Mining left a landscape
The former Sungai Besi tin-mining landscape is part of the story of the Mines area. The lake and its later redevelopment connect the area’s working past with today’s urban setting.
When shoe workshops put Serdang on the map
As tin mining declined in the 1980s, shoemaking became one of Serdang New Village’s best-known trades. By the 1990s, home workshops and small factories were widespread. A study published by New Era University College cites the village’s folk story museum for an estimate of 300 to 400 shoe factories at the industry’s peak.
Workers cut leather, stitched uppers and attached soles, often in converted homes. Some workshops made shoes for established brands. Near the Gu Yao river, the Chow family turned its ancestral house into a workshop specialising in handmade women’s leather shoes.
How a handmade shoe takes shape
Local shoemaking interviews describe cutting and stitching uppers, shaping them over lasts, grinding, bonding and finishing. Skill lies in fit and detail. Competition from cheaper mass-produced footwear and succession difficulties have challenged home workshops. Their story is also about transmitting practical knowledge.
Late 1970s · starfruit reaches export markets
An FAO case study describes growers sharing grafting, pruning, pollination and fruit-bagging knowledge. Demand from Hong Kong and Singapore in the late 1970s helped develop a cluster involving growers, processors, collectors and transport workers. Starfruit supported a network of livelihoods.
What remains as the town changes?
Changing land use, markets and employment mean older trades may no longer exist at their former scale. Starfruit and shoemaking remain important because they shaped household incomes, working relationships and local identity, rather than because visitors can expect extensive orchards or factories today.
Education and research in the wider area
UPM’s history and MARDI’s Serdang headquarters show the role of education and agricultural research in the wider area, alongside homes, commerce and everyday services.