By DayakDaily Team
Fibocapillo Paing Pong was only five-years-old when he went away to boarding school, where at such a tender age, he had to learn to adapt to a new environment and cope with the challenges of living away from the comfort of home.
Tucked away in the hostel of Tadika Nanga Kara, a small, shabby kindergarten deep in the interior of Pakan, he found himself fidgeting in the cold washroom. His tiny hands, clumsy and unsure, were rinsing a pair of his trousers, wet from a night of tears and a bed accident he couldn’t help.
“Should I use soap?” he wondered. He had seen his mother do it a hundred times, scrubbing his clothes clean with practised precision, but somehow the task seemed too overwhelming. It now seemed like too much for his small hands to replicate.
He quickly brushed the thought aside and decided that rinsing with water would be sufficient. After some time, the trousers, still faintly damp, were awkwardly hung on the clothing line alongside his other clothes. He sighed, feeling a small sense of accomplishment despite the less-than-perfect effort.
With his weekly chores out of the way now, he trudged back to the classroom, skipping the usual playtime. He wasn’t in the mood for fun. His mind was occupied by the absence of his grandfather, who hadn’t appeared at the gate to collect him from the hostel that morning. Once again, he wouldn’t be going home that weekend.
That night, as darkness settled over the quiet hostel and crickets began to chirp, he lay in bed, his chest rising and falling with soft sobs. He missed his father – a mechanic – who was working far away in Papua New Guinea, a place Fibocapillo couldn’t even pronounce correctly. To a boy who could barely manage the hour-long walk from his kindergarten to his home at Rh Saban without crying for his grandfather to carry him, it might as well have been another world.
Perhaps he was too young then to grasp the sacrifices his family made. His parents, part of the B40 group, worked tirelessly to support the family of nine on a meagre monthly income of RM1,000. His mother and grandparents managed the farms, while his father sent what little money he could from his distant job.
At five, Fibocapillo only knew the emptiness left by their absence, yet he unknowingly developed resilience. As he grew older, independence became second nature, and by primary and secondary school, hostel life was second nature.
Though the sting of separation remained, he channelled that pain into focus, turning his energy towards his studies with quiet determination to rise above his circumstances.
While his peers drifted off to sleep, he stayed up late, often until 1 to 2am, nursing cups of coffee and poring over his books. He sought out friends with stronger grades, consulting them on difficult questions, and they would discuss and debate until they were all utterly exhausted.
Whenever doubts crept in, he thought of his family—the endless toil of his parents and grandparents to support him and his four other siblings. He had experienced their hardships firsthand during school holidays, working alongside them on the farm, and it fuelled his desperation to lift them out of that life through his own success.
“Whenever I was about to give up, I would think of my parents. They always worked hard to support me and the family. If I were to give up (on my studies), who else can do this? Who else can help my family? Who else can make my future better other than myself?”
Now, years later, standing on the brink of university life, Fibocapillo couldn’t help but be proud at how far he had come. The bitter memories of his childhood surfaced, but they no longer stung. Instead, they had shaped him into who he was today.
When he received the results of his Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM)—straight A’s—his mother had hugged him so tightly that it almost knocked the breath out of him. News of him being awarded a PETRONAS sponsorship to pursue his tertiary education sent ripples through the village because he was the first from his village to reach such remarkable achievement.
With humility, he now stood ready for the next chapter to pursue a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) in Perak. This degree, he knew, would be his key to a better life—not just for himself, but for his entire family. He knew he was one step closer to success—the day when he could support his family and finally relieve his parents and grandparents from the backbreaking farm work that had sustained them for so long.
Yet, his dreams stretched far beyond his family. He was determined o give back to PETRONAS, the very company that believed in his potential and empowered him with an opportunity he could once only dream of. He aspired to be one of PETRONAS’ most skilled petroleum engineers, recognised both in Malaysia and around the world.
For Sarawak, his heart ached with a different hope. He wanted to open doors for other young Sarawakians, inspiring them with the possibilities PETRONAS offered by introducing its scholarships and training programs to his peers, family, and friends. If PETRONAS could lift him from his humble beginnings, he believed it could do the same for countless others.
This story of perseverance is not unique to Fibocapillo. Across Sarawak, similar stories of young boys fighting their way to success through education echo in the villages.
Somewhere in a distant Iban longhouse at Sungai Selidap, Sarikei, 18-year-old Alexson Juman Boki was packing his bags, preparing to leave for Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor. His heart was heavy with uncertainty. The life he knew in his hometown, where time moved with the river’s slow current, felt worlds apart from the fast-paced rhythm of Selangor.
Even with the SPM straight-A certificate in his hand, he wasn’t sure how he would fit into this new world. Yet, despite his doubts and the flood of questions that swirled in his mind, he knew he had no choice but to go.
He had to venture beyond his comfort zone, to study, to succeed—not for himself alone, but for his family. The only way to lift them out of their struggles was through the knowledge and experience he would gain.
For as long as Alexson could remember, the limits of his family’s circumstances were painfully clear. From a young age, where the sting of remarks from his neighbours and peers became an almost daily struggle.
“Alexson’s parents are uneducated. He’s probably not that bright either,” they would say.
For someone as soft-spoken and introspective as him, the unkind words of others left a deep mark. All he could do was slowly learn to build emotional resilience. Yet, no matter how much he tried to toughen up, the sting of their remarks never truly faded.
Their village, tucked away in the deep interior of Sarawak, was far from modern conveniences. Clean water was scarce, and electricity often felt like a luxury. The family’s old motorcycle, worn and battered by years of use, was the only mode of transport they could afford, a symbol of the barriers they faced daily.
But Alexson was determined to change all that.
“I study hard because I want a bright future for my family and for myself. When I become successful, I want to be able to provide for my parents with what they need including basic facilities such as electricity and clean water, which we now don’t enjoy.”
He was determined to be the apple that would fall far from the tree, breaking the cycle of hardship that had unfairly defined his and his family’s existence.
The stories of Fibocapillo and Alexson are somehow woven together by shared dreams of lifting themselves and their families out of extreme poverty through education. Each of them carries the weight of their backgrounds, but they are determined to rise above the challenges that come with rural life in Sarawak.
In their hands, the sponsorship from PETRONAS under the Powering Knowledge Education Sponsorship Programme becomes not just a personal victory, but a symbol of hope for a future where education and determination can rewrite destinies.
Since 1975, PETRONAS has invested RM3.81 billion in education sponsorship, benefiting more than 39,000 students nationwide. Aligned with PETRONAS’ Sustainability Agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, the Powering Knowledge initiative aims to cultivate leaders who will create positive social change and continue PETRONAS’ legacy of innovation.
On 15 September 2024, PETRONAS announced the sponsorship of RM320 million to 600 outstanding SPM 2023 students, including 110 Sarawakian students who were selected from a pool of 5,847 applicants based on their academic excellence, leadership, and co-curricular involvement.
The award ceremony, held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), was attended by over 1,000 guests, including PETRONAS chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, PETRONAS vice-president and Group Chief Human Resources Officer Ruslan Islahudin, Datuk Ir. Bacho Pilong, Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM) and leading representatives from universities and colleges. –DayakDaily
