ALOR STAR: Instead of spending his 49th birthday with his family and friends, David Wu chose instead cycle 4,000km to China.
His mission was to raise money to help repair homes for the needy, under a project that he initiated last year known as ‘Projek Wumah 2’ (Wu stand’s for his family name).
The businessman, accompanied by five other cyclists including local celebrity Patrick Teoh, 69, and seasoned cyclist Dave Eng, 56 begun their journey from Kampung Lubuk Perigi here.
The journey is expected to take about 12 weeks crossing Thailand, Laos and Vietnam before reaching Guang Dong province in China.
The father of two said he felt compelled to take up the challenge to cycle to China to raise public awareness on roles of individuals or group in helping those in need.
He said he came up with the idea to cycle to China when he planned to visit his grandfather’s birthplace in the country.
“Besides raising funds for the project, I also hope to visit my ancestral village in China where my grandfather was born.
“The journey will be tough and challenging but I think that I will be able to complete it,” he said, adding that the ‘Projek Wumah 2’ was jointly organised with Food Aid Foundation project director Hayati Ismail.
So far, he said, there are well-wishers who pledged to donate for the project including a Malaysian who has pledged RM10,000.
Wu and Hayati met online when the latter was looking for ways to help underprivileged people.
“In the course of providing food aid to needy people I came across homes that were in dire need of repair. I knew David through 'Projek Wumah' where he helped repair flood affected homes in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan last year and decided to approached him for ‘Projek Wumah 2’ ,” said Hayati.
They did not set any target on funds to be raised, however Hayati was confident that many would contribute to the project expected to kick off with repair work on two houses, one in Sik, Kedah and one in Gombak, Selangor, next week.
Last year, Wu walked 625km from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baru, Kelantan under 'Projek Wumah' to help repair flood affected homes in Rantau Panjang.
The project, which raised more than RM100,000 to repair 15 houses was completed on April 15, this year.