UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT
NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:
BRUAS 木威
PERAK
Project carried out by:
Student Name
Student
ID
1. Lau Kar Yan
1100283
2. Yuen Mei Ber
1100292
Course
Biotechnology
Communications and
Networking
DATE OF COMPLETION:
DECEMBER 2011
Year /
Semester
Y1S3
Y1S3
BRUAS
ABSTRACT
Bruas is a small town located in the district of Manjung, Perak. It was established in
1956. The population in the village is very small. It is often known as an “old-folks
village”. Rubber and oil palm plantations as well as birds nest farming arethe main
sources of income for the village. Although Bruas has many facilities, it does not
have a fire station-the nearest fire station is 30 minutes away.
The highest
educational institution in the village is secondary school. The dish called Wan Tan
Mee is the main attraction of the village because it contains fresh hand-made noodles.
Another attraction is the museum which exhibits many historical artifacts in Perak.
Most villagers speak Hakka dialect.
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BRUAS
INTRODUCTION
Bruas also known as bruas, is a small town on the western part of Perak in
Malaysia. It is located within the district of Manjung. The nearest towns from Bruas
are Sri Manjung and Taiping which are only 41km and 53km away respectively.
Bruas town was named after a tree called, Bruas or wild mangosteen
(Garcinia hombroniana) which was found in abundance in this area. However, Bruas
trees are no longer found in Bruas town area nowadays, although these trees are still
found in nearby villages such as Pangkalan Baru and Batang Kubu.
A historical source stated that Bruas was established by Malik al-Mansur who
was a prince from Aceh, Sumatra. Due to his unseemly behavior, he was driven out
of his country. He set sail from Aceh and landed in Perak. While he was resting
against a tree, he was informed that the name of the tree was Bruas. Thus, he decided
to name the place after the tree, Bruas. There are some Royal Achinese gravestones
in Bruas which provide testimony to the claim that Bruas was first ruled by rulers of
Acehnese descent who moved to this area from Sumatra.
Another source mentioned that Bruas was the capital of the kingdom of
Gangga Negara, a Hindu kingdom that flourished in the Manjung area from the 2nd
to the 11th century. An attack from the Chola kingdom of south India let to its
demise. However, evidence on the existence of a 6th century Malay pre-Islamic
Kingdom of Gangganagara is rather nebulous because written records and
archaeological evidence on the kingdom is virtually non-existent. There are many
scholars who claim that the fall of the Gangga Nagara Kingdom was caused by a
severe attack by King Rajendra Chola of Coromandel in South India between 10251026 AD. Gangga Nagara got its new name as Bruas and the name remains until
today.
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BRUAS
Entrance of Kampung Baru, Bruas
Interview with villagers
Interview with boss of Wan tan Mee stall in the
village
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BRUAS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
There are many economic activities in Bruas such as rubber and oil palm
plantation, farming, fishing, commerce and bird-nest farming. The rubber and palm
oil plantations as well as birds-nest farming are the main sources of income for the
villagers.
Most villagers’ rubber trees and oil palm in their own land. In addition, birdsnest farming is a relatively new source of income in the village. This is because they
can earn high profits, by selling the birds’-nest which is believed to provide many
health benefits such as improving complexion, improving general health, enhancing
the Immune system, reducing heatiness, improving digestion and increasing nutrient
absorption. Bird’s nest is a source of many nutrients, especially glycoprotein. Many
villagers are independent businessmen. They lead a general relaxed lifestyle. Many
villagers are involved in business such as opening stalls, shops or restaurants in town.
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BRUAS
EDUCATION
The educational institutions in Bruas include kindergartens, primary school
and secondary schools. There are several pre-school in Bruas and two pre-schools are
owned by government. However, there is only one Chinese primary school and one
Tamil primary school in Bruas which are SJK (C) PEI CHING (培青华文小学) and
SJK (Tamil) Bruas respectively. Currently, SJK (C) PEI CHING has approximately
120 students and 3 teachers only. These schools are equipped with computers which
enable students to catch up with modern technology.
Government’s primary school
Tamil primary school
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BRUAS
FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURS
The facilities available in Bruas are as follows:
Public bus transport
Hindu Temple
Mosque
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BRUAS
Guan Yin Temple – over 100 years history
Methodist Church
Multipurpose hall
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BRUAS
Police Station
Post Office
Government Clinic
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BRUAS
In spite those mentioned above, Catholic Church in Bruas was established 100
years ago. Entertainment for teenagers in Bruas includes cybercafé and snooker
while adults often participate in legal lottery such as 4D Magnum.
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BRUAS
TOURISM VALUE
There are several tourist attractions in Bruas town and these are shown below:
a) Wan Tan Mee Bruas (木歪干捞面)
The Wan Tan Mee stall is probably one of the most famous food stalls in
Bruas. It is famous because its noodles are springy, tasty, fresh and most importantly,
chemical free home-made noodles.
Wan Tan Mee Stall
Wan Tan Mee (Hor Fun)
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BRUAS
Dumpling (Wan Tan) Soup
Curry Mee
Hand-made Wan Tan Mee
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BRUAS
b) Museum Bruas
The museum was opened by Y.A.B. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Ramli Bin Ngah
Talib, P.S.M., S.P.C.M., A.M.N., J.P., Orang Kaya-kaya Seri Agar Di Raja Menteri
Besar Perak Darul Ridzuan on 8 December 1998. This is a small museum mainly
built by wooden panels.
There are many artifacts and objects of cultural and
historical significance to Perak in this museum.
For instance, there are musical
instruments, weapons, tools, utensils, plates, bowls, vase, currencies, religious
artifacts, ceramics, and many more.
Entrance of Museum
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BRUAS
Collection of artifact
Old Cannon (center)
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BRUAS
PROBLEM
Life in Bruas is simple and comfortable. According to the villagers in Bruas,
many from the younger generation have moved away from the village. They seek
better employment opportunities in the cities or overseas e.g. Singapore. This has led
to the decline in Bruas population. Villagers told us that Bruas will become a place
for oldfolks. Villagers complain that, there are some goods and raw materials which
are hard to get in this town. They must travel to nearby towns such as Taiping or
Setiawan to buy these goods and materials.
House prices have increased in Bruas because of birds’ nest farming which
has become popular. Many old shop lots or double storey houses are used for birds’nest farming because of the demand for these old shop houses, many villagers have
raised the price of such housing.
Bruas has many public facilities. However, it does not have a fire station.
Although there is volunteer fire department in Bruas, the villagers face grave danger
incase of a severe fire because the nearest fire station is about 30 minutes away.
Besides that, the equipment in the volunteer fire department are not as complete as in
fire station.
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BRUAS
RECOMMENDATION
In our opinion, the village needs a fire station for the safety of villagers.
There is also a need to improve computer facilities in the schools. According
to the villagers, there are around 2 computers in SJK (C) Pei Ching while the other
school might not have any computers for students to use. Schools need to provide
more computers for students learning and hire more teachers who are tech savvy. In
addition, in order to improve students’ learning process, the library should be
upgraded to become a better and more comfortable place for students to study as wee
as to provide more reference books for students.
Next, the roads in village need to broadened and resurfaced.
The many
potholes and narrow roads pose a danger to the villagers. Flooding often occurs in
the village when there is heavy rain. The village headman should frequently organize
Gotong-royong campaigns to clear the drains to prevent flash floods and mosquito
breeding. A proper drainage system maintenance is needed.
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: 03-78582628 ext 8274, 8656, 8269
15
(Klang Valley Campus)
BRUAS
05- 4688888 ext 2297/2299/2300
(Perak Campus)
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