Changing Spatial Forms and Society in Chinese New Villages of Malaysia— Case studies of Kampung Kanthan Baru

My thesis analyzes the dynamic socio-spatial relationship in the transformation of the Kanthan Baru of Chinese New Villages in Malaysia. Based on qualitative research methods, I investigate the changing ethnoscape in the new village and how the physical forms embody segregation and exclusion between the mainstream Malaysians and marginal Chinese, as well as the new Asian immigrant works.

First, I introduce how the British colonial government was battling with the communists in the rural Malaysia. Chinese New Village presented segregated and marginalized landscapes that mirrored British power. Second, I analyze how Chinese ethnic was marginalized by economy, culture, education and was “rejected” by the public servant under New Economy Policy (NEP). Chinese villagers of Kanthan Baru became illegal workers in oversea countries such as Britain, United States, Japan, in order to seek opportunity. Some of them succeeded in improving economic situations and thus transformed the landscape. In 1980s, industrialization of Kanthan Area was brought a large number of Asian immigrant workers from Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, who relocated the Kanthan Area. Third, I investigate how the newcomers of Asian workers interact with Chinese villagers and how they have been negotiating new boundaries and transcultural spaces within these Chinese New Villages.

By examining field data, I argue that built environments are not only the container of our society, but also the interactive processes that response to essential forces driving from socio-cultural, political and economic dimensions. In conclusion, I suppose changing of social mobility and spatial segregation/ exclusion are limited in lower classes, Chinese Malaysians are still marginality of the country.