Until four years ago, he was a member of a team that explored virgin territory in Sarawak to mark Malaysia's border with Indonesia.

It was a challenging job, trekking through thick foliage and being away from home for long stretches. Once, he had to walk four days to find his way out of the jungle.

"This happened in 1997, when about 30 of us went into Sarawak to mark Malaysia's border with Indonesia," he said.

Wan Kamel said the team ran out of supplies after helicopters could not reach them due to poor visibility caused by the thick haze shrouding the region at the time.

"Because of the dense jungle, it took us four days just to reach the nearest village, about 25km from our base camp." Kedah-born Wan Kamel was with the Mapping Unit of the Land Survey and Mapping Department.

His wife, Norlizan Mohd Omar, 39, said her husband's job used to take him away from the family for months.

"He seldom shared his experiences with me as he did not want me to worry," she told the New Straits Times.

These days, she has less to worry about, as Wan Kamel is with the Geodesy Unit of the Land Survey and Mapping Department.

(Geodesy deals with the measurement and representation of the earth, its gravity field and geodynamic phenomena.) Wan Kamel is a member of the team that observes the movement of the moon for those who decide the start of the fasting month and other important dates on the Muslim calendar.

Other recipients of this year's Maulidur Rasul awards are Fire and Rescue Department officer Liew Tong Sin; head nurse Datin Habibah Mohd; nurse Nabissah Mohamed; National Land and Survey Institute domestic supervisor Siti Hajijah Yusoff; Chemistry Department laboratory assistant Nordin Md Diah; Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology laboratory assistant Abdul Bakhri Muhamad; Ampang Hydrology Equipment and Water Resource Unit staff Abd Hamid @ Sidek Din @ Abidin; educator Miskan Kamari; and former navy diver Ilias M. Yasin.

Launched in 1991, the Maulidur Rasul award recognises job commitment and creativity, as well as contributions to the country's general well-being.

This year, a total of 63 candidates were nominated for the award.

Habibah was recognised for her sterling work as a head nurse during the 1990 cholera outbreak in Kluang, Johor.

Caring for up to 80 cholera patients a day, not only was she at risk of infection, she also had her hands full with patients suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration and muscle cramps.

To protect her own family, the Pahang-born nurse bathed after each shift at the hospital and took a shower again once she reached home.

Nurse Nabissah said her most trying moment in the course of her job was when she had to sedate a mentally disturbed passenger aboard a flight from Mecca to Malaysia.

"We nearly had to make an emergency landing in India when the man started shouting and undressing himself.

"I gave him some medication and he slept like a baby all the way home," she said, laughing.