SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGNCentre for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia

Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture

ARCHITECTURE AND NATION BUILDING

(ARC60503)Project: CREATE YOUR OWN NATION (INDIVIDUAL)

Name: NG HONG BIN

ID: 0319735

TUTOR: DR NOR HAYATI

Figure 1: Proposed Master Planning

Figure 2: Trading center located at the core of the nation

Figure 3: Sea Region Figure 4: Mountain Region Figure 5: Agriculture Region

What is a nation? A nation is a large group or collective of people with common characteristics attributed to them in various types of perspective which include language, traditions, habits, ethnicity and many more. Every nation possesses its own unique identity which differentiates itself from other nations. For this assignment, my group which is group 2 is proposing a nation which is based on the term group identity. Looking at the members of the group, it is clear that the members are from different ethnic backgrounds and thus has different ideas, thoughts, abilities, and talents. Hence, we decided to create a nation which is able to represent our group identity. To avoid unnecessary any quarrels and misunderstandings, we as a group often tolerate and help each other and having meetings to come out with the best proposal for our nation. We are not selfish to share our knowledge and help those who are encountering difficulties in their tasks. As the saying goes, ‘Many hands make light work’, to accomplish the assignment, we undergone the division of labor and have divided our jobs based on the strengths of different members, share the same equalities and make sure we really contribute ourselves into it without troubling others. As a result, we decided to propose a nation which is self-sustainable and possesses diverse natural resources which can best represent the identity of the group.

First and foremost, our vision of new Malaysia can be divided into 2 major parts which is the self-sustainable economy, energy and natural resources. The nation’s focus is the economy and it is mainly catered to the people through the agriculture sector, forestry, oceanic and central trading center. The trading center located at the heart of the nation and it collects different natural resources from different regions while attracting foreigners to visit; the oceanic region is rich with aquatic resources; the mountainous region is rich with timber and ores; the farming region is rich with agriculture. The nation is self-sustainable which tends to help other countries rather than seeking help from others. On the other hand, the nation’s focus also acts as a reflection of our group identity. This is because we are actually proposing a nation with a trading center located at the heart of the nation which is blessed with a mountainous, oceanic and paddy field region. Each of the mentioned regions has its own natural resources and contributes its natural resources to other regions which implies that our group members are cooperating

and contributing our ideas in order to accomplish this assignment. The natural resources of the nation are significant enough to become a business instead of importing manpower and resources from other nations. This significantly displays the identity of our nation.

Usually, third-world countries who lack of the resources for the country to develop is living in poverty or living under the governance of another country, which to no surprise, causes unrest between the citizens. Hence, to make sure that our nation is at peace and different from others, we proposed the State of Malacca which is located in Malaysia as the site for our nation. This is because it is located strategically at the Western Peninsular of Malaysia and is rich with natural resources and energy. The tropical climatic conditions which are hot and humid make it rich with natural resources such as timber and ores, aquatic creatures, paddy which can be the vital assets for our nation. Its strategic location also allows us to make full use of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy and tidal energy which relatively displays the self-sustainable identity that the nation strives for. Besides, in an economic sense, the natural resources and energy of the nation greatly offers job opportunities for the citizens and also the foreigners which tends to improve the income for the people. The self-sustainable character brings prosperity and also improves the image and identity of the nation significantly.

In terms of politics, we are proposing the well-known democracy governing system which is a form of government in which the citizens create and vote for laws directly, or indirectly via representatives. This system on the other hand acts as the metaphorical reflection of our group identity where each group member shares the same equalities in dividing and distributing jobs. The democracy system consists of four key elements which are: political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections, the active participation of the citizens, protection of the human rights of all citizens and the rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. There is no restriction where every citizens has the right to vote for their own ideals. In addition, the representative which is chosen from votes of the people will be governing for one term which is 4

years and maximum 2 terms per person. The representative will be elected from different ethnic groups which are Malays, Chinese and Indian. For every term, the next election will be reserved for a person from that ethnic group and the first runner-up for representative position from any ethnic group will be an advisor for the representative. By doing this, the boundaries between the citizens can be resolved and the equality among the races is being emphasized. As the nation consists of different regions, each of the regions is governed by its own representative. Every half-yearly, the representatives from different regions will be gathering at the central trade center for a general meeting. Apart from that, the citizens are allowed to practice their respective religions. There is no official religion so that the majority and minority of the citizens are treated equally.

