The camp was one of the first Khidmat Negara camps to operate in Sabah during the earliest days of PLKN. Situated on the banks of Sungai Papar, the camp distinguished itself from other PLKN camps by having the notable hanging bridge stretching over the river, being the only connecting way the camp has to the other side of the river. The Crocker Range is located at the eastern side of the camp, though they only consist hills and the lower grounds of the range. The camp is relatively remote, though well connected by roads and is very near to the local settlements.The camp is a good 45-minute drive from Kota Kinabalu and 15 minutes from the town of Papar, where one would exit the main road for another 7.5 kilometers inland using the relatively well-paved Jalan Manggis-Kaiduan-Tampasak, before reaching Kg. Ovai; where the road is no longer paved, and one could make a right turn to a smaller road, greeted by local vegetable farms at the left and right side of the road before the view of the camp appeared slowly at the opposite side of the river.
At this point, one could be certain that they've reached Kem Wawasan.
As of May, 2007;
The camp Commandant (Kem Komandan), Deputy Commandant of Administration (Timbalan Komandan Pengurusan, TKL) and Deputy Commandant of Training (Timbalan Komandan Latihan, TKL) are from the Royal Malaysian Navy (Tentera Laut DiRaja Malaysia, TLDM). These officials must be addressed as tuan.
Location: Kg. Ovai, Papar, Sabah. Kota Kinabalu is a two and a half hours away from Kuala Lumpur by flight. All Malaysia Airlines flights land at KKIA's main terminal (which is currently under renovation) while all Air Asia flights land at the newer KKIA Terminal 2.
Weather: Cool mornings, occasional fogs, extremely hot at noon. Temperatures are not low at night, though it can be really briskly during early mornings. Bright sunshine and cloudless skies are the usual - not desirable during marching (kawad kaki) sessions. Sunrise and sunsets are usually admirable. It will usually rain in the evenings, but at many times there will be no thunderstorms at all. At all times downpours are short, you can actually wait for them to stop if an activity is conducted, but this is not guaranteed at all. Laundry can go wet for days if the sunshine is not out, so prepare for hard times caused by the weather. Like elsewhere in our tropical country, it is extremely humid.
Phone coverage:
Celcom *** Good at many spots in the camp, the best to be used. Prepare a Celcom number if you're visiting or attending, or else it would be problematic for most of the time. Best received in the higher grounds, i.e the Padang Kawad, areas around the office and Dewan Makan.
Maxis * Poor, only at certain places.
Digi None at all.
Two phone booths near the Dewan Makan using phone cards (TM's Kadfon) which can be bought at the Convenience Store, phones and fax services use wireless form of transmission.
Water: Moderate, water sources are of natural ones. Often, there is no water after a heavy downpour, due to natural causes of the river's water level. Though doubtful to hear for the first time, the cleanliness level of the water is acceptable, though sometimes there would be river sediments (soil, etc) that would make clothes, white ones especially, look dirty. Be well prepared for constant lack of water supplies, especially in toilets. A number of water coolers are situated at the Dewan Makan.
Electricity: Moderately-sufficient, the main source of the electricity is provided by a generator at the centre of the camp, should a blackout happened outside especially after a heavy downpour, the camp would still function albeit scarce amount of electricity. On a very hot day the generator would probably break down, so prepare for some very unbearable afternoons. There will be no phone coverage if there is no electricity - in other words, the camp would be virtually disconnected from the outside world.
Internet: There is one at the commandant's residence, though it would be probably some sort of a dial-up connection. Of course, access is restricted.
Food: Moderate. There are 6 meals for a day, without fail. Breakfast is at 7 am after Physical Training, with brunch at 10 am. Lunch is at 12 noon. Tea will be served after Physical activities at 4 to 4.30pm, while dinner is at 7 pm. Before roll call, supper is to be served at 10pm. Vegetarian meal is served upon request. Overall, the allocation for meals per day is RM 22 per trainee.
Rules: Relatively lenient. The rules imposed at the camp is often said one of the most lenient of all PLKN camps, though gender segregation still applies in many activities. Most rules are similar to PLKN camps throughout the country. All wira and wirawati are subject to the KKJ, Kontrak Kita Janji, a form of disciplinary oath every company (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta) makes and presents at the beginning of the training course. Basically if a trainee breaks a rule, it also means that they are breaking their own-made promises, thus the trainers (Jurulatih, to be called cikgu) will react to this by seeing it as a promise-breaking, which will lead to any respective punishment.
