The UTAR New Village Tour and Survey Programme provides students the platform to learn about the history, population and housing, economic activities, education, social, cultural and religious practices, problems, recommendations, tourism value, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Organised by the Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC), the survey programme is a sub-programme parked under the main UTAR New Village Community Project.

“Touring and surveying new places can be fun as it enables students to learn. As they tour and survey the New Villages, they learn about the uniqueness of the villages by interacting with the residents. It is interesting to know that the tour and survey programme breaks students’ misperceptions of the New Villages. Once they are there, it becomes a whole new world where they can learn more and experience new things. What is truly more rewarding is that students will be able to see how sustainability is practised in the New Villages, thus they are able to learn of the sustainable actions. Certainly, for the students themselves, they would acquire communication, creativity, problem-solving, entrepreneurial and analytical skills,” said DSSC Kampar Head Hee Chwen Yee.

Overall, the tour and survey programme aims to provide students with the opportunity to appreciate the values of New Villages, allow students to interact with the New Village community, promote tourism in New Villages, contribute to the economic growth of the New Villages, and promote UTAR New Village Community Project.

The tour and survey session done at Kelantan’s New Villages was among the notable one conducted by students. They visited Kampung Pasir Panji, Kampung Jelatok, Kampung Kelisar, Kampung Pulau Raya, Kampung Pasir Parit, Kampung Kasar, Kampung Tendong, Kampung Tamangan Baru, Kampung Chekok Tok Chuba, Kampung Joh and Kampung Mata Air. Some of these villages still practise the traditional performing art of puppet-shadow play, known as Wayang Kulit. This tradition is rarely practised by the current generation, therefore the opportunity to witness the performance was an eye-opening experience for the students. Meanwhile, the survey done at Kampung Selising, Kampung Seligi and Kampung Semerak saw the students learning about the Malay and Siam cultures, where its residents were majorly made of Malay and Siam ethnicities.

“I think Sungai Tiang is more than beautiful; its people – more precious. Let’s not fix what is not broken; an important lesson I learnt. Creativity in community development? – I knew that before participating in the programme, but I thought the creativity had to come from the community developers. But as it turns out, the people themselves are the most creative. There’s nothing near rocket science about working with people and we really don’t have to crack our brains over anything. What I have truly learnt about community development is that the community comes first before the development. So thank you Sungai Tiang for making me feel like I had never left home. Thank you for the hospitality and for all that I’ve learnt,” said participant Lim Soon Young.

“One entire week living off the grid, truly enjoying what life has to offer without relying on technology, picking clams, plucking fresh coconuts and visiting all the little mysteries that the New Village has to offer. We were also taught about asset-based community development where we had to look for tourism value in the village in order to develop their economy. As we spoke to the residents of Sungai Tiang, we realised that the greatest asset lies in the people – their resourcefulness, adaptability, and hospitality. I really hope that the younger generation will be able to return to their village and preserve their village. It was truly a heart-warming experience,” said participant Yek Nai Yuet.

To date, participants have successfully conducted new village tours and surveys in over 500 New Villages and multiple reports had been produced. These reports were the result of participants’ effort and passion to interact with the communities. Completed reports about the New Village visits are uploaded at UTAR New Village Community Project webpage and onto www.newvillage.com.my. As of 5 February 2020, 571 New Village surveys have been conducted. These surveys have 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 to educational programmes for local school students. The effort to source for solutions to help the communities continues till this day.