UTM Summer School: "Rural Community and Culture", 1-15 July 2011

About The Program

This course is organized by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia under the management  of  the School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE) and Faculty of Built Environment. The course will introduce the diverse range of communities, landscape, and culture tradition that constitute rural Malaysia. The socio-cultural, economy, physical,  values and belief systems of the people and communities in rural Malaysia varies  such as the Malays in traditional villages, Chinese in small towns and Indians in estates, the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak, the remote communities of Orang Asli and Orang Ulu. Different rural regions also have different problems and potentials. During the duration of the course, participants will be visiting a number of  rural areas in different parts of Malaysia and stay in the villages to observe, participate and experience  rural lives and their cultural activities.

A Museum in Johor Lama

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, participants are expected to be able to describe, compare and contrast the character, the life and culture of rural communities in some   parts of Malaysia.

Program Outline

·         Lectures which cover the following topics: Introduction to rural Malaysia,  Various types of rural settlements, its communities and culture, Issues in the development of rural communities,  Rural institutions and community organization,  Rural communities and culture in Sabah and Sarawak.

• Field works
• Partial participatory observations
• Cultural encounters (involving various activities such as village walk, meeting with village community and forest tracking)
• Social visit to places of interests

Other Details

• Admission Requirements: open to all undergraduate and post-graduate students of disciplines of studies overseas.
• Duration:  3 weeks (1 week preparation in home country and two weeks in Malaysia)
• Class Size: Maximum 30 participants
• Credit Value: 3 Credit

• Program Leader:  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Ngah
• UTM-Associates:  University of Liverpool (UK), Universitas Diponegoro (Indonesia), Sungkyunkwan University (Korea), Japan University
• Fee:  RM2,500 
  (Fees includes accommodation, transportation during field study, home stay and  hotel in Sarawak, Semenchu,  Johor Lama and meals  during the program in Malaysia.
  It does not include flight from home country to UTM)

 Detail Program

Week 1 (24/6/11-30/6/11) Preparation at home country Understanding the Malaysian social, economy, cultural and political context through readings. To prepare a case study of community and culture of a village in home country for discussion in a seminar (based on secondary information).

Week 2 (1/7/11-2/7/11) Arrival to UTM and Introduction Seminar on community and culture based on a case study at home country ·         concept of community and culture (UTM). ·         case study presentation by group of participants from different countries.

Week 2 (3/7/11-6/7/11) Field Study in Johor Homestay and program with community in Felda Semenchu and Traditional village at Johor Lama. Felda Semenchu is one of the successful land settlement scheme in Malaysia established in 1960s. First generation is settlers who came from various villages in Johor, mainly work in plantation, but some did run other businesses. Most are descendants of Javanese people who migrated to Johor in 1950s. Basically the culture and tradition related to the Java-Muslim but modern way of living.  Johor lama is a traditional fishing village. When the Portuguese took over Malacca in the 14th Century the King of Malacca fled toward the South-East of Johor and established a kingdom in Johor Lama. There are traces of fortress and old tomb in the villages. Now it became a tourist spot with a few home stays/chalets facilities for tourists and a Museum.

Week 3 (9/7/11-13/7/11) Field Study in Sarawak Participants will stay at long House/Homestay for 3 nights and a night in Kuching. Visit forest area to observe flora and fauna; tourism potential; Interviews with local community Writing notes and report Cultural performance (learning the art of traditional Iban dance) 13 July–return to UTM 14 July- preparation of report and graduation ceremony. 15 July-departure

Update (16 February 2011) A group of 16 students from University of Diponegoro, Semarang Indonesia has registered for participation in the program. Dr Joesron Alie Syahbana and Holi Binavijaya will accompany them. Prof. Kwang Sik Kim (SKKU Korea) is also arranging for participation from Korean Students . A few participation is expected from University of Liverpool.