Disciplinary actions are of moderate ones, with occasional checkups done from rooms to rooms in the morning during classes are conducted. Every Sunday is an off-day. First and third Sundays are visiting days. Trainees can go out from the camp upon strong reasons during weekends, though this depends on the commandant's consent. Holidays will be announced and ruled out through the commandant by Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara, some holidays apply to all, while some applies to particular ethnics and those celebrating. The rule applies that the wake up time is 4.30 am in the morning, and by 10.30 pm all activity ends, and as of 11.30 pm all lights in the mess are supposed to be turned off.
Wednesdays and Saturdays are allocated for the Community Service Module (Modul Khidmat Komuniti), which commences as soon as the Character Building Module (Modul Pembinaan Karakter) ends, and the Nation Building Module (Modul Kenegaraan) begins.
Religious obligations: As religious issues are highly sensitive, careful precautions have been taken that everybody's religious needs is well taken care of. Basically religious adherence are up to an individual's options, though congregational prayer times are best observed. Friday noons are allocated for Muslim male, while Hindus are allowed to go to the respective temple in Friday evening. Some followers of certain Christian sects attend church on Saturday, while the others, especially the Catholics will go to service on Sundays, together with the Buddhists. Subuh generally starts as early as 4 am, Zuhur around 12 noon, Asar around 3 pm, Maghrib at 6 pm and Isyak at 7 pm.
Thursday and Friday nights are allocated for Spiritual Class (Kelas Kerohanian), where the Muslim class will often led by a KAGAT, an official from Armed Forces Religious Corps or Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera (to be called ustaz) or an Official for the Islamic Affairs or Pegawai Hal Ehwal Islam (PHEI). Non-Muslims will be separated to their respective religions and will be led by any respective religious associations from out of the camp. It is obligatory for Muslim trainees to attend Maghrib and Isyak congregational prayers at the Surau every night, though this is rarely observed by the majority of the trainees, which received high criticism by the ustaz and ustazah.
Miscellaneous:
The camp has its own MySpace page, and a group in Friendster.
According to a cikgu the camp is rated as a 4-star camp, which facilities could accommodate 300 to 400 trainees at one time. Currently for the third batch (kumpulan) there are only 87 trainees reporting. Separate that into 4 companies, there would be only 20 person for each company, and if the wira and wirawati are divided equal, there would be only 10 male and 10 female in one company. That's sad.
A part of the series of PLKN notes, still in completion process.
Syukrishairi.
As of May, 2007;
The camp Commandant (Kem Komandan), Deputy Commandant of Administration (Timbalan Komandan Pengurusan, TKL) and Deputy Commandant of Training (Timbalan Komandan Latihan, TKL) are from the Royal Malaysian Navy (Tentera Laut DiRaja Malaysia, TLDM). These officials must be addressed as tuan.Location: Kg. Ovai, Papar, Sabah. Kota Kinabalu is a two and a half hours away from Kuala Lumpur by flight. All Malaysia Airlines flights land at KKIA's main terminal (which is currently under renovation) while all Air Asia flights land at the newer KKIA Terminal 2.
Weather: Cool mornings, occasional fogs, extremely hot at noon. Temperatures are not low at night, though it can be really briskly during early mornings. Bright sunshine and cloudless skies are the usual - not desirable during marching (kawad kaki) sessions. Sunrise and sunsets are usually admirable. It will usually rain in the evenings, but at many times there will be no thunderstorms at all. At all times downpours are short, you can actually wait for them to stop if an activity is conducted, but this is not guaranteed at all. Laundry can go wet for days if the sunshine is not out, so prepare for hard times caused by the weather. Like elsewhere in our tropical country, it is extremely humid.
Phone coverage:
Celcom *** Good at many spots in the camp, the best to be used. Prepare a Celcom number if you're visiting or attending, or else it would be problematic for most of the time. Best received in the higher grounds, i.e the Padang Kawad, areas around the office and Dewan Makan.
Maxis * Poor, only at certain places.
Digi None at all.
Two phone booths near the Dewan Makan using phone cards (TM's Kadfon) which can be bought at the Convenience Store, phones and fax services use wireless form of transmission.
