Helping Orang Asli kids to read has become this former air stewardess' calling

Safinar hopes to help teach the Orang Asli chidlren to learn to read, write and count and encourage them to go to school. Photos: Safinar Abu Seman

The first time she stepped into an Orang Asli settlement, former air stewardess Noor Safinar Abu Seman was taken aback by the poverty she saw. She could not turn her back on their plight and now, helping the community has become her calling.

“They had nothing. They didn’t even have mugs to drink out of but would cut mineral water bottles in half to use as their drinking vessels. They had no utensils, they had no beds. And worst of all, most of them were illiterate. I mean, to put it plainly, they have been so neglected, ” laments Safinar.