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Cooking for the masses is no easy task, especially during times of disaster. Food has to be prepared quickly, hygienically and be good enough to feed the crowds at disaster relief centres.

With teamwork and proper co-ordination, cooking for about 500 people can be accomplished in just two hours. Malaysian Red Crescent Society Penang branch sub-committee chairman of disaster response Peh Cheah Lun said members were trained to cook for large crowds during disasters, adding that mass cookout required the use of the right cooking utensils.

A mass cooking session was held yesterday at the Kota Permai voluntary fire fighting squad centre, Bukit Mertajam. Participants included 200 members of the Padang Lalang constituency disaster relief team and 120 voluntary firemen from Juru, Machang Bubok, Sungai Rampai and Kota Permai.

“Rice is cooked via steaming in a Clinton cooker. After the rice is washed, it is placed on several trays which are then stacked on top of each other in the cooker,” said Peh, adding that the rice would be cooked in 45min. One cooker, which resembles a traditional steamer, can steam rice to feed up to 250 people. During the exercise, volunteers used 30 chickens, 20kg of onions and a gunnysack of potatoes to prepare chicken curry. They also boiled 400 eggs in 15min and used 96 cans of sardines as one of the main dishes. They also stir-fried 50 bunches of cabbage. The total cost of the cooking exercise was RM500.

“All the food cooked today are enough for 500 people,” said Padang Lalang assemblyman Tan Teik Cheng who was present to supervise the exercise. He added that it was important to train volunteers and be ready for disasters. “Since floods always hit my constituency, the disaster team here needs to learn how to handle such situations. With an orderly and good system in place, the team would avert chaos. They would know how to handle the situation,” he said.

WITH an expected increase of accident cases during the Chinese New Year period, the Central and South Seberang Prai Malaysian Red Crescent Society has put three ambulances on a 24-hour standby mode for emergency services.

Central and South Seberang Prai Malaysian Red Crescent Society chairman Dr Yang Yit Min said there would be at least a 30% increase in accident cases during the festive period. “These ambulances along with 30 members would compliment the emergency services rendered by Government hospitals.”

“We will be concentrating more on the trunk roads and will make our services available for any emergencies,” he said before the launching the 24-hour service ambulances at Berapit assemblyman YB Lau Chiek Tuan’s service centre in Bukit Mertajam on Thursday.

The 30-member day team works in three shifts for eight days starting Thursday till Feb 22. The service will now be available from 4pm on Feb 17 till 12 midnight on Feb 19. “This is the eighth year we are providing this service and it will cover the area from Nibong Tebal to Seberang Jaya.”

“Our communication system will be connected to the Seberang Jaya Hospital, Sungai Bakap Hospital and Bukit Mertajam Hospital. We will be communicating via the Penang Emergency Area Radio Link (PEARL),” he said.