Ting personally hands over a laptop to Doris.
MIRI: Doris Jalong, 18, has always dreamt of doing something better to give her family back in the village a better life.
After completing her secondary education at SMK Long Lama last year, her dream of getting there has come true when she was selected to undergo a five-year teacher training course at a teachers’ training college in Bakam last month.
Not many people from her Penan community are willing to make a sacrifice by living far from their close-knit families, but for Doris, she has little choice but to come out of her comfort zone in order to realise her dream of becoming a teacher.
“I am my family’s hope, they depend on me,” she said when met here recently.
Doris is the youngest of six siblings.
Her father is a farmer while her mother is a fulltime housewife.
“My elder siblings are doing odd jobs, while my wheelchair-bound mum is a stay-at-home housewife,” said Doris.
She said her mother has been confined to a wheelchair for over a decade now.
Most of her peers, she said, opted to live in the village and help their parents manage the households and their rice fields.
“I know very few Penans live quite a successful life, and none of them come from my village. I am, therefore, keen to set an example to my fellow villagers in prioritising and taking advantage of what education can bring,” she said.
Coming from a poor family, Doris said she was given only RM200 by her mother on the day she left for the teachers’ training college, half of which she used to pay for her transport from Long Lilim and the other half to buy other necessities.
When asked if there was anything she urgently needed most now, Doris said a laptop, new or even a used one would do, to help her in doing her assignments.
Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting, who has come to know about Doris’ desire, has bought her a new laptop.
He went to meet Doris at the campus last Friday to personally deliver the laptop to her.
With tears running down her cheeks, Doris thanked Ting for willing to help a poor Penan girl like her.
“I am very thankful to him for buying a laptop for me.
“It has indeed lifted my spirit and I would definitely study harder to ensure that my dream of becoming a teacher would be realised soon,” she said.