It has been 3 months since I last went out with Lekha Nandey of the National Committee for Health & Community Services, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC). While I have been trying to keep safe from COVID-19 by staying indoors as much as possible, the MRC have been busy every day in their work to help fellow Malaysians. Over the last few days, Johor received a huge donation from Yeo’s and Lekha asked if I would come to record today’s activities for what would likely be my last blog for the MRC. I have also highlighted some other donors who have been busy during these last few months. I did not go out to photograph these events as I was still waiting to be vaccinated, so these photos are from my MRC colleagues.
The main MRC depot in Johor Bahru was full of bags and boxes as usual, and a lot of new faces. These were MRC guys who had driven 4 lorries down from Kuala Lumpur to deliver 16 tons of food stuffs to Johor. This was the special donation from Yeo’s (Yeo Hiap Seng Limited, a Singaporean beverage company).
The MRC guys were taking a break while helpers were unloading one of the trucks. If you have been following my blogs, you will know that much of the work of the MRC staff is the unloading and loading of stuff! At the moment though, the Johor Bahru depot is a bit short staffed as some are helping out at the local vaccination centres and others at the Help for the Homeless centre in downtown Johor Bahru. So, with 4 trucks to unload, the MRC paid some volunteers from among the homeless and jobless of Johor Bahru, giving them a chance to earn some money.
Then it was time to sort out what was going where...
Various other companies have been providing food stuffs for distribution. The local company, Abbott, donated some specialist milk products as used by hospitals providing palliative care, and to be given to individuals as required.
During the most recent Movement Control Period (MCO3.0), food poverty has become even more of an issue nationwide as people may have been unemployed for 15 months now, and MCO3.0 has further shut down so many work opportunities. A couple of months ago, Malaysians instigated a movement known as the White Flag movement. People who were desperate for help could put a white flag outside of their home, and anyone seeing this could arrange for food stuffs to be delivered by one of the many volunteer groups which arose at the time. The concept was to allow those in need to feel unashamed to ask for help, and volunteers were asked not to take photos of recipients in order to maintain their dignity. This movement grew very quickly and it was great to see everyone helping.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the MRC have been delivering food stuffs to the needy, just as they do in normal times as well. So, with the White Flag movement going strong, their work in the last couple of months has moved more towards obtaining and delivering medical equipment and medical supplies to local hospitals. The MRC received over RM100,000 in donations which went towards the purchase of vital medical equipment such as ECG machines, syringe pump, finger tip pulse oximeter, defibrilator/monitor, SPOT check monitor, trolley, and various items to improve air flow throughout the COVID wards in the Hospital Sultanah Aminah.
When the White Flag movement started, many local companies joined in to help provide food stuffs, but all this activity has died down and one rarely sees any announcements about new activities on Social Media. The local volunteer groups are still active though and Food Banks have proliferated, so those in need are still being helped by ordinary people.
I first wrote about Food Banks back in January 2020, well before the COVID-19 crisis. Today, many of those shops currently allowed to be open will have a Food Bank. The photo above was taken at a branch of Big Pharmacy, one of the few ‘essential’ shops allowed to open during MCO3.0. People are encouraged to ‘give what you can’ and ‘take what you need’.
Today I was visiting the pharmacy with Lekha as she had received a donation with a request to purchase special formulas for babies with special needs who cannot be breast fed. Such materials are very expensive and thus out of reach for families with no income. The MRC has a standard set of food goods which it puts together for recipients in emergency situations, but it is necessarily limited to essentials as they apply to most people. And the issue of defining ‘essential’ is a hot topic in the community at the moment, especially with regard to which businesses should be allowed to operate. When the MCO3.0 period started, supermarkets were told that the shop area selling alcohol or school stationary supplies had to be shut off as these items were not considered essential. Thankfully, this decision has now been modified! And as for emergency food stuffs, there will be those in need of special formula for babies who would not ordinarily be included. So, as with all the amazing work of the MRC, they try to help by including everyone in need. So today we found ourselves in Big Pharmacy seemingly buying up their stock of special formula for babies! Our thanks to the lovely ladies of Big Pharmacy who brought the goods out to the car.
The work of the MRC is never ending and they rely on public donations to do their much needed work. No donation is too small, or too large! And rest assured that all monies received are put to very good use.
If you would like to help in any way, please call Lekha Nandey on 019 755 5600.
And if you would like to make a donation to MRC to help them with their work, you can send funds to:
MRC Community Services - JB(2), RHB Bank, Account Number 20114700068907
And finally……………...
Lekha is camera shy, as are most of us as we have not been allowed to go to a hairdressers for months! But I cannot finish without a special thanks to Lekha and her colleagues in the MRC.
It was back in April 2019 that I first accompanied Lekha Nandey to a MRC event. I have now written 31 blogs covering the work of this fabulous group of people, as well as writing about some personal trips with Lekha to learn more about her Malaysian heritage.
I feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity to learn about Malaysia and Malaysians. I hope my blogs have helped enlighten and encourage others for whom Malaysia may be a bit of a mystery. I shall be leaving Malaysia in September 2021, but these experiences will remain with me forever.
Click here to see more about the activities of the Malaysian Red Crescent.
Click here to return to Travels in Malaysia 2021.
Click here to return to Helen Gray’s homepage.