Scottish Scouts Help Orang Asli

Scottish Scouts Help Orang Asli
By Azliana Aziz
Saturday July 15, 2006

Clad in their Scout uniforms, complete with the kilt, the Scottish scouts are looking confident about their tasks ahead.

THE South Morningside Explorer Scouts from Edinburgh Scotland which arrived recently, set off from the Equatorial Hotel to Cameron Highlands where they will be spending nine days there helping out the villagers in Kampung Pos Terisu 3.

The team of 22 scouts aged from 14 to 18 years together with six scout leaders will be undertaking two projects in the village, where an adventure playground will be built, and the community reconstructed and renovated.

The projects that are to be carried out by the scouts were initially discussed with the head of Kampung Pos Terisu 3 and it was decided that a playground for the children is the most useful.

“The village has about 70 children and there are no facilities for them,” said expedition leader Neil Mackenzie,

He also added that this project is a good opportunity for the scouts to learn from the orang asli, and vice-versa hence promoting cultural exchange.

There the orang asli villagers will teach the scouts how to select and cut bamboos from the jungle and tie them up to make flooring as well as show them various plants and vegetation growing in the area that can be eaten or used for medicinal purposes.

The scouts will also share with the villagers, details of their lifestyles, culture and tell them about their homeland.

Once their work in Kampung Pos Terisu 3 is completed, the scouts will proceed with three, three-day trips to Terengganu, Cherating and Malacca.

Source: The Star