New preschool for Orang Asli kids in Gua Musang

SOCIAL enterprise Projek57 and its supporters raised funds and built a new preschool for Orang Asli children in Gua Musang.

The first batch of enrolment will see 25 pupils, aged five to six years old, attending in January next year.

Healthy daily meals will also be provided for all the children during the school term.

Set up in 2015, Projek57, whose community work is inspired by the nation’s founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman’s vision of inclusivity, aims to build hope among Malaysians while improving the lives of disadvantaged youth.

A big portion of Projek57’s initiatives is centred around underprivileged Orang Asli youth as it believes that instilling the values of education from a young age enables them to achieve purposeful lives.

“Education can be a tremendous equaliser.

“It can give Malaysians from all walks of life the opportunity to advance regardless of their background, race or culture,” said Projek57 co-founder Syed Sadiq Albar.

“Our main reason for starting this preschool project was to better prepare Orang Asli children for primary school, which can be more challenging for disadvantaged groups.

“By helping them embark on their education journey from an early age with the right tools and nutritious meals, they can get a head start that will hopefully help them to continue learning and thriving.”

This endeavour will need about RM100,000 annually to maintain its operations, infrastructure and daily meals provided at the preschool.

“The preschool project is designed to be modular and can be quite easily replicated in other locations and communities that need such educational facilities.

“We believe that earlier preschools can be the catalyst for more preschools to be built and with partners that have similar core values,” added Syed Sadiq.

The preschool was a collaborative effort between Projek57 and Prudential Ampri Cleanroom Services (PACS).

PACS chief executive officer Phng Wee Kiat said Projek57 was chosen for its patriotic values and love for the country.

“We chose to partner with Projek57 because of its admirable goal of providing educational support and other opportunities for the Orang Asli’s ongoing development.

“As fellow Malaysians, the Orang Asli also need our assistance to help the community progress.

“PACS is pleased to be part of this preschool project to empower through education equality.”

Phng added that PACS would also be involved with Projek57 in the future by having employee engagements and through the sale of Projek57 merchandise to raise more funds for future projects.

Projek57 merchandise includes their iconic unity ribbon, introduced in 2018 which was inspired by the Jalur Gemilang.

In a new collaborative effort with Royal Selangor, a new version of the unity ribbon recrafted in pewter is available at all Royal Selangor retail shops and showrooms, with 100% of profits generated directed to the funding of Projek57 programmes.

Projek57 co-founder Collin Swee said, “We hope to have raised greater awareness and support for disadvantaged communities in Malaysia, by doing our small part for the education and empowerment of the Orang Asli.”