On the 16th of March 2020, the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin made an official speech and officially promulgated the Movement Control Order (“MCO”) under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and the Police Act 1967 to commence on the 18th of March 2020. This was in light of the distressing increase of number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.
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The Malacca Bar Committee, in a joint effort between the Social, Welfare and Charity Sub-Committee and the Young Lawyers and Pupils Committee initiated a Charity Programme to collect funds for families whom had fallen through the cracks of our welfare system and were very hard pressed to put food on the table. The Charity Programme commenced from the 22nd of April 2020 to the 29th of April 2020 and was then further extended to the 12th of May 2020 due to the extension of the MCO.
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The members of the Malacca Bar unified for a good cause and collected a generous sum of RM7,560.00. With the donations collected and the assistance of Datuk Kesavan A/L P Krishnan, the National Cancer Society Malaysia and other members of the Malacca Bar, a total of 73 families from the districts of Jasin, Alor Gajah and Melaka Tengah were blessed through this programme.
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Each family was provided with a 10kg bag of rice, a tray of eggs, a packet of flour, a packet of sugar, a bottle of 5kg cooking oil, a packet of rice vermicelli, a bottle of soy sauce, two cans of sardine, two cans of baked beans, a can of milk and two packets of biscuits.
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On the 15th of May 2020, the outstanding team work by 12 volunteers from our young lawyers had gathered and successfully packed 73 packages under just an hour at our Malacca Bar Office premises. The volunteers were efficient and self-disciplined in making sure that each item was carefully packed with love for the families. Malacca Bar is indeed grateful to these young lawyers and their dedication for the society. The following are the young (and not so young) lawyers who took their time off from their schedule to pack and distribute the food essentials to the families:-
- Amira Nazihabt Zainal;
- Muhammad Izzad Syafiq Bin Ismail;
- Asmaa’ Binti Zamri;
- Norfazlinda Binti Alimad;
- Muhammad Farhan Mirza Bin Azme;
- Syarifuddin Bin Mohd Ismail;
- Muhammad Amzar Bin Hasmuddin;
- Muhammad Izzuddin Bin AB Malek;
- Radiance Chin Khee Yoong;
- Jaspal Singh Gill;
- Chen Vi Vian;
- Andrew Law Ching Hui;
- Khaw Thian Keat;
- Sim Win Nee;
- Chu Shir Ling;
- Amanda Seow Mei Wen; and
- Teoh Keat Wee.
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On the 16th of May 2020, Datuk Kesavan’s team and 17 volunteers from the Malacca Bar gathered at 8.00am at the Malacca Bar Office premises to load the items into the respective cars for distribution. The distribution was carried out from 9.00am to 3.00pm with a total of 7 cars. The work and sweat involved in making this programme a success was indeed a life rewarding experience for each and every one of us involved.
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UPDATE
With the balance of donations collected, the Malacca Bar Committee was able to further assist 9 families who were also affected by COVID-19. Among the 9 families were those from the fishermen community as well as families who had recently been laid off due to COVID-19.
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On 14th June 2020, members of the Malacca Bar Committee visited Kampung Pantai Puteri to distribute food essentials to the fishermen community. From there, the Committee Members were able to see how greatly affected the families were as they were not allowed to go out to fish and hence causing them to lose their main source of income. The families expressed their deepest gratitude to the members for the assistance during this difficult time of theirs.
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Several families have also reached out to the Malacca Bar Committee and expressed their hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led the Committee in making the decision to help them and their families, especially those with little infants in need of milk powder and pampers, as well as those that have been recently laid off due to the pandemic, causing them to feel a tremendous burden on their shoulders to feed their families.
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On 4th July 2020, the Committee Members together with volunteers gathered and distributed food items to the families around Melaka Tengah and Alor Gajah areas. It was indeed another fulfilling day for the members as we were able to see the amount of gratitude the families have when they received our help. A little does indeed go a long way for them.
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The Malacca Bar Committee acknowledges that this Charity Programme would not have been successful but for the generous contribution from members of the Malacca Bar and other donors who came together and dipped deep into their pockets even though they were also faced with tough times. The Malacca Bar Committee wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the following donors:-
- Messrs Othman Hashim& Co
- Messrs Koh Kim Leng& Company
- Mr Moi Teik Seng
- Datuk Wong Nai Chee
- Choo Wei Sern, Eric
- Messrs Desmond Ho & Associates
- Messrs KP Ng & Armadas
- Mr Lee Kiat Lee
- Mr Kee Tong Kiat
- Messrs Sekar Gill & C.Suren
- The family of the late Mr. Allen Tan Soon Hock
- Cik Nur Zulaikha binti Rohaizat
- Mr Chew Sin Yee
- Messrs C.Y. Chan & Quake
- Cik Zatalia Song binti Jaudzar Song
- Ms Serene Ong Suan Huey
- Ms Vijaya Kumari A/P Bala Subramaniam
- Cik Nadiah Abdul Haleem Shah
- Ms Hannah Haw Li Ying
- Mr Amritpal Singh A/L Satvindar Singh
- Ms Radiance Chin Khee Yoong
- Ms Yap Wei Ping, Debbie
- Anonymous
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Once again, the Malacca Bar Committee thanks everyone involved in making the Charity Programme a successful event. Thank you.
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Contributed by Radiance Chin
Chairperson, Social Charity and Welfare Committee
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