Profesor Turun Padang: Technology and innovation with the people of Batik

ULU TEMBELING, 13 December 2023 – In an effort to improve the standard of life of the Orang Asal Batik community in Kampung Bengoi, Ulu Tembeling, Pahang, lecturer of the Faculty of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Technology (FTKMA), Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA), Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Amir Abdul Razak together with Muslim Care Malaysia Society (MCM) and Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) held a Technology Literacy Programme with the community there.

The programme took place on 3, 4, 5, and 17 November and involved 25 families and 35 children from the local community.

The program aimed to provide an opportunity for professors and lecturers from FTKMA to share their expertise and skills in the field of solar energy and boat engine maintenance with the Orang Asal Batik community in Kampung Bengoi.

In addition, it could provide opportunities for FTKMA students to contribute and practice the technological knowledge that has been learned at the university to the community there.

Kampung Bengoi is a remote village located in the Ulu Tembeling river area and is inhabited by a community known as Batik.

The people of Batik still live in shortages in terms of basic needs such as the absence of electricity supply, complete dependence on river water, limited communication due to the absence of mobile phone charging points, and also lack of basic school education among children due to distance and transportation difficulties to school.

There are also difficulties in obtaining petrol and diesel for the use of electric generators and expensive boat engine maintenance due to the remote location of the village.

According to Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Amir, to overcome challenges and help the villagers here, the FTKMA team together with MCM and MGTC launched several early initiatives that could benefit the people of Batik in terms of technology, access to electricity from renewable energy sources for free, and help improve their socioeconomic status.

“The first initiative is the installation of photovoltaic solar energy systems in surau and the community centre.

“It can help reduce dependence on conventional electricity generators that use petrol and also provide a stable electricity supply for religious and educational activities there.

“Energy-efficient LED lights ‘Rediac’, the UMPSA lecturer Ts. Muhammad Ikram Mohd Rashid’s innovation has been fully used for the lighting system in the surau.

“The developed solar energy system serves as a mobile phone charging point for villagers, portable energy-efficient lighting and basic electronic devices, and access to the facility is at no additional cost to them,” he said.

The second initiative, he said, was a light maintenance programme for boat engines for villagers who used boats as the main vehicle.

“They are not only given the opportunity to learn and practice their own boat engine maintenance but also given consumables such as engine oil and spare parts needed to enable continuous maintenance to be carried out.

“This can improve their technical abilities and reduce the burden of maintenance costs.

“The income of the people of Batik is entirely dependent on forest products and natural resources around their settlements,” he said.

He added that the third initiative involved the awareness of early school education which could indirectly improve the socioeconomic status of the population in the long term.

A total of 35 Batik children in Kampung Bengoi were exposed to basic knowledge of robotics practically.

“They also had the opportunity to see and experience the latest technology for the first time and thus generate interest in learning, especially in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

“Apart from the technical aspects, our team is also friendly with residents to understand their needs.

“This is to ensure that future development initiatives can be carefully planned according to the real needs of the community,” he said.

Profesor Turun Padang initiative is seen to bring positive changes to the people of Batik in Kampung Bengoi, especially to improve their quality of life and prepare them to face the current development in the future.

The success of this programme is expected to be a model of continuous development to fulfil social responsibility to remote communities throughout Malaysia.

By: Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Amir Abdul Razak, Faculty of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Technology (FTKMA)
Translation by: Dr.  Rozaimi  Abu  Samah, Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology