UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT NAME OF NEW VILLAGE: FALIM, PERAK. Project carried out by: Student Name Student ID Course Year / Semester 1. Chew Kah Soon 08ABB05813 2. Lim Hui Kee 08ABB06433 3. Loh Yih Tyng 08ABB06523 Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting Y 3 T 2 Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting Y 3 T 2 Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting Y 3 T 2 DATE OF COMPLETION: APRIL 2011 1
Abstract Falim is one of the new villages in Perak. It has an area of 117.077 hectares. It is located 3km away from Ipoh, which is one of the districts in Kinta. It is under the local authority of Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh. Falim was established in the year 1950. Currently, its average household size is 4.4. Most of the residents here own and travel by cars and motorcycles. On the other hand, main public transportations available are mini buses and taxis. The villagers here are mostly Indians, followed by Chinese and then Malays. According to the villagers here, several Indian festivals are always celebrated here. Within the village area, more than 50% of the land is used for residential purposes. This is followed by 20% for industrial purposes and the remaining is commercial land. The land tenure type is mostly 99 years lease. Overall, the residents here have average purchasing power. Falim can be considered as a new village which is still under development. It is a small town where people live a simple lifestyle. It is surrounded by developed areas such as Menglembu and Buntung. Basic education facilities are provided here. Places of worship are available for Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and others. From the economic perspective, the main industries are manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail. As a conclusion, this is a nice place for retirees to live a tranquil lifestyle. 2
History of Falim According to the headmaster of the primary school in Falim, Mr Foo Nyit Tse was the founder of Falim in the 1920s. There is only one main road in Falim which is called Lahat Road. When he worked as a miner in the early 1890s, he built the first housing estate with a large number of low cost terrace houses and 40 shop houses along Lahat road,which is located between Menglembu and Ipoh. The area between Ipoh and Menglembu was then named Falim. Mr. Foo named it Falim because of the beautiful forests across the road and he built himself a Falim house opposite the shop houses. 3
The 40 shop houses were sold to different businessmen and one of the oldest of the buildings is the corner shop located opposite the Falim House. There are two lion statues on the top of the building. The year 1906 is also engraved on the building. Based on the information gathered from the citizens here, the shop house was owned by a wealthy person before it became Syarikat Electric Kong Ah. 4
Education S.J.K. (C) Min Tet The first and only primary school in Falim is SRJ(C) Min Tet. It has 115 students with 11 teachers. The current headmaster of this primary school is Mr. Tan Kok San. The school has been established for 97 years. It is located at Jalan Spooner, Falim. Min Tet is the second oldest primary school in Perak after SJK(C) YUK CHOY which has the longest history in Perak. On 15 February 1913, tuition classes were started in KaYing Asssociates, at Ipoh Old Town to provide Chinese offspring education opportunities. Min Tet only became a part of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan in the year 1962, and is at present subsidized by the Government. It moved to Daerah Falim in the year 1966 when a new school building was completed. It is the only primary school in Falim.. 5
Canteen of S.J.K. (C) Min Tet Pre-school In addition, a pre-school owned by the state government is located in Falim. It serves as a nursery centre, taking care of children and provides basic education for children before they go to primary school. In a nutshell, there are just two educational institutions, one primary school and one pre-school which serve as educational facilities in this small town. 6
Economic Activities in Falim The growth of economic activities in Falim started from 40 shop lots in the 1920s. Currently, the main economic activity is the manufacturing and construction industry. This is due to Falim s strategic location in Ipoh. The demand for workers in Falim is increasing rapidly compared to the past decade due to the development in recent years. For example, some of the famous manufacturing industries in Falim would be the Sun Thew Chun Hup Kee Sauce manufacturing company and the Tan Khor Seng Ice Factory. The steel and bricks industry is also active in Falim as 30% of employment is in this sector. 7
The citizens here prefer to work in urban areas for higher salaries and brighter career prospects instead of staying in Falim. Thus, most of the industries in Falim are hiring foreign workers in their manufacturing operations. Besides, there are some traditional businesses such as biscuit retail shops and traditional medicine shops which have been run for almost 20 years in Falim. Some of the proprietors have been seeking for improvements in making better profit but some of the businesses are operating in low profile. Thus, this phenomenon has caused a poverty gap between these owners. 8
