UTAR NEW VILLAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT REPORT

NAME OF NEW VILLAGE:

PANDAN 班兰

JOHOR

Project carried out by:

Name of Student ID Course Year/TrimesterAngela Gan Shi Yeo 0807622 Chinese Studies Year 3 Sem 1Chong Yueh Ying 0805828 Accounting Year 3 Sem 2

DATE OF COMPLETION:

DECEMBER 2010

Translated from the original copy in Mandarin by Grace Anne Mak Zhi Hui (14ABB00215)

Abstract

Situated next to Tebrau Highway, Pandan New Village occupies around 70 acres of land, and has a distance of approximately 7 km from the Johor Bahru city centre. In the early days, Pandan New Village had a large patch of pandan garden, which

attributed to its current name, “Pandan” (班兰 ). The surroundings used to be filled

with dense forestry and rubber estate, but it was soon developed into a housing estate; and becomes the only new village in the city. Its infrastructure and facilities are well provided for. The 60s saw the rise of a group of enthusiastic youth eager to be involved in politics to fight for democracy, which became an essential part of the history of this village. Some famous local cuisine includes Pandan beef ball and mutton soup, attracting customers from in and out of the village. Pandan New Village has a Chinese primary school – SJK (C) Pandan, where most villagers attend, and a kindergarten. The current number of students in SJK (C) Pandan has reached over 3,600. There seems to be no boundaries for this village located by the Tebrau Highway following the rapid development of nearby housing estates. It is geographically strategic with busy traffic and nicely tarred road. The village also has a public hall commonly shared by the SJK (C) Pandan and the villagers. The new village’s development has always been well taken care of, with adequate facilities including a new multi-purpose hall. Years ago, the JB City Council even constructed a playground and hawker centre for the villagers’ amusement.

History and Background of Pandan New Village

There was already a village settlement in Pandan in the early 20s where the majority

worked as farmers. Chia Chin Tuan (谢振传), the predecessors in Pandan, built a row

of 16-lot shop houses along the main road (known as Jalan Kangka Tebrau today). At the same time, its nearby pineapple factories set up workers hostel. Situated next to Tebrau Highway, Pandan New Village occupies around 70 acres of land, and has a distance of approximately 7 km from the Johor Bahru city centre. In the early days, Pandan New Village had a large patch of pandan garden, which attributed to its current name, “Pandan”. The surroundings used to be filled with dense forestry and para rubber estate, but it was soon developed into a housing estate; and becomes the only new village in the city. The three roads that were named after the late

predecessors, Chia Chin Tuan (谢振传); Loo Hong Guan (卢鸿云); and Kam Kai Lin

(甘家琏 ), witnessed a period of struggle in the fight against Japanese occupation,

even more so it reflects the important history of this new village. Chia Chin Tuan, who came from Jaopeng, Teochew, China, came to Kangka Tebrau, Johor Bahru around the age of ten, then came to Pandan New Village at the age of 20 to seek a better life. He then built a row of 16-lot shop houses by the main road (which was demolished in the 90s), turning Pandan into a small farming village. Then came Nan

Yi (南益) Pineapple Factory followed by Yu Feng (裕丰) Pineapple Factory, allowing

the villagers to have a stable income for 20 to 30 years in agriculture. Even though there was a large population of Teochew group living in Johor Bahru city, the major dialect group in Pandan was actually the Hakkas, as the villagers often converse in Hakka among each other, and it is also a famous local Hakka village.

Pandan already had sundry shops and stores in the early days, providing goods and services to the villagers, and contributing to the hustle and bustle in the streets. During its pre-development, the Tebrau highway was sandwiched between rubber and coconut estates. Farming was the main economy among Pandan villagers, while other form of occupation included pig farming and rubber tapping. These activities continued until 1948 Malayan Emergency, where Pandan was converted into a new village. The whole village was enclosed in wire fence, with the intent of cutting off supplies to the Malayan Communist insurgents, thus in 1950, Pandan was officially declared a New Village.

