M'sians Urge Govt To Take Action After Sabah Students Fall Into Sea Due To Broken Jetty
"What is going to happen to their exercise books and textbooks?" cried a Twitter user.
About 20 primary school students fell into the sea after a wooden jetty collapsed, causing a commotion on early Monday morning, 30 January
According to Astro Awani, the incident happened at 7am while the students were on the way to school at Pulau Pababag in Semporna, Sabah.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, with the students seen crying and struggling to stay afloat while keeping their belongings dry.
A few teachers can also be seen helping the younger children get out of the water and onto a boat.
Image via r/malaysia (Reddit)
Semporna UMNO chairman Abdul Manan Indanan said the children were shaken but not harmed by the incident
"I spoke to the Pababag village head who informed us that the incident occurred as the children were arriving for school," said Manan, who is also Sulabayan's community development officer.
According to The Star, Manan added that he showed the viral video of the incident to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Monday afternoon.
Zahid, who is also the Rural Development Minister, reportedly agreed to provide immediate funding to repair the jetty after watching the video.
Image via r/malaysia (Reddit)
Many Malaysian netizens felt sorry for the students and urged the local government to step up and develop better infrastructure for Sabah's school-going children
"What is going to happen to their exercise books and textbooks?" cried a Twitter user.
Image via Twitter
"I pity the teacher in white who slipped and fell. The teachers who teach in rural areas like this sacrifice a lot. Many young children who want to study still have to go through challenges like this to go and come back from school. I hope the authorities take quick action to solve issues like this," another said.
Image via Twitter
A netizen said, "This is so painful to watch. I pity them. The infrastructure gap between states doesn't seem to have a solution."
Image via Twitter
Watch the viral video here:
Many students in Sabah still face difficulties with access to education:
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