Iban traditional dance

Reference on Rural Community and Culture in Malaysia A.Zainal Abidin Abdullah Salleh (2002), Life in the Malay Kampongs of Kuching, Fifty Years Ago, Kota Samarahan: UNIMAS. AIPP Foundation (2004), Indigenous Knowledge & Biodiversity in Asia, proceedings of the Asian Regional Conferenceon Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity, 30 Sept -3 Oct 2003, Hanoi-Vietnam. AIPP. Carol Yong Ooi Lin (2003), Flowed Over: The Babagon Dam and the Resettlement of the Kadazandusuns in Sabah, Subang Jaya:  Center for Orang Asli Concern. Gomes, Edwin H. (2007) The Sea-Dayak of Boneo, reprint, Kota Kinabalu Opus Publications. Hoe Ban Seng (2001) Semelai Communities at Tasek Bera: A Study of the Structure of an Orang Asli Society, Subang Jaya: Centre for Orang Asli Concern. Irene Benggon-Charuruks eds.(1992), Culture, Customs and Traditions of Sabah: An Introduction, Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Tourism Promotion Corporation. Junaidi Payne et. Al (2006) This is Boneo, London: New Holland. JHEOA (2002), Kehidupan, Budaya & Pantang larang Orang Asli, Kuala Lumpur: JHEOA Khairul Hisham & Ibrahim Ngah (2007), Pembangunan Mapan Orang Asli, Skudai: Penerbit UTM. Lake’ Baling (2002), The Old Kayan Religion and The Bungan Religious Reform, Kota Samarahan: UNIMAS Jayun A. Jawan (1994), Iban Politics and Economic Development, Their Patterns and Change, Bangi: UKM. Khoo Kay Kim (1991), MalaySosiety: Transformation & Democratisation, Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk Publication. Narifumi Maeda Tachimoto (2001), The Orang Ulu: A Report on Malaysian OrangAsli in the 1960s, Subang Jaya: Center for Orang Asli Concern. Nocholas Colin (2000), The Orang Asli and the Contest for Resources, Copenhegan: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Mohd Yaakub Hj Johari, ed. (1989), Sosio-Cultural Dimension of Development Planning, Kota Kinabalu: Institute for Development Studies (Sabah). Syed Husin Ali (2008), Ethnic Relationsin Malaysia, Harmony & Conflic, Petaling Jaya: SIRD Syed Husin Ali (2008a), The Malays, Their Problems and Future, Kuala Lumpur:TOP

Notes and Resources for the Program

 

Contact	Ibrahim Ngah; email: b-ibrhim@utm.my; Fax: +607-5566155;  Phone: +6075530675; H/P: 0137524206
Address	Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor Malaysia

Malaysia Rural Definition

I was invited to facilitate a workshop on the preparation of action plans for the implementation of Malaysia’s Rural Master Plan. The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development Malaysia, has launched Rural Master Plan on 12 October 2010 and a workshop for the preparation of its action plans was conducted on December 12-15, at Glory Hotel in Port Dickson. The workshop was attended by 130 persons from various agencies involved in the development of rural areas.  Malaysia’s Rural Master Plan is basically a strategic plan to guide the development of rural areas in 10 years period until 2020. The document contains the strategic issues, vision, objectives, strategies and programmes. It is comparable to rural strategies in many countries in the west such as Rural Strategy in England. 

Workshop session  in Port Dickson December, 12-15 2010

In my group discussion we were asked to review the rural definition in the plan document since it received some comments/feedback from several agencies. We also looked into the indicators to monitor the plan’s progress and to suggest measures to improve rural data and information system.  The group come out with a revise definition but still based on basic operational definition by the department of statistics. It was argued that the definition by the Statistics Department (residue of urban) would stand since all the data collected in the population census were base on that definition. To ignore the Statistic Department’s definition would make classification of data difficult and may cause confusion since the statistics on rural areas in the past has been referred to the boundaries referred to by the Statistics Department.  

