Borneo NCP study tour

Yesterday we completed the build project and officially handed over the site back to the SunFlower Centre for the students to now enjoy. See the pictures below of the final project completed.

An update from the Curtin University New Colombo Plan Tour of Borneo: I have been extremely privileged to be able to attend this amazing tour - and over the course of the last few days, we have made significant progress in building our sensory playground and garden at the Sunflower Centre in Miri. Getting closer to the finish line, yesterday was a day where we made significant progress and added numerous aspects to the playground. This includes our garden bed (made using the wood we sourced from the playground itself), the stepping tyres, which use vibrant colours to create a better environment, and the completion of the outdoor mural, which was chosen to be a sunflower after a strong show of support and love for the flower from the students, parents, and teachers during a workshop we held a few weeks back.

A special shout-out to Sin Yick Soon Hardware Trading, who we went to time and time again for tools, materials, and drinks. They never let us down, and the owners and employees were extremely welcoming, even offering us snacks upon my last visit. If this tour was to run again, I am positive that we would give this store a couple visits.

This is truly a one of a kind tour. As well as being able to gain some hands-on planning experience, we have been able to make a different in these kids’ lives. By providing them with equipment that they love, we have been able to provide happiness and joy during their days at the Sunflower Centre.

We have been very privileged to be a part of Curtin University New Colombo Plan tour of Borneo. We have provided numerous updates of the work we are doing within Miri and today was a day where we made major progress. Today we navigated the warm weather and managed to pour 2.5 cubic metres of concrete at the Sunflower Centre in Miri to progress our designs in both upgrading the playground and creating a new sensory garden for the clients. We also managed to progress with the upgrading of the playground, incorporating used tyres to create a new swing and walk way which utilises vibrant colours matching in with the existing playground.

The opportunity to do this work for a good cause far outweighs any ‘tourist holiday’ as it allows you to create a connection with the people that live and work here. It is an honour to be able to assist the Sunflower Centre and the people that work there and the students that will utilise the playground!

Day 1 and day 2 project build update:

For those who have been following along with our Curtin University New Colombo Plan study trip of Sarawak and Borneo, today was where the rubber met the road!
Having returned from Mulu, we set about implementing all that we have learnt thus far, with the preparations for our sensory garden and the restoration of the playground equipment at the Sunflower Centre. This included the groundwork on the site, and the procurement of resources off it, with a visit to a nearby lumber-mill, as well as local hardware stores. Running around, doing errands shows a different side to Miri, beyond the traditional tourist experience!
Along our way we came across a nesting house, likely for edible-nest swiftlets, which are invited to nest by megaphones piping out birdsong. Nests are laid on vertical surfaces often i hardware n caves or crevices or, in this case, in a building where their nests made of saliva will be harvested as a delicacy.
We've had a great experience and seen steady progress on our project thus far, in part thanks to Terence Chang, and the team at the sunflower centre, as well as all those who have interacted with us and shown patience as we learn our way around the intricacies of playground construction and local commerce customs.

Curtin University New Colombo Borneo study tour update

Earlier in the week we had the opportunity to go on a tour through Mulu National Park which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We explored Deer and Lang cave, It was an amazing experience being immersed in the rainforest to see the natural flora and fauna that has inhabited this space for centuries. At sunset we saw over 3 million bats exit deer cave, which is one of the things that makes it a world heritage site.

Later on we had a lecture and discussion with Ben Wolff who is the general manager of the Marriott Hotel. He explained the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism industry in Mulu. It is incredibly important for the local community and visitors to support and protect the culture, people and environment. The Marriott also makes the conscious effort to employ local people and allow them to carry out their work that is in line with their culture. This is an important aspect to ensure the local community feel supported through their employment.

Thankyou to everyone who has made our stay and experience so lovely, it has been an unforgettable experience.

🌻 Urban and Regional Planning New Colombo Plan trip to Malaysia/Borneo update!

On the 23rd our team held a consultation workshop at PDK Sunflower Centre Miri, a community based rehabilitation centre for children with disabilities. We had a turnout of around 50 people including students, parents and staff.

The purpose of the playground workshop was to identify what the students liked and disliked about what they currently have, and some new ideas, we held prioritisation excercises and prompted free play to observe how the playground was used.

We also workshopped ideas for a mural, and mapping of locations of potential garden amenity in regards to sensory and visual aspects.

We are currently creating a project plan for our construction next week using everything we learned from the consultation 🛝

We are still accepting donations for the centre and will continue our updates! 🌻

Thankyou to the staff and students at the PDK Sunflower Centre for hosting us, and to Curtin Malaysia for connecting us to the centre.

The participants and centre management have given us consent to use the following photos.

This week, myself and the Curtin University New Colombo Plan travel students had the pleasure of traveling to Curtin University Malaysia. In the morning we had a lecture given by Terry Justin Dit on the first nation people of Borneo land right and the issues caused by the development of Palm oil Plantations. An interesting lecture given by Peter Jamba Anak Ental who is an iban man, learning about the history and meanings behind each type of tattoo for different cultural groups. After this I was lucky enough to be gifted a traditional tattoo of an elephant head which shows strength and unity in the iban culture, the iban people are really sharing of their culture and tattooing with outsiders. We would also like to thank Osama Saleem and Nicole Eugenia Julin for the campus tour and helping out during the day. Overall an amazing experience.

We spent some time exploring the local area and having some amazing food for dinner.

Today the group spent time cleaning and fixing the existing play ground equipment at the Sunflower centre here in Miri, Sarawak before we work through our plans for the space.

The team has now made it to Miri and done our initial investigation for the sunflower centre project. Follow us to stay up to date on our journey.