Economy and Developments

The three predecessors (or pioneers) of Pandan New Village were both executed by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation. To commemorate their contributions to the society, from the 70s onwards, three roads were named after them. Currently, Pandan New Village has three roads name after these predecessors, namely Jalan Chia Chin Tuan, Jalan Kam Kai Lin and Jalan Loo Hong Guan. This has become a great heritage in the local new village.

Wherever the talk of development arises, it is inevitable to mention the said predecessors. During the Japanese Occupation, each of them took a post as the chairperson, secretary and treasurer a Pandan committee to fight against the Japanese. Chia Chin Tuan came from Jaopeng, Teochew, China to Kangka Tebrau, Johor Bahru at a young age of 10. In his 20s, he built a row of 16 shop houses along Jalan Kangka Tebrau (which was later demolished in 1996 to make way for a new kiosk). Kam Kai Lin opened his gasoline business in Kangka Tebrau known as

“Tong Yuen Hao (东源号 )”. He later went on to establish another business

known as Lian An, which went on to become a dealer for Mobil petrol and other foreign merchandise. Loo Hong Guan, originally from Hainan, China, came to Johor Bahru in 1900. He started off as an apprentice in a coffee shop, and later became a taxi driver. He later established a kiosk in the 30s in Pandan. He was very charitable person and often participated in the building of SJK (C) Pandan.

Local village council promoted youth activities in politics during the 60s

In the 60s, the Pandan local village council formed a batch of youths who were enthusiastic about politics and zealous about democracy, which became an important chapter in the history of the New Village. A local council was set up in accordance with the 1952 Local Council Act. Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) was in office from 1958 to 1962 until the 1962 local council elections, where the Labour party stood in office until 1969. Peng Luo Ming once held the post of head of local council. He pointed out that in the 50s and 60s, many villagers supported independent parties, which was a political trend so that the villagers will get to know more of democracy. He added, from 1962 to 1969, the Labour party won 4 seats, which were held by Lin Li Kun, Peng Luo Ming, Chai Zi Liang and Zhou Yin Liang; the two other seats were taken by MCA members, Lu Ye Song and Yang Zhao Mao.

Later on, the local government took over the affairs of the New Village, and Pandan was taken over by the Johor Bahru District Council and managed by an MCA representative. Currently, the member of the Johor Bahru District Council who is in-charge of Pandan is Chen Hong Hua.

The atrocities of the Japanese occupation still imprinted in the minds of the old villagers

The old villagers in Pandan simply could not wipe out the memories of the Japanese soldiers while Pandan was experiencing the Japanese Occupation. During the Japanese invasion in the 40s, Japanese troops invaded Johor Bahru and set up its military headquarters and a military hospital behind the current Yang Xie Cheng Factory, and also a small scale airport nearby. After the Japanese took over the administration in Pandan New Village, every single villager were required to report the military commander for interrogation, killing many of those who fought against the Japanese, including the three pioneers of the Pandan New Village. Lin Li Kun, now at the age of 75, recalls the time of the invasion when he was only 17 years old. Among the soldiers were Taiwanese who were recruited because they could speak Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). He recalls, because it happened to be Chinese New Year, his family asked the Taiwanese recruits for white rice, but were given biscuits, which enabled his family to survive for a period of time. He also mentioned that his family escaped to a region in Kota Tinggi, however, they went into hiding in the rubber estate when they were near Kota Tinggi (the current area has been developed into Taman Mount Austin), and stayed there until the end of the Japanese Occupation. After that, he pursued his studies in Fong Yew High School in Johor Bahru City Centre. In another recount, Peng Luo Ming, who is now 70 years old, was only three years old when the Japanese army ordered the villagers to report to the military headquarters, he was already halfway through the journey when he turned back, which saved him a great deal of ordeal. Among his neighbours, one or two made it back successfully. His parents were captured to work in the construction of the airport runway. The military only provided the workers a bowl of rice during lunch, or a small amount of rice (uncooked) as compensation.

Two of the top pictures show the Pandan Community Hall, while the bottom left picture shows a hardware and timber company in Pandan, and the picture on the bottom right shows a mosque in Pandan.

Education

Pandan New Village has a Chinese primary school – SJK (C) Pandan, where most villagers attend, and a kindergarten. The current number of students in SJK (C) Pandan has reached over 3,600.

