Keynote address for St John Johor,
State Level HEAS launching
11/07/2015 at R&R Pandan, EDL
By YB Andrew Chen Kah Eng, ADUN for Stulang Johor
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I
would like to extend my greatest appreciation to St John and all the committee
members for inviting me to this meaningful event.
It is a good
gesture for St. John Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM) launching Highway Emergency Ambulance
Service (HEAS) during Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2015. By sending an ambulance team
to station at strategic location along North-South Highway and major highway,
as well as several federal road trunk during this peak season, is a very good
and important initiative. While disaster or accident can happen at any moment,
NGOs are playing vital role in rescuing life.
NOW, We Are Not 100% Free From Disasters Or Unexpected
Events.
Malaysian has not
experienced major disaster and lack of experience in dealing with the
unforeseen circumstances. Most of the time, we take it for granted that major disasters would not happen in our
country, and therefore the disaster awareness is also comparatively low. When
disaster strikes, most of us are panic and disorganise.
We should take
MH370 and MH17, the Asian tsunami, the
earthquake in Sabah, Kelantan floods as lesson. Outbreak like SARS and MERS are
threatening us as well. Even now we may face terrorist attack. We cannot take
things for granted. We cannot assume anymore that disaster would not happen in
Malaysia forever. We do not know what is
happening tomorrow. It is impossible
for us to forecast any natural disasters, but at least we can foresee that we
are not 100% free from disasters or unexpected events.
Collective Advance Preparation : Government
and NGOs
In my opinion, golden time is extremely critical
during the rescue operations. Involved government units and NGOs must give
timely, effective and necessary assistance to save lives.
It is very usual to see the lack of
capability of the government alone
in rescuing and responding to some of the contingency events.
Hence, the government should cooperate with
NGOs to start a systematic procedure proactively in order to make immediate
response to save lives timely and efficiently.
The government can systematically organize
with NGOs to effectively cater for contingency event. In Kelantan for example,
civil society and NGOs played an important role in the relief.
HOW FAST OUR CAN GOVERNMENT REACT? HOW FAST CAN NGOs REACT? AND THE
IMPORTANT QUESTION NOW IS : HOW FAST CAN BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NGOs REACT
TOGETHER?
In view of this, the government can make
relatively efficient preparation when disaster has not occurred. The government
can operate a systematic model to coordinate with civil society, as well as
take a standard and procedural working practices to conduct the rescue
operations smoothly.
The government should not ignore the power of NGOs. With this advance
preparation and communication, I am sure we will make relief effort much more
effective with better coordination between the government and NGOs.
This is very crucial for Government and NGOs to be well prepared
together before any disasters because, TIME FOR PREPARATION IS OVER WHEN
DISASTER COMES.
DISASTER AWRENESS CAMPAIGN : Public Awareness
and Education on Unexpected Events
So, it is sufficient with just government and NGOs playing their role?
NO !
Disaster awareness among the people should be raised. I think people
need to upgrade their knowledge of first aid and common disaster knowledge. This must be carried out through the
dissemination of information and education which should be done by the
government and NGOs.
Besides that, the people themselves should
take the initiative to acquire disaster knowledge in a pro-active manner, such
as earthquakes, floods, storms, tsunami and other influenza, like MERS which
happened recently.
Only through active discussion and knowledge enrichment,
we can be well-prepared and have sufficient capacity to cope with sudden
catastrophic event.
If the people do not take the initiative to
learn and the efforts only done by the government and advocacy organizations,
the public awareness of disaster will remain limited. For example, relevant
government units can instil the disaster awareness into school syllabus and encourage
students to participate actively.
National Disaster Awareness Campaign must become one of the key emphases
of our country. The
government-sponsored propaganda campaigns should be hold to enhance public
awareness of all disasters. For example, Japan government launch earthquakes
training exercise in school activities. Besides, science museum and the natural
history museum are created to educate the public on disaster knowledge with
interesting ways.
Continuous emphases, continuous education and campaign could help develop better systems,
institutions and medicines. This can reduce casualties caused by any
disaster.
ST JOHN As A Platform To Nurture Volunteers
As we all know, St John has been actively
involved in contingency relief. St John also serves as a platform to nurture
volunteers from all ages, starting form young school children, secondary and
University students, adults, to senior citizen.
Hence, I would like to complement St John for nurturing committed
volunteers for our country. This is actually one of the most important elements
in nation building where by we need as many volunteers as possible to stand by
to deal with any unforeseen circumstances and to protect our “human resource
asset” that we have developed.
Therefore, I call upon the government to
provide financial support for NGOs in preparing and training their members as recognition
for their continuous contribution on social work and contingency relief.
I also urged other NGOs to emulate St. John that
demonstrates good gesture for community work and growth.
Conclusion
We can take a few movies as reminder :
<Twister>, <2012>, <The Day
After Tomorrow>, <St Andreas>
They remind us that :
The moment that we feel it is impossible, it will surprise you the next
immediate moment with greater magnitude.
Hence, let’s get ourselves ready. As Noah Ark
was built when it was not a raining day.
Thanks and I wish St john all the best.
