• last year
Siti Rahayu Baharin founded a non-governmental organisation Buku Jalanan Chow Kit (BJCK) in 2015 to educate underprivileged children, and after eight years, it has grown into a full-fledged school in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.

Buku Jalanan Chow Kit is one of the winners of the Star Golden Hearts Award 2023, an annual award by The Star and Yayasan Gamuda that recognises selfless Malaysian unsung heroes who make a positive impact on society and promote unity among the people.

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Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:06 Assalamualaikum and hi, my name is Sitira Hayubaharin.
00:09 I am the co-founder of Buku Jalan Cakit.
00:12 I am the winner of the STAR Golden Hearts Awards 2023.
00:16 [Music]
00:24 [Music]
00:33 Buku Jalanan Cakit began as a non-governmental organization in 2015
00:38 with the humble initiative to teach underprivileged children
00:42 at various locations via a remote street library.
00:46 It also provided a safe space for children to learn and grow without fears
00:51 or worries of outside life.
00:58 I came from a very small kampung in Kedah.
01:00 You know, my parents didn't speak English, my parents did not attend their tertiary
01:04 educations and everything. But then my parents believed that
01:07 education changed people's life. When I first came to
01:11 Cakit, I was quite shocked that there are children who cannot read.
01:15 I came from kampung. You know how parents are
01:19 without any tools and every means, right? But they will make sure that their
01:23 children can read. But I came to the middle of Kuala Lumpur
01:27 and my children cannot read. Seeing them being able to read, right?
01:31 It's like a dream come true.
01:34 [Music]
01:43 Eight years later, Buku Jalanan Cakit is now a full-fledged school
01:47 with 12 dedicated teachers and 130 students,
01:51 aged between 7 to 18, from around the community,
01:55 50 percent of whom are stateless children.
01:58 It's just a sense of responsibility. That is why, right, whenever people come to
02:02 Buku Jalanan, they thought that, oh, this is another charity
02:05 organization. We say, no, we are not a charity organization. This is
02:11 a group of people who feel there's a responsibility
02:14 to provide access to education to their children. You know, just like how your
02:19 parents, our parents, my parents, agree that
02:22 education is what will bring changes to the life of
02:25 the children. That is what Buku Jalanan is trying to do, you know.
02:28 We just want to provide access to education to our children. That's that.
02:34 In collaboration with Aarus Academy, the academic subjects are mathematics,
02:38 science, Bahasa Malaysia, English, geography,
02:42 and history, together with a project-based learning method
02:45 that aims to build a survival literate children.
02:48 Rohayu proudly shared that 50 percent of her students
02:52 have learned to read, write, and count, do simple math,
02:55 and progress in their academic syllabus. The veteran teacher added that three
03:00 stateless children, aged 17 to 19, have registered as private SPM
03:05 candidates. We also have extra classes. We also have
03:10 our weekend class, which is every Friday night and every
03:14 Sunday evening. We also have this program called Road to
03:18 Citizenship, where we help these children to
03:23 prepare all the documents needed in order for them to secure a citizenship,
03:27 and then we also assist the livelihood of the children registered with us.
03:36 Amin Khalili Zulkifli is the executive director of Buku Jalanan Cowkid.
03:41 He said he loved teaching the children and watched them grow into proud adults.
03:46 I am very happy to be the executive director of Buku Jalanan Cowkid.
03:58 We feel that we are giving something to the children,
04:03 which will be beneficial to their lives,
04:09 both today and tomorrow. Amin also expressed hope to collaborate
04:14 with local communities, government agencies, and corporate entities to
04:18 secure vital resources, funding, and expertise.
04:22 Our plan for the future is to try to stand as an independent educational centre,
04:30 standing on our own two feet.
04:33 Our target audience is children, and we will try to develop this
04:40 program so that we can help not only the children, but also the parents,
04:45 so that we can believe that a good community will provide good children,
04:50 and good children will contribute to a better society.
04:54 Buku Jalanan Cowkid also has a community employment program
04:57 that aims to employ community parents or children
05:01 who are at least 18 years of age to gain income by working with the organization.
05:08 I think the willpower to ensure the continuity of learning of children
05:16 is what leads us here. That is the motivation, that is the drive that
05:21 that leads Buku Jalanan here, and everyone in Buku Jalanan will continue the legacy.
05:26 I will not be here forever. I think all of our staff will not be here forever.
05:32 All of our team members will not be here forever. But then I want everyone to
05:36 understand the very philosophy of Buku Jalanan, where
05:39 this is only a platform for the children,
05:43 for them to decide what is good in their life, what is best in their life,
05:47 how are they going to define success, what they want to be, it's up to the children.
05:53 [Music]

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