Sabah’s Mr Mother Teresa

Sabah is Sarawak’s closest competitor for the title of Malaysia’s most serrated state, its luscious sweep of ancient timber denuding by the day, leaving behind not just dust but the stinking haze of rampant corruption. Like its larger neighbour, Sabah makes the news for all the wrong reasons.

Except for one time last week. In of all places, the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah. That’s when the story of Yahya Yacob emerged.

And when the RCI heard how this one man makes a difference to thousands of children of illegal immigrants living under the radar in The Land Below The Wind, one commission member Tan Sri Herman J. Luping was moved enough to say Yahya reminded him of Mother Teresa.

It was a passing comment soon lost in the seemingly endless drift of words in the inquiry, which has heard nearly 200 witnesses since January.

But reel back, tap this one witness on the shoulder and ask Yahya for the full picture and what you get is a very Malaysian story, one on which the very spirit of modern civil society here is built on.

The first plank of this story was laid eight years ago when Yahya returned to his native Tawau from London with his English wife after all his children were grown up.

He was giving a lift back home to his domestic help, Arsum, to a kampung that day in 2005 when he saw a lot of children running around in the streets.

He told The Malaysian Insider yesterday, "I asked Arsum why were these children not in school and she told me that they didn't have any identification documents so they could not register at government-funded schools. "I was horrified at the thought of these children growing up and going through life without any basic education. I decided to meet with the village headman and work out a solution."

In a short time, Yahya came to an agreement with the village headman to start a school for the children. He found a dilapidated community hall that would have to do.

"We had to fix the place up and install toilets for the children. We managed to get water supply for the building and two teachers were initially employed with a monthly salary of RM600 each. "The first four years were quite tough as I was balancing my small construction venture with ensuring that the school operations ran smoothly," he said. The first enrolment in 2005 saw 30 children signing up. Today there are more half-a-thousand in school.

Yahya said the school costs about RM5,000 a month with the bulk of that being the salaries of five teachers. "About RM500 is allocated for miscellaneous expenses including buying books and stationery for the children," he said, adding that the school charged each child RM10 a month.

"However, if one family sends three or four children to the school, then we just charge the family RM20 so that it does not burden them too much." He said that on average the school collects about RM3,000 a month in school fees and also receives RM1,000 monthly from an anonymous donor.

If there is a shortfall, he normally covers it. He said he was blessed because his wife and children supported his passion to ensure that the stateless children had a basic education that helps teach them how to survive.

It was during his student days in England that Yahya met his wife Marie Westwood and they married in 1974. Their three children are in their twenties and thirties.

Yahya was born in 1952 into a bigger family of six children, their father a textile merchant and their mother, a housewife.

When he was 18, he went to Birmingham to do his A-Levels before going to the University of Salford in Manchester to do a degree in psychology and politics. When he graduated in 1975, he returned to Sabah and found employment at a timber company for a while before joining the civil service.

In 1986, Yahya packed his bags and returned to Birmingham with his wife and three children. While looking for a job there, he joined the Islamic Resource Centre as a volunteer. "That was how my community development work began and in 1988, I was promoted to manager of the Islamic Resource Centre," Yahya said.

Then 14 years ago, Yahya decided to return home as his three children were all grown up and had completed their studies in England.

It was only last year, after eight years of trying, that Yahya finally received a licence to legally operate his school in Kampung Nelayan Likas. He named it Madrasah Al-Hikmah or School of Wisdom.

Asked why he cared so much about stateless or marginalised children, Yahya said, "I want to educate these children first as people. It gives them the basic foundation on how to live and survive in society."

He has seen the results on the walk of life.

"One day I was walking at a local supermarket in Kota Kinabalu when this security guard suddenly tugged at my bag. I looked at him and asked what was the matter. "He called me 'Datu' and asked me whether I remembered him. After a while, my memory jogged, I remembered his name. "I was so touched when he thanked me for teaching him when he was a child as he said I had changed his life.”

He gets invited to a lot of weddings too. "Some of my female students are all grown up now and some of them are quite pretty. They are now married with families of their own.”

Yahya, who has three grandchildren, revealed that he has received requests from other squatter settlements in Kota Kinabalu to start schools so that their children can also get an education.

From one point of view, it is another invitation to fix somebody else’s political mess but Yahya prefers a perspective that helps him cope. "I don't want to talk about the political aspect involving illegal immigrants. This is a human issue and we should treat it as such."