TANJUNG TUALANG

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ABSTRACT

Tanjung Tualang in Daerah Kampar, Perak, is a famous duck rearing area which

provides supplies to many countries in Asia. It also provides good opportunities for

seafood business, and agricultural activities such as growing of crops. However, the

infrastructure, public transport and communication need to be improved. The local

people need education on environmental protection and handling of waste disposal

items and recycling process.

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HISTORY

Tanjung Tualang located in Kinta Valley Perak, Malaysia, was established in year

1910 and has been expanded to be a new village in Daerah Kampar, Perak. It is under

the administration of West Kinta Town Council (Majlis Perbandaran Kinta Barat). Mr.

Lee Han Leong who is the chairman of Persatuan Hokkien Tanjung Tualang is also

the headman of Tanjung Tualang. Around the year 1910, Tanjung Tualang was

famous for its tin mining activities. It was originally one of the tin-mining towns in

Malaysia. In addition, Tanjung Tualang is popular for its freshwater prawn, and

produce from its duck farms are exported to countries such as Singapore, Philippines

and Thailand. It had the world’s biggest tin dredging machine (kapal korek) owned

by a European company in 1970.

The houses in Tanjung Tualang are mostly made of wood and scattered around the

village randomly. The common means of transport are bicycles and motorcycles as

the roads are narrow. The nearest urban centre is Kampar which is located 10

kilometers away from Tanjung Tualang. The neighbouring towns are Gopeng, Malim

Nawar, Batu Gajah and Teluk Intan. The village is surrounded by productive and

well-maintained farms.

Today the population of the village is recorded as 7,000. However, due to the state of

education facilities and job opportunities, many residents have arranged for their

children to go to cities for higher and better education. Many youth from Tanjung

Tualang have also left for better job opportunities.

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SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Most of the Chinese populations are Taoists and Buddhists. There are a few local

institutions in the village, for example:

(a) Thung Hoon Old Boy Alumni

(b) Tanjung Tualang Hokkien Association

(c) Charitable Organization

(d) Youth Association and Guangxi Association

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(e) Kelab Jiran Usia Emas for veteran farmers

This farmers’ group was formed by elderly villagers who spend their leisure time on

productive activities such as growing vegetables and selling them in the morning

market. The picture below shows the morning market where some of the villagers are

selling vegetables.

Morning Market

(f) The religious buildings seen in the village are as follows:

• Tokong Tham Kong Yah

Front view of Tokong Tham Kong Yah

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This 120 year old historical building had been renovated three times. On the first and

the fifteenth days of the Chinese lunar calendar month, many devotees go to the

temple for prayers and offerings.

Team members with the caretaker of Tokong Tham Kong Yah

• Masjid Nurul Hamidiyah

Masjid Nurul Hamidiyah

Among the temples and historical associations, there is a mosque in the village too.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

The Infrastructure, utilities and facilities of the village are managed by the Village

Security and Development Committee (JKKK).

(a) Water and Electricity Supplies

The villagers enjoy the water and electricity provided by the government agency.

Villagers use this source of water to carry out daily chores such as bathing, washing

clothes, cooking and watering plants. Some villagers still use the water from Kinta

River for cleaning.

(b) Waste Disposal

Waste disposal is handled by the municipal authorities. However, some elderly

villages are still seen burning rubbish and dry leaves in the open and this leads to air

pollution.

(c) Telecommunication

Telekom Malaysia

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Telecommunication services are important for the new village to communicate with

the world outside. Mobile phone services are widely used in Tanjung Tualang.

TELEKOM Malaysia has an office in the village for the convenience of the local

community.

(d) Post Office

Inauguration board for the post office

The post office was inaugurated by Y.T.M Raja Idris Ibni Sultan Iskandar Shah, C. M.

G. Raja Muda Perak on 9 August 1956.

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(e) Police Station

Tanjung Tualang Police Station

A police station with a hostel for policemen, 3 clinics and a district hospital were

established in Tanjung Tualang. Policemen patrol the streets of Tanjung Tualang

every day. People’s Voluntary Corps (RELA) also helps to take care of Tanjung

Tualang’s security.

(f) Clinic Tanjung Tualang

Clinic Tanjung Tualang

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(g) Community Hall

There are also a community hall, an open field, and a 2-storey market in the village.

The ground floor of the market is for stalls selling vegetables, fruits, fish, and

chickens and so on. The second floor is still vacant. According to feedback given by

the local people, the elderly villagers find it inconvenient to climb up to the second

floor to do their daily marketing. In the village, there are about 80 shops which sell a

range of products such as seafood, drinks and groceries. In addition, during our visit,

we also found a lot of food stalls by the roadside of Tanjung Tualang. Pasar malam is

a weekly commercial activity on Friday evenings.

Front view of Tanjung Tualang Community Hall

(h) Food Stalls

Merah Selera Food Court

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(i) Morning Market

Morning Wet Market

(j) Public Transport

Public buses and taxis are not commonly found in the village. Villagers, who do not

own bicycles or motorcycles, will often walk to their destinations.

EDUCATION

There are three kindergartens, two primary schools and one secondary school in

Tanjung Tualang.

