There is no monetary reward in what K.Balasupramaniam does during his leisure
time, yet, he has never complained
about lending a helping hand to those in need.
Since his days in secondary school, Bala, as he is know among friends, has been an active member of the cadet corp,
learn basic first aid and fire and rescue services training.
“It was a great way to make lots of
friends,” recalled Bala who enjoys helping people in any way possible.
The spark of enthusiasm did not die
after he left school, as he got two other friends who were equally eager to
start the Persatuan Bomba dan Penyelamat Sukarela Malaysia (Malaysian Fire and
Rescue Volunteers Association) in 1990.
Although it was difficult initially, Bala said that seeing the association grow with a membership that now stands at
398, had brought him great satisfaction.
“We started off by training cadets
in schools and went on to establish a team of dedicated people within the
association,” said Bala.
This same team has since gone
through numerous courses to update their skills and knowledge and to provide aid
to disaster and accident victims.
The association was officially
recognized by the Fire and Rescue Services Department as one of the volunteer
aid groups that could be counted upon to lend assistance.
“During the Highland Towers
incident, we had 34 members to help out for seven days,” said Bala.
From cleaning-up operations during
flash floods to school gotong-royong, the association is willing to lend a
helping hand.
Besides giving assistance, the
association also initiates public awareness programmes.
In 1993, the association started a
Fire Hydrant Adoption programme where they asked residents to take care of the
fire hydrant in their neghbourhood.
“In this programme, we got residents
to take care of the fire hydrants near their homes by teaching them how to clean
and maintain the hydrant,” said Bala adding that a well maintained hydrant would
not break down during emergencies.
Another public programme was the
Zero Fire Campaign. Besides training residents and factory workers to form a
fire fighting squad in their area, the association managed to get old fire
jackets and helmets from the department for these newly trained squad members.
“Road accidents is our latest
concern,” said Bala. “Often bystanders gather at the site of an accident, but
don’t help the victims at all.”
Bala hopes to change this attitude
among locals through more workshops where basic first aid would be taught.
“The chances of survival for
these victims are higher if someone from the crowd provides immediate first aid
before the ambulance arrives,” he said adding that many people did know what to
do.
Despite managing his own company, Bala is still very much involved in events carried out by the association.
His dream is for the
association to get the type of recognition and respect that the Red Crescent
Society has.
For more information on the
association, call (03)911-0772
