Deep within the heart of the oil palm plantation in Mukim Serkat, lies a small and quaint school where 71 students converge daily in their quest to gain knowledge. This group of students was definitely privileged as Malakoff has chosen them to carry out this year’s Melentur Buluh program.

Following last year’s success story at SK Andek Mori, where Malakoff staff, together with the school’s students and staff, carried out gotong-royong to spruce up the place and Malakoff contributed books for the school library, the same program was carried out at SK Seri Sinaran Chokoh this year.

The morning rain didn’t dampen the spirits of 20 Malakoff staff and the schoolchildren as they joined forces during the gotong-royong to clean and beautify the school compound. The school store, that housed used books and sports equipment, were cleared and re-arranged neatly. Classrooms were given a fresh coat of paint to liven up the room, making it more conducive for the children to study.

A set of recycle bins was also donated to the school to encourage and teach the children on the importance of 3R – reduce, reuse, recycle – in environmental conservation. The children were very excited and eager to practice the recycling lessons that they learn in the Civic Studies using the donated recycle bins.

Representatives from Jabatan Bomba Pontian and Bahagian Trafik Balai Polis Pontian were also present to impart valuable lessons and tips on fire and road safety to the schoolchildren. A demonstration to extinguish fire was carried out by the Jabatan Bomba representatives and some teachers and schoolchildren were given first-hand opportunity to extinguish fire.

Speaking after the event, headmistress of SK Seri Sinaran Chokoh, Puan Sapiah Sapari praised Malakoff for coming up with a useful program that is beneficial to the schoolchildren.

“Lessons on recycle, fire and road safety are taught in school under a subject called Civic Studies but it is only in theory. With the Melentur Buluh program, they get to experience and practice it in real life.”

“Gotong-royong is also a good deed that should be instilled in the schoolchildren. Ever since the school employs cleaners to handle the housekeeping of the school, the children are not exposed to the teamwork spirit that comes with the act of gotong-royong. With today’s gotong-royong session, the children could see for themselves how it is done and were able to work as a team and now know that huge task is easier and feasible if it is done together.”

As one of Malakoff’s adopted schools in Pontian, SK Seri Sinaran Chokoh also received RM20,000 annually under the Malakoff EduFund grant. The grant is one of Malakoff’s corporate social responsibility initiatives under its flagship, the Malakoff Community Partnerships. The cheque was presented by En Yusop Abdul Rashid, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Affairs and External Relations, to Puan Sapiah during the closing ceremony of Melentur Buluh program. Penghulu Mukim Serkat, Tok Zaini was also present as a guest-of-honour at the ceremony.

En Yusop said that the program was designed to nurture and instill a safety culture in these schoolchildren, as part of Malakoff’s Commitment to Community & Education. He added that the program also aimed to create awareness to common good values or “nilai-nilai murni” from young, through healthy social activities.