Rural definition in the Rural Master Plan “Kawasan yang mempunyai penduduk kurang daripada 10,000 dengan mempunyai ciri-ciri kawasan pertanian dan sumber alam semulajadi di mana penduduknya tinggal sama ada secara berkelompok, sejajar atau bertaburan”. Areas with population less than 10,000 people having agriculture and natural resources in which its population either clustered, linear or scattered.

But there were several concerned by the participants.

a.       The definition does not address the variation/diversity of rural areas in the country;

b.      There was concern whether rural areas under the new boundary of local authorities included under the definition of rural in the Master Plan.

c.       Some ministries such as the Ministry of Education classify their operation under three categories, urban, rural and remote rural.

d.      Some rural agencies did provide services in settlements at the fringe of urban areas and under local authorities’ areas.

Rural Definition Suggested LUAR BANDAR ADALAH KAWASAN DI LUAR KAWASAN BANDAR* TERMASUK PETEMPATAN BERPENDUDUK KURANG DARIPADA 10,000 ORANG, KAWASAN PERTANIAN, HUTAN DAN BADAN AIR (TASIK, SUNGAI, PESISIRAN PANTAI, PAYA). Rural as area outside urban including settlements with population less than 10,000 people, agriculture area, forest and water bodies.

 

Workshop on Action  Plan  for implementing  Malaysia's Rural Master Plan

To address the concerned on the rural variation, we also suggested the need to  categorize  rural region based on the concept of rurality. For the purpose, the methodology used by OCED was adopted by subjected to detail study  to look into application of actual data.  OCED define rural based on density. A locality is considered rural if the population density is less than 150 person per square kilometer. Based on the definition the regions with certain level of populations live in rural localities are classified into three categories, predominantly urban, significantly rural and predominantly rural.

Tracking Wild Honey Bees in Tropical Forest

I reached Kampung Jejak Seberang, a remote village in Kuala Pilah, about 11.30 am on Nov 28, 2010. The purpose was to meet Zailani or Zai, an experience wild-bee’s honey collector in the area and to make an arrangement with him to collect samples of wild-bee's honey in a few locations within the region for a research. I knew Zai about ten years back when I took a group of students to make observation on how rural people harvest the bee's honey in the forest.  I remembered  that we spend  six hours  at night ten years ago  in the forest at Sungai Talam, not far from the village.  We observed how  a group of village people lead by Zai  managed to bring down wild-bee's honey from a  25 meter-tall tualang tree.

When I met Zai, he did not recognize me since it was a long time ago we met.  Then I mentioned to him, “Do you remember that I and a group of students went with you to collect  bee's  honey in the forest, and throughout that night we heard the continuous roaring of a tiger not far from us?”  Zai said, “Yes!  You are a professor from UTM...“.  

Backdrop view of Kampung Jejak Seberang

He mentioned that the place was at Sungai Talam Forest not far from the village. It was very rare to encounter a tiger in the forest and that’s why he can easily recalled back the experience when I mentioned it. Zai said that the bee’s season normally started from February and ended sometime in August. This was the period when many trees were flowering, including fruits trees (such as durian, mango, rambutan), wild flower trees and also rubber trees. He said bees take honey from any flowers that are not poisonous. He said wild bees collect honey from 99 flowers of different kinds. He also mentioned on three different species of bees, which he called Tampoi (yellow in color), Nyenyolong (a bit long), and Beruang (black color). The first kind (tampoi) normally produces very little honey in the hive and not worth the effort to collect it. The other two species have lots of honey.

Zai was born in Java in 1944, came to the Malaysia in 1969, and settled down in the village in 1976 when married to the local. He has 9 children, in which three are married and the youngest one aged 17. He began collecting wild-bee's honey when he was 20s, but was more actively involved starting from 1981 at the age of 37. But collecting honey is his occasional job; the main jobs are tapping rubber trees and production of brown sugar from enau palm. Sometimes he was hired to do other kinds of village works such as chopping down tree and clearing of farm land. 

