The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Parit Sulong’s fierce battle during WWII is still remembered to this day
- MP sets goal to transform villages with education
- Dusun girl makes family proud with 10As in SPM
| Parit Sulong’s fierce battle during WWII is still remembered to this day Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:11 PM PDT BATU PAHAT: Many motorists passing the Parit Sulong Bridge over Sungai Simpang Kiri here might not remember that this area had in the past seen a fierce battle during World War II, about 71 years ago. During the war, Australian solders sacrificed their lives fighting against overwhelming Imperial Japanese Army in the final stages of the Battle of Muar on January 21, 1942. The old bridge completed in 1929 was torn down in 1994 and replaced with a new bridge in 1997, but the bravery of Australian soldiers is still remembered by locals until today. While the name of Parit Sulong is now part of the history, many do not know how this area got its name. Long time resident Yap Ho Bi, 68, who runs a furniture shop in the Parit Sulong town and born here is also oblivious, when questioned about the area. "Life in a small town is good and easy going as most of us know each others,'' says Yap who lives in Taman Raja Ahmad, just a few kilometers away from his shop. He said although living in a housing estate, the spirit of neighbourliness between residents in Parit Sulong was strong unlike those living in housing estates in Johor Baru or Kuala Lumpur. Yap said his immediate neighbours were Malays and had no problems with them, citing the muhibbah spirit was observed by them long before the 1Malaysia concept. "My family and I even attended weddings of our Malay customers and friends during the dark times of May 13, 1969,'' he said. Yap said Malaysians of different ethnicity groups and religious beliefs had been living harmoniously for so long and blamed politicians for inciting racial sensitivities since the last general election. He said all parties should stop bickering and should instead focus on how to make the country prosper and who ever runs the country should take into account of the welfare of all Malaysians. Yap said sometimes, decisions made by those in power had caused problems to locals including cutting down of trees along the road of Parit Sulong town. "Why do you need to cut trees down which already been around for 30 to 40 years providing shade to us and plant with species which are not suitable,'' he questioned. Yap also wanted the Government to clam down on the large presence of Pakistani traders who sell their products such as carpets and fabrics in the area on motorcycles and vans. He said the unlicensed traders who did not pay business taxes to the Government were killing the small businesses owned by locals as the profits they earned would be send back to Pakistan. Jewellery shop assistant Alice Tan, 24, hoped that Parit Sulong town needed a new commercial centre to boost business activities as some of the buildings were too old. She said the town was a popular bypass and stop over for motorists travelling to Batu Pahat, Muar and Yong Peng to refresh or pumping petrol. Tan said business has been quite slow in the recent months as oil palm fruits harvesting had declined due to unpredictable weather as most of the shops' customers were oil palm smallholders. Meanwhile for best friends R. Selvam, 34 and M. Mahadevan, 33, who work in Ban Lung Oil Mill said that Parit Sulong has developed a lot in the past five years. "After the great floods which hit this town in 2006, a lot of the drains and roads were widened and the old shoplots were replaced with new ones," Selvam said. Selvam, who has two daughters aged 10 and two, said that while the Indian community was hardly four families here, they all were closely knit. "One major problem here is the salary difference compared with working in big towns. Some of the workers do not mind working for only RM350 to RM450 per month,"he said. Selvam added that lucky at the mill they get RM900 monthly with free housing, electricity and water. For Mahadevan, the lack of job opportunities was a set back in this area as Pari Sulong needs an industrial estate similar to the ones in nearby towns of Batu Pahat and Sri Gading. "We only have several brick factories and oil mills. Also the companies prefer to hire foreigners over locals as they can work for long hours with less salary," he said, adding that his wife also approached several factories for a job but was rejected. Mahadevan, who has a daughter, hoped that with better job opportunities, more Indians would relocate to the area as presently many of the indian families were moving to other places due to lack of opportunities. "The only Indian business in Parit Sulong town is run by an Indian doctor," he added. Over at Kampung Bintang, maintenance worker Nor'azam Koming, 42, hoped the relevant authorities to consider widening the road in the village as it had been used as bypass going to Batu Pahat town. He said many preferred to use the village's road instead of Jalan Peserai-Simpang Lima due to less traffic volume and shorter distance of about three kilometers instead of seven kilometers. "The road in our village is narrower and uneven as it could not longer accommodate to the increase in vehicles using it daily,'' said Nor'azam. He said some of the motorists passing the village also driving quite fast and could cause dangers to residents especially school children going to school on bicycles. Another pressing issue that bogging the villagers was the pollution