The kindergarten along the main road in Pandan New Village (currently known as Jalan Kangka Tebrau)

SJK (C) Pandan

1930 – This national school was founded by Pandan’s predecessor, Chia Chin Tuan.

He then hired Huang Zhi Min (黄志民) to be headmaster of this school. The school is

located in one of Chia Chin Tuan’s private quarters near the Jalan Kangka Tebrau intersection. In its early days, there were only six pupils, it later increased to 25 pupils, including eight Malays and two Indians.

1933 – The Nan Yi Pineapple factory that is located near Pandan School built the school facilities. Not long after, Headmaster Huang Zhi Min resigned his post as

headmaster, and the post was taken over by headmaster Zhu Yang Gao (朱仰高). At

that moment, there were around eighty students in the school.

1942 – 1945 - Due to WWII, the school was forced to shut down, but resume its

operation when the war ended in 1945. Not long after, headmaster Zhu Yang Gao (朱仰高) step down, and the post was given to Chen Chang Xue (陈昌学).

1953 - The school name was changed to SJK (C) Pandan.

1965 – Yao Wen Fei (姚文飞) retired, and assistant headmaster Wang Da Qiao (王大乔) took over the post. Following the increase in the number of students, the school

board raised funds to expand the school building; this includes a block with four classrooms; a block with temporary headmaster’s office, administration office and teachers’ pantry; and another block of classrooms with zinc roofing.

1977 – Headmaster Wang Da Qiao (王大乔) retired. Ren Lai Fu (任赖富) from the

education department became headmaster until 1978, when the education department

chose Huang Ze Ping (黄则平) to take over the role of headmaster.

1980 – The school’s was officially upgraded to a B-type school. Headmaster Huang

Ze Ping (黄则平) was transferred to SJK (C) Kempas Baru to be headmaster there.

Thus his post in SJK (C) Pandan was taken over by Liu Jing Xing (刘金星 ). The

relevant authorities granted RM100,000 for the school to build a modern canteen, a stand-alone single-storey store room (currently used as a music room), and fenced up the school compound. At the same time, the government spent additional tens of thousands for the maintenance and painting of worn-out infrastructure.

1981 – A basketball court worth around RM12,000 was officially completed. The

state exco at that time, Najua Hamzah (拿惹化韩沙) allotted RM4,000 for the project,

the rest of the funds were contributed by the public. The government also announced under the Third Malaysian Plan that it will allocate RM406,200 for the school to rebuild a three-storey building that will commence its construction in April 1984 and finish the job five months later. This building, which is situated on a small hill, has significantly changed its school’s feature. This building was officially in use in 1985.

1992 – A multipurpose hall was successfully erected next the canteen, enabling the pupils in the afternoon session of wait for the morning-session student to end class, saving them the trouble of enduring rain and shine. In the same year, the government officially granted RM300,000 to build a building with six classrooms, four store room and toilets. The aforementioned building was completed in 1994, and was officially handed to the school authorities by public contractor as of September 7, 1994.

Taken in SJK (C) Pandan in 1985

In recent years, the number of pupils has increased dramatically from 300 to more than 700. Apart from diligently focusing on increasing its pupils’ academic standard, it also encourages active participation in extra-curricular activities. There are all sorts of sports, societies and uniform groups. In recent years, rapid development of neighbouring housing estates such as Taman Johor Jaya, Taman Molek, Taman Desa Tebrau and Taman Daya led to an increase in the number of pupils. In just a short span of six years, its pupil population increased from roughly 800 pupils in 1989 to approximately 2000 over pupils in 1995. Til this day, the school has another block of two-storey building, another fully-furnished four-storey block of classrooms, and a huge Dewan SJK (C) Pandan.

The above pictures shows the scenery in SJK (C) Pandan

School badge for SJK (C) Pandan

The triangle represents Moral, Intellectual and Physical developments of a child which are held in high esteem by the Chinese community.

The circle in the middle of the triangle represents unity.

The gear within the circle represents technology and the book, education.

The name of the school in Chinese characters is written in the rectangle.

The name of the school in the National Language is written on the ribbon.

