The Internet hotspot treehouse that Lawrence built.
KUCHING:
When he was a student last year, Lawrence, 18, had to climb two metres
up a tree to do his homework and school revision in an ‘Internet hotspot
treehouse’ near house.
The Internet hotspot treehouse, which he
personally built, was the only spot he could use his notebook to connect
to the internet as his village Kampung Bobak Sejinjang, Singgai, Bau
still does not have Internet coverage.
When by chance he
discovered one particular spot near a tree in his house compound which
can receive some Internet coverage, probably transmitted from a nearby
village, he decided to build a house up on the tree to get better
transmission.
Lawrence’s father Kerbun Kira when contacted
yesterday said the treehouse built two metres above the ground was his
son’s initiative and it took him about a week to finish without help
from anyone.
“There is no Internet coverage at home so he had to
search for the coverage outside the house and he found a location where
Internet coverage is available. That is where he built his treehouse,”
he said.
According to Kerbun, Lawrence did his school work and research in his treehouse until he completed his Form 5 last year.
Lawrence,
the second of four siblings, is now working but the treehouse still
serves its purpose and it is now used by his two other siblings who are
studying at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and SMK Lake in Bau.
PKR
Mas Gading branch chief Boniface Willy Tumek, who chanced upon this
unique wooden ‘Internet hotspot’ structure recently, found out that the
village (Bobak Sejinjang) was the only village in Singgai that is not a
‘wireless village’ (kampung tanpa wayar).
“Internet connectivity
is a major issue in many villages in Bau. In villages like Stass and
Skibang, the people cannot even use their mobile phones despite there
being a Sacofa telecommunication tower there.”
According to him,
the tower was built in March this year but so far, telco companies have
been reluctant to extend their coverage there.
With Internet
connectivity being a major issue in rural areas like Bau, it is doubtful
that students in these areas could benefit from the 1BestariNet, a
virtual learning environment (VLE) initiated by the Education Ministry
to provide high speed Internet access to every school in the country.
The 1BestariNet project is estimated to cost about RM4.1 billion.
According
to the Education Ministry’s Malaysian Education Blueprint annual report
2014, a total of 6,623 schools had been connected to high speed
wireless 4G Internet by end of 2014, while another 2,261 school were
connected via
Asymmetric Digital Subcriber Line (ADSL) and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology.
The
report also said the 1BestariNet network required the construction of
telecommunication towers to support high speed 4G connectivity. The
ministry is working towards obtaining the cooperation of local
authorities in building these towers.
As an interim measure, the
remaining schools are currently connected to other Internet Service
Providers (ISP). These schools will migrate to 1BestariNet in Phase 2 of
the project this year.
