Ethnic Indonesians in Malaysia model citizens

JAKARTA (JP): A group of Malaysians of Indonesian origin in Selangor state have won national recognition as model people due to their consistency in preserving Javanese traditions.

They live prosperously in Endah, 90 kilometers from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The village was chosen as the cleanest and most beautiful village in Malaysia in 1991 and 1992.

With a population of 2,000, most of whom are farmers, the village has previously won various contests at the national level, the Antara news agency reported from the Malaysian capital.

Endah residents are now working hard to prepare their village for Malaysia's 1994 national cleanliness and beauty contest.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Sudarmadi visited Endah last Friday.

The atmosphere inside the village, which covers more than 7,000 hectares of land, resembles a rural Javanese area in Indonesia where various food crops grow and the houses have wooden walls.

The village head, Haji Mansoor, told Antara the people of Endah developed their community in much the same way as the residents of a Javanese village in Indonesia.

According to Mansoor, whose parents hail from the Central Java town of Kebumen, Endah villagers have kept alive many aspects of the Indonesian way of life and thus have been able to remain a closely-knit community.

Present-day Endah villagers are second generation Indonesians whose parents migrated from Java in the 1940s and the 1950s.(prs)