Moreover, rules and regulation are set for the well-being of the citizens and to control them from doing anything not permissible by law. To avoid overpopulation and emphasize the intention of sharing same equalities and equal rights, it is important that one family should consist of maximum 2 kids. Moreover, to compromise with the self-sustainable concept, the government encourages every family to plant their own vegetation in home. By doing this, the habit of loving nature among the citizens can be cultivated and eventually they will be more appreciative towards the natural resources of the nation which can be the asset of the country instead of destroying them. Furthermore, tax free for goods are introduced. To attract more traders, businessmen, workers and most importantly tourists, they need not to pay for the extra tax which may save their expenses. As a result, people will start to recognize and willing to visit our nation more frequently. Furthermore, as education is becoming more and more important nowadays, and our nation will not neglect the importance of it. Education enables everybody to understand their roles clearly in the society. Hence, the government will introduce education facilities such as kindergartens, primary and secondary schools as well as universities for the citizens. The syllabus of our education system will be teaching the basic knowledge of conservation and innovation through the usage of natural resources and basic macroeconomics. And, each sector studies the same syllabus before deciding which sector to work and settle in. The education system also focuses on equality therefore giving the freedom of equal education to everyone.

Finally, a final exam will determine which sector suits them the most and they will be sent to that particular sector. The representatives of different nations are also filtered based on their education and achievements to ensure that the society is being well managed by them.

To be an ideal and unique nation, the humanistic and behavior of the citizens is one of the important aspects that need to be considered. The residents should cultivate a top class behavior and be mannerly to others. The image of the nation is well written on the behavior of the citizens as it is the first impression for those who just enter the nation. Although the citizens come from different regions, the whole nation citizens should cultivate the same humanistic behaviors which are self-disciplined, punctual, respectful, hardworking and most importantly cleanliness. Well educated people behaves well; citizens respect the elderly; the workers obedient to their leaders, every corners of the city being well managed and clean etc., all these minor aspects actually reflects the identity of the nation. This is why it’s important for the citizens to cultivate these good habits at a young age. In terms of grouping, the citizens will not hesitate to share ideas with their peers and willing to lend a hand to those who are in facing difficulties. Although there are different regions in this nation, the citizens really focus and do well in their own task without implicating others. For instance, the citizens of the mountain region play an important role as they are supplying the natural resource which is mainly timber and ores to other parts of the nation. Without the assistance between different regions, the nation will not be an orderly and independent nation. Besides, the representatives will have a general meeting every half-yearly. They will share their thoughts, look into the problems and solve them together. At last, they will give their accomplishments to the trading center which are to be shared equally among all the regions in the nation. This shows how the citizens work together and compromise with each other in order to maintain the identity of the nation.

Apart from that, as the region is made up of different races and regions, there are different festivals and celebrations every year. For example, exhibition day is celebrated by the citizens at the center part of the country which is the

trading center, harvest day is celebrated by the citizens of agriculture region, while for the oceanic and the mountainous region, they have rituals occasionally for providing the resources to them. Although the nation is multicultural and consists of various types of culture, the citizens live together peacefully and will have the main celebration such as their independence day. On the other hand, the architectural design will be emphasizing on the self-sustained design strategies. To respond to the tropical climatic condition, the buildings are self-sustainable and they use passive design strategies with vernacular building materials. The spatial planning and orientation of the buildings are also arranged based on different surrounding site contexts. For example, the central trading center buildings uses the natural resources from other regions like timber and stones as building materials without importing any other building materials from other country. For the suburban architecture, they adapt to the context of the surrounding site and also introduce passive ventilation strategies to introduce outdoor air flow into the spaces naturally. Due to the strategic location, the buildings of the nation also emphasizes the use of natural ventilation and solar energy which are cost efficient and responds to the respective surroundings well.

With the nation being blessed with self-sustainable resources and their governance being an independent and democratic one, I strongly feel that this nation will be a ‘melting pot’ eventually and it is down to the citizens’ duties now. To create a nation where everybody shares the same equalities without any conflicts, it is a long and difficult road to take. To achieve this dream, every citizen of the nation has the same responsibilities to work together to innovate and improve the nation, for not only themselves, but for future generations to come and who knows, the ideals for that perfect nation, might not be too far off from reality.

REFERENCES:

• Cheah, B. K. (2002). Malaysia: The making of a nation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

• Wang, G. (2005). Nation-building: Five Southeast Asian histories. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

• Tajuddin, M. 2015. Architecture and Nation Building: Multiculturalism and Democracy. Partridge, Singapore.

• What Are the Different Types of Governments? (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http:// www.livescience.com/33027-what-are- the-different-types-of-governments.html

• Climate CoLab. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://climatecolab.org/plans/-/ plans/contests/2014/buildings/c/proposal/ 1309226

• http:// scholar.harvard.edu/files/alesina/files/ nation_building_feb_2015_0.pdf