Community Service Ranger: Reaching out to Familiar Strangers
It made me wondered that since when had we lost the basic communication ability with fellow Homo sapiens that boundaries are created between people and we tend to avoid reaching out to the unknown needy.
At least Lim Meng Yang, was one of the exceptions I came across whom I called ‘the friendly stranger’.
Lim had been involving in community services prior to his election as the chairperson of the Community Service Society (CSS), like visiting the Beautiful Gate Educational Centre for the Disabled Kampar on his own, even now.
It was only until a coincidental event that acquainted him with a special someone that paved the way for his involvement in community service. Yew Ve Vien, Public Relations Y3S1 student, also the ex-chairperson of CSS was the key person that led him to take part in activities organised by CSS.
“She was the one who encouraged me to join. I found it interesting and started off by involving myself in the Registration, Campus tour and Mass Call (RCM),” he said.
Since then, the year two semester one student from Construction Management experienced a transformation- more significant than the myth of Transformer itself- in the making of a community service ranger.
“I did not have many contacts, so it was difficult for me to reach to communities that need help. Fortunately, I managed to get useful sources from students of previous batches,” he said.
Lim then immediately set the wheels in motion through bridging the gap between UTAR students with the orang asli community once he took the chair.
“We now have two projects. One is with the Semai (an orang asli tribe) community which is located at Old Town Kampar, somewhere before the waterfall whereas the other one is in Slim River,” Revved up by his dedication, Lim could not hide his excitement from his words unknowingly.
A group photo with the Senai community in Kampar
Four to eight CSS members would visit the Semai community in Kampar once a week, while the other once a month, he said.
He said the journey to the orang asli settlement in Slim River a bumpy ride as a four-wheel drive is a must in order to ‘cut through’ and make a way to the village.
“We would look for Johnson, a Malaysian volunteer to fetch us,” said Lim, adding that 45 minutes is needed to reach their destination, starting from Slim River.
“At first, it was only a simple visitation, probably just for the sake of having fun. But now it has become a habit already,” he quipped.
The friendly stranger and his team got to know the community and they interact mostly with the kids. They educate and entertain at the same time, bringing both joy and knowledge to the village. As time passed by, this group of students became very much welcomed into their community.
“We teach them Mathematics, Science and English. Kids there are actually willing to learn,” he said. Despite their success in forging a good relationship with kids there, they have minimal contact with the adults.
“We wanted to talk to the Ketua Kampung but so far we haven’t meet him yet,” he said.
The success of these community projects did not stop the twenty-year-old from worrying a beleaguered situation - CSS has a total member base of about 700 UTAR students, but with only less than 200 active members under his leadership so far.
“The number is not satisfying, obviously. If we going to run more events, more volunteers are needed,” Lim expressed his vision for CSS that the society is geared towards reaching out to more communities if only more helpers would step up to take the rough with the smooth.
In the wake of his lacklustre academic performance last semester, he realised the need to withdraw himself from other non-CSS activities. But that does mean he was ready to give it all up, just yet.
“I am adopting a technique of sleep-early-wake-up-early so I won’t feel tired during lessons and able to help friends to run activities as well,” you hear his words; you know he is an incredible optimistic person.
Overloaded with studies, CSS community projects as well as those lend-them-a-hand activities, the young man faced a wallop struck all the way from Teluk Intan. Yes, his parents did so, metaphorically.
“My parents are already asking me to stop everything as I did not return back to my hometown as frequent as I used to,” he said, giving an example of his return to hometown last semester only lasted three days.
Asked on his response towards his parents, Lim said: “I said sorry, that’s all. I know my explanation to them is just the same rubbish.” Nonetheless, his parents would travel to visit him in Kampar once in a while.
Lim is a man committed, in every fibre of his being, to transform communities that need help for the better, no matter how unfamiliar the environment it could be, as being strangers to them for the first few visits does not mean they would remain as strangers forever.
“You will feel happy when you see someone is smiling at you. This is the best reward they can give,” he said.
