Taiping District Volunteers Association

Gabungan Sukarelawan Daerah Taiping, hereinafter referred to as GSDT (Taiping Districts Volunteers Association, in English), is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been engaged in a lot of volunteer activities to help people who are in need around Malaysia. This organization is called Gabungan Sukarelawan Daerah Taiping because it is a coalition of a few NGOs that operate around Taiping, Perak and outside the district, which have been combined into one group. This group was formed in 2014 when the great floods hit Kelantan, and is based in Taiping, Perak.

 

 

From 2014 until the present day, this organization has successfully implemented volunteer missions in Kelantan, Central Perak, Gerik, Kedah, Pahang, and many other places in Malaysia. Its overall vision is the eradication of rural poverty, while its mission is to ensure that rural communities always have good access to the facilities they need, with two main objectives. Firstly, they strive to perform charity work in the community. They endeavour to help people who are in need through certain unexpected circumstances, and poor people in rural areas, through the provision of both financial aid and food aid, such as rice, eggs etc. The food aid and donated money are handed directly to members of the community so they can use it for their daily needs. Secondly, they introduce religious studies when volunteering in rural areas and the villages of indigenous people, informing them about Islam. Their purpose is to provide exposure to Islam to indigenous people who have no religion so that they might become attracted to, and embrace, Islam for a more meaningful life. However, they do not force them to convert to Islam and simply provide them with some insight or information on the religion.

They are two main target groups for the work of GSDT. The first is the indigenous people, or native people, in Malaysia (Orang Asli). According to the IIAS Newsletter, the term “Orang Asli” refers to those Peninsular Malaysia indigenous peoples who are not Malay Muslims, Malaysia’s dominant ethnic group (Gomes, 2004). They are a diverse group of native people who make up a national minority in Malaysia. They are Malaysia’s poorest and most marginalized population, with nearly 50 percent considered by many to be inferior and 33 percent living in extreme poverty, compared to the country average of 0.7 percent (Ooi, 2019). Many indigenous villages, especially those close to small towns, lack paved roads, electricity supply, a direct source of clean water, and sanitary facilities. Therefore, the organization’s primary target group is Orang Asli, since they have been left behind in many things in terms of services and facilities in Malaysia. For this reason, the group attempts to make a weekly mission to visit an indigenous people’s village and provide some basic needs, facilities, and other support to the villagers.

Other than the above, GSDT also helps people who have been affected by natural disasters such as floods, mudslides, etc. Usually, a volunteer mission by the group to help natural disasters victims will be implemented immediately upon the occurrence of any natural disaster in certain areas in Malaysia. They will try and help the victims of natural disasters in a variety of ways, since the unexpected nature of the event usually means they have lost many things out of the blue. Due to the unpredictable weather in Malaysia, natural disasters can happen at any time, so this organization must always be ready to help those people affected by them. For example, two unexpected incidents of severe flooding occurred in Malaysia, in Selangor and Kedah, and the people were unprepared for the challenges this brought. Therefore, it became vitally important to get food and other supplies to the victims as quickly as possible. Even though floods occur yearly at some time in Malaysia, the floods in Selangor and Kedah happened so quickly and with such intensity, the people could not have predicted it. GSDT did not miss out on the chance to help these flood victims, and immediately implemented a volunteer mission to help them. They sprung into action to provide food and medical supplies, and also helped to clean up the victims’ houses and living areas during the volunteer mission.

For the Young Global Research Project, we interviewed Mr. Ahmad Faezal Sham and Mr. Junaidi, who are the important people and main volunteers in this organization, about their work and involvement with the Gabungan Sukarelawan Daerah Taiping (GSDT). The interview focused more on the humanitarian aid provided by the organization to the poor indigenous people.

Interview

Interviewees
Mr. Ahmad Faezal Sham (GSDT Secretary)
Mr. Junaidi (GSDT Active Member)

Q: What is your main job or role in this organization?

