Three Sikh men from Kuala Lumpur are gearing up to cycle 1,500km across Sabah to help raise funds for children with cleft lip and palate birth defects.

Baldape Singh, Karam Singh and I, Gurdev Singh, are set to traverse 1,500km across Sabah on our bicycles to raise funds for children born with a cleft lip and palate birth defects.

I, also known as Sandakan Eagle, came up with the idea for the charity tour, dubbed ‘Cycle for Cleft’, and subsequently enlisted the help of my friends Baldape and Karam, who are no strangers to bicycle touring.

Baldape and Karam made headlines in 2014, after cycling from Kuala Lumpur to Punjab, India, over a period of two months and five days.

The three of us first met in early 2015, during the Kelantan flood disaster, while helping the Orang Asli villagers in Grik with the food shortage crisis, and consequently becoming good friends.

We estimate a total of 21 days to complete the 1,500km journey, which will start from Kota Kinabalu on Dec 1 and will see us cycling through Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Keningau and Kundasang, en route to Kudat.

The plan is to cycle approximately 70km a day and rest at churches, hostels or the homes of friends and supporters.

I think it’s a great idea to have Karam and Baldape with me on this mission as their wealth of experience in cycling will guide and teach me a lot.

I will be handling the photography and writing about our journey, which we plan to release as a coffee table book upon the completion of this project. We are also looking for partners who are keen in supporting the ‘Cycle for Cleft’ project.

Our host for this ‘Cycle for Cleft’ charity project will be the Rotary Club of Likas Bay (RCLB), Kota Kinabalu.

RCLB has been actively involved in cleft and palate corrective surgeries in Sabah and overseas (particularly in Cambodia, in collaboration with the Cambodian NGO Smile Cambodia) for many years.

Each year the club identifies and arranges for surgery of children with cleft and palate abnormalities, free of charge.

RCLB also has to bear the increasing expenses, as the cost of the surgeries and the numbers of patients have increased over the years. Funds are generated internally from the club and also from donations from individuals and corporate well wishers.

Many of us are not fully aware of the impact of this surgery. One of the most life-changing benefits for the child is that it gives him/her the confidence to blend in socially, for the rest of his or her life. Apart from that, it restores proper speech and food chewing functions of the mouth.

Those who need more information on donating to the cause or how they can help can get in touch with me, Gurdev, at 016-213 5352 or Baldape at 019-262 4694. Cheques can be made out to Rotary Club of Likas Bay at its Maybank account number 5-10107-43885-3.