By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
ON the rainy morning of December 18, Sio Kee Hong’s usually quiet weekend routine was disrupted when his mobile phone started ringing incessantly. Sensing that something was amiss, the deputy chief executive officer of Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia (Tzu Chi) checked his Whatsapp, to find it filling up with messages and pictures of flooded houses.
Many parts of Selangor, it seemed, were metres deep in water. He wasted no time, contacted his fellow Tzu Chi members and got to work.
Founded in 1966 by Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan, Tzu Chi is an international non-governmental organisation that bases its belief on altruistic love and has conducted humanitarian missions across the world whenever there is a call for help.
It has 507 branches in 57 countries and executes missions through joint efforts with local communities.
Flood aid
“Tzu Chi is no stranger to disaster events. Our long history in Malaysia has helped us to be prepared for any disaster, especially flooding. That is why, on December 18, we started mobilising our resources and manpower to prepare and cook hot meals for distribution in Klang, even before the floods received proper coverage by the media.
“We managed to distribute around 40,000 packs of food to people who were stranded in their houses and were not able to cook. That was one of the first forms of assistance we delivered to the flood victims,” Sio said in an interview with Selangor Journal.
Recollecting his experience in being on the ground in Taman Sri Muda — one of the worst-hit areas — Sio said the mission was very challenging as the location was heavily populated and crammed with stranded vehicles.
“Compared to flood incidents in Kelantan and Temerloh, Taman Sri Muda was logistically inaccessible as water suddenly surged to unimaginable levels, making it risky for our volunteers to go in as we were not trained for that.
“We decided to engage small boat operators and experienced fishermen to help us. Within a short time, we managed to secure 10 boats for the evacuation process,” he said.
During the interview, Sio was joined by Serdang Tzu Chi community leader Koh Yean Ping, who spoke of how victims were left traumatised by the ordeal. Koh, who has been involved in volunteerism for 15 years, said: “I encountered a few victims who told about how hopeless they felt after being stranded in their own homes for two days with no food and water. I felt their pain but could do nothing much except to comfort them and assure them that we are always there to help.
“Imagine, a house belonging to a senior citizen who is taking care of her grandchild was submerged in water for six days. Who is able to clean the house if not for the volunteers? This is why as soon as the water receded, we quickly started the cleaning up process and this helped to lessen the worries of many of the victims,” she said.
From December 24 to 26, Tzu Chi had organised a mega cleanup programme at Taman Sri Muda and Taman Sri Nanding in Hulu Langat with the help of over 8,000 volunteers. Berjaya Corporation founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan and actress Michelle Yeoh were also on-site to assist in the post-flood effort.
Knowing that many victims would need to rebuild and repair their homes, Tzu Chi also distributed cash aid of RM1,000 to nearly 20,000 families under their ‘Bantuan Wang Ihsan’ programme.
Pandemic response
As Covid-19 continues to rage through its fast-spreading variants, Tzu Chi too, is not letting up on its efforts to ease the burdens of affected families.
Koh said Tzu Chi recently launched a short-term assistance program by giving between RM500 and RM800 in cash aid to underprivileged families for a period of three months to help relieve them of their financial burdens.
“Some of the recipients used this money to pay their outstanding rental fees while others used it to buy food items. The recipients were not only from the B40 group but also the M40. Indeed, everyone is struggling now regardless of what car they use and what kind of house they live in,” she said.
On a larger scale, Tzu Chi has spent over RM26 million from its 2021 Malaysia Solidarity Covid-19 Fund to purchase medical equipment that was donated to 56 hospitals and health institutions nationwide.
Other assistance programmes carried out by the foundation since the onset of Covid-19 include the e-caring initiative which helps to provide gadgets and computers to students for online learning as well as conducting free tuition under its e-learning programme, covering the core subjects of Mathematics, Science and Bahasa Melayu.
Dharma Master Cheng Yen was once quoted as saying: “It is not the rich who hold the right to helping others, but those who are sincere.” Standing by this philosophy, Tzu Chi volunteers have been trained to help all humans in need, regardless of their religion, race or citizenship.
This article first appeared in the Selangor Journal monthly February edition, published on January 24, 2022.
