Pilot wannabe puts dream on hold for family’s sake

1

LAHAD DATU: For Dayang Ardila Arsad, she is just a step away from her dream job. She aspires to be a pilot. But the 19-year-old is willing to put her dream job on hold and instead be close to her family in this time of conflict.

The teenager was home for the holidays after completing her Students Pilot Licence at the Trans Air Academy in Banting, Selangor and was scheduled to attend her convocation next month.

“I have also received an offer to do my Commercial Pilot Licence in Korea for 18 months. But with the on-going conflict, I’d rather stay close to my parents and family members here,” said the youngest child of eight siblings, when met at the Cenderawasih Sahabat 7 evacuation centre, yesterday.

She, however, revealed that failure to attend the convocation would cause her to fail in the subject.

“I have to attend the convocation and register for the CPL course by April. If I fail to do so, I will have to re-sit it all over again. Now we are kind of financially tight since my father has retired from working in an oil palm plantation. I wish I could complete my studies so I can help my family in the future, so now I am just torn apart,” she said.

Ardila said her family fled from their newly built home in Kampung Sungai Merah on March 1, after the Sulu gunmen attacked Malaysian security forces at Kampung Tanduo, which is only separated by a river to her village.

In the incident, two commandos were killed and three policemen suffered injuries.

“We left the house and sought refuge at our land, located at the Felda Sahabat boundary, where my father has just started his oil palm plantation. For nearly two weeks, we stayed inside our car. We only came to this evacuation centre yesterday (Saturday),” she said.

There are three evacuation centres within the Felda Sahabat area, providing shelter to 2,791 villagers from the affected villages. A total of 581 people are staying at the Cederawasih Sahabat 7 evacuation centre, 655 people at Embara Budi and 1,561 people at Fajar Harapan.