The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| ‘Voluntourists’ sprucing up a village house with recyclable items Posted: 30 May 2013 04:06 PM PDT THE sleepy village of Kampung Ampang Campuran, 20 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur, is now filled with the sounds of drilling, knocking and other general construction works being carried out to renovate Yellow House, a hostel promoting "voluntourism." The Yellow House project is a joint venture between My Khatulistiwa Sdn Bhd and Ecoteer (M) Sdn Bhd. My Khatulistiwa is a consultant for corporate social responsibility projects with a focus on the environment. Meanwhile, Ecoteer is an international volunteer opportunities agency that aims to help people find volunteer work or jobs and help organisations find volunteers. My Khatulistiwa chief executive officer Shyam Priah said the two organisations complemented one another and decided to work together. She said the project started less than a month ago. The foreign volunteers are tourists visiting Malaysia who set aside time to work on the house. The initial batch are mainly those who have worked with or are familiar with the work of My Khatulistiwa or Ecoteer. So far, the voluntourists are from Norway, Hungary and Aust-ralia. Throughout the duration they volunteer for the project, they are provided room and board at the Yellow House itself. "I had a family home that was in need of repairs and Ecoteer was looking for a place to start a hostel to promote volunteer activities. This was how the idea for Yellow House came about," she said. The single-storey wooden house, with zinc roofing, is a typical village house and has been in Shyam's family for more than 25 years. "This area used to be a former mining pond and all the sand that went into the construction of this house was dug up from the site itself. "My grandfather and father built this place together. They used many discarded materials for its construction," she said. Using the same concept, the volunteers from both organisations are using mostly recycled or salvaged items to renovate the six-room house. Ecoteer founder Daniel Quilter said although none of them had professional experience in the construction industry, they were into the do-it-yourself (DIY) concept. Shyam said to work with such materials, it was necessary to think out of the box. Quilter said they had numerous plans for the house,; chief among them is to retain its traditional facade, build an outdoor shower using plastic doors, put up a picturesque bamboo fence and add plasterboards for walls. On the Yellow House website, it is stated that the volunteers also plan to create mosaic floor using discarded tiles and allow guests to participate in laying them. Between the two organisations, the various activities planned include causes related to the environment, social development as well as welfare. Shyam and Quilter planned to introduce "voluntourism" to both foreign tourists and Malaysians through Yellow House. "We have discussed with the Tourism Ministry to set up a homestay programme here. "Yellow House can be one of the homes people can stay in and enjoy a traditional Malaysian village lifestyle while still have easy access to the entertainment and amenities of a large city," said Quilter. "Villagers were initially curious about the volunteers who were mostly foreigners. However, after they were briefed on the project, the villagers are now more responsive," said Shyam. She added that more skilled volunteers such as electricians and termite specialists would be pitching in as the house had a termite problem. "We also need furniture, including bedding, such as those found in hostels," said Shyam. She added that they hoped to get Yellow House all done up and running in July. For details, visit yellowhousekl.com or email daniel@ecoteer.com |
| MDHS working to meet requirements to become a municipality Posted: 31 May 2013 06:11 AM PDT THE Hulu Selangor District Council (MDHS) is on track to become a municipality. MDHS president Tukiman Nail said MDHS had met some of the requirements to obtain the status and would next work on improving in areas found lacking. "One of the requirements is an annual revenue of RM30mil. MDHS more than meets this target as our income is RM50mil annually. "Another requirement is that the population in the district must be more than 120,000. There are more than 200,000 residents in our district. "However, basic facilities such as proper bus stations, hospitals and roads are not yet up to mark,'' said Tukiman who was chairing the MDHS full board meeting in Kuala Kubu Baru on Wednesday. He said there would be a committee set up to discuss ways to meet all the requirements and a meeting would be held in Kuala Kubu Baru from June 13 to 15. "The commitee will comprise councillors, MDHS staff and other officials. "Among the matters to be discussed will be plans to build a new MDHS headquarters in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang. "Besides this, the council is also looking into ways to improve its services,'' he said. Meanwhile, Tukiman said the council planned to have a properly organised Ramadan bazaar in the district this year. |
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