This is just ‘something’ to help ease people’s burden as not everyone has been fortunate to have jobs and an income today

by LYDIA NATHAN / pic courtesy of Shoban Ratnam & Divakar Sivasubramaniam

THE extended Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in the Klang Valley and various areas in different states, along with the nationwide Recovery MCO and new directives and regulations meant to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, seem to have pushed more Malaysians closer to the edge.

The sharp increase in the number of families and individuals in need of assistance has somehow prompted more parties to create more projects aimed at easing all the burden and hardship faced by fellow Malaysians.

One great example is local eatery Sembang, which began producing food out of its kitchen after the first MCO was implemented in March 2020.

Its founder Tim Fernandez said he realised Sembang would not be turning profits for the time being and decided to utilise the space to provide hot meals, particularly to frontliners.

He told The Malaysian Reserve that meals were initially delivered to various hospitals and police road set-ups all over Kuala Lumpur (KL).

“I launched a Facebook post using my own profile and it soon gained traction within my circle of friends who wanted to help. It all happened very fast, we had donations coming in, we mobilised a team, made calls and began moving food out of the kitchen,” he said.

According to Fernandez, resources for the cooking and delivery are derived from the team’s own infrastructure which include the restaurant manager and a driver.

“We looked at donating hot meals to places where there was a shortage and were eventually directed to various homes, including orphanages and homes for the elderly, children with special needs and HIV patients.

“All of the meals are handpicked from our menu, and contain rice, one protein, vegetables and a drink. People donate RM10 for each meal and our team looks after the logistics for delivery,” Fernandez said.

So far, he said the meal drive has reached about 3,000 individuals, and it is back up and running today.

“We have meals cooked at the kitchen and going out by the 100s each day. On some days, the volume got so high we have to halt deliveries with previous partners like GrabFood and Foodpanda to cater to this project first,” he said.

Fernandez added that the team welcomes anyone who would like to donate.

“We had words, that due to market conditions, funding was pulled out from these homes and we wanted to help. I’m personally pledging to match every meal donation to ensure this initiative continues. I can’t do this alone, but I can do my little bit. It is a small gesture of help, but we will never know how it can build into a tidal wave of support,” he said.

Meanwhile, another team that has been landing a helping hand is Shoban Ratnam and Divakar Sivasubramaniam, who began purchasing groceries for poor families across Malaysia.

Shoban said the duo are actively raising funds to purchase groceries from suppliers and manufacturers directly to save on cost.

“We started off by going on the ground and looking for families that needed help. Then, these families would notify us of others that were in need and suddenly, we had a list of families to help out.

“We utilised social media for fundraising and we had individual donations coming in for us to buy essential items like rice, bread, sugar, milk and more for these families. In the last MCO, we purchased groceries for about 150 families across Sentul, Batu Caves, Bukit Jalil, Setapak and Batang Berjuntai,” he said.

A homeless feeding project was also conducted to provide hot meals to those who did not have the liberty of staying at home.

“It was very sad to see there were so many homeless people still on the street when everyone was told to stay indoors. We found a catering service that cooked hot meals and we would go around mainly the KL areas, like in Brickfields, Petaling Street and Chow Kit, to give away these meals,” Shoban said, adding that the duo would feed about 100 individuals during each trip.

Divakar said he has been involved with charitable organisations for the last five years and saw an opportunity to help when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

“We were not prepared for the number of requests we received as our scope began to diversify to single parents and widows as well. We’ve also gotten requests from people in Kedah and Johor Baru, so we’ve been reaching out to friends there and getting them to help us purchase and do the packing as well,” he said.

Divakar added that he is part of a four-wheel-drive group who use their vehicles to drive deep into the jungle and deliver items to the Orang Asli.

“We were also part of the rescue mission during the floods in Kelantan. This has helped us right now to load up our vehicles with groceries and do the deliveries, so we can carry as much as possible on a trip,” he said.

The duo said for Deepavali this year, they will target to donate groceries to 300 families.

“We just launched the new initiative for Deepavali a few days ago, so we are in the process of raising funds. We are targeting about RM35,000, so we can provide basic necessities, cleaning products and items that individual families may urgently require,” Divakar said.

He added that many families have witnessed their sole breadwinners lose jobs due to the pandemic and are facing some really tough times.

“This is just something we want to do to help ease people’s burden as not everyone has been fortunate to have jobs and an income today.

“Anyone who would like to donate can reach out to us on social media and participate in this manner, especially when the Deepavali festival is just around the corner.”