Faezal Sham: I have been the secretary of the group since GSDT was established in Taiping District, Perak in 2014. I also often lead aid missions organized by this group because I like to get involved in community activities. So, volunteering here definitely gives me an amazing experience.

Junaidi: I am just an ordinary member, but I am very active in participating in the programs organized by GSDT.

Q: What was the objective behind the establishment of GSDT?

Faezal Sham: The GSDT organization exists because it wants to carry out charity work for all groups in society in Malaysia. It is our duty as humans to always focus on helping each other. In addition, we also emphasize the importance of religion in various ways. This is because, for me, religion is the key for us to free ourselves from being burdened by difficulties. However, due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 it has become difficult to maintain our activities because of the existence of restrictions on movement by the government. However, we have extended our volunteer remit to help in the repair of public halls and spaces, toilets and prayer rooms. In addition, we also provide assistance in terms of managing objects such as Genset borrowing. This is because, if the villagers become able to buy the necessary items they have been loaned for themselves, GSDT will then take back those items and loan them on to other villages.

Junaidi: We do not focus solely on one village, but on several that we identify as needing assistance. However, the villages of indigenous people are the main target group for us.

 

 

Q: Can you tell me a little of the background behind the establishment of this NGO?

Faezal Sham: This organization came into existence when major flooding occurred in Malaysia, especially on the East coast, in 2014. Because it was still relatively new at that time, funding became the main problem. However, GSDT firmly adheres to the belief that help comes from God, because God will always help those who want to do charity. For example, GSDT provided clean water assistance to flood victims in Kelantan in 2014 by using recycled bottles.

Q: What is the vision and mission of this organization?

Faezal Sham: So, our vision is to eradicate rural poverty and do charity work. This is because rural poverty and charity work is an obligation of every individual and part of human nature. However, we do not have a large number of members now, so we really need additional volunteers to facilitate the work of our team. Through this, I hope that more individuals become aware of the obligation we have, as human beings, to help each other.

Junaidi: Our mission is to ensure that the rural community, especially the indigenous people, always have good access to facilities and also ensure that those in need receive sufficient assistance. This is because not all NGOs in Malaysia focus on the indigenous peoples, even though the majority of these groups live in extreme poverty. So, our organization takes the opportunity to help them and reduce their burden by helping them gain access to good facilities.

Q: Who really benefits most from your actions?

Faezal Sham: So, our target group is the indigenous community and victims of natural disasters. These two groups were chosen because they were all involved in a big problem. For example, the indigenous people always have the problem of extreme poverty while victims of natural disasters suffer losses in terms of property, money and even lives. Taking this into account, our organization voluntarily wants to help these two target groups so that their burden can be reduced or completely eradicated.

Junaidi: The majority of the indigenous communities that we often visit are in the state of Perak, Malaysia. For the group of victims of natural disasters, the East Coast of Malaysia is an area that always experiences major floods and we also participate almost every year to help ease the burden of flood victims.

 

 

Q: What are some of the activities carried out by this organization in helping the poor indigenous people community?

Faezal Sham: The activities that our organization always carries out are related to the donation of food, clothing, daily necessities and religious studies. Usually, we will cook and provide help for this group according to their needs. We try to do a little research on this first before implementing any assistance, to make sure we can be the most effective. This is essential, and is important for avoiding waste and preparing the most appropriate materials. In addition, new activities being carried out in 2022 are the construction of prayer rooms, the repair of the water drainage system and repairs to the public hall. It is hoped that all these activities will reduce the burden on the villagers.

Junaidi: We also built new toilets for the villagers, since the existing toilets are no longer suitable for use. As we all know, villages in rural areas have difficulties in gaining access to clean water. Therefore, we need to build a new water drainage system that links directly to the river water.

 

 

Q: What are the constraints or challenges that need to be faced in helping poor indigenous communities?

