RANAU, Aug. 31 -- KampungRatau could easily have remained just another remote village in the Ranau district, inhabited by Dusun community, where villagers have to endure a 36 km trek through forests and mountains just to reach the Ranau township.

But in the late 1940s or early 1950s, Kg Ratau achieved what many neighboring villages could not - it became a hub for formal education and the spread of Islam.

Both Kg Ratau and SK Ratau practically played a vital role in opening the door to formal education for the Dusun community in the Ranau, nurturing generations of leaders and producing national figures figures with roots in the district.

The secluded village also became an example for others by prioritizing education as the foundation f...