Kulim to Kiulu: The Sabah Credit Corporation’s role explained

When the idea was first raised just prior to the Killerbatch 30th anniversary reunion, quite frankly, my first thought was “shouldn’t the government be the one responsible to build the hostel for the school? Why do we have to do it ourselves?” Therefore I was not surprise when some people commented in the Tune Talk contest page that the SCC, as our partner, should just build the hostel using their own funds.

That was probably anyone’s reaction too when they read the fact that the SCC has been hugely successful as a business entity in Sabah, in fact one of the best run state-owned agencies which raked in millions in profits annually.

I seek the clarification from Raja Ali Raja Othman, being the person who first initiated the effort. He replied, “in fact they do build hostels and they have been doing that for years as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme. Some 5% of their profit every year is set aside for social objectives such as helping the needy and less fortunate, the orphans, building shelters for single mothers and hostels for school childrens, particularly in rural areas. The fact is, the monies set aside by SCC for social objectives are just not enough and they have been inundated with more requests. Some will have to wait for many years before the problem is resolved. This is what prompted the Killerbatch to agree to do their part and pledged to fund the project so that we can quickly relief the students of their predicaments in the shortest possible time.”

He further explained, “Killerbatch is not a registered society and as such we do not have our own Killerbatch bank account. We are simply a loose coalition of people who went to school in MRSM Kulim from 1979 to 1983. To go around as Killerbatch and seek donations may invite skepticism from the public. Therefore we need a partner whom the public can trust as custody of the monies collected. In fact we strongly encourage that all cheques be made payable directly to Sabah Credit Corporation and not to any individual member of Killerbatch and not even to the PIBG of the school. “

“In order to undertake such a project, it requires familiarity with the tasks such as securing approvals from various local authorities, performing requirements studies, site surveying, getting quotations from contractors, supervising the overall project progress, et cetera. These will be daunting, if not insurmountable tasks for the Killerbatch who are mostly staying and working in the Peninsular. Therefore it is only appropriate that we work with a local partner who can manage all those tasks. Who can be better than one that has been doing similar projects for years like the SCC? With that, the Killerbatch can just concentrate their efforts to raise funds while the SCC manages the rest”, he added.

I couldn’t agree more. For me, all those explanations are just academic. The Killerbatch is resolved to undertake this project and see it to completion. A couple of fund raising activities has been planned including the upcoming art auction and staging a theater. At this point we don’t even know if the art work will sell or if people are buying the theater tickets. What’s important is that we shall try our best to fulfill our pledge to the school that we will do all within our reach to seek funds to build the hostel. That includes putting our best effort to win the Tune.com Chief Talker Contest.

Besides, it is clear that the Killerbatch’s only objective to win the prize money is to funnel them all into the hostel for the benefit of the needy students. That’s the reason why, unlike other contestants, Nur Hamidi doesn’t even put his face in the contest entry for he has no intention to go for personal glory. It is just Kulim to Kiulu !