Skip to main content

A Project is Born...



A brief and momentous meeting with a group of residents in Taman Langat Jaya. One of the areas which come under my supervision. The meeting was attended by 6 enthusiastic people. As usual, the lone woman and the rest were men. It was on the front porch of the leader's house, Panir. He has shown lots of patience and relentless perseverance. He is committed to creating CHANGE in his community.

After the success of the "Gotong Royong" in January 2009. He has shown renewed vigor to tackle more daunting tasks. Lots to be done in the area. What is special about the place is the people. What are they like?
A typical lower income group with the accompanying social problems. Nevertheless, they have character.

Interestingly, there is this fledgling dance group made up of dynamic young boys. They have their version of exciting dances. "Silambattam" is one which incorporates a traditional Indian self defence technique with rhythmic movements. Needless to say, I was impressed by their agility and dance skills.

So, what is in the making as the next project? Well, I call it "Project Revive the Balai". Well in actual fact, it is more about giving it a total makeover!!!! Getting Nate Berkus for the job would be the ultimate fantasy, but so much for wishful thinking. I have a very basic idea. I want to create a community hall which is available to all, more like a hub for community activities but with a lot more focus on kids' activities.

Will be updating soon with the game plans.....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MAPARBEMPCO

During the 1970's, a land dispute between First Southern Land and the residents of Barangay Mapantig occurred. First Southern Land occupied all available tracts of land to the consternation of the residents of the area. People were driven away from their farms and some were even taken to court and imprisoned. Upon facing serious resistance from the company, the villagers gave up and some even moved to different locales in order to survive when the land was taken from them.  When the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform programme was implemented during the presidency of Corazon Aquino, the villagers saw an opportunity arising to get back their land.  However, the company applied for a deferment of 10 years which delayed further the implementation of the land reform programme. Finally in 1998, the Department of Agriculture decreed that the land being occupied by the Kenram Estate (the name of the plantation) would be subjected to agrarian reform. The residents who w...

A Library for Kampung Tering

Murni Bte Liga of Kampung Tering, an idyllic village in the outskirts of Kuala Pilah, has a burning desire. She is passionate about improving access to quality education for her community. She has often raised her concerns about quality education for Orang Asli children in meetings with authorities or civil society organizations. One of the issues that she finds problematic is the high attrition among Orang Asli children at primary and secondary school levels. In order to address the issue at her village, she decided to set up a functioning library which could be used by the children. Women from the village organizing the reading material for the library She noted the interest of mothers' in the village who want their children to improve their English language skills. She expressed her interest in running workshops on a monthly basis for her community. The workshops would focus on improving the language skills of the children who participate.  Essay writing activities ...

Networking with Women Community Organizers and Activists

Rare finds It is quite rare to find women activists working on women workers' issues in the oil palm plantations of Indonesia. They are generally part of the administration but very few are involved in organizing workers. Generally, NGOs organizing labour are very focused on broad issues like wages, land grabbing and unfair treatment by capitalists and agribusinesses. The focus on women is minimal as a target group for organizing and considered for supplementary activities to support the men who are being organized.  They may have be aware of gender inequality but this does not extend to efforts to implement gender mainstreaming in the programmes and campaigns. There is still an obvious gap and women are not benefiting from programmes. A higher level of commitment and focus is required to ensure women benefit from labour organizing. Solidarity As a feminist researcher working on social justice issues affecting women in the oil palm industry, I want to establ...