12/04/2026

theSunday Special III ON SUNDAY APRI 12, 2026

From cooking to connecting with the outside world, electricity is opening new possibilities for women in the community. - KIRTINEE RAMESH/THESUN

Villagers are now not restricted to gathering only during daylight, as their routines have been extended by electricity-powered lamps. – KIRTINEE RAMESH/THESUN

But Huay Nam Rin is not an isolated experiment. It is part of a broader push by the Singapore-based clean energy provider to scale decentralised energy solutions across Southeast Asia, including Malaysia. GoRental has already established a presence in Malaysia and is preparing to deepen its footprint, with plans to launch a Malaysia Experience Store in Johor in June. The company is also working with local foundations and NGOs to deploy similar modular solar and battery systems in off-grid communities, including among Orang Asli settlements in Peninsular Malaysia. For Peh, the expansion reflects a wider ambition. “We see this as a starting point. The goal is to build something that can be repeated, improved, and scaled over time, so the impact is not limited to a single project,” he said. The first night There is always a first night. The moment when darkness arrives as it always has, steady and predictable. Only this time, it is interrupted. A bulb flickers, then steadies. A room that has never held light like this before reveals itself differently. Walls sharpen. Faces become clearer. Corners lose their shadows. For the first time, night does not mean stopping. Children sit with their books and do not have to squint. A mother cooks without watching the flame as closely as before. A phone charges quietly in the corner, connecting the household to a world that had always felt distant. Electricity does not announce itself loudly. It settles in... and then it stays. What light changes The effects are immediate, but they unfold over time. Food lasts longer. A fan makes sleep easier. A single light extends the day by hours once lost. But some changes are harder to measure. Photographer Edwin Koo, who spent several days documenting life in the village, noticed them in small, quiet moments. “One of the women I photographed was over 90 years old. Every morning, she would play an MP4 recording in her native language. To her, it felt like a radio. It gave her a sense of home,” he said. “Without that sound, the village wouldn’t feel complete.” Koo sat with her often, communicating through gestures and smiles. “She loved having her picture taken. That small sound kept her connected to her culture. “Imagine what electricity would do for the next generation, they could remain here instead of leaving.” In villages like this, leaving is often the

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For the first time, kitchens in Huay Nam Rin can be as bright and safe after sunset as during daytime. – KIRTINEE RAMESH/THESUN

What remains Huay Nam Rin is not transformed in every way. The road is still difficult. Clean water systems are still needed. Healthcare remains distant. Government support is limited. “The electricity is a start. It doesn’t solve everything. But now, we can build a future,” Kriangkrai said. That is what light does, not solve, but illuminate the way forward. As night falls again, the village no longer disappears into itself. Light spills softly from doorways. Children read. Families cook and talk without rushing. Somewhere, an elderly woman presses “play”, and a familiar voice fills the room. Nothing about the mountains has changed. The distance remains. The road is still long. But something fundamental has shifted. For the first time in decades, darkness is no longer in charge.

360 tonnes of carbon emissions, and save the community hundreds of thousands of dollars compared with using diesel for generators. These figures matter. They make the case legible to governments, companies and donors. But the deeper shift is already visible across the region. As Southeast Asia faces rising electricity demand and increasing exposure to fuel price volatility, decentralised microgrid systems are gaining traction as practical, scalable solutions, particularly in hard-to-reach communities where extending the national grid remains costly and slow. Huay Nam Rin now serves as a working model of what that transition could look like. For countries like Malaysia, where rural and interior communities still navigate uneven access to reliable electricity supply, the questions raised here are not abstract. They are immediate and increasingly urgent.

The goal is to build something that can be repeated, improved, and scaled over time, so the impact is not limited to a single project”

only way forward. Light, in its quiet way, could favourably sway such decisions. Beyond the village Over the next 10 years, the system in Huay Nam Rin is expected to generate 127,020 kilowatt-hours of electricity, offset more than