers undertake

both farming and stockbreeding. For example, they rear cattle, sheep, and

chicken in their houses. More than that, these animals become a source of

income, as villagers will sell if there is a buyer. For instance, large number of

cattle are bought by Muslims to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

According to Mr. Cheng, vegetables, fruits, and meat are sold in a wet market (pasar

mini) in the village. Villagers buy ingredients here to cook at home. There is a total of

3 grocery stores selling daily goods and essentials. Villagers travel to nearby towns

such as Kota Bahru for shopping as there are no malls in the village.

Based on the economic activities and resources, there are opportunities for future

investments in exports to other states. This is because the price of durians in other states

is much higher than those sold locally. For example, the durians are sold at RM36

locally but RM120 in Pahang.

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Figure 2.0: Sungai Kelantan

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3.0 SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Kampung Mata Ayer has a population consisting of Chinese, Malay, and Thai. 90% of

the population are Chinese, about 9% are Malay while the remaining percentage are

Thai. Due to the composition of its population, the main dialect and languages spoken

are Hokkien, Chinese, Malay and Thai. Hokkien is widely spoken. Religion in this

village is Buddhism. Majority of villagers are above 50 years of age. Places of worship

include temples and schools. A key festival held in the village is “Himpunan Sim Beng

Kelantan” in April.

Figure 3.0: Poster of Himpunan Sim Beng Kelantan

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4.0 EDUCATION

In Kampung Mata Ayer, there are no educational institutions from pre-school to tertiary

level. For primary and secondary education, villagers travel 8 km and 25 km to Pulai

Chondong and Machang, respectively. These educational institutions have embraced

‘smart class room’ technology where smart devices are used as learning tools for

students. It aims to attract students by developing their interest in studying. There is

sufficient teachers and students for the educational institutions. According to Mr.

Cheng, there are 280 students and 28 teachers for secondary school while the primary

school has 80 students. However, the number of students from Kampung Mata Ayer

who are currently studying in primary school is around 20. The rest of 60 students are

from other villages in the rural areas.

5.0 INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES

Medical facilities available in the village are as follows:

There is one public clinic named as Klinik Desa.

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Figure 4.0 Klinik Desa

Another facility available in this village is the pondok balai polis. There are no

hospitals and balai bomba situated here and villagers use these facilities located in

Machang.

Security in Kampung Mata Ayer is satisfactory. For example, there is a system

called Sistem Rondaan Sukarelawan (SRS) to patrol the village at night.

According to Mr. Cheng, the road system in this village is acceptable. Roadside

street lights provided by the Federal Government are adequate.

The drainage system is in poor condition. It sometimes faces blockages caused by

inappropriate disposal of rubbish and waste.

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Garbage collection in Kampung Mata Ayer needs improvement, as there is no

proper waste management in this village. Villagers dispose of their waste and

rubbish in nearby towns, which are 6 km away.

6.0 Tourism Value

There is one Chinese temple named as “Chu Hu Iar Bio Xin Tian Gong” in Kampung

Mata Ayer and it is near Sungai Kelantan. Construction started in 2010 and it took five

years to complete. According to Mr Cheng, who is one of the committee members,

villagers of Kampung Mata Ayer donated towards the building of the temple. It is one

of the most famous temples located in Kelantan, Malaysia. Mr Cheng said a huge

festival activity is celebrated at the temple yearly on the 12th day of fourth lunar month

according to the Chinese calendar.

The duration of festival is 3 days and the Chinese from any other areas of Kelantan,

such as Kota Bharu, Kuala Krai, and Kok Lanas flock to Kampung Mata Ayer to

celebrate together. Youths working elsewhere like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore apply

for leave to go back and celebrate the festival. Mr Cheng said it is a mega festival in

the village, which is a rural area. There is usually more than 500 people celebrating the

festival, as they believe the temple protects the safety of the village. As busy working

people also make an effort to attend, there must be something very special about the

festival, which is one reason for visiting Kampung Mata Ayer and the temple.

7.0 Problems

The main problems faced by Kampung Mata Ayer are as follows:

No proper waste management. There are no public rubbish bins. Rubbish is

thrown into the river and landfills or burned. Villagers do not have a proper way

to dispose of their rubbish. There are no garbage trucks, which compound the

problem as it is just not convenient for villagers to travel more than 6 km to

throw one bag of rubbish.

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Floods. It is due to the bad drainage system, as it is blocked by rubbish and there

is no maintenance. Villagers worry about floods if it rains continuously for 2

days.

According to Mr. Cheng, the nearest fire station is in Machang and firefighters

take around 25 minutes to reach the village. Therefore, in case of house fire, it

will take a longer time for firefighters to travel here and put out the fire. The

villagers are concerned about this situation.

8.0 Recommendation

In relation to the tourist attraction and problems mentioned above, the following

recommendations are made:

“Chu Hu Iar Bio Xin Tian Gong” Chinese temple. It should be promoted online on

social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Therefore, people outside

Kelantan will know about it and visit the place due to its unique culture, which it is

difficult to experience in other places. Visitors will spend on food, fruits and

accommodation. It improves the economy as a result of more cash inflows. Villagers

will be able to upgrade facilities with the increased income, and attract even more

visitors.

Proper rubbish disposal. The solution would be to request the Federal Government to

place public rubbish bins at different areas of the village. Therefore, it will be

convenient for villagers to throw their rubbish into the rubbish bins in the village.

Garbage trucks should also enter the village frequently to collect rubbish from the

rubbish bins. The problem can be solved with these good habits and system.

Cleanliness. Villagers should carry out community service for cleaning all areas of

Kampung Mata Ayer frequently. They could set a date on the first Friday of each month

for the cleaning activity. As Friday is a public holiday in Kelantan, everyone would be

able to participate.

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Risk of fire. Villagers should install notification centre in the middle of Kampung Mata

Ayer. In addition, they should install long pipes of at least 5 m outside each house for

water to be pumped from Sungai Kelantan. Hence, if fire occurs, the notification centre

will be able to notify all villagers through its public announcement system, and ask

everyone to head to the scene and help put out the fire together by using the long pipe

and high water pressure.

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