THE Muslims among the 35 Sarawak students might have managed to get a flight back home on the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri today but they could not be with their family for the celebrations as they wished.

The first stop for these students from Miri and Limbang, who studied in matriculation colleges in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor, upon landing in Miri will be the quarantine centre where it will be their “home” for the next 14 days.

Still the students, who took the Malaysia Airlines flight from KLIA this morning, are just glad to be in their home state.

For 19-year-old Farah Nur Ayuni Fadzil of Kampung Permy Jaya in Miri, being able to fly home at a time when there are so much restrictions, including travel restrictions and crossing state borders, is a feat by itself.

Farah, who studies at the Johor matriculation college, said the Raya celebration might as well be over for many by the time she gets out of quarantine.

But to her, it’s just the first day as she will finally be home with her family and probably finish what are left over.

This teenager, the second child among three siblings, however, admitted that left to her own device, she probably would not make it home with the mindboggling paperwork she has to fill just to get a cross border permit.

That was why she is so thankful to the Sarawak government, the Education Ministry, the Sarawak disaster management committee and most importantly the people at Rumah Sarawak in Kuala Lumpur and the small army from Sarawak Volunteers that have made her flight home possible.

Rumah Sarawak and the Sarawak Volunteers have managed to secure travel permits, air tickets and re-entry permission into Sarawak – to list a few – for about 952 students studying in the peninsula and Labuan that wished to fly home for the long school closure.

The first of the flights took off last Tuesday with the last flight tomorrow.

For Aqilah Husna Abdul Aziz, also 19, but from Taman Sri Kubong in Limbang, catching a flight today, the first day of the Muslim month of Syawal, was something she had prayed for.

“Never mind having to be in quarantine on arrival,” she said.

“Just knowing I am on my way home matters.”

The third child among five siblings, Aqilah is also a science student at the Johor matriculation college just like Farah.

Hwong Jin Lok might not be celebrating Raya, but he is celebrating the ability to get home.

“It’s not easy to cross state borders, from Johor to KLIA and then to Sarawak,” this student from the Johor matriculation college said.

“There are so many requirements to be met but Rumah Sarawak has been very helpful and facilitated our travel.”

Hwong from Siang Siang Park, Miri, is also of the same opinion that if he were to arrange the travel arrangement on his own, it would be better for him just to stay put in Johor.

To see the students safely off at the KLIA this morning were Rumah Sarawak director Awang Supian Awang Daud and his team.

Each students were also given a small Raya token before they boarded their flight. – May 13, 2021.