Scholars brave the jungle to talk on five sins of progress

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SIBU: Moved by determination to help the children of their own race to have a better future, two members of Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) braved the hardship they had to go through to get to SK Ulu Entabai in Julau district on March 6.

MOTIVATIONAL TALK: A section of the SK Ulu Entabai pupils and parents at the talk by Dr Charlie and Elly.

Dr Charlie Dundang and Elli Lawai Ngalai travelled all the way from Kuching to Julau town from where they spent another four hours to journey through a rough logging track on a four-wheel-drive vehicle to reach the school.

The school is the furthest in Nanga Entabai area, about 150 km from Julau town, and it is where children from 14 longhouses in the area are getting their formal education.

Dr Charlie also reminded Ibans about the five social ills which would hinder the community from progress.

He labelled the illnesses as 5Ps or sins among the Ibans: ‘pengirup’ (alcoholics), ‘pejudi’ (gamblers), ‘penyabung’ (cockfighting), ‘penginsap’ (smokers) and ‘pengindu’ (womaniser) or ‘pelaki’ (adulteress).

Meanwhile, Elli said parents should cooperate with teachers to play a more effective role in helping students perform better in both academic field and co-curricular activities.

The two were invited by local resident, Sulutan Egoh Galau, to give a motivational talk to school children and their parents.

And their effort was not wasted as some 350 people including the pupils, teachers and parents attended the talk.

According to Dr Charlie, the challenges they had to face were nothing compared to their determination to help the Ibans realise the importance of education.

“It is only through education that we can live a better life,” he told parents and children at the talk.

He told parents not to stop sending their children to school although they face difficulty like financial problems.

He motivated the children, saying he had gone through a similar experience when he was a school boy in a rural area in Kanowit.

“And despite all that, I soldiered on until I get my doctorate degree,” he said.

SK Ulu Entabai headmaster Layang Kassi said it was the first such event held at the school.

He hoped more Iban intellectuals would come to share with parents and children the importance of education to improve their livelihood.