Sabah girl stays in tree to get Internet connection

KOTA KINABALU: While urbanites get all worked up over slow or limited Internet access, especially when they need to carry out urgent transactions online, a Sabahan girl took it upon herself to find a solution.

Instead of whining and throwing a tantrum, she looked for a tall tree and climbed it just to get better reception.

This was shared on 18-year-old Universiti Malaysia Sabah student Veveonah Mosibin’s (pic) YouTube channel – veveonah m – on Saturday.

She uploaded a video of her climbing up a hill and later making a bamboo hut for herself that she wanted to use for her studies.

But the hut was destroyed following heavy rains.

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A second video – where Veveonah shared how she chose to sleep on top of a langsat fruit tree to prepare for her exams – has been viewed 102,000 times.

“Studying off campus as a result of Covid-19 and the movement control order, Internet access is not readily available, ” said the Pitas-born girl.

In remote Kg Sabanalang Pitas, some 200km from the state capital, Veveonah would consider herself lucky if she could log in to her social media accounts or surf the web.

“It’s fine when I have to go for online classes and surf the Internet but for my exams, I needed a strong and uninterrupted connection.

“That’s why I chose to hike up a hill to study and later on, challenged myself to stay and sleep on a tree for 24 hours to prepare for my exams, ” she said.

With a supply of three packets of leaf-wrapped rice (known as linopod), a bottle of water, some study tools and a mosquito net, the youngest of five siblings set out to carry out her challenge.

Veveonah shared how easy it was for her to climb the tree, find a sturdy suitable branch to spend the day and night, place her supplies on top and then put up a mosquito net.

She started with her chemistry subject in the morning and then Pengajian Malaysia in the afternoon.

All was well except for a moment when a hornet got caught inside her net and she had to chase it out.

Her lunch and dinner, followed by breakfast the next day, consisted of just the three packs of linopod and plain water.

After spending the night, she went home to a seemingly fuming mother (as seen in the video), who was worried sick.

“But I told her that I will be spending the night in a tree. All’s good as she knows I can take care of myself, ” she said.

Veveonah said growing up in the village, she learnt survival skills from her parents.

The jungle is a huge part of her life and she does not feel lost with nature.

“Although we do not have basic amenities such as electricity, we have generatorss. We can also use candles and the moonlight, ” she said.