By: Clarence George Dol
In 2003 a farmer from the remote village of Libang Tambunan surprised many when he lit up the whole village with electricity supplied from a hydroelectric generator which he had built on his own.
Today, Hamid Pius Jasmin, 43, who have achieved this extraordinary accomplishment, continues to live a humble life despite getting many accolades for his feat and visits by various groups and individuals to his hydroelectric station.
Recently, a group of 26 final year students and two lecturers from the UMS School of Science and Technology, led by Assoc Prof Dr Jedol Dayou, made a study visit to the station, which is located about 150km from Kota Kinabalu.
Dr Jedol said the initiative shown by Hamid is extremely commendable considering the benefit that it has contributed to the community as well as example that he has set for others.
He said what makes the effort more praiseworthy is the fact that Hamid is just a villager with only a Form Three education who had never enrolled in any vocational course thereafter.
"During my tour to the United Kingdom, I visited an old castle which was built thousands of years before, yet it still stands solid until today, and I thought that it was a remarkable accomplishment.
"But when I came back to Sabah and visited this hydro station built by Hamid, I told myself that this one is more remarkable compared to the castles of the West," he said.
For UMS lecturer in Physics, Alvie Lo, the locally-built mini hydro electric generator was a significant endeavour as it captured the essence of tapping natural resources to produce energy.
Being actively involved in the research on renewable energy, Alvie said, the effort breaks the typical mindset which equates hydroelectricity with major construction projects.
He said not many individuals have the capacity to simplify matters and apply them to benefit the daily lives of the community, thus what Hamid has done should be imitated by all, especially other villages which have trenches running through them.
Meanwhile, Dr Jedol said the UMS programme that day was organised to open the minds of students on alternative ideas of creative technologies.
Lee Shu Kim, 23, a final year student in Physics and Electronics said she was proud of Hamid's achievement, especially after knowing that he never formally learned the concept of physics.
"This goes to prove that if one is determined to do something, no matter how unreachable it may be, there is nothing impossible in this world if one is persistent," she said.
For another student, Hanif Shahrul Hamid, 22, from Negeri Sembilan, what has been achieved in Libang is something to be proud of in the country and that the Government should give recognition to Hamid for his effort.
"The effort shown here signifies that as a student, opportunity for major achievement doesn't always appear in the city, but in remote villages such as this as well, where one man's achievement changes the lives of so many around him," he said.
Hanif said among the important lessons he learned from the programme was that as a student, one is not confined to sit and study, but that one has to go out into the outside world and learn about realities as much as he can.
Another UMS final year student, Yip Kim Seng, 23 from Taiping, Perak agrees with Hanif on the importance of programme such as the one held that day as it is an eye opener for all of those who attended the event, apart from teaching them to think outside the box.
He said this is fascinating to most people especially those who come from the city, because those who live in areas with electricity provided by big companies will never have the idea of building a mini hydro generator themselves.
"Although such undertakings are not very much needed in the city areas, it is certainly an important solution for rural areas which still lack basic infrastructures such as power," he said, adding that if the Government is unable to supply such places with electricity, then it should encourage efforts such as this.
For Nurul Syafiqah Johari, 21, who is studying Magnetic and Current Applications, the programme gave her more ideas in completing her thesis later on apart from finishing the assignment given to them earlier by their lecturers.
She said however, the more important aspect of the visit is being able to grasp clearly the functions of related theories that students learned in class through lectures and reference books.
According to her, the programme had revealed to her that exposure of theories to application as well as sharing of information with others are vital as technology is a vast and unlimited field.
"One thing that I have learned today is that alternators are not necessarily used in vehicles alone, but can also be applied to other machinery like a mini hydro electric generator as well," said Nurul.
Nasuha Zakaria, 21 from Johor said the people living in Kg Libang should be grateful for being able to enjoy 24-hours of electricity by only having to pay a RM15 for maintenance each month.
She said in Johor, there are still many traditional villages, but all the villages have electricity supply.
Also present at the programme was Village Head Rusdak @Rusli Ikol, local villagers, as well as 30 Science Stream students from the nearby SMK Desa Wawasan.
Leader of the school group, Louis Muslin, 19 said the school was earlier informed of the visit by the UMS to the station and they were invited to join in the study tour along with the university students.
The most important thing that he had learned from the programme is that a successful person is the one who is able to apply what he has learned in life to useful purposes for the benefit of all.
For another student from, Magdeline John, 19, the effort made by Hamid gave her extra confidence in planning for her future which is to become a leader who will one day ensure the development of all the rural areas in Sabah.
She said after visiting the station, one could not help but be amazed at how thoughtful and creative an individual can be if he has a goal and plans on how to achieve that goal.
As for Hamid himself, there is no greater joy than being able to have free electricity running, not only in his home, but in the homes of his neighbours as well.
"My main objective was not to get attention from many people but my goal was to do something about what was still lacking in my village and to see the children grow and live like how they are supposed to in this day and age," he said.
He said he first came up with the idea to set up his own hydroelectric generator after reading the theories and introduction to hydroelectric dam system from a book which was written in the Indonesian language.
Based on his experience of working as a lorry mechanic in Inanam some years ago, he was able to understand the function of various parts as well as how the mechanical system works in an automobile.
He said the first makeshift hydroelectric generator that he assembled, which among others, combined parts like a steel turbine, a dynamo and a used pickup truck gear box, cost between RM7,000 and RM8,000.
Currently the generator is producing 3,000 watts of energy and is catering to the electricity needs of 16 houses in Kg Libang.
Meanwhile in 2008, in an effort to complement the initiative made by Hamid, the government with the collaboration of MOSTI, WAITRO, ISESCO and SIRIM, set up a mirror hydro generator about 200 meters away from the one built by Hamid.
The government's hydroelectric generator, which was officiated by the Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan in Feb 2009, was expected to supply electricity to another 40 houses within and around Kg Libang.
However the generator is currently shut down for maintenance, and according to the villagers, has not been functioning since early this month.
Thus Hamid's generator, which has been running for seven consecutive years, has to cope with providing power to the affected houses.
Electricity and paved roads are the two basic infrastructures that are still lacking in Kg Libang and several other villages around it, and 95 per cent of the people here still depend on fuel powered generators as their electricity source.