Water: Moderate, water sources are of natural ones. Often, there is no water after a heavy downpour, due to natural causes of the river's water level. Though doubtful to hear for the first time, the cleanliness level of the water is acceptable, though sometimes there would be river sediments (soil, etc) that would make clothes, white ones especially, look dirty. Be well prepared for constant lack of water supplies, especially in toilets. A number of water coolers are situated at the Dewan Makan.
Electricity: Moderately-sufficient, the main source of the electricity is provided by a generator at the centre of the camp, should a blackout happened outside especially after a heavy downpour, the camp would still function albeit scarce amount of electricity. On a very hot day the generator would probably break down, so prepare for some very unbearable afternoons. There will be no phone coverage if there is no electricity - in other words, the camp would be virtually disconnected from the outside world.
Internet: There is one at the commandant's residence, though it would be probably some sort of a dial-up connection. Of course, access is restricted.
Food: Moderate. There are 6 meals for a day, without fail. Breakfast is at 7 am after Physical Training, with brunch at 10 am. Lunch is at 12 noon. Tea will be served after Physical activities at 4 to 4.30pm, while dinner is at 7 pm. Before roll call, supper is to be served at 10pm. Vegetarian meal is served upon request. Overall, the allocation for meals per day is RM 22 per trainee.
Rules: Relatively lenient. The rules imposed at the camp is often said one of the most lenient of all PLKN camps, though gender segregation still applies in many activities. Most rules are similar to PLKN camps throughout the country. All wira and wirawati are subject to the KKJ, Kontrak Kita Janji, a form of disciplinary oath every company (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta) makes and presents at the beginning of the training course. Basically if a trainee breaks a rule, it also means that they are breaking their own-made promises, thus the trainers (Jurulatih, to be called cikgu) will react to this by seeing it as a promise-breaking, which will lead to any respective punishment.
Disciplinary actions are of moderate ones, with occasional checkups done from rooms to rooms in the morning during classes are conducted. Every Sunday is an off-day. First and third Sundays are visiting days. Trainees can go out from the camp upon strong reasons during weekends, though this depends on the commandant's consent. Holidays will be announced and ruled out through the commandant by Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara, some holidays apply to all, while some applies to particular ethnics and those celebrating. The rule applies that the wake up time is 4.30 am in the morning, and by 10.30 pm all activity ends, and as of 11.30 pm all lights in the mess are supposed to be turned off.
Wednesdays and Saturdays are allocated for the Community Service Module (Modul Khidmat Komuniti), which commences as soon as the Character Building Module (Modul Pembinaan Karakter) ends, and the Nation Building Module (Modul Kenegaraan) begins.
Religious obligations: As religious issues are highly sensitive, careful precautions have been taken that everybody's religious needs is well taken care of. Basically religious adherence are up to an individual's options, though congregational prayer times are best observed. Friday noons are allocated for Muslim male, while Hindus are allowed to go to the respective temple in Friday evening. Some followers of certain Christian sects attend church on Saturday, while the others, especially the Catholics will go to service on Sundays, together with the Buddhists. Subuh generally starts as early as 4 am, Zuhur around 12 noon, Asar around 3 pm, Maghrib at 6 pm and Isyak at 7 pm.
Thursday and Friday nights are allocated for Spiritual Class (Kelas Kerohanian), where the Muslim class will often led by a KAGAT, an official from Armed Forces Religious Corps or Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera (to be called ustaz) or an Official for the Islamic Affairs or Pegawai Hal Ehwal Islam (PHEI). Non-Muslims will be separated to their respective religions and will be led by any respective religious associations from out of the camp. It is obligatory for Muslim trainees to attend Maghrib and Isyak congregational prayers at the Surau every night, though this is rarely observed by the majority of the trainees, which received high criticism by the ustaz and ustazah.
Miscellaneous:
The camp has its own MySpace page, and a group in Friendster.
According to a cikgu the camp is rated as a 4-star camp, which facilities could accommodate 300 to 400 trainees at one time. Currently for the third batch (kumpulan) there are only 87 trainees reporting. Separate that into 4 companies, there would be only 20 person for each company, and if the wira and wirawati are divided equal, there would be only 10 male and 10 female in one company. That's sad.
A part of the series of PLKN notes, still in completion process.
Syukrishairi.
1 comment:
wow. i now am well educated on plkn. hehe :)
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