With the inception of the UTAR New Village Community Project (UNVCP) in 2009, the existence of many New Villages in Malaysia was brought to light. What was previously known as settlements built by the British during their colonial era in Malaya, have now transformed into educational sites and tourist hot-spot for many, particularly UTAR students, to learn and visit. The support from the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) and Silverlake have also provided participants of the project the opportunity to help disseminate information about the New Villages to the public, through the website “www.newvillage.com.my”.

Today, there are a total of 613 New Villages in Malaysia, and over 20,000 UTAR students have contributed to the project. They have visited numerous New Village communities, conducted surveys and interviews, and worked with the communities to enhance their living standards. Apart from uplifting the living standards of the communities, many of the activities and initiatives organised have empowered the communities to be more self-reliant and equipped them with more knowledge and awareness for continuous self-improvement. Participants of the project also remarked that they learnt positive values and understood better on the importance of civic and social responsibilities of a responsible citizen. At the same time, students were able to put to practice UTAR’s six educational pillars, namely Virtue and Morality; Knowledge and Intellect; Physical and Mental Health; Sociality and Humanitarianism; Aesthetics and Harmony; and Creativity and Innovation. The educational benefits seen from UTAR students have also attracted the interest of academics and students from other countries. To date, UTAR has collaborated with educational institutions from Singapore, China, Korea, and Japan to expand students’ learning horizon and to provide them with the opportunity to contribute in transforming the lives of the New Village communities.

Overall, the UNVCP aims to:

1. Improve New Villagers’ interaction and networking with students, members of society and communities outside the village.
   
   
2. Provide information for New Village communities to utilise available resources, improve productivity and create better business opportunities.
   
   
3. Promote tourism for the New Villages as an economic activity.
   
   
4. Look into opportunities for entrepreneurship and investment (domestic and foreign) for the villagers based on existing resources.
   
   
5. Provide opportunities for villagers to communicate their views, opinions and suggestions for discussions and feedback.
   
   
6. Provide participating students with real-life experiences and involvement inculcating values on the importance of the charitable spirit, humility, wisdom and perseverance in the face of challenges.
   
   
7. Train participating students to be humanistic leaders who can provide inspiration to others.

UNVCP consist of five sub-programmes, namely “New Village Tour”, “New Village Survey”, “New Village Community Service”, “New Village Collaborative Project” and “New Village E-commerce Project”. Aging population, outward migration, lack of commercialisation and job opportunities, lack of crucial skills, knowledge and education for economic growth and development are challenges commonly seen in many new villages. Therefore, each sub-programme is conducted to help the communities solve problems with sustainable solutions.

For instance, the New Village Tour programme sees students touring various New Villages to understand the communities’ way of life, their environment and the interaction within communities. Driven by their passion to serve the community, participants of the tour also find the programme useful in creating awareness on new developments to boost small business enterprises in the villages. The results yielded from participants’ involvement and assistance include a boost to the local tourism and economy of New Villages, whereby the communities are able to promote their local delicacy, fruits and culture.

The New Village Survey programme, on the other hand, has produced multiple reports, and to this day, participants have successful conducted new village surveys in over 500 New Villages. These reports, which were uploaded on to the website, were the result of participants’ effort and passion to interact with the communities. They rediscovered forgotten histories, explored new cultures and practices, learnt of their social problems, understood their priorities and concerns, and created sustainable solutions. The survey has also resulted in over 1,000 community service projects conducted by UTAR, to attend to the needs of schools and communities of the New Villages. The projects range from health care, farming, recycling awareness, environmental protection and educational programmes for local school students. The effort to source for solutions to help the communities continues till this day.

In addressing the various challenges faced by the New Village communities, participants of the New Village Community Service programme have conducted various activities to address problems and identify the communities’ priorities. The activities included Fun Learning English with IT, free medical check-ups, eye screening, safety and security issues, crime prevention training, and motivational programmes. The ECM Libra Foundation has also collaborated with UTAR to conduct educational programmes for school children across Perak and Selangor’s New Villages. Over 1,000 community service activities were conducted in various New Villages, which also involved over 80,000 community members, students, and staff.

Table 1: Analysis of the UTAR New Village Community Project from the Year 2011-2018

The activities conducted include:

• English Language Programme
• STEM Projects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
• Leadership and Team Building Programme
• Mural Arts
• School Activities/ Hobby Class
• Health Care Project
• Safety Awareness Talk
• Environmental Care Project
• Arts and Craft Projects
• Cultural Activities
• Personal Enhancement Programme
• Sports Training Programme
• Financial Literacy Workshop
• Critical Thinking and Mental Literacy Project
  
  Recently, UTAR has also started implementing sustainable activities, aimed towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations. Participants were also encouraged to organise activities that not only benefit the communities but to educate them on sustainability measures as well. The table below shows the number of activities contributed to SDGs in 2019:

Through the New Village Collaborative Project, international students and academics were given the opportunity to collaborate with UTAR in researching on the New Villages. The National University of Singapore (NUS), under their Forgotten Communities International Programme, continues to send their students to participate in the collaborative project, while Kwansei Gakuin University sends their students annually, under the Voluntary project, to participate.  Most of the students are very much impressed and inspired by the “Kampung Spirit” (social cohesion in a community) of the New Village communities, while the communities themselves too gain exposure of other cultures from other countries that were shared and demonstrated from the international students’ participation. A more significant outcome of the international participants is the ability for the communities to learn about sustainability practised in other countries. Through the interactions between the local communities and international participants, communities of the New Villages are able to learn of practical sustainable ideas that they can similarly apply and adapt to improve their respective New Village.

For instance, the New Village E-commerce Project has helped the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the New Villages to expand their market through E-commerce online platforms. This initiative has assisted many SMEs in promoting their local products and increasing their business revenue. On its own, the project is also aimed at helping New Village SMEs adapt to using emerging digital technologies for sustainable business development. Participants, on the other hand, are also able to apply their business knowledge and skills learnt to help the communities. It also enhances their communication skills, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and digital literacy.

“There are many who still have misconceptions about the New Villages, and many still lack some understanding about these New Villages. But with the UNVCP, participants and public are reminded of its history, values and contribution of New Villages in the past and present, as well for them to see the great potential of these New Villages for future economic growth. Participants of the project are also not only there to lend their helping hands but their interaction with the communities provide a crucial network between the commercialised world and New Villages. The land and its human resources provide vast opportunities for economic growth for the generations to come. Therefore, we hope that through this project, both our students and the New Village communities are empowered to work together to create a more sustainable environment. What is truly amazing is seeing our students enjoying the learning process at the New Villages while using and improving their soft skills and life skills. They become creative in providing solutions and they are certainly learning about what they can contribute to the communities around them as responsible citizens,” explained UTAR Vice President Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong. He is also the chairperson of UTAR Centre for Community Outreach (CCO), which is the centre that coordinates various community projects.