Thursday, February 08, 2007

THANK YOU FOR HELPING THE PEOPLE OF BUKIT IBAM !!

The response was overwhelming with an estimated donated goods worth RM12,000-00 collected. Donations at Alibaba continued to flow throughout the night on 31 January 2007 and we ended up getting a lorry to transport all the goods together with a convoy of 24 cars. (here and here for list of donors)

We made our way to Bukit Ibam at 9 am on Thursday, 1 February 2007 and with the help of Ketua Balai, Balai Polis Bukit Ibam Sergeant Major Rageli bin Asri and the Ketua Kampung (Tok Empat) En Md Zamri, the plan was to repack the donated items with the help of women in the kampong so that the items could distributed equally to the flood victims. They worked hard from 3 pm till midnight to get the job done.

On Friday, 2 February 2007, each vehicle was assigned to load donated goods for a particular village. Despite the plans formulated, some of the drivers wanted to see the affected villages and a decision was made to convoy together. We convoyed and dropped off donations to several villages i.e. Asrama Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Ibam, Kg Buluh Nipis, Kg Aur, Kg Kemara, Kg Plum, Kg Aur Keladang (detailed info can be found below).

Water marks of between 2ft to 5ft from the floods were clearly visible. The Titi Gantung i.e. walking bridge over the river was severely damaged.
By afternoon, another team was formed to assist in community work and to rebuild bridges for the planned trip on Saturday to Kg Jubar, a remote village located northwest of Bukit Ibam. The team managed to rebuild one of the bridges allowing villagers to access the northern region to the nearest main road. i.e. Route 12.
On Saturday morning of
3 February 2007, our team faced the toughest challenge - “the road to Jubar”. The weather was on our side even though dark clouds were hovering above us. We prayed hard that it does not rain. Unfortunately, one of the vehicles in the convoy got stuck in the mud but manage to get out without assistance. Had it rained, the track would have been considered hard core as the dirt track was steep and there were many crevices and gullies to maneuver around.

Our first stop on Saturday was Kg Langkap Lama. The track conditions were very steep and narrow. The assigned cars veered off to Kg Langkap Lama whilst the main convoy stationed themselves on the main track. Later after unloading the donations and upon rejoining the main convoy we proceeded to Kg Jubar.
Arriving at Kg Jubar, we were greeted by the village folks and the Tok Batin who was very happy to see us. Balance of our donated goods were unloaded here. In gratitude the Tok Batin offered their harvest of giant ubi kayu, while En Md Zamri bin Budin, the Ketua Kampong presented a plaque to show their appreciation to our team leader 9W2SBS Aiznin.
Despite the rough trip we had endured, the effort was well worth it. We would like to thank all amateur radio member (HAM) and friends of HAM who have donated and assisted in the charity event and well as those who have sacrificed their time and their own expense to participate in this event. Special thanks also go to the KL crew. We like to also thank HAM friends from Segamat , Bandar Muadzam Shah and PERAMAH (Kuantan) who came to give support. To all, this effort would not have been possible without you!

Finally a special thanks to Land & General Berhad KL Sports Club, The Malaysian Bar Council , FAMA , Kontena National, Time Engineering and Bumihiway for their support and contributions.

Reported by 9W2AXE

5 comments:

JungleTrekker said...

It's good to hear that help and aid has been furnished to those in need. I am very sure that none of it would have been possible if not for the assistance of everyone, Ham or non-Ham, ranging from the recon trip, prelim preparation, tedious collection of items and those who braved the long overnight virgil on Wednesday night and not forgetting the journey itself.

And for that I believe that everyone deserves a pat on their back and may I echo what many has said before, "TO ALL OF YOU WHO WORKED TIRELESSLY TO MAKE THE PROJECT A SUCCESS, WELL DONE!!!"

Cheers. 73

Marts News said...

Location: Asrama Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Ibam
Guru Besar : Loefi Mohd
Students: All Orang Asli children between the ages of 7 to 17 years old.
Donations delivered: Toiletries (soaps, shampoo etc), school clothes, stationeries as well as blankets and towels.
Comments: Need more school stuff (read: textbooks, exercise books, papers, etc) urgently due to floods.

Location : Kg Buluh Nipis
Tok Batin: Hassan Bin Maidin / Mat bin Tengek (80 yrs old)
Village population: 200 families
Flood Victims: 16 families
Donations delivered: 16 packages of mixed foodstuff, 16 x 10kg rice, mineral water and used clothings.
Comments : Houses with visible water marks between 4 to 6 ft . We were informed that 2 houses were totally submerged i.e. under 10 ft of water.

