Remembering Sekinchan’s Chinese heritage

Free Malaysia Today

The over 100-year-old town, now a tourist hotspot on Selangor's west coast, once faced dark days.   Written & presented by: Theevya Ragu  Shot by: Afizi Ismail  Edited by: Kiera Amin    Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTLifestyle #CNY2025 #Sekinchan #Heritage #YearOfTheSnake

Transcript

00:00Sekinchan. You've heard about its reputation as a travel destination. But do you know the

00:10story of the Chinese settlers who helped shape the town decades ago? Their history is at

00:16the heart of everything you see today.

00:20In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, FMT Lifestyle visited this small town in Selangor's

00:26Sabah Burnham district to speak with the locals. The town, now over a hundred years old, inspired

00:33Eric Lee to document its history in a book. Starting in 2020, he spent three years interviewing

00:41elders and visiting national archives to bring its story to life.

00:47If I'm not doing now, after 10 years, nobody can do it already. In 2020, when I started

00:56doing the interview, the most, the oldest is already 80-something. If after 10 years,

01:02they are already 90-something. So I feel that we have to do now.

01:08Sekinchan was founded in the 1800s as a fishing village, originally known by the Teochew people

01:14as Ang Mo Gang. Over time, focus shifted to the paddy fields, giving the town its name

01:20Sekinchan, which means suitable for planting.

01:241938, the British colonial, they decide to develop the paddy field in Sekinchan. So

01:34they brought down 5,100 acres, special for the Chinese immigrants. Because in that time,

01:43all the, what they call the mining team is going down. So a lot of Chinese people don't

01:49know where to go, don't know doing what. The British colonial want to send them back

01:54to China. They spend a lot of money. So they decide, okay, paddy is very important now.

02:02So they asked the Chinese people to come to Sekinchan to develop the paddy plantation.

02:10But tough times followed with the declaration of the Malayan Emergency in 1948. Locals were

02:16forced to abandon their homes in the paddy fields and relocate to three different concentration

02:21camps. These areas later became known as the New Villages, Site A, Site B and Site C.

02:29The stories of the communist era are familiar to many, but Sekinchan carries the untold

02:34side as well. Yap Kim Dai, now 90 years old, joined the Malayan Communist Party when he

02:43was just 12 years old. As leader of the MCP's junior squad, he settled in Sekinchan with

02:49his family in 1953, risking his life to secretly support the communists. Today, Yap cannot

02:57recall much of what went on then, but Lee still remembers the harrowing stories Yap

03:03once shared.

03:07One story is when a lady, a lady MCP, gave birth, a baby girl. They stay in the jungle,

03:17so how can you feed a baby? So he called Mr Yap, so please take care of my baby. So at

03:26the midnight, the lady MCP go to the fencing and do a hole, put the baby inside the hole,

03:36and then Mr Yap come to collect the baby girl and feed them. As they are adopted, now they

03:45still stay in Tanjong Karang.

03:47Following the peaceful surrender of the MCP in 1958, Sekinchan began to thrive. Today,

03:54the community remains tight-knit, holding on to the values and traditions of its early

03:58days.

04:00Dating back to the 1920s, the Datok Kong Temple has witnessed the growth of Sekinchan over

04:06the decades. Originally located right by the sea, the temple was a sacred place for fishermen

04:13who prayed for safety before setting out in their boats.

04:17Next to the temple stands a striking red wishing tree, a local landmark for the past decade.

04:23Visitors write their wishes on red ribbons tied to coins and throw them onto the tree's

04:29branches. According to tradition, the higher the ribbon lands, the more likely the wish

04:35will come true.

04:37Every Chinese New Year, Sekinchan comes alive in true kampong spirit to celebrate the festive

04:43season. And with tourism booming, the future looks bright for this vibrant town.

04:58As we head back home this Chinese New Year, may towns like Sekinchan remind us of the

05:03stories and traditions that built these places and continue to shape our present.

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