Why eggs? These symbolise the gift of life. When I lived in the UK and in Hong Kong, we bought eggs by the half dozen, but in Malaysia you buy eggs in trays of 30! They are a stable food stuff and today some lucky households were to receive gifts of eggs, fresh fish and chicken, rice, oil, milk powder, noodles, Milo, and a few other bits and pieces, i.e., the gift of life. And here is the story which goes with this image…..
Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people and I have been blessed with only experiencing the best side of people here in Malaysia during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this period of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the modified Conditional MCO (CMCO), many people have lost their livelihoods and need help with basic necessities. During the MCO when the majority of Malaysians were following instructions to 'Stay at Home’, the National Committee for Community Services & Health of the Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) has been organising its volunteers to help deliver food and essential medical equipment where needed. But the MRC does much more than this, it also helps support local NGOs to achieve their goals as well.
Today’s challenge was to deliver essential food stuffs to 60 pre-selected families. These families had been chosen by Caren who was familiar with local conditions, and we had two destinations today: Kampung Kangkar Pulau and Taman Selesa Jaya. The MRC provided funding for 70% of today’s donations and continued to promote its belief that help should be provided to all Malaysians regardless of race or religion. So, as this is the period of Ramadan then around 70% of donations went to the Muslim community. During the Chinese New Year, 70% of donations would be used for the Chinese community. During major Hindu festival periods, 70% of donations would be used for the Hindu community, and likewise the Christian community is helped during Christmas. This is to give you a rough idea of how monies are spent throughout the year to ensure that no one is left out.
Now that we are in the CMCO period, people are feeling more confident about going out of their homes. But as you will see in the following photographs, maintaining social distancing is quite a challenge, as is the correct wearing of masks! Nevertheless, people are adapting to the new situation and all the volunteers I met today showed immense patience under the intense heat of the Malaysia sun. But the most striking observation today was the kindness of strangers. Individuals, family groups, and communities had got together to help those less fortunate than themselves. They did not want to sit at home staring at digital devices, they wanted to go out and help complete strangers.
As we adapt personally to the new normal, so too do the NGOs. It is no longer enough to simply take food out to the streets and look for people to give it to. Today the recipients of food donations had to complete some paperwork so that the NGOs would know who had received what and make sure that their help was spread out amongst as many different families as possible. There is no centralisation of this information so lucky families might get repeat donations, but there is always someone with local knowledge to help make such that donations are distributed fairly. It is a major task but systems are being developed on the go as everyone figures how to deliver support as efficiently and safely as possible.
I took far too many photos today, so I will split this story amongst the two destinations and tell you a bit more about the people helping their fellow countrymen and women. Just click on the photos below to read more.
Click here to see more about the activities of the Malaysian Red Crescent.
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