Introduction:

Residents of Kampung Hakka in Mantin is facing eviction from their homes, and to have their homes demolished in order to make way for developers to develop the area into commercial concerns. Thus far, part of the village was demolished. There is an urgent need to help the community to preserve what left of the village and the villager’s lifestyle. This will be done through documentation and community engagement. The project will also attempt to address the legal issues faced by the villagers pertaining to their land ownership, which had allowed the issue to be exploited by the developers.

Objectives:   

1. To help to document historical data of Kampung Hakka, Mantin

2. To map the cultural and heritage footprints of Kampung Hakka, Mantin

3. To help to work towards the preservation of at least a section of the village as a living heritage village

4. To create awareness on issues relating to the plights of the villagers of Kampung Hakka, Mantin through seminar, forum, film show (created by Rakan Mantin) and exhibition

5. To publish the outcome of documentation process

Knowledge transferred:

The project will begin by working with Rakan Mantin to layout the foundation of the scope of the work involved as a pilot study. This will be followed by the documentation team. The project will engage villagers to relate to their lifestyle.

Impact of project:

1. It will help to preserve the Kampung Hakka’s continued existence in the form of a living heritage village, while allowing development to continue.

2. To create awareness of the importance of preserving or the continued existence of similar villages, not just Hakka, or Chinese, but all Malaysian villages, with heritage values but facing similar plights.