WHAT FIRE CAN DO?

My student, Mazlan (centre), with his teachers, Miss Cheah and Encik Suhaimi.

What was left of the house after the fire gutted it on the 18th of October, 2008.
Ustaz Syed, one of the teachers from my school, went to visit Mazlan's mum on Saturday, 1st November. Mazlan had gone to catch some fish for their dinner.
My colleague, the two children of Ustaz Syed and the mother of my student.
Ustaz Syed handing over contributions from the teachers and staff of my school to the victim.
In place of the house is now a shack
The sorry looking shack that was built with the help of the other villagers.
Outside view of the shack

Oh dear! What are they going to do if it rains heavily?

A closer shot of the shack that was built from what they could salvage from the fire and also other recycled materials.

What used to be a house is now empty land

It is oft said that fire can be both friend and foe to humans. In the above pictures, you will see what fire did to the house of my former student, Mazlan who studied in my school from 2006 - 2007. On 18th October, 2008, fire destroyed the house that he and his mother lived in. Luckily both of them were not at home at that time. According to my student, the fire started at around 8.00 to 8.30 p.m. The report from the fire department was that it was due to a short circuit.

I only learned about this on Saturday, when Ustaz Syed (the religious teacher in my school) asked the teachers and staff who were attending a course to contribute money to Mazlan and his mum. Apparently, they got to know about it after Mazlan called his teacher to ask for assistance to get a new copy of his examination certificate. All his important documents were burnt to ashes by the fire. Well, we managed to pool about RM600 for Ustaz and Cikgu Suhaimi to hand over to the victims.

Mazlan came to school today as he needed to get a copy of his certificate to be issued to him. He needed his teacher to go with him to court and get the necessary legal procedures done before the ministry issues him the certificate. One of his friends from the village sent him to school by motorbike. The young man, Razif, took a day off work to send Mazlan to Seri Manjung from Teluk Intan.

If there is anyone who would like to contribute to the victims, they can contact me and I could get Ustaz Syed to help forward the contribution to them. My contact number is 012-5075851.