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Remembering Sekinchan’s Chinese heritage
Free Malaysia Today
Follow
1/28/2025
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.
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#FMTLifestyle #CNY2025 #Sekinchan #Heritage #YearOfTheSnake
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00:00
Sekinchan. You've heard about its reputation as a travel destination. But do you know the
00:10
story of the Chinese settlers who helped shape the town decades ago? Their history is at
00:16
the heart of everything you see today.
00:20
In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, FMT Lifestyle visited this small town in Selangor's
00:26
Sabah Burnham district to speak with the locals. The town, now over a hundred years old, inspired
00:33
Eric Lee to document its history in a book. Starting in 2020, he spent three years interviewing
00:41
elders and visiting national archives to bring its story to life.
00:47
If I'm not doing now, after 10 years, nobody can do it already. In 2020, when I started
00:56
doing the interview, the most, the oldest is already 80-something. If after 10 years,
01:02
they are already 90-something. So I feel that we have to do now.
01:08
Sekinchan was founded in the 1800s as a fishing village, originally known by the Teochew people
01:14
as Ang Mo Gang. Over time, focus shifted to the paddy fields, giving the town its name
01:20
Sekinchan, which means suitable for planting.
01:24
1938, the British colonial, they decide to develop the paddy field in Sekinchan. So
01:34
they brought down 5,100 acres, special for the Chinese immigrants. Because in that time,
01:43
all the, what they call the mining team is going down. So a lot of Chinese people don't
01:49
know where to go, don't know doing what. The British colonial want to send them back
01:54
to China. They spend a lot of money. So they decide, okay, paddy is very important now.
02:02
So they asked the Chinese people to come to Sekinchan to develop the paddy plantation.
02:10
But tough times followed with the declaration of the Malayan Emergency in 1948. Locals were
02:16
forced to abandon their homes in the paddy fields and relocate to three different concentration
02:21
camps. These areas later became known as the New Villages, Site A, Site B and Site C.
02:29
The stories of the communist era are familiar to many, but Sekinchan carries the untold
02:34
side as well. Yap Kim Dai, now 90 years old, joined the Malayan Communist Party when he
02:43
was just 12 years old. As leader of the MCP's junior squad, he settled in Sekinchan with
02:49
his family in 1953, risking his life to secretly support the communists. Today, Yap cannot
02:57
recall much of what went on then, but Lee still remembers the harrowing stories Yap
03:03
once shared.
03:07
One story is when a lady, a lady MCP, gave birth, a baby girl. They stay in the jungle,
03:17
so how can you feed a baby? So he called Mr Yap, so please take care of my baby. So at
03:26
the midnight, the lady MCP go to the fencing and do a hole, put the baby inside the hole,
03:36
and then Mr Yap come to collect the baby girl and feed them. As they are adopted, now they
03:45
still stay in Tanjong Karang.
03:47
Following the peaceful surrender of the MCP in 1958, Sekinchan began to thrive. Today,
03:54
the community remains tight-knit, holding on to the values and traditions of its early
03:58
days.
04:00
Dating back to the 1920s, the Datok Kong Temple has witnessed the growth of Sekinchan over
04:06
the decades. Originally located right by the sea, the temple was a sacred place for fishermen
04:13
who prayed for safety before setting out in their boats.
04:17
Next to the temple stands a striking red wishing tree, a local landmark for the past decade.
04:23
Visitors write their wishes on red ribbons tied to coins and throw them onto the tree's
04:29
branches. According to tradition, the higher the ribbon lands, the more likely the wish
04:35
will come true.
04:37
Every Chinese New Year, Sekinchan comes alive in true kampong spirit to celebrate the festive
04:43
season. And with tourism booming, the future looks bright for this vibrant town.
04:58
As we head back home this Chinese New Year, may towns like Sekinchan remind us of the
05:03
stories and traditions that built these places and continue to shape our present.
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