By: Azman Zakaria and Cheng Kai Wah
SERDANG, Oct 27: Kelvin Niyok, the only Penan from Long Meraan Village, Ulu Baram, Sarawak who successfully pursued his education at university level, today obtained a diploma after going through numerous difficulties especially during his primary and secondary years.
During his primary school days, he had to walk between four and five hours from home to Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Seridan, accompanied by his father Neyok Baweng.
Kelvin lived in the school hostel from Year One to Year Six.
During his secondary school at SMK Marudi, he had to take a four-wheel drive from home for a four-to-five hour journey to Long Lama, before boarding an express boat for another three to four hours to get to school. He also lived in a hostel during secondary school.
Kelvin, 21, obtained a Diploma in Agriculture Engineering at the 42nd Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) today.
According to him, he hoped that his success would be an example to the Penan ethnic community to succeed in education. "I want to be a pioneer and path founder as there were no ethnic Penans from my village that managed to pursue their studies in a university before this. I would like to prove to the Penan young generation that they can also succeed.
"Knowledge is able to transform the fate of the Penan ethnic group. This was my principle throughout my studies,” said the third son from four siblings who will pursue a bachelor’s degree.
He said his family’s difficult life had motivated him to succeed so that he could help his family. His father is a farmer, while his mother Roselind Ali is a housewife.
Kelvin recorded his appreciation and thanked the former Deputy Minister of Education, Datuk Hon Choon Kim who sponsored his pocket money since Form Two as well as Dr. Ling Tung King, a veteran from Miri who is also a UPM Alumni, who helped with the university tuition fee. - UPM
