Give me 5

SAYING IT ALL: Give me 5 – clean water, electricity, fire station, security and quality healthcare.

IT is always a rich and rewarding experience to take a brief break from the day-to-day demands of the city and walk into the lives of the rural people.

So I joined the Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) that took to the coastal roads recently on its third cross-state expedition from Kuching and headed towards Bintulu with many stops at the small towns along the way.

The drive through a predominantly rural setting with its rustic, simple and needy ambiance transported me back to my own childhood.

For I too was born and raised in a small rural village but fortunately, that was a time water from the river was clean and the land yielded an abundance of grains, corns, vegetables and fruits, nourishing us with the building blocks of life -- carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, not forgetting protein from the poultry and pig farms.

Life was simple and happy though we did not have much.

Then I moved to the town where schools and resources were readily available.

Health services were close by while urban conveniences such as clean water that flowed from kitchen and bathroom taps and electricity that powered kitchen appliances, air conditioners, computers and TVs were within easy reach.

Usually, I would not bother much about these privileges until I visited the rural areas -- either at home or abroad -- or when the woes of the ruralites hogged the headlines.

Like many city and town dwellers, I take for granted things such as educational opportunities, clean water and electricity supply, free quality medical services, tar-sealed roads, social security – in fact, everything that provides for convenient and comfortable living.

For after all, are not these the basic necessities provided by the government that you and I should be enjoying after 50 years of independence.

But alas, I err. We cannot take the good life for granted when many are deprived of the barest necessities such as clean water and electricity, and are living in poverty.

On our way to Simunjan after stopovers at Asajaya, Kampung Tambirat and Sadong Jaya, we saw a number of trucks laden with huge blue water tanks. And everytime the road got bumpy, the water would spill out.

With the rough going and constant spilling, I wonder whether the water tanks could even be delivered half full to their destination.

At Sungei Buluh ferry point, a lorry driver who had two water tanks on his lorry, told me one tank would serve four to five families and, on average, he could make two to three trips a day.

That is his daily routine during the dry season between June and July but sometimes the hot spell is extended to other months since the weather now is highly unpredictable.

How do the rural people cope with water woes? It is the norm and part of life – seemingly.

A young woman doing her washing with water from a huge blue tank on the street, said with a smile it was great the government was transporting tanks of water to the town.

Indeed, compared to Kampung Nangka Besar in Daro where 200-odd families have been putting up with dry taps since 2009, Simunjan folk are more fortunate.

A few steps away, five teenagers, clad in simple T-shirts and shorts, were sitting around a stone table at a compound that could hardly be called a park.

Talking and laughing amidst some cheerful discussions, these youngsters seemed oblivious to the world around them.

They told me they took a school bus everyday to a secondary school, some 30 minutes away. The joy written all over their faces, despite not having much, could make the hardest of hearts melt.

They are more fortunate though than the youths in Balingian where there is no secondary school.

The nearest one is in Mukah, 60km away, and transport alone would cost parents in Balingian RM50 per week if they wished to continue sending their children for secondary education.

Poorer children dropped out after primary school.

Further down the street, a dotting grandfather was looking after two of his 18 grandchildren. One of the young ones (a boy), probably just six, pasted the most adorable, toothy smile on his face and allowed me to take pictures of his poses.

It did not matter whether he looked messy or that he hadn’t  taken a bath for the day due to water shortage, his glee was disarming and I was overcome with a desire to hug him and thank him for the smile straight from his heart.

While Simunjan is facing water woes, Sebuyau is asking for a fire station.

In June last year, an inferno swept through a row of 30 old wooden shophouses in the latter, razing the buildings and 12 stalls to the ground and leaving more than 200 people homeless.

The Sebuyau assemblyman admitted in the aftermath that the destruction caused by fire would have been a lot less had there been a fire station in the town instead of having to rely on the one in Simunjan, one hour away by road.

There is no bomba at the end of the tunnel with reportedly no solution offered or promise made.

We saw a very impressive police building in Selangau by the main road. But a building is only building if not staffed with people.

There are only seven to eight police personnel stationed in Selangau, a fast growing town with flourishing oil palm plantations.

With population growth and more foreign and outstation workers employed at the plantations, social problems are bound to increase and true enough, a month ago, an elderly couple at a coffeeshop was robbed.

It is said a great nation is a compassionate nation.

Looking at how these outlying rural towns are faring,

it is not wrong to say we have not met our obligations and responsibilities to the rural people, especially the poor, with compassion.

We may be able to say we have built bridges to span the rivers, constructed highways and coastal roads to link the towns, built big buildings in the cities to kiss the skies and done enough for the rural to narrow the digital divide through the introduction hi-tech but we have also heard it loud and clear from the BAT expedition that it is not enough.

It is so humbling to see these underprivileged people showing such delight when provided with facilities we often take for granted -- be it some water on dry days or some light on dark nights.

The pleas and prayers of the people in these rural towns remain just as poignant today -- when I am thirsty, give me clean water; when I am hungry, feed me; when I am in fear, give me security; when I am sick, give me medical help; when I am poor, give me amenities and assistance to allow my children to have a basic education.

These five things city folk need to be grateful and appreciative for are the same five things rural folks have

put up with everyday.