Community Stories

Social Life of the Residents

Previously, leprosy patients who were segregated by force were able to live in the Valley of Hope, a scenic land measuring 562-acres, encircled by mountains. You may think that, however large it may be, it is still a settlement with borders. However, those living there were accorded a life free of prejudice and discrimination.

Before dapsone – the modern anti-leprosy drug – was available, leprosy was thought to be an incurable disease that was so dreaded, that anyone infected with it would be spurned by society and even by their own family members. Even those who have managed to recover from the disease would rather stay in the settlement and continue living there, just so they can escape the stares and the discriminatory attitude of society, or what they would call, “the outside world”.

Clubs and Associations

In the past, contracting leprosy is like getting a death sentence – those diagnosed with it could do nothing but hide from the world in fear while the bacteria eat away at their flesh and bone. The Valley of Hope, founded by the British colonial government in 1930, pulled leprosy patients out of horrible concentration camps and offered them a hygienic and healthy environment, so that they may live a dignified life and regain some form of normalcy in their life.

At the Sungai Buloh Settlement the residents enjoy great freedom in setting up clubs and associations. They have been encouraged to form various organisations and activities as to jump-start their new life here at the Valley of Hope. At its peak the colony was home to 2,440 residents and they had more than a dozen clubs and associations to choose from.

The Valley of Hope is a community made up of people from different ethnic groups, clanship and religious beliefs, thus naturally it led to clubs and associations to be formed along these lines. There are also non-ethnic-based organisations open to all races, such as the Ng Fook Tong, Rehabilitation Club, Green Club, Tong On Association and so on.

Management of the Valley of Hope

In the Valley of Hope, the residents were not only patients but also the administrative staff, teachers, medical staff, policemen, cooks, fire-fighters, laundry workers, postmen, lawn care workers, sanitation workers, carpenters, electricians; and drivers, amongst others. Here, in this lush Arcadia surrounded by hills, they live a self-contained and for the most part a secluded life, far from the madding crowd. This utopia for leprosy sufferers started out as an ideal healthcare model as envisioned by Earnest Travers, a British doctor.

In the 1920s, leprosy was still an incurable disease and was so dreaded that the leprosy sufferers would try really hard to keep their condition secret by way of hiding. If a child has contracted leprosy, his family would pull him out of school and keep him at home. As a measure to prevent the spread of leprosy, the British government enacted the Leper Enactment Act in 1926, which mandated the notification and segregation of leprosy patients in Malaya. Once a patient was found to have contracted leprosy, they would be taken away to one of the various leprosy camps in the country, such as the Penang’s Pulau Jerejak, Johor’s Tampoi; and Selangor’s Setapak, amongst other places.