COMMENT | When I read about Education Minister Maszlee Malik’s recent announcement that primary school children across Malaysia will be served free breakfast daily, beginning 2020, to ensure students have balanced meals, I remembered a trip my colleague and I made about six years ago.

It was 2013 when we cruised along the Banding Lake in Perak to locate a small Jahai tribe in the heart of Royal Belum Rainforest, in Banjaran Titiwangsa. After 45 minutes of mesmerizing scenery (including wildlife roaming freely in their natural habitat) we reached Kampung Sungai Kejar, a home to more than 200 villagers of the Jahai tribe.

Accompanied by a representative from the Perak Education Department, our aim was to produce a short documentary on the education of the Jahai children living inside the forest...