Of all the occassions that I have accompanied the Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC), this was the first one where rain almost stopped play. We were due to head out to Taman Tun Aminah before noon, but the MRC volunteers found themselves organising flood relief in Muar instead. But we couldn’t keep our clients waiting, and at least the rain in Johor Bahru had settled down to just a drizzle. With the help of Caren Caren (in pink, photo below), 54 residents of Taman Tun Aminah had been selected to receive food parcels from the MRC.
Malaysia is now in the RMCO period with some business activity coming back to life. But for many of the residents here, their main breadwinner was likely dependent on travelling daily to Singapore for work, and of course that has not been possible since mid-March. I remember being told that, if at all possible, one should save three months income for emergencies. Well, we are now well beyond that three months and I doubt many people in this community even had savings for a week. Because the MRC can buy in bulk and, if lucky, get special discounts from suppliers, they are able to make their money go much further than you or I might do so. One bag of food plus eggs might last a family of three for several weeks, and your donation of RM100 would achieve that benefit. So, if you have thought about donating in the past, but decided that your contribution would be too little to make a difference, please forget that idea. The MRC can get value out of the smallest donation, and you will bring a smile to the faces of those who are struggling to survive during these troubled times. If you would like to help, please call this number 019 755 5600.
Nowadays, there’s so much more paperwork involved in distributing food aid. With so many potential recipients, it is important to make sure that as many are included as possible and avoid duplicating efforts of other charitable organisations.
The majority of the clientele today were Indian, but in line with the MRC’s protocol, there were also some Chinese members of the community. Yesterday it was the Chinese who mainly benefitted and before that it was the Malay community. But whoever the MRC are helping, they always do it with efficiency and a smile.
Because we were a little late arriving today, not all the clients could wait, so we drove to Karen’s home so that the remaining food parcels could be distributed from there. It’s at times like this that you realise just how much of the MRC volunteer’s work is taken up by loading and unloading boxes. And of course they also have to sort the food items into the special red bags for distribution.
Sadly, the consequence of today's coronavirus pandemic on everyone is dramatic and the MRC volunteers are kept busy everyday to do whatever they can to help the poor and disadvantaged. But the effects of the coronavirus sit alongside all the other emergency situations that requires help from the MRC, so they will never be short of things to do. So, let’s give them our support in whatever way we can.
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