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Malaysian Red Crescent Penang Branch has a new ambulance — thanks to the Kuwait Finance House.

The ambulance was among three donated by Kuwait Finance to the society, with the other two going to the MRCS Sabah and Kuala Lumpur branches. A ceremony was held to mark the handover of the ambulance at the Penang MRC headquarters on Grove Road.

Branch chairman Datuk B.J. Yeang said some of their ambulances were quite old.  “Having a new ambulance that is fully equipped with medical equipment will help us tremendously in carrying out our duties,” she said.  The branch now has 10 ambulances, including the new one.

The ceremony coincided with the launch of a two-day ‘Pre-hospital Care’ course for MRCS members.

The Penang MRCS branch received an ambulance worth RM150,000 from Renesas Semiconductor (M) Sdn Bhd which was the main sponsor for the society’s Fund Raising Dinner 2008 held at Equatorial Hotel Penang.

The dinner, which were graced by Penang Governor Yang diPertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas and his consort Toh Puan Majimor Shariff, raised over RM100,000 in ticket sales.

MRCS Penang branch chairman Ir. Saw Ewe Yong said the society had provided a 12-hour ambulance service in Bukit Mertajam since February last year and intended to expand it to a 24-hour service and to Penang island in the near future.

TENAGA Nasional Bhd has been told to expedite the repair of street lamps, especially in rural areas in the Bagan constituency to reduce snatch theft cases.  Bagan Dalam assemblyman P.K. Subbaiyah said many residents claimed that TNB and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council were slow to react to their complaints.

“The authorities concerned should take days and not months to process the applications for new streetlights as well as to repair the faulty ones. There are still many poorly-lit areas such as Hujung Batu, Lorong Kubor and Kampung Benggali in my area,” he said after launching Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) Butterworth’s 24-hour ambulance services for the Chinese New Year festival recently.

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It is the holiday season but duty beckons. Like their counterparts in the police force, Rela and other uniformed groups, Malaysian Red Crescent Society members were on duty at the Prime Minister’s Hari Raya open house.

A group of 28 members from the society’s Butterworth chapter were at the event to attend to cases such as fainting among the huge crowd. They did not mind working despite the holiday season. “I am very happy to be on duty because I can help people. I don’t mind sacrificing my holiday for such events,” said 14-year-old Saw Rui Xiang.

Rui Xiang joined the MRCS a year ago and eagerly offered her services whenever volunteers were needed. She joined the society because of her ambition to be a doctor. “I can learn how to save lives and how to deal with people’s problems,” she added. Among those whom the MRCS members helped was a seven-year-old girl who fainted at noon because of the sweltering heat.

The girl was sent to the Kepala Batas Hospital for observation after the MRCS members gave her first aid.

UPON learning that the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) Penang branch was seeking funds to buy a four-wheel drive (4WD) for disaster response operations, one company decided to give them such a vehicle.

The Boeing Company promptly donated a Ford Ranger worth RM100,000.

The regional vice-president of South-East Asia Paul Walters said the vehicle would be used to carry rescue personnel and equipment to disaster sites.

“The funding for the vehicle comes at a time when the Malaysian government and the MRCS are upgrading disaster response services,” he said, adding that Boeing shared the sentiment of the countries affected by the tsunami in December last year.

Walters handed the mock key for the vehicle to Penang Governor Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas, patron of the MRCS Penang branch, during the Annual Dinner recently.

The branch chairman Ir. Saw Ewe Yong said as a voluntary organisation which depended totally on fundraising to carry out its activities and projects, the branch required a minimum annual funding of RM500,000 for various training programmes.

MRCS national chairman Tunku Tan Sri Shahriman Tunku Sulaiman also commended the Penang branch for its active role during the tsunami disaster.

“The branch was actively involved in search and rescue, counselling, health care, mass cooking and other relief operations,” he said.

The event raised a gross sum of RM155,000 for the society.

The Boeing Company had donated an new Ambulance cost about RM150,000 to Malaysian Red Crescent Society Penang Branch in the MRCS Penang Fund Raising Annual Dinner 2004 at Shangri-La Hotel as their recognization on the execellent service that MRCS provided to the communities and its humanitarian works.

The donation was handled to His Excellency the State Governor of Penang, T.Y.T Tun Dato’ Seri Utama (Dr.) Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas S.M.N., D.U.P.N., S.P.D.K., D.M.P.N., D.J.N. by The Boeing Region ACEO and witnessed by the MRCS Penang Branch Chairman Ir.Saw Ewe Yong.

The presented honorary guests were Mr.William Charlie – The United State Ambassador, Mr.Chan Hon Kwong, Mr.Lim Yam Koi and Mr.Lim Kim Chuan.

The Boeing is a company that provided largest fight service in the world and it has very wide global networks to 145 countries in the world.

There was also sponsorship from Renesas Semiconductor, Agilent Technologies, A.A.Anthony Security, Malaysia Trade & Transport Co., Oracle Corporation, Boon Siew, Mini-Circuits Technologies, The Penang Floral Art Society and etc.