SUNGAI PETANI: What started off as an English note writing exercise for the students of 2 Ikhlas at SMK Taman Ria Jaya turned into a lesson in compassion and charity.
Their English language teacher, Anita Abdul has always had an interest in charity work.
Last year, she closely followed ‘Projek Wumah 2’, a mission undertaken by businessman David Wu, which saw him cycling 4,000km from Alor Star to China raise money to help repair homes for the needy.
While his deed inspired her, a full-time job and a family with a pair of young boys to raise doesn’t leave her enough time to participate in charity projects.
That was until she found out about David Wu’s current Seven Wunders project that was flagged off on Aug 31.
“The two-year mission is to raise funds for children with cancer, and Wu and his cycling partner Ving Lee wants to ‘take’ these kids to the seven wonders of the world.
“As they cycle worldwide, funds raised will go to the National Cancer Society Malaysia’s Children’s Home of Hope. It really blew my mind,” said Anita.
She followed their updates on Facebook closely. And when they were in Perak, Wu jokingly posted on Facebook if anyone wanted to treat them to KFC for dinner.
Anita replied him, saying she would when they reached Sungai Petani.
Wu then sent a message to Anita on Sept 7, inviting her to join Lee and him for lunch.
Anita said she could only make it after 3.15pm, and that she would try to meet them after teaching 2 Ikhlas their English lesson.
“When I entered class that day, the objective of the lesson was to write a note to a friend who is participating in a competition. So, I quickly changed the subject from a friend to Wu and Lee.
“I told them I was going to give the notes to Wu and Lee personally as a token symbolising the moral support in their quest.
“Furthermore, most of the students in the class do not have any experience writing, not even a birthday card or a get-well-soon card.
“Nowadays, people have replaced those cards with social media apps. So, I thought this was a great opportunity for them to get the experience,” she said.
Using the Seven Wunders project as material for the lesson, Anita introduced the concept of participating in and contributing to charity work to her students.
And she also shared that she would be meeting the person who is carrying out the Seven Wunders project after class, which got their attention.
“I explained the gist of the project’s objectives and how Wu and Lee were going about it.
“It became more interesting when the students expressed their skepticism... like would Wu and Lee really cycle around the world for the sake of other people’s welfare?” said Anita.
After she showed them some of the project’s videos, photos and messages between Wu and herself, the students began to understand and showed interest.
The students even said they wanted to be a part of the SevenWunders project.
“They started to ask more questions on the project. I asked them what they would say to someone who is going abroad to do something very noble and risky.
“What would they wish Wu and Lee? They came out with some suggestions of encouraging words and began to write,” said Anita.
The students also asked about the #aringgitamalaysian hashtag being used in connection with Seven Wunders.
“I told them the money would go to the childhood cancer cause. Then, one of them asked whether she could donate, then another.
“I was quite worried because I know it’s not proper to ask students to fork out their pocket money. And, after that, it seemed that almost everyone was taking out a RM1 note.
“At this point, I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing because I know most of them come from middle class families and some are very poor.
“Some of their fathers work as lorry drivers, most of their mothers are full-time housewives, some are pensioners and some are doing odd jobs to support their family,” she said.
The money was stapled to their notes, which were delivered
to Wu and Lee later that day.
One of the notes was written Puteri Nuridayu Mohamad Tarmizi, who said: “Dear Mr David Wu and Mr Ving Lee, we wish a safe journey, we pray for your journey.
“We are so proud of your noble cause. Come back safe and all the best for your trip.”
Muhamad Danish Syahman Mohd Syazwan wrote: “We wish you a safe journey to the Seven Wonders and we also pray for your journey. We really hope you never give up to save the children with cancer.
“We hope you come back safely. We really appreciate your effort. Smile always!”
Wu and Lee, said Anita, were touched by their gesture.
Commenting on their meeting with Anita, Wu said in a Facebook posting said he and Lee were speechless when after reading all 26 notes by the 2 Ikhlas students.
“I have since read all the notes and I’m still grinning. It's very touching, needless to say, and moments like this inspire even an old soul like myself,” he said.
Wu plans to deposit the RM21 into the National Cancer Society of Malaysia’s bank account.
He also plans to keep the kids’ 21 pieces of RM1 notes and bring them along with him throughout the journey for luck.
“Who knows, I may bring these notes back and return them to the kids when we get home. That way, they will know that their amazing gift has travelled to the Seven Wonders and is now back for them to keep as a memento,” he said.
Anita said: "We are not looking for attention or compliments. After all, it's only RM21. It never crossed my mind that a simple lesson would give such an impact to the students and hopefully, the project.
On whether the young should be exposed more to acts of kindness, Anita said 100 per cent, yes.
“We have to nurture the attitude of selflessness among the youngsters by taking part in charity projects like this one.
“By taking part and understanding the aim and the objective of the project, the young will turn into caring and sharing citizens. This act of kindness could shape the characters of the students to be more sensitive about others, care for each other and always want to bring out the best of themselves.
“This, in turn, will help educators cope with the disciplinary problems among the students . So, when there are less discipline problems, students can focus more on their study and finally they will excel academically and spiritually," she said.
Wu and Lee are travelling to the Seven Modern Wonders of the World by bicycle. They ride for those afflicted with childhood cancer.
They are going to spend the next two years to spread awareness and raise funds.
They request that the public follow their journey and donate one ringgit to help the children.