Location: Kg Aur
Ketua Kampung: Abidin Mat Isar / Mohd Nor bin Mat Lasu (AJK)
Population: 300
Flood Victims: 38 families.
Donations delivered: 38 packages mixed foodstuff, 38 x 10 kg rice bags, mineral water and used clothings.
Comments: 2 houses totally demolished by the flood. Walking bridge damaged. Water marks of 2 ft to 6 ft visible from houses situated nearby the river. Trees and plants with floodwater marks.

Location: Kg Kemara.- Village further upriver.
Ketua: Not available.
Population: 30
Flood victims: 6 families
Donations delivered: 6 bags of mix foodstuff, 6 x 10kg rice and used clothings.
Comments : Dropped off foodstuff at Kedai Runcit Aziz by the river where villagers can collect foodstuff when they come by boat.

Location : Kg Plum
Tok Batin: Husain Dagang
Population: 41 Families
Flood victims: 31 Families
Donations delivered: 31 packages of mixed foodstuff, 31 x 10kg rice and used clothings.
Comments: Houses flooded with water level between 4 ft to rooftops.

Location : Kg Aur Keladang
Tok Batin: Pandak bin Aloi
Flood Victims: 15 families
Donations delivered: 15 packages of mixed foodstuff, 15 x 10kg rice and used clothings.
Comments: This village was totally cut off during the floods.

Location : Kg Ganum
Ketua: Amir bin Sidin – Pengurus Ketua Cawangan UMNO.
Tok Batin: Yusoh bin Peggy
(Note Tok Batin has been hospitalized)
Population: 100 families
Flood Victims: 20 families
Donations delivered: 20 package of mixed foodstuff, 20 x 10kg rice and used clothings.
Comments: 5 houses badly damaged by the floods.

Location : Kg Langkap Lama
Ketua: Roma Bin Ali – Wakil Ketua Kampung.
Population: 15 families
Flood Victims: 15 families
Donations delivered: 15 packages of mixed foodstuff, 15 x 10kg rice, used clothings.
Comments : This village was also totally cut off by the floods.

Location : Kg Jubar
Tok Batin: Kachin Bin Jinal
Population: 37 families
Flood Victims: 37 families
Donations delivered: 40 packages of mixed foodstuff, 40 x 10kg rice and used clothings.
Comments : The villagers were cut off for 2 weeks due to floods. Some parts of roads were submerged under 12 ft of water. Children could not go to school. Amongst all the villagers, this is by far the most remote. One hour drive of dirt road tracks, mud pools, and steep slopes.

de 9W2AXE

Marts News said...

An event post mortem was held in AB, on Feb 9 2007.
Most attendees of the trip were present, and after completing the event feedback forms, compiled by AIznin - 9W2SBS, it was determined that 9W2PO - Ong was nominated as teammate of the event. Basically he is who everyone wants as his teammate.
With that the commerative sijil from the Jawatankuasa Kebajikan Perkampungan Orang Asli kawasan Ibam was handed to him.
We hope that in future should the need arise, the call to response will be equally as good.

de Moderator

Anonymous said...

well done 9w2po - always unassuming and willing.

cheers :) 9w2wil

Marts News said...

Every once in a while when I get the time and remember to log in to
Martsnews.Blogspot, I cease to be awed by the activities carried out by the
AliB junkies (pardon the term) in helping both the ham community and the
community at large. By this, I am referring to the Flood Donation and
Relief Drive recently carried out by both the ham and 4x4 community whose
so-called base is at the Ali Baba Restaurant in TTDI.

While most of us choose the comfort of out own homes to which we may have
poured in hundreds of thousands of ringgit to beautify, these HEROES have
chosen the ultimate; to give up the comforts of their own palaces and to
sacrifice their own time and money to bring relief to those unfortunate
victims down south, especially to the orang asli in their remote
settlements. The orang asli had been driven away from their own land and
forced to live in settlements in the middle of nowhere and they are the last
(if they are lucky enough) to receive any relief from any quarters due to
nature's harsh blows.

I salute you HEROES in your endeavours and envy your spirit of giving and
sharing with those less fortunate in their time of need. If only the whole
ham community had your sense of urgency in helping these poor souls who have
less than nothing taken away from them, but instead the ham community at
large is only worried about politics in societies and in showing that they
have more material wealth and gains compared to the others.

In closing, I hope that everyone who is able to read this short and simple
message to remember that if they ever were to be the ones in the shoes of
those who are presently affected by the floods down south, that they would
also be hoping for help and relief aid to be given to them. Therefore do
unto others what you would have them do unto you!

CONGRATULATIONS AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY FOR YOUR UNSELFISH NATURE......

73

Peter Lim
de 9W2PET

this comment is posted from email sent to martsnews.comment@gmail.com