GUA MUSANG: It was a tiring three-hour ride along the bumpy and winding road to Kampung Pasik, Kelantan, but the discomfort disappeared when we were greeted by happy Orang Asli children.
Surprisingly, even our body pains that arose because of the jerky movements of the car along the road miraculously disappeared after looking at the innocent faces of these children.
Before arriving at the village with some members of the media, I had wild thoughts about how the village of the Temiar Orang Asli people would look like, away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Children are generally warm, welcoming, and friendly, and these children were no different.
Perhaps the only difference was that these children were curious to learn more about their visitors.
The village is surrounded by mountainous terrains and thick jungles and is not visited by many people, which is why the minds of these children were filled with curiosity.
Kampung Pasik, one of the villages within an Orang Asli settlement in the Gua Musang area, has a population of 500 people.
We had joined Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd on its “Journey of Milk” trip to Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Permai school in the village, where it delivers milk under the government’s free milk programme.
The media was invited by Dutch Lady Malaysia to understand the challenges faced by the organisation while delivering milk to schools under the government’s 1Malaysia Milk Programme or Program Susu 1Malaysia (PS1M).
Full Force
The children, meanwhile, gathered around us to understand why we were in their village.
In fact, some had quickly rushed out of their homes and some to their windows just to get a glance of the visitors.
Greeting people warmly in any case is also part of their tradition and a mark of respect to visitors who come to their village.
However, there was no denying that a higher level of excitement was seen on their faces when Dutch Lady’s four-wheel drive (4WD) pulled up with a huge supply of milk, under the PS1M, for distribution to the children of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Permai.
They felt it was a festive occasion as soon as the announcement was made on the distribution of nutritious milk.
“The children love drinking the milk. Since they stay far away from cities, they do not have access to milk.
“So, on the days when the milk vehicle arrives, everyone attends school! They are given milk twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays,” said Rosli Abdul Rahim, a teacher at the school.
The Sri Permai school was set up in 1973, and it currently has 191 students and 23 teachers.
Increasing The Supply
The encouraging response from children with regard to the milk programme has resulted in a proposal to move up the milk supply plan to four times a week as opposed to the current plan, where milk is supplied twice a week, especially for children in interior areas and for the Orang Asli children.
Rashidah Md Yusof, deputy director (Students) of the Division of School Management, Ministry of Education, said the move could be an incentive for students to attend school.
This will also be in sync with the first aspiration under the 2013-2025 Malaysian Education Development Plan to achieve a 100 per cent enrolment in schools by 2020.
“We will take a look at the proposal,” she noted.
It is, however, not about increasing children’s access to milk, but inculcating the habit of drinking milk among the children.
This will also be in line with
the objective of PS1M to bring about a new generation of
healthy and active pupils while countering the problem of malnutrition.
The government has spent about RM103 million this year to carry out the PS1M programme nationwide, providing milk to 1.4 million school students twice a week, said Rashidah.
The programme was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for school students under the Additional Food Plan (RMT), who are eligible for free milk.
Meanwhile, in the rural and interior areas, all school students receive free milk under the PS1M programme.
Challenges
The delivery of milk to interior areas, however, is not an easy task.
Suppliers have to go over rough terrains to deliver milk to children in rural areas and in the interiors of the country.
During the trip to Kampung Pasik, this writer and other members of the media managed to understand the difficulties faced by suppliers while delivering milk to interior areas.
During our journey, we had to walk for a while since the drivers were unable to drive the 4WD on a hilly terrain.
Meanwhile, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s Manager of Corporate Affairs, Mohd Afizi Mohd Ross shared some of his experiences.
“The challenges are plenty since Kelantan has many schools in the interior areas. There are schools we reach through boats as well,” he said. The roads are not tarred; therefore, when it rains, it becomes muddy, and it is difficult to drive in such conditions, he added.
Longer Time Taken
Given the geographical challenges, the delivery of milk to these areas takes longer than usual — between three and eight hours. There have been times when the delivery team had to rest in a forest at night because their car met with an accident, Mohd Afizi said.
However, these experiences have not deterred the company from carrying out its task to ensure the success of the PS1M programme.
The drivers’ prior experience of delivering milk in four other areas, namely Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Georgetown, and Melaka, serves as a useful guide.
Under the new 2013 and 2014 contract, Dutch Lady Malaysia has been tasked with providing milk to children in Kelantan and Terengganu.
A total of 232,489 students in 769 schools from the two states qualify for the aid.
Quality
On the quality of the milk distributed, there might be some concerns as to whether it is fresh and safe for consumption, considering the long and bumpy journey undertaken by drivers to deliver the milk.
The 1Malaysia milk undergoes UHT or Ultra High Temperature processing and is suitable for the consumption of students for at least 10 months from the date of processing.
In fact, milk cartons have six layers of packaging, including polyethylene and aluminium foil, to protect the milk.
“Once the milk reaches the state godown, it is still not considered ready for distribution. A Ministry of Health official will take a random sample for testing, and the milk will be distributed upon confirmation that the milk is not spoilt and is safe for consumption,” explained Mohd Afizi.
The quality of milk is controlled at the following stages—processing, storage, transportation, and the final delivery—to ensure that the milk meets the guidelines of the Ministry of Health. — Sakini Mohd Said/Bernama