KOTA BARU, June 28 — Her ability to converse in the Orang Asli dialects has facilitated Nur Amalina Ismail, 27, to bring 20 Orang Asli residents in Gua Musang into the folds of Islam since 2014.
She was named as the Kelantan Community Icon 2019 by the state government as announced by Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob when he officiated the Sayyidatina Khadijah Day (HSK) 2019 opening ceremony here yesterday.
Nur Amalina, who is a mother of two, from Pasir Tumboh here, said she started learning the Orang Asli dialects following her involvement in the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim)’s Penggerak Masyarakat Orang Asli (PMOA) division, as well as a volunteer at the Kelantan Abim Islamic Outreach since 2014.
“It took me four to five months to learn the basic words of the Orang Asli dialects through several other volunteers while engaging in programmes with the community,” she said.
Nur Amalina said that having married to her husband Fardhu Angah, 29, from the Temiar tribe in 2014 also helped her a lot in her volunteering efforts.
She said it was an added advantage that her husband, who was also a volunteer at the Kelantan Abim Islamic Outreach, had helped her learning the language and understand the community better.
One of the approaches used to introduce Islam to the Orang Asli community was by giving a good example so that their hearts and minds would be receptive in recognising and subsequently accepting Islam, she said. — Bernama
