Tag: Tanjong Katong Primary School

Sabah Quake: Reunion Of Guides And Students At Tanjong Katong Primary School

On Tuesday (Jun 16), three mountain guides met the Singaporean schoolboy whose life they helped save following the earthquake that struck Sabah on Jun 5.

Rizuan Kauhinin, Simon Gohinmin and Mazlee Liong touched down in Singapore on Monday night (Jun 15). The next day, they were reunited with Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) student El Wafeeq El Jauzy, whom they had helped carry down Mount Kinabalu following the 5.9-magnitude quake.

Also at the reunion was another TKPS student who was rescued – Arnaav Karan Chabria, 11.

BEFORE THE REUNION

Rizuan, Simon and Mazlee after breakfast and watching morning television, a short time before the scheduled reunion. (Photo: Kane Cunico)

“We slept comfortably. I dreamt I was climbing,” said Rizuan ahead of the meeting.

“I will shake Wafeeq’s hand and ask the boy about his condition,” said Mazlee on the way to TKPS. “The last time I had a chance to ask the boy his name and age, but this time I will ask more and get to know him more.”

A VERY SPECIAL SHIRT: #TKPS student Wafeeq’s family had this made for the men who saved him in the #SabahQuake. bit.ly/1SjaiWc

Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Monday, 15 June 2015

Wafeeq and his family wore customised shirts, which they intended to present to the Sabahan guides as gifts. “We wanted to give the guides something meaningful. So we came up with the idea of soccer jerseys with Wafeeq’s and the guides’ names,” said his mother, Mdm Sabrena El Huda.

Added the 12-year-old student: “I made the T-shirts to symbolise the courage of the Sabah mountain guides.”

Shy El Wafeeq El Jauzy, at home with his family before the reunion. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

Wafeeq has prepared a special jersey for his “saviour” Rizuan. His family had three of these made, each with Rizuan and Wafeeq’s names on it. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

REUNION AT TKPS

The reunion – arranged as part of an upcoming Channel NewsAsia documentary, Heart of Courage – saw the guides, the two boys and their families meet behind closed doors on Tuesday morning (Jun 16). This is the first time the guides have travelled out of Malaysia, and they will spend two days sightseeing in Singapore.

Smiles as Rizuan and Wafeeq finally meet again after a trying joint experience in Sabah. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

Rizuan checking out the jersey Wafeeq had made. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

The most vocal out of the three guides, Rizuan said, “The earthquake that happened affected a lot of people. The boys endured a lot of trauma and you need to give them time to get better. They lost a lot of their friends and I hope that they will be strong to continue their way of life.”

“I’m not just the only guide to help the boys. It was a big operation that involved all the mountain guides,” he added.

Wafeeq’s father Mr El Jauzy hugs one of the trio, Simon Gohinmin. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

Wafeeq called the chance to meet the men who saved him a “precious” moment. “They helped me all the way from the mountain,” he added.

His mother, Mdm Sebrina said: “I feel very delighted – the whole family does – seeing them in person. When we spoke to each other, we shared our stories as if we had known each other for a long time.

“I wouldn’t see this meeting as a closure but a start. I think this sense of brotherly love will continue beyond this episode.”

Asked if her son will go back to Mount Kinabalu, she said: “He is a very determined boy.” Wafeeq still wants to reach the summit, she added. “I think he has found a very good guide”

The TKPS students and their families share some quiet time with the mountain guides. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

A total of 18 climbers were killed in the disaster, 10 from Singapore.

Catch Heart of Courage on Channel NewsAsia, June 23, at 8.30pm.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 17, 2015
MOE: TKPS Students Were On Simpler Via Ferrata Route

The Ministry of Education (MOE) clarified on Wednesday (Jun 10) that the Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) team was on a simpler route on Mount Kinabalu when the earthquake struck.

