Mercy mission

The Sun Daily
by Annie Freeda Cruez

PETALING JAYA: A non-governmental organisation, the United Sikhs "Baaj of Humanity, flew a special mission to remote areas in Gua Musang, Kelantan, to deliver aid to 11 orang asli settlements.

The United Nations-affiliated body undertook the one-day mission on Jan 3, with the help of Helistar, which is owned, operated and managed by an experienced Sikh pilot, Capt Bagawan Singh.

With the collaboration of the Centre For Asli Concerns (COAC), the Helistar helicopter took off from Kuala Betis base camp at 8.20am with five men aboard. It made eight trips to distribute mostly food to the remote villages.

For villagers without a landing base, food was air-dropped.

The helicopter carried 2,350kg of supplies to 278 families comprising 1,000 people who had been cut off from the outside world due to landslides caused by heavy rain and logging.

In certain villages, the people were left in dire straits for nearly three months because their hill paddy and tapioca were destroyed in the floods.

COAC coordinator, Colin Nicholas, who accompanied the mission, said: "It was tough for us to reach the villagers. We tried our best for almost one week but to no avail. But now, thanks to the United Sikhs, we made these mercy air drops a success."

Added Bagawan: "It was a fruitful mission. This mission was made possible thanks to all the support given by the volunteers who helped us pack and transport the goods by land to the Kuala Betis makeshift helipad."

Rishiwant Singh, or better known as the "Flying Singh", who is the humanitarian aid coordinator (Asia Pacific) for United Sikhs, said: "I thank Malaysians of all the races who joined the Sikh community to help the orang asli."