Parents walk 70km to send kids to school hostel

Compiled by Zakiah Koya and C.Aruno

VILLAGERS from Kampung Magandai in Kota Marudu, Sabah, had to walk about 70km to send their children to their hostel in preparation for the 2024 school term, Berita Harian reported.

The two-day journey saw the families trekking through mud and rivers in the jungle and hills.

Suanie Din, 37, said the most scary part was having to deal with leeches.

“We spent the night in a hut,” she said, adding that they then continued their journey until they reached a main road where someone gave them a lift to SMK Kota Marudu.

“Even though it was a difficult and challenging journey, thank God that we could arrive at our destination,” she said.

Apparently, the villagers have to walk their children to school as standard vehicles cannot reach the village because the road is too damaged.

Only four-wheel-drive vehicles can do the job, but it costs about RM600 to rent one for each trip.

Most of the villagers there are just humble farmers, so they cannot afford it.

“Even if we wanted to go to the nearest town of Kota Marudu, we have to walk,” said Suanie.

Another resident, Lister Satur, 45, said outsiders might not believe that the transportation cost from Magandai is about RM600.

For now, the villagers are hoping for a “miracle” in the form of a tarred road.

> A man is on a solo mission to donate blood at 16 locations throughout the country, Utusan Malaysia reported.

Pahang Civil Defence Force director Lt-Kol Che Adam A. Rahman embarked on the mission called “Blood Donation without Borders” about three months ago.

He is determined to complete it by next year or 2026.

Two days ago, he was seen donating blood at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ) in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.

Che Adam said HSNZ was his last stop in the east coast.

He had previously done so in Kuantan, Pahang, and Kota Baru, Kelantan.

“I will persist with this mission at 16 main hospitals in all states.

“I hope this will spur others to donate blood,” he said.

He said he wanted to help the Health Ministry and Health Departments to promote blood donation, especially among young people.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.