Kapitan: Link up Song to Kapit and Kanowit

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SONG: Seventy-six-year old Kapitan Neo Eng Siew’s only dream now is to see a road connecting Song to Kapit and Kanowit.

HOPING FOR ROAD CONNECTION: Neo attending to his customers at his coffee shop in Song town.

“The government has been promising us for the last 30 years. I am already old. I just hope one day before I pass away, Song will be connected to both Kanowit and Kapit,” Neo told BAT at his shop here yesterday.

He added that the people were beginning to question whether the government was sincere with its promises.

“Every time when election is near, there will be promises. How long more can we wait?” he asked.

Neo said the government should not make promises it could not fulfill otherwise the people would lose confidence in it.

The distance by river from Song to Kapit is 41km and to Kanowit is about 30km.

“But if the road is constructed I am sure the distance is much shorter because the road does not have to be constructed along the river,” he reasoned.

On another issue, Neo said most of the youngsters had migrated to other places for better job opportunities.

“Most of them are now in Singapore and KL. I know how they feel because Song has nothing to offer,” he confided.

He suggested that school leavers should be provided with proper skills so that they would be able to get better-paid jobs. This could entice them to stay back.

“The government could either build a skills training centre or start a teachers training college here as most of the teachers at SMK Song are from peninsular Malaysia,” he said, adding that he has nothing personal against the present government policy except that Song needs a centre to train its young people.

Neo, who has been a kapitan for the last 30 years and has just renewed his contract as kapitan, also appealed to the government to equip the local clinic with enough medical doctors so that the people would not have to suffer more by being sent to either Kapit or Sibu for minor healthcare.

“Song is totally cut off from Sibu from 4pm and to Kapit at 5pm after the last express boats leave the town,” he said, adding that Song currently has only one medical officer attached to the town government clinic.

Neo also appealed to the government to set up another bank in the town as there was only one bank operating here currently.

“The Ibans call it ‘Bank Semadi Nadai’ (BSN). It is definitely a sound investment for other banks to operate here as there are many people, including government servants, who need better banking facilities,” he stressed.

Neo, however, said the 1,000 strong Chinese residing in Song are ardent BN supporters.

“The Chinese here are different from the Chinese in the big towns and cities. Here they are strong BN supporters, maybe they still see the relevance of the present government,” he added.