Brown sugar from enau palm; the juice collected from the flower stalk of the palm is boiled for 6 hours until it almost dry; a little coconut powder is added  to turn it into a solid form

The flower stalk has to be knocked with a stick/hard object about 30 minutes each day for about a week before it is ready to be cut and produce juicy liquid for a month. Each day it  could produce about four liters of juice.

Zai ‘harvest’ wild-bee's honey during the night. First he has to search for the bees hive in the forest or sometime gets information from friends including Orang Asli who work in the forest. When the honey is matured to be collected Zai will call a few friends to prepare for the harvest which include:

Cutting bamboo to make spikes/nails for the trail on the tree.

Prepare a bundle of dry coconut leaves for making fire to remove/clear bees from hive.

The final task is to cut the portion of the hive that contain honey into a container and bring it down using a rope.

The most tedious one is to make trail on the tree trunk by hammering the bamboo spikes into the trunk and climbing the tree which may be as high as 25 meters and could be towards the further part of the tree branch.

Upon reaching the hive, the bundle of dry leaves is put on fire and when the leaves is shook  the red dust of fire will fall down  to the ground. All the bees at the hive will fly towards the red dust of fire leaving the hive safe for removing the honey. This work well when the sky is dark. For instant when there is moon light,  as what I experienced ten years ago we had to wait till late mid-night for the moon to disappear, then the burning could begun.

 According to Zai wild-bee's honey now very difficult to get because forest has been cleared for palm oil plantation. In addition there are many collectors such as among Orang Asli who used to harvest the honey during daytime and used insect's spray to kill the bees before they can safely collect the honey in the hive. This method could make bees extinct or non sustainable.

At the end of the meeting we decided sometimes in March 2011 for the bee's tracking to collect samples of honey for research in lab… to be continued…

Yangon Experience

The news of the release of  the Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Nov 13,2010 urged me to write something about my experience in conducting a study in Yangon  a few years back.  I  still can recall my memory on my experiences  encountered  with the people of Yangon and the military ruled government. 

Pagoda- landmark of Yangoon City

Informal economic activities were common on Yangoon streets

At the fringe of Yangon

Sometime in 2004,  I was appointed as one of the consultants to prepare Yangon Region Strategic Development Plan under the auspice of Malaysian Government, related to the service  as agreed under  Technical Corporation. My task was to look into demography and human resource and I visited twice to Yangon city to collect information and make presentation of the study.

 My first visit to Yangon was in October 2004.  I visited a few government departments including Yangon Municipality, Statistics Department,   Ministry of Labor, and Economic Planning Division. In the Statistics Department I met a few staffs who graduated from ANU the same school where I obtained my MA in Demography. Information was difficult to obtain not only because of the strict bureaucratic procedures but also there were no much information available.  Under the junta rule, the country economic progress was slow and sanctions imposed by the western governments limit international trades and foreign investments.  Due to the financial limitation faced by the government, no population census was carried out since the last one in 1980. After this period only limited surveys were carried out under UNDP and the basic statistics on population were based on estimate.

Yangon is the capital city of Myanmar with population about 4.35 million in 2005. We were told that there were a million more people who commuted into Yangon during daytime earning their living in the city. What surprised me when first arrived in the city was that too many informal traders on the streets, selling varieties of goods from second hand books to painting, foods, fruits, vegetable, apparel to telephone services and etcetera.   We can see many people walking on the streets. Busses ,vans and train were main modes of travel, with few private cars. Since utilization of public transport was high (model split about 85 percent ratio public to private vehicle), the problem of traffic congestion was less severe, but at particular junctions on main roads in the city. Many people male and female wore sarong. People were generally looking thin and fit reflecting the difficulty of earning a living in the city. Another thing that surprised me was that I could see many Buddhist monks wearing the orange-garment in the streets. In my mind it seemed  that Yangon  could be the centre for Buddhism,  similar to Mecca for the Islam. In fact there were many big temples  in the city which  attract tourists. 

