KENINGAU, Oct 8 — After decades of waiting, more than 1,000 residents in Kampung Kindasan and Kampung Malaing, as well as the surrounding areas, can now connect with the outside world with the availability of Internet access provided by the government.

It changed their lives and ways of living.

Kampung Malaing and Karamatoi Ulu village head, Jaffar Rapan, 62, said the Internet access through the Starlink system that was installed at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Malaing greatly benefitted the villagers who previously had to go out as far as 40 kilometres from the village to be able to get Internet access.

"Before, we were like being confined in a cage, not knowing what was going on outside. However, now with Internet access, we can connect with relatives and friends in other places.

"We also get to know what is happening outside through social media such as Facebook, and now, we are happy to be able to get information through WhatsApp, but I do caution villagers not to believe the information that is shared with them easily,” he said.

Jaffar said that as the village head of the village, it was now easy for him to contact the relevant agencies for help during emergencies in the village, which is about 58 kilometres from Keningau town.

"Previously, the locations with communication lines and Internet access were only at the main road and to get there, it took us three to four hours due to poor road conditions,” he said.

Starlink is a global internet coverage system that uses a network of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed internet service. It is an initiative by SpaceX that was founded by Elon Musk in 2002.

Meanwhile, a teacher at SK Malaling, Ambrose Lahibob, 58, said the internet facility was very useful and greatly benefited the residents, especially the 31 students and 10 teachers at the school.

"As teachers, we have to send daily reports via the Internet and before this, we had to go to an area with Internet access to send the reports. Now we can send the reports from the school. The speed of the Internet is also satisfactory,” he said.

Narrating his experience before the availability of the Internet facility in the village, Ambrose, of Kampung Karamatoi Ulu, located next to Kampung Malaing, said his house was damaged in a fire in 2018.

"At that time we were not able to seek the help of the fire department because there was no phone line and no internet.

"It was only five hours later that we were able to call the fire department and help only arrived the next day to investigate. If we could contact the fire department at that time, maybe some of the houses and belongings could be salvaged,” he added.

Meanwhile, SK Malaing Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG) president Jamurius Angaat, 46, said the Internet facility was very much needed by the villagers, especially students when the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced.

"At that time, many students walked and climbed hills for hours to find a sport where they could get Internet access to carry out online learning, but now, students no longer have to walk for hours because the government has provided free Internet facilities here,” he said.

Pensiangan Member of Parliament Datuk Arthur Kurup said the installation of the Starlink system, which provides high-specification Internet services, at SK Malaing was the first in Sabah.

However, he said, it only provides a temporary solution.

"As a long-term solution, a total of 55 new telecommunication towers under the Jendela program are being built in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency to ensure wider, faster and more stable internet coverage,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kampung Kindasan village head Palanius Yamurong, 54, said villagers no longer need to climb up hilltops to enjoy Internet facilities following the construction of a telecommunication tower, enabling the village to get 4G high-speed internet service in the past few months.

"We used to have to walk two kilometres to the top of the hill, known as Bukit Online Kindasan’ (BOK) to use the facility. Now we can go online even at home and contact anyone at any time,” he added.

Sharing his experience during the MCO, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student Melvin Melson, 21, said he and his friends had to walk to BOK for online learning so as not to miss their lessons.

"At that time we had to walk for over an hour up the hill, and sometimes, by the time we reached the place, it rained. I am indeed very grateful that now we no longer need to climb the hill again to get Internet access,” he added.

Sabah MCMC director Izani Othman said the construction of the telecommunication tower in Kampung Kindasan which was completed and in operation last April, was carried out under phase 1 of the National Digital Network Plan (Jendela).

"This project can benefit more than 200 residents of Kampung Kindasan and the surrounding areas. There were various challenges in building this, which included the hilly topography of the area and the location of the village which is far,” he said.

He said the tower is unique because it uses hybrid solar and solar panels as a power source.

If the power source is insufficient, it will directly seek power from the generator, he added. — Bernama