I was abroad when my fellow Ad Hocs went for this Kampung Explorer. They brought back disturbing news about the plight of a minority group.....their ancestral land pillaged, lost of income and lost of food source!
Here is his account, a document of the ride itself and his empathy towards the oppressed minority :
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| Angry signboards at the village |
The early morning sprinkles did not deter any one of our riders from turning out for the ride.
Frankie and Rina drove in from Singapore even though the early morning drizzle threatened to spoil the ride. Jason and wife were the other two Singaporeans.
The riders of the day consisted of a very mixed bunch, ranging from young teens - Zoe came with her 13yo daughter and Eva with one teenage son - to people in their sixties, Maggie and Mr Lim.
Eva came with her two boys, the Pang brothers. Their French friend Simon came along.
A new rider, Paul joined us today, introduced by Irene of KCT. Jolin, the 500km/day rider was the strongest rider to join us. Olivier came despite having just flown in from Taiwan hours ago, while Susanna looked fresh from another of her recent travels.
The sprinkles quickly subsided, and we were blessed with a cool morning for cycling...
After a short briefing on the morning's Kampung Explorer route, we headed out from Horizon Hills South Gate, for our first regroup point of Khass Bike Shop in Taman Perling, 6km away. From there we headed to MasjidAl-Istiqamah, along Jalan Panglin, from which a small nondescript road leads to the entrance to Kampung Tuah Jaya.
It is amazing how the road where rows of houses stood, suddenly becomes one where trees line both sides. Past this single point, one feels transported through time and place, from a modern busy residential neighbourhood with rows of houses, to a tranquil kampung countryside, where simple kampung houses stand apart with large unsecured front yards.
As we cycled along, the crow of cockerels greeted us in the fresh country air. Chickens could be seen running around, pecking in the ground for their breakfast. Cats sat on front porches licking themselves. Birds flew thru the air and perched themselves on branches, with song. Dogs were not seen in this Muslim kampung though, a fact explained to Simon, our guest rider from France. The surau stood central in this kampung, as in most kampungs as they are a focal point in many rural muslim communities.
We introduced Simon to tapioca plants in the yards of the homes, and also sugarcane plants, banana trees, and jambu trees. There were even cempedak trees bearing early fruit.
Riding out of the kampung, we posed for a photo at the next regroup point which was where a Hindu temple stands right next to a Chinese temple, testimony to the religious harmony and tolerance between religions in Malaysia.
Kampung Bakar Batu Perling, our next destination, was merely 5km away. After a short stretch cycling along the busy Jalan Persisiran Perling, a right turn at the 1st traffic junction led us into Jalan Persisiran Sutera, for a very pleasant ride along a wide road with little traffic, shaded with very tall trees on either side. Ending at a T junction, either arm seemed to continue as similarly well maintained wide road planted with tall trees on either side, as well as a third row in the divide between the two lanes, providing shade. It was as though this well maintained road would lead to some well maintained park or luxury residential area.
We took the turn towards the right. The well maintained road suddenly narrowed after some distance, into a small kampung road, with lalang and varied trees on both sides. This was where Jalan Sutera becomes a kampung road. Disturbingly, from this point onwards, even as we enjoyed the ride, we could see multiple makeshift white signboards with handpainted red letterings of protest.
"Jangan perbodohkan kami!" (Don't think we're stupid!)
"Kami tuntut pampasan yang adil!" (We demand just compensation!)
As we rode on, we could see old kampung houses on either side, some which had been abandoned.
We posed for photos under the massive Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar bridge which actually spanned TWO rivers (Sungei Sekudai on the east, and Sungei Danga on the west) where they come close together, yet where the two rivers are separated by a narrow slip of land, and Jalan Sutera sits on this slip of land.
Coming directly under the main bridge, we saw that there was a narrow rusted iron bridge which was dwarved by massive bridge running alongside parallel to it. This bridge would not be noticeable to anyone travelling by car or even bicycle on the bridge on top unless they peer over the side. I guess that it must have been a service bridge that was erected to facilitate transport vehicles during the construction of the main bridge.
Some of the riders were fearful of falling thru rusted iron of the bridge, but that fear seemed a bit unfounded as the plated looked very thick, as were the supports beneath. This bridge was probably intended for lorries. There were points though, where gaps between the plates were large enough for one's foot to go through, if one were not careful.
Riding further along the rustic part of Jalan Sutera heading southeast, we passed more dilapidated abandoned houses, some of which looked more like shacks. Through gaps in the belukar (thicket) on the left northwest side of the road, we could clearly see an island which had been developed, and also reclaimed, to become an island where the super-rich build their luxury mansions. There was even one with its own pier, and luxury yachts seen moored.
However, in the foreground, we could see dilapidated shacks, and sampans moored at sagging wooden piers. A single orang asli man, dressed in shabby tshirt, was sitting near a pier, which bore a signboard charging RM20 for using his private pier on this side of the waters, just across from where the luxury yacht was moored. Perhaps this was his only means of income, now that the reclamation works had altered the flow of the rivers and quality of the waters such that his traditional source of income, from fishing and crab catching, had seriously been reduced. What a vast contrast it was, to see what was in the foreground, and to what was just across the short stretch of water.
Riding further into Jalan Sutera, we came to the end, where massive reclamation works were still ongoing. It was difficult to imagine the vast amount of sand that must have been dumped there, to create such a massive pile.
Surely this massive reclamation would have caused environmental change to the river upon which the local fishermen depend for their livelihood, I thought to myself. Fellow rider, Teacher Jolin, lamented how older fishermen who lost their jobs, would not be able to retrain themselves in other vocations, and would have difficulty finding jobs. It was with sad hearts that we left Kampung Bakar Batu.
Later, after the ride, I researched and found out why the villagers and fishermen had posted those signboards of protest which we had seen. Apparently, back in 2003, a total of 279 fishermen families had been promised compensation of average RM10,750 each. But up until 2011, ie eight years later, each had been paid only RM358 each!
However in March 2016, the compensation had been increased to RM15,000 per fisherman family. Although this might seem like a good sum to villagers at first thought, on further thought, if it is for ALL future loss of earnings, then it would be a paltry sum. I think the signs had been put up after March 2016.
I wish the government would do more for them, eg provide them with jobs, in addition to relocating them.
Our next destination was Kg Sungei Temon, which required us to ride on the other side of the Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar. Again, to access this orang asli kampung, we had to ride past luxury residential neighbourhood of Taman Laguna, and where high rise condominium units were being built.
The difference between the dwellings of the poor and the rich, were starkly contrasting. Many of the village folk in this kampung were crab fishermen, but some had gained employment at the several seafood restaurants that had been built here in the past to take advantage of proximity to source of supply. However, again as in the last kampung, reclamation works, and which had caused change to flow and quality of water, had decimated catch size and decreased their income.
Perhaps those who had gained employment in the restaurant industry, can be re-employed elsewhere in similar capacity. Ponds in which I had seen orang asli children swimming in a year or two ago, had dried up, and had become just a muddy pit. Hopefully these kids can have opportunities with education, and not depend on the same livelihood as their parents.
As we rode out, the next kampung, Kg Sg Danga, was mainly where new condominiums are being constructed. Jason remarked, "Crazy. Who would buy condominiums here?" I wondered too.
We rode off towards our breakfast point of Al-Khair in Perling. Afterwards, we saw that dark clouds were gathering in the sky, and since rain was forecast, we decided not to go the the 5th kampung of Kg Sg Melayu, which many of us are familiar with anyway.
As we rode back, the plight of the the villagers with displaced livelihoods, continued to linger in my mind....
Photo Credits :
Jolin Ang
TH Liew
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