In April 2007, the Sarawak British Alumni Association (SBAA) launched a humanitarian programme – Rural Charity Outreach Programme (RCOP) – geared towards rural communities of Sarawak. The executive committee identified the remote village of Long Singut in Kapit as the first recipient of this programme.

Being a Kenyah settlement close to the Malaysian-Indonesian border, a journey upriver by long boat to the settlement from Kapit town takes about two days, depending on the Sungai Balleh tide. The 600-resident village has no schools, clinics nor hospitals. The village had been frequented by flying doctors. Following a tragic helicopter crash near this area in 2005, a “no-fly” zone has been imposed on the area. Since then, no medical personnel had attended to residents in Long Singut due to its difficult accessibility.

As such, the SBAA organized an expedition to Long Singut, via Sibu and Kapit town, from 26th to 30th July 2007 together with volunteers from the public, a medical team from Sarawak General Hospital and Kapit Division Health Office to conduct a medical screening for the residents, as well as send general supplies kindly donated by the public in support of this project. SBAA would like to thank its main sponsor Swee Joo Berhad for generously donating RM7,000/- for transportation of the goods and team to Long Singut.

The expedition team consisted of Henrick Lau (SBAA President), Sereni Linggi (SBAA Social Activities Chairperson), Dr Law Siik Tien and Christina Jong from Sarawak General Hospital, and volunteers from the public, namely, Patrick and Lesley White, Edouard Raguideau, Robert Stanley, Donald Tan, Marina Foo and Rose Au. A separate group from Kapit who provided the logistics and protocol needed for the trip, included YB Alexander Nanta Linggi, Jefferson Jamit, Wilfred Billy Panyau, Penghulu Jampi, Madu ak Penghulu Jampi, David Tan, police personnel and longboat drivers plus crew. The medical team was further supported by Dr Matthew Gabriel, Anthony Alas and Mail ak Ribut from the Kapit Division Health Office, Dr Norhasnizal and Ding Min Lueng from Kapit Hospital, and Dr Xavier Sim from Sarawak General Hospital.

SBAA would like to thank all members of the public who had donated general supplies for the residents of Long Singut, which was transported overland to Sibu in a four-wheel drive convoy led by Ryan Wong (SBAA Sports Chairperson) a weekend prior to the main expedition. SBAA would also like to thank Jambu Restaurant, Bing!, Fit-4-Life Gym and Tun Jugah Shopping Mall which kindly acted as collection centres for the donation drive.

SBAA would like to further thank Earth Alliance, Dr Sea Hoe, UMH Pharmacy, Lions Club of Kuching Metro, and Kapit Hospital which contributed medical supplies for the programme.

A documentary video on the Long Singut expedition, which will premiere with the Sarawak Association based in London, is produced, shot and directed by Robert Stanley, and edited by Esther Ting, Morgan Then and Josiah Chieng, with technical support from Moorey Mohammad and Frost Lee at ITFusion. SBAA wishes also to thank Matthew Ngau, a local sape musician, Valerie Mashman and British Council Kuching for their kind contributions.

Overall, the trip was a success and the SBAA committee is currently working on a follow-up to the needs of the villagers in Long Singut as well as identifying other villages to include in its Rural Charity Outreach Programme.

The SBAA, which was registered in 2004, would like to appeal to more British graduates and British residents in Sarawak to come forward as members of a very wide and established professional network. For more information on the Sarawak British Alumni Association, please visit our website http://sbaa.wordpress.com/ or contact Henrick Lau (hp: 012-8870555, email: henricklau@gmail.com) or Fam Boon Kim (hp: 012-8085928, email: rfbkim@gmail.com)

SBAA accepted an invitation from the Education Manager of British Council Sarawak, Mr Adrian Hon, to participate in both pre-departure briefings in Miri and Kuching, in order to provide an insight into life in the UK from an alumna’s perspective.

SBAA’s Chairperson of Public Relations, Fam Boon Kim presented the following topics during both pre-departure briefings:
1) Things to pack
2) Budgeting
3) Managing your studies
4) Accommodation
5) Experiencing Britain and beyond
6) Introduction to SBAA, its activities and programmes

The pre-departure briefings were a success, with attendees of over 100 in the Kuching briefing. For the record, pre-departure briefings prior to 2007 were only held in Kuching. For the first time this year, British Council organized 2 additional pre-departure briefings in Sibu and Miri respectively for the benefit of students residing outside Kuching.

SBAA wishes to thank Adrian Hon of British Council for kindly extending his invitation to us. We hope that our input has been helpful and we look foward to more colloborations in the future.

Here are pictures taken from the Kuching UK Pre-Departure briefing at Hilton Hotel, Kuching on 18.8.2007.

For further details on how you can help as an alumni in the annual UK pre-departure briefings, please email us at sbaa.admin@gmail.com.

