A viralled Youtube video has caught the attention of this writer. It is a video of an Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student spending a night on a tree just so she could get good internet connectivity to sit for her online exam.
For the benefit of non Sabahans from outside of Sabah who chance upon this writing, this young woman is presumably living in the interior of Sabah which is generally hilly - rural area. Her name is Veveonah Mosibin or Veveonah M on her Youtube channel.
She started her channel during the Covid19 Movement Control Order (MCO) highlighting her rural life. This writer could only admire her resilience, tenacity and positive outlook in live. She is obviously not from a well off family. According to her in her video, she does rubber tapping early in the morning. No doubt helping her parents and she said living in the kampung means they have to work daily at their orchard 'to eat'.
I find the way she described her life in the Kampung as a matter of factly and candid. Hers is not an exception though. There are many youths living in rural Sabah in similar situation but she is among a few who understood the value of education and made it to University. No small feat.
Kudos must be given to her parents too. She said her parents helped her make her first two videos and were initially baffled as to why she would want to make videos of her opening a coconut and making a ground water well but were nonetheless supportive. They sound like they are supportive of whatever positive endeavours that their daughter does.
Unfortunately, while Veveonah's video of her taking her online exam atop a tree highlighted her resilience and tenacity, it also highlights the wanting state of Sabah's telecommunication infrastructure especially in the interior.
You will be hard pressed to make or received calls, let alone get an internet connection on your mobile or smartphones in some areas. Especially in hilly areas. Even if there is internet connectivity, the connection speed would be slow which renders online classes almost impossible.
This constrain was also highlighted by FreeMalaysia today on 25 May 2020 when two sisters resorted to making a makeshift hut in the woods in Keningau for their online classes during the MCO. Cheekily calling it Puru Online. Puru Online caught the attention of Federal Tourism Deputy Minister and Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Jeffrey G. Kitingan whom paid the students a visit.
In March 2020, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yahsin announced an allocation of RM400 million 'to be invested to widen the network coverage and capacity, maintaining stable, high quality and availability of telecommunication services'.
In May 2020, Datuk Dr Jeffrey G. Kitingan has also urged Telekom Malaysia (TM) to expedite installation of Unifi network in rural areas in Sabah.
We hope with the allocation by the Prime Minister and urging by Datuk Dr Jeffrey, this issue will soon be addressed as we herald in the 'new norm'.
Meanwhile, click here to view Veveonah's video and please do subscribe to her Youtube Channel to encourage her to post more interesting videos.
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