Faezal Sham: It is inevitable that our organization faces serious challenges and obstacles on each stage of the journey toward program implementation. To be honest, we face a shortage of volunteers, funds and manpower. This is because we are a relatively small group and unknown to many, making it more difficult for us to gather all the human resources we need. Besides that, the awareness of people out there is also one of the factors. As we all know, another big challenge is access. The condition of the roads is a very serious issue, and it is very difficult to access rural areas considering that most roads are still just red dirt tracks. This means, vehicles belonging to our members tend to be prone to damage, and this can be a big expense for repairs. With regard to funding, we do not have a specific injection of funds by other parties and pretty much depend on good will and contributions from the public and the members involved.

Q: How do you manage the funds donated to help the indigenous community?

Faezal Sham: Funds are donated by random individuals chosen by God, either among members or from outsiders. So, every amount donated will be channeled directly to the target group. However, we prefer to contribute non-monetarily. For example, we use the funds we receive to buy food, clothes, repair public facilities and build buildings. Not only that, we do not have any membership fees or participation fees for those who want to join our program. We only need human resources to help in carrying out the work.

Junaidi: We use the concept of donation sincerely if anyone wants to contribute to our organization. Although we, of course, would like to find a fundraiser, we are still able to continue our mission despite being in need. I am also grateful that all our agendas can be realized even though the funds obtained are uncertain every month.

 

 

Q: What are the future plans for the GSDT to always be able to provide assistance to the indigenous community in need?

Faezal Sham: The future planning of our organization is to always achieve our main focus as stated in our vision and mission. However, we hope that more volunteers and human resources will be willing to participate in our programs, regardless of age. Therefore, we really hope to see our target group experience positive development in a variety of ways. Hopefully this organization will continue to thrive in the future.

 

Reflections

We are very thankful to our advisor, Professor Dr. Mohamad Shaharudin Samsurijan, for recommending us to interview GSDT. Meeting with Mr. Faezal and Mr.Junaidi about their volunteer mission in indigenous peoples villages has inspired us a lot. We have learned more about the problems of the “Orang Asli” faced in Malaysia. We are able to know what life is like for indigenous peoples, such as their diet, housing, general way of life, etc., which is very different compared to other Malaysians. They are still left behind in many aspects of their lives compared to the rest of society. This group plays a significant role in making changes for the Orang Asli community even though they are just a grassroots team. Contributions in terms of food aid, basic facilities and others provided by GSDT have greatly enhanced the lives of the indigenous peoples. Since they have to operate using their own funds, to ensure the continuity of their work in the future, we suggest that the government help organizations like this more, so that the gap in the quality of life among the Malaysian population, especially those in rural areas, can be addressed. The government must also help in curbing poverty among the indigenous communities while also creating good relations with them. The effective approach taken by GSDT to reach out gives them an opportunity to build good relationships with the communities they serve, even if it is often difficult to approach them because they are known for being shy and afraid of outsiders. In the future, we hope that more organizations like GSDT will step up to help the indigenous peoples of Malaysia.

References

Gomes, A. G. (2004, November). The Orang Asli of Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.iias.asia/sites/default/files/2020-11/IIAS_NL35_10.pdf

Ooi, K. H. (2019). Poverty, Inequality and the Lack of Basic Rights Experienced by the Orang Asli in Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/MalaysiaCare.pdf

Researchers

Hello everyone! My name is Nur Athirah Binti Khairul Ferdaus. I am from Malaysia, and I am 21 years old. I study at Universiti Sains Malaysia and am currently in my second year of studies. I am taking a Bachelor’s Degree in the School of Social Sciences, where my major is Political Science, and my minor is Psychology. I am a person who can blend in well with new people and love to express my opinion whenever I get the chance to do so. My dream is to explore and experience new things in this world.

Hello everyone! My name is Ahmad Syukri Bin Mohammad. I’m from Malaysia, and I am 23 years old. I’m a student at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, and am currently a third-year in the School of Social Sciences. I’m taking a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, where my major is Political Science, and my minor is Development Management and Planning. I’m a person who likes to try new things, and general knowledge related to world issues is my hobby.