ECA Society in SJK (C) Pandan

Chinese Yo-yo Club

The school’s Chinese yo-yo was formed in 1994 so that students can make better use of their idle time in sports. So, under meticulous planning, the Chinese yo-yo club was formed. In the beginning there were only 30 over performers, now, that number has risen to nearly 200 people. Under the hard work of coaches, teachers and students, this sport has won the support of many, and has thus been invited to perform in hundreds of occasion.

Brass Band

To increase the pupils’ interest in music, the school formed a symphonic band in the March of 1996. The number of members was around 50, led by coach Guo Quan Shun. The main instrument of the band is the fife. After that, the band upgraded from a wind band to become a drum band, with the addition of trumpets, xylophones and

etc. Its members rose to hundreds. At that time, coach Dai Tian Lai (戴天来) led the

band. The band usually emphasizes on formation marching.

Starting last year, the school band was led by school teacher Zhang Jun He (张俊和).

Zhang wasn’t a professional in music, but filled with zeal for music, he was constantly researching about performance, instruments and uniforms. Thus, in these two years, the school band saw formidable changes, especially in its instruments –

with the addition of trombone, tuba, euphonium, melodica and etc. The style of performance changed from outdoor formation marching to indoor concert performance, so that its members need not endure the hot sun. Apart from that, their repertoires had more varieties than before.

At the end of last year, the school hired an experience coach, Li Ke Yao (李克耀).

Under Li, Zhang, and other teachers in-charged, the band members had visible improvements in various aspects. Now, the drum band is officially a brass band, and has its own music room to hold practices. Problems regarding the absence of suitable location for band practices and small storage space for band instruments were solved when the principal converted a classroom into a music room. The school authorities are currently improving the facilities in the music room, so that band members can learn in a comfortable environment.

Traditions and Cultures

A temple situated in Pandan New Village, known as Rumah Berhala Sum Shing

Meow (班兰三神庙) was built in 1950. That year, residents vigorously raised funds

to build the temple. The temple hall was made of bricks and wooden planks. This year, as of the eleventh day of the eighth month in accordance with the Chinese calendar, Rumah Berhala Sum Shing Meow celebrated its 41st anniversary.

The upper left picture illustrates the temple in its early 50s. The rest of the three photos are the current pictures of the temple from the front. The person in the bottom

right picture is Mr Liu Qiang (刘强 ), who is responsible for keeping the incense

burning in the temple.

Local Cuisine

Pandan Beef Ball

With decades of experience in beef ball, Yang Zhi Hui (杨志辉) emphasized that he

only chooses the freshest beef so as to give the beef balls its “bouncy” feeling. Having at least 60 years of beef ball history, its customers have basically ate this cuisine their entire life, even famous artistes from outstation and Singapore have graced Pandan for its beef balls. Apart from that, local TV stations have also interviewed this beef ball shop. Yang Zhi Hui, 2nd generation of the beef ball business, says be personally goes to the wet market to choose fresh beef, only then the beef ball can have that “bouncy” feeling. Yang has decades of experience in making beef ball. He makes at least 10 to 20 kg of beef balls a day, 120 pieces per kg, equaling 2400 pieces of beef balls.

The photos above shows the beef ball business in Pandan New Village.

Pandan Mutton Soup

Upon setting foot in the shop, without a single fan to be seen, every customer was drenched in sweat. But because his food tastes good, many customers still continue to grace his shop. With more than 40 years of history, the Pandan mutton soup - that has more than 20 types of herb in it, along with mutton bones – is boiled for four to five

hours. Stall owner Huang Ding Yi (黄丁益) reveals that he has taken over his father’s

business for more than ten years, most of his current customers are his old customers, which whom he is familiar with.

The photos below shows the beef ball business in Pandan.

Future developmental plans for Pandan New Village

Pandan New Village, which is situated next to the Tebrau Highway, has no boundaries, following the progress of neighbouring housing estates, the infrastructure in the New Village is already more than adequate, and has not seen big-scale development. With more than two thousand residents in this village, quite a number of them have gone to the city centre or neighbouring housing estate to work; or currently resides in Taman Istimewa, Taman Daya, Taman Johor Jaya or other neighbouring residential areas. Because of its strategic geographical location in Johor Bahru plus its busy traffic, this village has fully-tarred roads and is equipped with a community building shares by SJK (C) Pandan and its other residents. Years ago, the JB city council has even added a playground and hawker centre for the residents’ amusement.