due to few factories operating in the village and urged to relevant authorities to issue stern warnings to them. Nor'azam said water supply in and around the area had improved with the installation of new main pipes unlike before where water pressure level was low and causing inconvenience to users. "We also hope that regular maintenance is carried out to cut the overgrown lalangs and clean the irrigation ditch from aquatic plants to prevent flooding,'' he said. First-time voter Subaidah Hashim, 23, of Taman Sri Sulong wanted the Government to open the 1Malaysia clinic and shop to serve the people. She said the light industrial estates in Parit Sulong had created job opportunities for locals especially school leavers who did not do well in their studies. Subaidah who helps her parents to run a food stall near since 10 years ago said that it was patronised mostly by factory workers and motorists using the trunk road. "I would like to see more small and medium enterprises setting up their operations as they will create economic spill-over in the area,' she said. The Parit Sulong constituency is made up of two state seats - Semerah and Sri Medan with 57,030 voters in the constituency. |
| MP sets goal to transform villages with education Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:45 PM PDT KOTA MARUDU: The transformation of a rural community like Kota Marudu cannot occur without education being a catalyst for a society to progress, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili. Dr Ongkili, who is also Kota Marudu MP, said five years ago Kota Marudu's goal was to have one graduate in every village who would become catalysts for their community's development. Kota Marudu parliamentary constituency has about 300 registered villages – about 160 in the Kota Marudu district and 140 villages in the Matunggong sub-district. "We want every village to have at least one graduate among them who will become an example to their community on the importance of education for individual development. "At the same time they will play an important role in developing their community when they serve the people with their knowledge and skills," he said at an education fair by Universiti Malaysia Sabah held at Kota Marudu Community Hall. The education fair entitled "A Step Closer to University" is organised by the Kota Marudu Parliament Office and UMS to encourage Kota Marudu students who have completed their studies as well as those who will be sitting for their SPM and STPM examinations, to pursue higher education. "We have achieved 90% of this target and there are less than 30 villages that have not produced a graduate. "Even the remote village of Kg Sg Magandai has produced two graduates from Universiti Malaysia Sabah," Dr Ongkili added. He said Kota Marudu now aimed to produce one graduate in each family by 2020 to further the effort to instil among the community the value of education to their progress and well-being. Dr Ongkili also advised the students not to stop with a bachelor's degree but pursue their Masters Degree and PhD as "there is no end to learning and education". The fair also included programmes to encourage youths to take up volunteerism including the Innovation Catalyst (1CATs) programme by Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia, an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, to attract youths to become catalysts of innovations in their communities. |
| Dusun girl makes family proud with 10As in SPM Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:53 PM PDT LAHAD DATU: In a bid to prove to her parents and other communities that she too can get excellent results, 17-year-old Irene Scully Tauan from Kampung Silabukan near here emerged as a record breaker for SMK Desa Kencana when she scored 10As for her SPM examination. She beat the school's previous record of 9As set last year. This was mainly due to Irene's determination to always be better than others. "My main motivators are my parents. They tell me everyday that I have to be better than others and to prove that we Dusuns too can get excellent results in examinations," she said after receiving her SPM certificate in the school recently. She said there had always been stereotyping in the society saying that Bumiputeras or natives are always weaker in terms of their studies compared with the other communities, like the Chinese. She hoped that the Lahad Datu crisis would end in favour of our security forces so that people can resume their daily chores as usual. "Although it is safe here with the presence of policemen and soldiers, many school activities have to be halted for the time being and I hope this matter can be solved as soon as possible," Irene said. In a similar vein, Salbiah Abdul Salam, 17, said she had always been told by her parents that education comes before wealth. "With education, we can go anywhere. Money is important too but education and knowledge is what makes the money and everything else that comes with it," said the science stream student. Her friend, Clera Praynna who scored 6As for the examination also contributed her success to her parents and their daily advice. "My parents always tell me that I must be better and do my best in school. Only then our lives can change for the better," she said. On other developments, most of the students there thank the security forces on duty for ensuring the safety of communities in Lahad Datu. "At least we feel safer although some activities are stopped or cannot be held as often as it used to," Clera said. |
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