Nancy (centre) observes a medical check-up for a villager. On her right is Aidel.
THIS is part three of the Batang Sadong visit with Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
After we left Kampung Nanas, we proceeded to Kampung Hijrah where a local women’s leader was to host her daughter’s wedding reception the next day. As Nancy would already be back in Kuala Lumpur, she dropped by to offer her well wishes and some simple but useful gifts.
It was now half past 12 when we returned to the Simunjan rest house. Nancy made a quick change of outfit. Then we returned to Kampung Kanchong cafe for lunch. This would be the fourth makan stop and fifth for me since 6am. The kampung folk are superb hosts.
Karnival 2017 Sukan Gedong
This was the second time this local extravaganza was organised. About 30 stalls lined the entrance to the venue. The organisers had made sure there were opportunities for economic activities by the local traders. We were led to a stall where Nancy and the two assemblymen for Gedong and Simunjan, Datuk Naroden Majais and Awla Dris respectively, had gamely participated in an archery demonstration.
After this we adjourned to a huge hall. There were at least 400 people gathered, including spectators and performers. This was the event finals of a team dancing competition participated by 13 kampung.
And not surprisingly, Nancy was invited to join two-dozen local activists doing the poco-poco, a popular line dance from Indonesia. I became a victim of circumstance; coerced to join the floor. Whoops! I’m afraid I could have caused Sarawakians to think Peninsular Malaysians don’t have a good sense of rhythm.
Next to the hall was the regatta in action at the Sarawak River. Many locals were lined up along the riverbank to cheer on the elimination rounds. Our entourage went on a motorboat managed by Sarawak Rivers Board to witness and trail one race event. Then we checked out the canal project meant to control the serious soil erosion within these parts.
Naroden’s family home on the edge of the riverbank once had a football field and school fronting it. They are now under the river! All along the banks I see the top of trees springing out of the water. Across the other side, more land is created – looks like the river is re-carving its flow!
The prize-giving ceremony for the regatta winners followed. We left Gedong at 5.16pm and arrived in Kuching at 7.08pm, ending seven hours of continuous public engagement and a total five hours on the road. Nancy was to take a quick shower to attend a party meeting at 8pm. That was a normal Saturday in the office for Nancy.
Ziarah Kamek (ZK) continues …
I returned for my second ZK (Nancy’s constituency visit) March 31 to April 2.
We left from Nancy’s home at 7.50am. The visit was solely to attend to constituency needs, particularly on health and welfare issues. Our first stop was at Kampung Sengkalan Pasir in Gedong, 180km away. The womenfolk there weave mats of various sizes from bemban and rotan obtained from the deep forests. It is not just for supplementary income but also serves as therapy – to stop worrying too much about loved ones who are studying or working away from the secluded villages. Nancy often buys these mats to be given as gifts.
This was not a kampung as we normally envision. It consists of single crudely patched up dwellings sitting on slopes at the edge of the forests, spread around an enclave. I really do not know how to begin to describe their rather primitive existence.
We visited Kampung Sekundu where 12 homes were razed to the ground a few days earlier. Two days before, at a KL International Airport boarding gate, Nancy virtually accosted a former state secretary who now chairs Yayasan Kemiskinan Negeri for financial assistance on the Kampung Sekundu incident. Seated within earshot a guy was observing intensely as if the incident mattered to him. Nancy included him in the discussion out of politeness and that was how Anthony Chiew Chung Hwa from Sarikei made a brief entrance into our lives.
Until two years ago, Anthony was distributing schoolbooks and stationery in Simunjan for the last 17 years. Under rugged conditions 20 years ago, he travelled by boat and dirt roads to deliver dry and intact supplies that won the loyalty of 45 local schools. He offered to donate RM500 to each of the homeowners because he still had strong sentiments for the district. What a fortuitous meeting for all!
Nancy handed over RM5,000 emergency aid to each home owner from her constituency funds pending state government disbursement.
We had lunch at Klinik Kesihatan Munggu Lallang.
Our convoy of seven four-wheelers (sometimes helicopters are needed), with teams from PBB, welfare and health services then visited several homes that were on the due visit list. Because the ground organisers had the good sense to arrange for a few other patients to be treated in each home, our team could tackle more cases with every stop.
Blood pressures were taken and recorded and medications were distributed. Rice, cooking oil and household essentials were distributed.
We left to return to Kuching just after 5pm.
The next morning, we left at 7.02am for the district of Asajaya, which is 90km from Nancy’s home. We went straight to a kenduri. These events start at 7am until 2pm, so a constant stream of guests can turn up at their convenience.
The second-term assemblyman of Sadong Jaya, Aidel Lariwoo, joined us soon after. Then we left to continue our house visits. A 90-year old patient received a wheelchair; another one received a walking frame. A four-legged walking stick was also presented. By 1pm we had to leave for the airport to make the 4.30pm flight back to KL. By the time we reached our homes it would be past 7pm.
Nancy was in Parliament house before 9am the following day.
Summary of visit
Nancy has been doing the ZK between 30 and 40 times a year since March 2008. And even after she joined the cabinet on May 2013, the programmes continued. The camaraderie exhibited between the three assemblymen and the MP is like a textbook model. All her support staff had superb attitude and are well trained, never missing a cue.
“What else can we do with our lives if not to serve?” was her rather nonchalant reply, when I asked what drives her.
Nancy is also co-chairman of the steering committee reviewing the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
Postscript
The Sarawak government held the 100-day remembrance for Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem in Kuching on April 21. Nancy led the event in Masjid Al-Kawthar in Gedong.
Datuk Lee Yew Meng is CEO of Genovasi Malaysia.