Large statue  in the temple

During my second visit in September 2005, after presentation on the progress report (interim), I took a taxi to the fringe of Yangon to look into the rural area. I visited a temple in the outskirt of the city and a school. The temple was well maintain and taking care of.  It seemed that people put a lot of efforts and sacrifice to religion and the teaching  activities as could be seen from the gathering of people there  and reflected in the physical development as well . But the government school was  poor and lack of facilities.  Houses in the villages at the fringe of Yangon were small and in poor condition, village roads were paved but lack of maintenance. 

But Myanmar was endowed with many kinds of minerals. They are rich in gold, copper, tin, iron, jade and stones used for jewelry.  But need to be careful when buying  jewelry in the market, particularly gold jewelry- a lot of fake! 

Primary School at the fringe of Yangoon City

Field visit - Desa Sidomulyo in Indonesia

The visit  to Desa Sidomulyo was arranged after the Conference in Semarang on Nov 2010. I went to Semarang with Yusof Ahmad on Nov 8, and considered lucky since on that particular day Air Asia managed to fly to Solo after canceling all the flight to Solo, Yogyakarta and Bandung on Nov 6 and  7, due to Mt Merapi eruption which contaminated the sky with volcanic ash.  On approaching Solo, I could see the effect of the volcanic ash where the sky was hazy and could not see anything far beyond, although on the ground it seemed to be cleared. That could be the reason for the cancellation of the flights from Nov 9 onward.

The conference (The first International Conference on Regional Development: Vulnerability, resilience and Sustainability) started on Nov 9, and I was asked to be a moderator for the plenary session in the morning and the next day presented a paper on Regional Development in Malaysia. 

Photograph session at the Conference

There were a wide variety of papers ranges from outlining the concepts of sustainable development to detail studies on specific topics at regional and local levels.  Disaster management seemed to be popular topics presented by a number of participants. There were a few good papers but overall mixture of focus between regional and local development.  However, sustainable development seemed to be receiving more attention by academics and practitioners in Indonesia. The occurrence of frequent disasters that  had caused devastating effects to the property and life of the society as well as  pressure on limited  resources could trigger increased awareness and alert on issues related to sustainability.  

Me, Pak Agung, Prof. Wawoeroentoe (left back) Dr David Wadley (behind)

We visited Desa Sidomulyo in Demak district on Nov 11, after meeting with Drs Agus Suryono and officials at Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Provinsi Java Tengah in Semarang.   In Demak we also met officials of Kabupaten Office .

Desa Sidomulyo- jambu air planted in the economic cluster concept

 Desa Sidomulyo is basically located on low land area; paddy is the main crop but due to economic cluster initiative the villagers had decided   to plant jambu air as a new crop along with paddy.    We can see jambu air everywhere, in the house compounds, along village streets, river banks, irrigation canals and on the bounds of the paddy fields.  

Jambu  air  are also planted in the paddy field

The houses looked beautiful, the floor a bit up from the ground with pillars placing on small foundation blocks. The traditional Javanese design of the house used local materials- wooded structure, and mud-tile roof. Village road mostly unpaved, with holes patching the   muddy surfaces. 

Traditional house at the village

Planting jambu air can provide good income to the village people, the price normally maintain around   Rupiah 6000 (RM2.50) per kg. The main challenge is marketing, need to send to cities soon after harvest since it can last only three days if left expose but a few days longer if properly wrap and store in cool temperature. So far it has not yet penetrates international market. Jambu air tree produce fruit twice per year (November/Mei) and a matured jampu tree (about 6 years old) can produce about 70 kg of fruits each season.  

Jambu air-  sweet- juicy, soft and crunchy

In Indonesia the  economic forums are the platforms for farmers to meet and co-operative. Problems were discussed and some of the important decision were made during the meeting.

irrigation canal in the village