The Bai Jia Mi (rice from 100 households) tradition being practised in conjunction with Chinese New Year at Kampung Chempaka New Village in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. — Filepic
STATE assemblymen and MPs should host Lunar New Year celebrations in new villages where the population is more than 80% Chinese.
The state-level open house as well as festive celebrations by the people’s representatives in their constituencies, should be rotationally held at these new villages.
This will provide a welcoming atmosphere for various ethnic groups.
It will expose people to the villages’ history and bring greater understanding of our nation’s past that has been accorded reduced significance due to ignorance.
Photographic exhibitions on villages of early days during the Emergency and other historical episodes such as Merdeka, the general elections as well as portrayals of locals and changes over the decade, should be held during Chinese New Year for visitors and tourists to appreciate.
Many new villages have been transformed from their previous agricultural mainstay to house small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) as well as industrial and commercial zones, attracting a large number of local and foreign workers.
The contributions of SMEs in new villages are immense to the economy and the government needs to assist in infrastructure development as well as other relevant aspects to make them vibrant and organised – similar to housing estates.
New villages are in need of better roads and drainage, facilities for sports and senior citizens, tidier public spaces, parks, more commercial buildings, food courts, larger multipurpose halls, local authority offices and cleaner wet markets to attract more non-Chinese to reside in apartments and condominiums being built.
This will lead to a greater multiracial mix, which is also one of the government’s objectives.
Quite a substantial number of Chinese have moved away from new villages.
Yet land value and rentals at new villages have skyrocketed because they have some of the country’s largest SMEs.
Foreign and local workers have more than made up for the Chinese residents who have moved to urban areas.
By hosting Chinese New Year celebrations, MPs and assemblymen can assess the needs of new villages and allocate funds for various improvements and transformation.
These investments and allocations will have a large multiplier effect and result in greater economic growth to fill both state and federal coffers.
It is well-known that SMEs make up more than 80% of industrial establishments in the country and 50% are found in new villages.
Hence, they play a major role in the country’s economy.
New villages have not been given due acknowledgment as the multiplier of economic growth.
Recently, there were reports of a push by Selangor government to get new villages recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site due to their historical and cultural significance.
New villages are in need of better administration and physical improvements by local authorities to make them attractive to live in and visit.
These villages have to be brought into the mainstream for national reckoning.
Their isolation in the past leaves out an important and meaningful part of our history, which remains unknown to the younger generation.
V. Thomas
Sungai Buloh