Tourism value Budget hotel There is a budget hotel named Fresh Hotel in Falim. This hotel caters to tourists visiting Falim. It is located near the town and provides free internet wifi service at the lobby area. It is newly built and thus all the furniture and equipment is new. It has comfortable rooms. The rate for a room is RM88 per night. Kuil Sri Maha Karumariamman Muneeswarar This is the entrance of a Hindu temple which is located in Falim, Ipoh. 9
This temple is open to the public at 5.30am and 5.30pm every day. It is crowded with devotees every Tuesday and Friday. This temple was renovated and expanded 6 years ago. The temple celebrates festivals such as the temple anniversary, the August festival, the, nine emperors festival as well as other monthly festivals. This Hindu temple has a history of 40 years and it was built by a Punjabi. Legend has it that this temple was inspired by a spirit. According to the legend, a spirit passed by this place forty year ago. The founder of this temple followed the spirit to an underground cavern where he found a long buried deity. The founder then built a temple for this deity. This is the main hall of the temple. This is the hall where all prayers are held. The deity which was found in the underground cavern has been placed inside the room which can be seen in the picture above. The room is only opened to the public when there is a festival going on in the temple. 10
This is the deity which was found inside the underground cavern. Restoran Sri Taman Mas 11
This restaurant is highly recommended and it located at No 12, Jalan Mas, Taman Mas, Falim 30100 Ipoh, Perak. Its prices are very reasonable. A plate of its famous roasted duck rice costs only RM4.00. They have other tasty dishes like barbecued pork, roasted pork and other cooked dishes. The barbequed pork is served with delicious homemade sweet and spicy sauce. This shop is closed for 2 days in the middle of every month. 12
Social, Cultural and Religious Value Although this is a small town, it is famous for its tasty food. One of its specialties is Weighed Rice, also known as Cheng Cheng Fan. Every spoonful of food served is carefully weighed. This stall is located along the side of a wooden long house at Jalan Foo Wah Cheng, Falim. The stall sells its well-known small fish balls Sai Sai Yee Tan in the mornings and sells weighed rice during lunch time. 13
The weighed rice is topped with omelet, stir fried vegetables, steamed bean curd and wanton. Traditional dim sum restaurant Ipoh is famous for dim sum and there is a 30 year old-traditional dim sum restaurant named Sun Kim Aik in this village. This restaurant is special in that its dim sum is served in big portions at reasonable prices. Moreover, the owner of this restaurant insists on preparing the dishes by using traditional methods to maintain traditional style and taste. Its operating hours are from 5.00am to 11.30pm daily. This dim sum restaurant is so famous that it has even attracted the international actress, Dato Michelle Yeoh. Falim laksa 14
There is another food stall located along the same row as the dim sum restaurant. It sells a sour fish-based soup known as asam laksa. Its business hours are 11.30am to 4.00pm and it only operates on Sundays. Besides laksa, there are optional side fried dishes for customers to choose for complementing them with laksa including fried tofu strips, fried yam bean and fried fish balls. Falim also has public facilities like a children s playground, fire hydrants and a private clinic for the use of residents here. There is also a morning market for local residents. The morning market stalls operate their business in a building which is located near the housing area. Residents in this area normally come to this morning to market to buy groceries for their daily needs. Playground 15
Population The population is 36% Chinese, 12% Malay, 51% Indian and 1% others. Overall the population has declined especially the Chinese population. There are 643 males and 591 females between the ages of 0 to 14. Between the ages of 15 years and 64, there are 1955 males and 1822 females. The last age group which is 65 years old and above, has 352 male and 504 females. 16
Problems The flat terrain of Falim has caused problems for the residents. Rainy seasons have always caused flash floods in Falim. The poor drainage system is the main reason for this problem. This problem has been haunting residents here for almost 27 years. 17
The residents do sincerely hope that Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh can complete the project for the improvement of the drainage system, as soon as possible. The latest flash floods occurred on 24 February 2011. This is one of the major problems faced by the 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) 18