If you or your family/friends are going to UK to further your tertiary education this coming autumn, do register with Education Uk to attend the following pre-departure briefings:

11 August 2007
JW Marriot Hotel, Miri (2-4pm)

18 August 2007
Hilton Hotel, Kuching (2-4pm)

Register here.
All registrants will receive the following freebies from British Council:

Please also contact the Chairperson for Education, Dr Addy Kho for the following useful manuals on studying in the UK as well as scholarship and finance information. The following guides are available for reference:

PUSTAKA NEGERI SARAWAK IN COLLABORATION WITH BRITISH
COUNCIL MALAYSIA PRESENTS TO YOU A SCIENCE DRAMA
PERFORMANCE BY SIR ISAAC NEWTON HIMSELF!
Title
A Science Performance by Mr. Peter Joyce
Venue
The Auditorium
Pustaka Negeri Sarawak,
Jalan Pustaka, Off Jalan Stadium
93050 Petra Jaya, Kuching, Sarawak
Date & Time – 2 shows
Mon 30 July 2007, 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Tue 31 July 2007, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Admission
Free of Charge
Members of the public who wishes to attend can contact:
6082 442000
Ms. Shirlyn (ext 217)
Puan Sabarina (ext 207)

ABOUT PETER JOYCE
Peter Joyce, was formerly the curator for the National Trust of Britain where he
helped to design the Science Centre. He was trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and
Drama and in the final year won the College Radio prize. He immediately started work for Theatre
North, a Sheffield based company touring theatres of major cities in the North.of England.
He followed this with a solid history of repertory all over the UK, spending two years at the
prestigious and pioneering Vic Theatre in the Round at Stoke on Trent, and has played major roles
in the West End for the RSC. He has taken many parts in TV including such firm favourites as
Minder, The Professionals, The Bill and Emmerdale, and has many credits in the world of TV
Ads.- voiceover and appearance. He has worked for BBC Radio Drama in several productions and
some of his titles have been heard on ‘Oneword’ Radio – the only radio station devoted to ‘talking
books’.
Nowadays, Peter has two companies, ‘Assembled Stories’ and ‘ Past Present Science’ for which he
travels the world performing his one man shows about Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton. He had
worked internationally at schools and universities, along with the UK’s Institute of Physics and the
Royal Institution. Additionally, he has also worked with the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, Space School UK and the Royal Society of Chemistry. In this capacity he
has worked for such organisations as the Association of Science Education, Trinity College,
Cambridge and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is perhaps the only actor in the world to have
worked for the two RSCs !!!!
Teachers, parents, students as well as members of the public are welcome to attend The Science
Drama.

A collaboration between:
Pustaka Negeri Sarawak British Council Malaysia

On another note, we are still accepting donations for the SBAA Rural Charity Outreach Project- we wish to thank all donors who have graciously sorted out their used clothing and given them to us in support of our project! Keep the donations coming and do take note that we will be accepting donations until 20 July 2007, which coincides with our pub quiz night.
Join us next Friday for an evening of good food and loads of fun!

See you at Jambu!

Tentative plans for the summit includes:

1. Keynote address and lectures by prominent foreign and local figures:

• Tan Sri Lee Lam Thay ( Chairman, Program Khidmat Negara) CONFIRMED

• Mr Ho Kay Tat ( Group Editor-in-Chief for Nexnews Bhd which publishes The Edge and The Sun newspaper) CONFIRMED

• Dato Dr Munir Majid ( Chairman Malaysia Airlines System, and Chairman KL Business Club KLBC) CONFIRMED

• Tan Sri Wan Zahid Noordin (Chairman, The Higher Education of Malaysia Report Committee – The Zahid Report) CONFIRMED

• Dato Seri Jawhar Hassan ( Chairman, Institute of Strategic International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia )CONFIRMED

• Dato Johan Raslan ( Chairman, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Malaysia)CONFIRMED

• Dato Seri Leftenan Jeneral (B) Zaini Mohamad Said (Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa, Malaysia’s highest gallantry award for his role during the Al Mau’nah siege) CONFIRMED

• Dato Zarinah Anwar (Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia) CONFIRMED

• Dato Dr Dzulkifli Razak (Vice Chancellor USM/Chairman,Malaysia’s Vice Chancellor’s Group) CONFIRMED

• Dato Tony Fernandes ( CEO, Air Asia Berhad) CONFIRMED

• Tunku Abdul Aziz (former UN special advisor for ethics) CONFIRMED

• Prof Emeritus Mohd Ariff Karim ( Director, Msia Institute of Economic Reseach) CONFIRMED

• Prof Emeritus Dato’ Khoo Kay Kim (Historian University Malaya) CONFIRMED

• Karim Raslan CONFIRMED

• Karam Singh Walia (TV3)
CONFIRMED

2. Constructive discussions on international and national issues, among others:

• Globalisation/Role of 3rd World Countries in the UN
• Malaysia’s Foreign Policy
• Malaysia’s Economy/Corporate Lessons for the Young and Bright
• The Potential of Malaysia Evolving as a Vibrant Islamic Financial Hub
• Corporate Governance/Ethics/Transparency
• Unity in Diversity/Dasar Ekonomi Baru
• Education
• Environmental Governance in Malaysia (Karam Singh Walia)
• Role of Mass Media in Malaysia
• Vision 2020 – Are we on the right track?

3. Networking opportunities with prominent individuals and fellow Malaysian student leaders from all over the world.

UKEC is inviting Malaysian student leaders from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Egypt, Jordan, South Korea, Japan, India, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and all public and private university students in Malaysia. Compare and relate your experiences with others!

UKEC need YOUR participation and support to make this event a success and hope it will surpass the success of Project Amanat Negara IV held recently last Easter at the Malaysia Hall London
(refer to New Straits Times 15 April 2007)

Please contact alia.sidek@ukeconline.com to participate! Places are limited. For further information and enquiries, please contact firdaus@ukeconline.com or ain@ukeconline.com

Dear fellow members and alumni,
Here’s a preview of our promotional poster for SBAA’s Rural Charity Outreach Project. Keep an eye on your favourite hang out spots such as Bing!, Jambu, etc as these posters will be coming out in full force very soon.

We appeal for your donations and support in this project. Please do not hesitate to contact Henrick (012-8870555) or Kim (012-8085928) for further details.

Reach out to the people of Long Singut and make a difference to their lives.

Thank you for your support.