Japanese students visit urban poor

PPR flats in Kota Damansara

Eight students from Rikyyo University, Japan paid a visit to Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) on 6 March 2016 in Kota Damansara, to learn more about public housing and urban poverty. PPR is a Malay acronym that stands for public housing project.

The students, ranging from a variety of courses such as management, philosophy, community studies, tourism, and law, were briefed about the history of PPR flats. They were also shown photos taken five years ago which depicted the deplorable conditions that the residents had to endure before intervention measures were taken by local NGO, Friends of Kota Damansara to improve them.

Phang (left) taking students on a tour of a PPR flat

The neglected infrastructure at the flats includes rusted railings which have caused the deaths of two children, one in 2013 and another in 2015. The transformation of the building only came about after news reports on the death of the second child. Furthermore, overgrown and unkempt fringe areas of the flats became breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which have caused many dengue cases among the residents.

Students learning about the mosquito breeding grounds

A visit to the home of a resident was also arranged where she talked about her experience of staying in the PPR flats. She is the sole breadwinner of the family as her husband is unable to work due to an earlier accident. She told the story of how one of her children hurt her backbone during a balcony accident. In addition, she revealed that two of her children are no longer attending school due to insufficient funds.

Rikkyo University students learning the function of the centre

This was followed by a visit to the community social entrepreneurship centre. “The centre employs residents from the PPR flats and teaches them sewing skills which they use to do piecemeal work to earn compensation. The goods are then sold to American companies,” said Friends of Kota Damansara representative Lena Yusuf.

“Most single mothers with the responsibility of looking after their children are not able to secure employment far from their homes. This initiative provides them with the opportunity to earn a living,” Lena explained.

Next, the students were taken to observe the English tuition classes for the children that have been taking place for over five years. The classes cater for different age groups and levels of English proficiency. The 25 tuition teachers are all individual volunteers; among them are a medical professional, a professor, government teachers, managers, and homemakers. Apart from classes for children, adult classes were also introduced in response to requests from those who seek to communicate in English.

Lena also spoke of exciting plans for 2016 as many funders and government agencies have expressed interest in seeing their model further developed and replicated to other communities of urban poor. She elucidated about the state survey that was recently conducted and that PPR will soon have a complete database of information that will help with identifying people in need more easily.

This educational visit was hosted by UTAR Faculty of Accountancy and Management lecturer and Friends of Kota Damansara Chairman Jeffrey Phang.