Proposal to retread the old shop lots

Nevertheless, Pandan’s residents are not optimistic on whether Pandan is in the Iskandar Project or not, and whether it’ll bring any transmutation to the area. Peng

Luo Ming (彭洛明) pointed out that Pandan is situated next to the Tebrau Highway,

which makes it near the city centre, its surrounding residential areas are already fully developed, so there will not be any expectations of large-scale developments. He even stated that, Pandan already has no boundaries with its surrounding residential areas. To develop it, it might have to demolish the all the old buildings and build skyscrapers. However, he hopes that it (the development) can still continue to preserve the original look of the new village. Nonetheless, he suggested that authorities could revamp some old shop lots, so as to beautify the new village.

The head council of Rumah Berhala Sum Shing Meow, Liu Han Liang (刘汉亮 ),

hopes that the government will actively promote the growth the (Sum Shing Meow) temple, especially in granting funds for the beautification of the building. so that it may be a famous local attraction.

In a different context, Chen Hong Hua (陈鸿华), a Tiong Hua Johor Bahru alderman

who is in-charge of Pandan, pointed out in an interview, that the development of the new village has always received attention, adding that Pandan has adequate public facilities, especially those in the playground. He also revealed that the state government is determined to solve Pandan’s squatter’s issue, and may continue to develop the land next to its main road (Jalan Kangka Tebrau) into a commercial residential area. Detailed information concerning this development will be announced by relevant authorities.

Anecdotes

Licensing fees required for cyclist

In the 60s, owning a bicycle was an impressive thing, because at that time, a bicycle was priced between RM40 to RM50, which was considered expensive by the locals. To efficiently oversee the bicycles in the village, the legislative assembly in the 60s collected RM3 from the villagers as licensing fees.

The well that never dries up

Since 1928, the well next to the Sum Shing Meow has never dried up. That well used to provide water for bath and cooking for the locals and Yu Feng Pineapple Factory coworkers. Today, this well is considered a historical spot, and well-loved by its locals.

Queen of Heaven prevents rain

On the 23rd day of the third Lunar month, Pandan villagers celebrated the Festival of

the Queen of Heaven (天后) annually. Even if the date of celebration coincides with a

rainy season, the night of the celebration is sure to be clear. Even though it is not an absolute phenomenon, many villagers have observed years of rainless tradition, and all find it amazing.

Chinese burial ground in Pandan

There’s a plot of burial ground in Pandan New Village, whenever there are Chinese, there is sure to be Chinese burial ground. However, this burial ground in situated in the New Village itself, surrounded by residential houses, making it is a very special part in the Pandan New Village. The early villagers buried their elders in the cemetery at the back of the primary school (SJK (C) Pandan), the cemetery’s area is not big and has a pleasant surrounding.

Japanese soldiers build opera stages during ghost festival

The Japanese soldiers killed many innocent people in Pandan New Village. It was said that the spirits of murdered Javanese men were wrecking havoc, and often caused the Japanese planes to crash. The helpless Japs offered cassava and banana to the wandering spirits. According to the recollections of the old villagers, there was a

small military airport behind the Yang Xie Cheng (杨协成) factory that year where

those mysterious crashes occurred. It was said that it might have been caused by Javanese men who were captured to Johor Bahru to work in the construction of the airport. Many were brutally murdered, and the unrest souls were said to be the culprit of the mysterious plane crashes. This part of history is hard to look into, as it was passed on from mouth to mouth. It is a part of history waiting to be proven.

Crocodiles in the Pandan River

During the 20s and 30s, the Pandan River was on high tide. Villagers use small boats to go to Tan Chu Kang (a port or harbor of the Tan clan, currently known as Kangka Tebrau) to transport goods. There were times when crocodiles could be seen. According the villager’s word of mouth, a large crocodile was seen at the Pandan River, but it was captured. Someone later found out that its specimen was left in a museum in Singapore, but currently awaits expert’s research and verification.