Newspaper+report+1

===media type="file" key="audacity 3.mp3"Saturday January 8, 2011 === =**Quake kids get to continue their studies in newly-rebuilt premises thanks to relief fund** = ==**By YUEN MEIKENG meikeng@thestar.com.my ** ==  PADANG: Nine-year-old Syadam Alfarez was in class when a strong earthquake suddenly ripped through his school, Sekolah Dasar Negeri (SDN) 18, Air Tawar Barat here, over a year ago. “//Sekolah hancur rata dengan tanah// (the school was destroyed to the ground),” said Syadam, adding that he felt sad and worried because he thought he would not be able to go to school anymore. “I even cried,” said the boy, who dreams of becoming a doctor and serving his country when he grows up.

**Positive outlook: Syadam (right) and his friends (from left) Deno Putra, 12, Gani Leturahman, 13, and Indra Putra, 12, posing in front of their newly-rebuilt school in Padang, Indonesia, on Thursday.** Thanks to the contributors of the CIMB-//The Star// Padang Relief Fund, Syadam is able to continue with his studies in the newly-rebuilt school in West Sumatra. Syadam is just one of the hundreds of children at seven primary schools that were rebuilt using donations from the RM4.48mil fund. Sumatra Barat governor Irwan Prayitno, in his speech at the launch of the newly-rebuilt schools, thanked contributors and hoped teachers and pupils would take good care of the schools. “This reconstructed school (SDN 18 Air Tawar Barat) is even better than it was before the quake. I hope the quality of education will improve as well,” he said on Thursday. Bank CIMB Niaga president director Arwin Rasyid said the fund also supplied the schools with tables, chairs and computers. CIMB group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said the Malaysia-Indonesia relationship was strong as many Malaysians donated to help the quake victims. The CIMB Group and //The Star// set up the relief fund two days after the 7.6-magnitude quake on Sept 30, 2009, which killed at least 1,000 people in the West Sumatra capital. While RM350,000 from the fund was given to Mercy Malaysia for a medical mission to help quake victims, the remainder was used to rebuild the schools. The fund kicked off with a RM100,000 donation from the CIMB Group while CIMB Foundation matched contributions from the public, ringgit for ringgit, up to RM1mil. Donations were collected from readers of //The Star// and the CIMB network throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand as well as from other contributors. The fund’s supervisory committee comprises Nazir, Arwin, Star Publications (M) Bhd managing editor P. Gunasegaram, Ernst & Young Assurance partner Habibah Abdul and CIMB Group director Glenn Yusuf. The fund had signed memorandums of understanding for the reconstruction of the schools with three non-governmental organisations — ACT Foundation, Lembaga Kemanusiaan Nasional and Habitat for Humanity Indonesia.