Compared with the regular Via Ferrata route, where the elevation of the starting point is 3,520m, the pupils, teachers and their guides began on a route at an elevation of 3,411m, stated the MOE.

Mountain Torq, which manages the Via Ferrata, added that this was also a shorter route – 281m (indicated in red below) instead of the original route (in green), which is 430m long.

An MOE spokesperson said: “This is a less steep route compared to the full Walk the Torq route.” She confirmed that the TKPS teams have been using the simplified route since 2010.

On Sunday, the MOE, based on its initial interviews with teachers and pupils who survived the trip, said the team were on the well-known Via Ferrata route.

A Via Ferrata is a mountain path comprising a series of rungs, rails and cables on the rock face. Climbers must wear helmets and harnesses to attempt this route and must be at least 10 years old.

The school has been sending teams to Mount Kinabalu for the past seven years, attempting the original route for the first two years, said Mountain Torq marketing director Quek I-Gek.

She said the simplified route was also only for a selected group of trekkers. Referring to the TKPS pupils who had taken the Via Ferrata, Ms Quek added: “They’re the best students we’ve guided. Consistently, they’re better physically and mentally.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 12, 2015
Sabah Quake: Father Of British Nudist Pleads For Mercy

PETALING JAYA: The father of a British woman arrested in Sabah for posing nude on top of Mount Kinabalu has pleaded for mercy for his daughter, 24-year old Eleanor Hawkins.

“She’s pretty scared and quite upset,” said Timothy Hawkins, who was quoted by the British newspaper The Telegraph on Thursday.

Hawkins, who owns a mechanical engineering business in the village of Draycott in Derbyshire told The Telegraph: “We really hope they don’t try to make an example of her.”

It was reported that Eleanor was touring Southeast Asia when she was arrested at Tawau airport as she was about to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur as part of an extended tour of Southeast Asia following her graduation from the University of Southampton with a Masters degree in aeronautical engineering.

The tour, which began in January saw Eleanor traveling alone from Thailand to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam before arriving in Malaysia. She was planning to continue from Malaysia to Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

She had reportedly expressed her love for Southeast Asia and Malaysia in particular, saying that Malaysia has ” proper palm trees and decent sunsets. It’s pretty damn amazing.”

On May 30, a group of tourists allegedly stripped naked and indiscriminately urinated atop Kinabalu. They posed for pictures that went viral after they were posted on social media.

Their antics angered Sabah’s Kadazandusun tribe who revere the mountain and view them as an insult and desecration of a sacred place.

On Wednesday, two of the four tourists remanded by police for desecrating Mount Kinabalu confessed to going naked while on the mountain. The four were remanded the same day while police hunt for six other tourists who allegedly committed the offence together.

The four were Eleanor, a 23-year-old male and his 22-year-old sister, from Canada; and a 23-year-old Dutchman.

They were remanded until June 13 for investigations under Section 294(a) of the Penal Code for committing obscene acts in a public place. They have yet to be charged in court.

If convicted, they face a maximum three-month jail term or a fine, or both.

Police believe the other six tourists, mostly Europeans, were still in the state.

On June 5, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the mountain and 18 people lost their lives.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that Timothy had spoken to Eleanor on Wednesday morning, saying that it was good to speak to her.

Timothy added that Eleanor was relieved to be in the hands of the Malaysian authorities after seeing the anger the stunt had created among Malaysians.

“She’s kind of relieved because she saw it coming. It’s good to know where she is. It is not the kind of situation you envisage when your daughter goes travelling. I have faith in their judicial system,” he said.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

June 11, 2015
Mount Kinabalu Nudists Charged In Sabah Court
Four Western tourists accused of being part of a group who posed nude at the top of Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu have appeared in court in Sabah state.

Authorities said the two Canadians, a Briton and a Dutchman may be charged with causing public nuisance.

Mt Kinabalu was hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake last Friday which left 18 people dead, including children.

A senior minister last week said the tourists had angered the spirits of the mountain, which is considered sacred.

