SIBU: Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang Ming Tee appealed to the public to support the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) Sibu branch’s fund-raising effort.
MRCS, being a non-profitable and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has been financing its activities through fundraising campaigns.
“They have been very active in participating and designing co-curricular activities in various schools such as the First Aider in Every Home programme, where they teach the current generation of youth to equip themselves with basic first aid skills.
“They never slowed down even during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, due to the restrictions by the government during the height of the pandemic, they stopped having their fund-raising campaigns. Tonight (April 2), marks the reinitiation of the fund-raising campaign,” he said.
Tiang said this when met by reporters after the launching ceremony of the MRCS Sibu branch Annual Flag Sales which will be held for two weeks, here at Taman Selera Muhibbah.
Meanwhile, MRCS Sibu branch chairman Penghulu Chua Hiong Kee said the branch aims to raise RM30,000 through its annual flag sales this year, which is below its annual goal compared to the previous year.
“During this year’s fundraising, we are not involving the students as we do not want to expose them to Covid. Instead, our committee members and adult members participated in it. Hence, we are not setting a high target.
“We only set a target of around RM30,000 for this year. This is very low actually, in the past the target would have been RM100,000 and above. I hope we can achieve it in two weeks.
“I know Sibu people are very generous. We can see a lot of NGOs here raising funds and getting full support from the locals.
“That is why we appreciate them very much. Hopefully, they get to know about MRCS and the work involved bearing in mind that as an NGO, we receive no government grants,” he said.