马来西亚圣约翰救伤队柔州分会
开斋节南北大道救援服务开幕礼
11/07/2015 at R&R Pandan, EDL
By YB Andrew Chen Kah Eng, ADUN for
Stulang Johor
各位早上好，
首先，我要向圣约翰救伤队和所有会员致上至诚的谢意，邀请我出席这么有意义的活动。
圣约翰救伤队在佳节期间，派救伤车队在南北大道驻守，是一项很好的举措和训练。因为在任何灾难来临的时刻，非政府组织的角色至关重要。
现在，我们不再100%置身在没有灾害和突发事件的安全地带。
身处安逸社会太久，没有经历重大灾难的马来西亚民众，没有
经验应付无法预期的情况。大多数时候，我们理所当然地认为我国不会发生重大灾难，因此危机意识相对不高。当灾难袭击时，大部分民众会惊慌和没有组织。
我们应该将马航MH370和MH17坠机事件、亚洲大海啸、沙巴地震、吉兰丹大水灾等事件，作为教训。流感疫情如SARS和MERS的爆发也威胁着我们。甚至目前，我们可能面临恐怖分子的攻击。我们不能理所当然，以为灾难永远不会发生在马来西亚。我们不知道明天会发生什么事。我们不可能预测任何自然灾害的发生，但至少我们可以预料我们不再100%置身在没有灾难和突发事件的安全地带。
共同预先准备：政府与非政府组织
我认为，在救援行动上，黄金时间至关重要，涉及政府单位和非政府组织必须给予及时、有效、必要的协助，才能拯救生命。
政府本身在突发事件发生时，救援和反应能力不足，已然是很普遍的情况。
因此，政府理应和非政府组织配合，共同启动最即时的系统程序，才能及时且有效地救助更多宝贵生命。
政府可以更有系统地组织与非政府的合作模式，来有效应对突发事件。例如去年底的吉兰丹大水灾，民间团体就扮演重要的救济角色。
我们的政府回应突发事件的速度可以有多快？民间团体的反应又有多快？还有，现在最重要的问题是：政府和非政府组织两者合作后，共同回应突发事件的速度有多快？
有鉴于此，如果政府在灾难未发生时，做出相对有效的准备，实行政府、民间结合的系统模式，采取标准化和有程序的一系列准备和配合工作，这将可降低每当灾难来临时，政府措手不及的情况，也不会发生救援来迟，耽误灾民获救的情形。
政府不可忽视非政府组织的力量，在灾难未发生时，与它们搭好沟通桥梁，做出预先准备，我相信我们将可使拯救行动更有效率。
对政府和非政府组织来说，共同做出充分准备来应付任何灾难，这是相当关键的。因为，当灾难来临时，已经没有多余时间准备了。
灾难意识运动：公众意识和突发事件教育
所以，只有政府和非政府组织扮演他们的角色就足够了吗？不是！
民众在提高灾难意识方面，仍须努力。我认为，民众必须提升本身的急救知识和灾难常识。这必须通过资讯的传播和教育，这部分主要由政府和非政府组织负责。
除此之外，人民本身也要主动学习吸收灾难知识，如地震、水灾、风灾、海啸、流行性感冒如MERS等。
民众唯有通过积极讨论和充实灾难知识，随时做好准备，才能有充足的能力应付突如其来的灾难事件。
如果仅交由政府和组织宣导，人民却没有自主学习的动力，将事倍功半。例如，有关单位可通过学校教程，宣导学生积极参与。
国家灾难意识必须成为国家强调的大方向。政府应惯常主办宣导运动，提升民众对所有灾难的意识。例如，政府可仿效日本将地震演习训练，列入学校活动；或通过科学博物馆和自然历史博物馆，以生动有趣的方式教育民众灾难知识。
持续性强调灾难意识，持续教育和举办宣导运动，将灾难知识普及化，可有助研发更好的系统、制度和医药。这可降低任何灾难造成的人命伤亡。
圣约翰救伤队作为培育志工的平台
大家都知道，圣约翰救伤队一直积极参与突发事件的拯救行动。圣约翰救伤队也是培育志工的平台。所有年龄的人士，从小学生、中学生、大学生到成人和乐龄人士，都参与圣约翰救伤队志工的培训活动。
因此，我想在此称赞圣约翰救伤队，在为国家培育有使命感的志工时，已为社会作出巨大的贡献。这其实是在国家建构的过程中，其中一项重要的元素。我们尽可能需要更多的志工待命，以应付无法预测的情况，以及保护我们已发展的 “人类资源资产”。
我呼吁，政府应在民间救援队伍预备和训练队员时期，提供更多经济上的协助，肯定它们对社会工作和拯救行动的持续付出。
我也呼吁，其他非政府组织仿效圣约翰救伤队，为社会示范良好举动，贡献一己之力。
结论
我们可以以几部灾难电影作警惕：
《2012》、《明天过后》、《加州大地震》
这些电影提醒我们：
当我们感觉不可能的时候，你会在下一刻被更大的强度震撼。
所以，让我们未雨绸缪。因为在还没下雨的时候，诺亚方舟已经建好了。
谢谢。但愿圣约翰救伤队一切顺利。
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