Puring Kencana, located at the farthest end of Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan of Indonesia, is only a stone’s throw from East Malaysia. From the district capital of Sungai Antu, it is just a one-and-a-half hour walk through a forest and over a hill to the nearest town of Batu Lintang, Engkelili district, Sarawak, Malaysia.
“About 30 per cent of the school-age children in the district prefer to attend school in Malaysia,” said Puring Kencana Education Office’s Technical Implementation Unit head, Mansir, late last week.
As an example, he said that eight of the 15 elementary school children in Kantik Balau village had moved to a school in Malaysia. In Kantuk Asam village, more than 20 pupils have also chosen to study in the neighbouring country.
Mansir said the school principal in East Malaysia regularly carried out education campaigns at the houses in hamlets located along the border.
“When he arrives, he is greeted more cordially than our officials. Residents hang garlands around his neck and give him presents. If our officials visit the hamlets, they are likely to be ignored,” said Mansir, who graduated from elementary and junior high schools in Engkelili district, Sarawak.
In the neighbouring country, if a family consists of three children, they will all be given scholarships and one of them a laptop. They stay in a dormitory with free facilities, including lunch for visiting parents.
Generally, pupils from Sungai Antu village attend school in Batu Lintang, Sarawak, while those from Merakai Panjang, Kantuk Badau and Kantuk Asam hamlets study in Paku city.
Malaysia has a five-day school system, so every Friday afternoon, the children return to their villages to see their families and return to school on Sunday afternoon.
Puring Kencana district, comprising six villages and 16 hamlets, has nine state elementary schools with a total of 245 pupils, and one state junior high school with 27 students. The district measures 484.03 square kilometers and has a population of 2,518.
SMPN 1 Puring Kencana state junior high school principal Yoseph Sidi said there was no restriction on children from the district attending schools abroad.
“They can obtain identity cards and Malaysian citizenship if they study there,” said Sidi.
Consequently, the quota for junior high school enrollments has never been met due to the huge number of students studying in Malaysia. This year, only seven third graders were enrolled and none enrolled last year.
“Among the problems that we face are damaged sports equipment despite it never being used, and sometimes teachers are gone for months. We haven’t used our textbook packages but the curriculum has changed. We are also very much left behind in information,” said Sidi.
Puring Kencana district head Hermanus Jemayung said the main stimulus was the countless facilities and conveniences offered in Malaysia.
He, however, expressed concern about the negative aspects, especially the ideology ingrained in the children.
“Not all the children studying in Malaysia will be absorbed into the workforce there. When they return home and bring the foreign ideology, it can be a burden to development,” said Jemayung.
Puring Kencana People’s Welfare division head Andreas Sadi said his office was summarizing data on residents’ mobility to Malaysia. He urged every village and hamlet head to collect data on the matter.
“There are three purposes for people to move to Malaysia — to reside, to work and to study. Some of the residents are unwilling to be registered, so the data available to me has yet to illustrate the whole picture,” said Sadi.
Based on preliminary data gathered, 36 of 39 elementary pupils have moved to schools in Malaysia and 33 residents worked there.
The figure is the highest compared to other villages and hamlets, because it is located only 15 kilometers from Paku, Sarawak.
The head of the population and civil registry office of the Kapuas Hulu regency, Marcellus Basso, said it was difficult to detect whether any of the villagers had changed their nationality.
If they live in Malaysia for a long time, they are usually adopted by Tuai Rumah, a local traditional leader, which makes them eligible to receive resident certificates.
“Such legality enables them to have an ID and become Malaysian citizens,” Marcellus said.
Kapuas Hulu regency has a population of 227,117, according to the Population Administration Information System.
The regency has 23 districts covering 29,842 square kilometers, roughly equalling the combined areas of West Java and Banten provinces.
“I have heard that working there is safe only during the day because during the night they have to hide in the forest to avoid raids,” Marcellus said.
From the provincial capital of Pontianak, the distance to the Kapuas Hulu regency capital, Putussibau, is 814 kilometers. The distance between Putussibau and Puring Kencana is 259 kilometers, of which 26 kilometers of road is in poor condition.