Six people sought

Ranau district police chief Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah confirmed to the BBC that the authorities had arrested a British woman at Tawau airport in Sabah on Tuesday.

The two Canadians, who are siblings, and the Dutchman turned themselves in to police on the same day.

Their lawyer, Ronny Cham, told the BBC’s Jennifer Pak that he had requested the four be held apart from other detainees in order to ensure their safety.

A candle-lit vigil was held on Tuesday for the victims of the Mount Kinabalu earthquake

The group appeared in court on Wednesday to have their remand extended, according to Malaysian newspaper The Star. They will now be held until Saturday while police continue their investigation.

Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman, Sabah’s police commissioner, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that the authorities may charge them with causing a public nuisance.

He said they were still looking for six other tourists from the same group “and we will catch them”.

The father of the British tourist who has been arrested, Eleanor Hawkins from the English city of Derby, said he was extremely worried about her. “I have got every faith in [Malaysia’s] judicial system. I just hope they don’t make an example of them,” Tim Hawkins told the Guardian newspaper.

‘Disrespect’

The group of 10 foreigners had allegedly stripped naked and posed for pictures on 30 May. They were also said to have urinated on the mountain.

The Muslim-majority country is socially conservative, and Mount Kinabalu is also considered sacred by Sabah’s Kadazan Dusun tribe.

Pictures posted on social media angered many in Malaysia, but public sentiment intensified after the quake.

Why is Kinabalu sacred?
- Sabah’s Kadazan Dusun tribe believe the mountain houses the spirits of their dead ancestors.
- The name Kinabalu is derived from the tribe’s phrase “Aki Nabalu”, which means resting place of the dead.
- Climbers are told by guides, many of whom are Kadazan Dusun, to treat the mountain with respect and to refrain from shouting, screaming or cursing at it.
- Every December the tribe conducts a ritual called the Monolob to appease the spirits and allow climbers to continue visiting the mountain.
- A priestess, called a Bobolian, makes an offering of seven white chickens accompanied by seven chicken eggs, betel nuts, tobacco, limestone powder, and betel plant leaves. The Bobolian leads a chant and the chickens are then slaughtered, cooked, and given to the ceremony participants.
- In the past, this ceremony was conducted before every ascent, and climbers used the cooked meat as rations for their journey.
Last weekend, Sabah’s deputy chief minister, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, had linked the earthquake to the tourists’ act. He said the tragedy was a “confirmation” that they had showed “disrespect” to the mountain.

Sabah’s tourism minister, Masidi Manjun, said later that this idea was “misconstrued”, but added that the tourists’ actions “were against the people of the largest tribe in Sabah”.

Some officials have demanded that the foreigners be tried in a native court for flouting local customs.

Mr Masidi said on Wednesday that searchers had found the bodies of the last two missing people.

Mourners left tributes to primary school victims in Singapore over the weekend

Singapore’s education ministry identified the two bodies as pupil Navdeep Singh Jaryal Raj Kumar and teacher Mohammad Ghazi Bin Mohamed.

They were part of a group from Tanjong Katong Primary School who were climbing the mountain with guides when the earthquake struck. Seven pupils, two teachers and a guide were killed.

Others killed included Malaysians and citizens from China, Japan and the Philippines.

Source: www.bbc.com
June 11, 2015
Mohammad Ghazi – Thank You Superstar

All of us tried to stay positive, hoping that you’ll come home soon. Unfortunately, God loves you more and I’m sure you’re in a much better place now.

Thank you for being the great person that you are. You were always the humble one in the team, yet you played like a superstar. You never fail to encourage me whenever we got the chance to play together.

You will be remembered as a great teacher who not only made an impact in your students’ lives, but one who sacrificed his life to save theirs. Goodbye my friend. May your soul rest in peace.

“Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.”

‪#‎ripghazi‬

Source: Syaifudin Ismail

June 11, 2015