(a) SJK (C) Thung Hon

The main entrance of S.J.K (C) Thung Hon

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SJK (C) Thung Hon was established on 4th

April 1915. The villagers of Tanjung

Tualang raised funds to build the school in order to provide better education for their

young generation. The land was donated by a tin-mining company and the building

material was donated by others.

Initially, the number of students was less than 50 but it was increased to 80 students

in 1925 with only 2 teachers. In 1931, the number of students increased dramatically

to 160. Due to the increase in the number of students, the Parents Teachers

Association of the school decided to upgrade the school by organizing another fund

raising session. With the support of the local people, they managed to open 7

classrooms to provide more opportunities for locals to pursue their education.

In 1937, there were more than 200 students and 11 teachers at the SJK ( C ) Thung

Hon. The school was proud of their basketball team which had once trained players

for an international match.

The number of students had once increased to 500. However, since the closing of tin

mines, the population started to drop. Currently, the primary school of SJK ( C )

Thung Hon has only 335 pupils and 24 teachers.

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(b) SK St. Paul

The main entrance of SK St. Paul

SK St. Paul was at first known as a “Missionary” school which was founded by

Reverend Father Jaurequny in 1957. It was later known as “Sekolah Rendah Jenis

Kebangsaan(Inggeris) St. Paul”. In 1976, the name of the school was changed to

“Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St. Paul”.

This school started with 100 students and one classroom. The number of students was

gradually increased. In 1967, there were six classrooms with morning and afternoon

classes. At that time, there were 362 students in the school.

The number of students decreased after the closing of the tin mines as many villagers

moved out of the village. By the end of 1996, there were only 206 students in the

school.

With the help of the government in 1994, the school was upgraded with facilities such

as science laboratory, classrooms and canteen. In 1995, RM 150, 000 was allocated

by the Ministry of Education to the school for upgrading the administrative office,

staff room, and library. Currently SK St. Paul operates with 208 pupils and 17

teachers.

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(c) SMK Tanjung Tualang

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Tualang

SMK Tanjung Tualang, was previously known as SMK Dato’ Bendahara C.M Yusuf.

It was established in 1965 with 2 classrooms, a canteen, toilets and one staff room.

The founder is YB Tun Sri Dato’ Chok Mohamad Yusuf bin Sheikh Abdul Rahman.

In 1980, SMK Tanjung Tualang was graded in ‘A’ category among the schools

outside the town. In 2003, SMK Tanjung Tualang was upgraded with 7 classrooms,

canteen, “surau”, football field, volleyball court and “sepak takraw” field. There were

55 teachers and 11 staffs. SMK Tanjung Tualang is the only secondary school in

Tanjung Tualang. Currently, it has 1020 students and 58 teachers.

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ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The local people work on plantation, estate, and poultry to earn their living.

(a) Farming

Villagers plant banana trees, sugar cane, and vegetables. The crops are usually for

domestic supply.

Tapak Tani Jiran Usia Emas Rukun Tetangga Tanjung Tualang

A list of vegetables available in Tapak Tani Jiran Usia Emas

Rukun Tetangga Tanjung Tualang

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(b) Plantation

Oil Palm plantation contributes to the growth of economic activity in the village.

Most residents who work in the plantation reside in the town. They are used to

getting up in the early morning and riding to work.

(c) Poultry

Tanjung Tualang is also famous for its duck farm. According to the owner of the

farm, he has more than 300,000 ducks. It seems that this is the largest duck farm in

South East Asia. Most of the ducks are for export purposes.

Ducks which will be exported to others countries

Ducklings

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(d) Other Commercial activities

The village is also famous for its sea food. Sea food is available in most of the

restaurants in Tanjung Tualang. The seafood here is delicious and the price is

reasonable too. Majority of customers are from neighbouring towns such as Kampar,

Gopeng and Ipoh.

Seafood Restaurant Thong Lok, one of the famous restaurant in Tanjung Tualang

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PROBLEMS

The development and improvement of infrastructure in Tanjung Tualang are needed

urgently in the village. Villagers need infrastructure support to expand their business

activities and improve their income and earning which at the same time will boost the

economic growth of the village. Many of the villagers still depend on poultry rearing

and vegetable farming on small plots of land.

Environmental cleanliness needs to be improved. Many local people still lack

awareness of the need for environmental protection. They need to be educated to

protect their environment and to recycle the waste. Educational efforts would need to

be focused on rubbish disposal and river / drain cleanliness.

The village lacks public transport. Buses and taxi services are not sufficient.

Moreover, public communication services such as public phone booths are not easily

found for the convenience of the poor.

ENTERPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Tanjung Tualang provides good entrepreneurship opportunities for seafood, and duck

rearing. Tourists would be attracted to stalls selling local traditional food.

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APPENDICES

A picture with one of the residents of TualangTanjung

Having lunch with the headman of Tanjung Tualang

A picture with the ex-headman of Tanjung Tualang

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A picture with staff of S.J.K (C) Thung Hon

Jagdeep and Zhen Yi are interviewing the staff of SK St. Paul

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: 03-79551511 ext 157 (Klang Valley Campus)

05-4662323 ext 2297 / 2299 (Perak Campus)