Honorary
firefighters
The Star, October 9,
2004
By DEEPAK GILL
Pictures courtesy of
MVFRA
The distress call comes in – urgent help is needed! The officer
in charge immediately mobilises a team. They rush to their
operations centre and put on their gear – a search and rescue
operation is underway. These volunteers are members of the Malaysian
Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association (MVFRA).
The MVFRA is made up of private citizens who feel compelled to
contribute time and effort in the event of a fire or disaster, as
well as in fire prevention. One of the main movers behind the
association is its founder and chairman, Volunteer Capt K.
Balasupramaniam, who started it all back in 1990 with two other
members of the Malaysian Fire & Rescue Cadet Corp.
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Capt K. Balasupramaniam is proud of his
Firekids (also below). |
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Besides being
in the thick of action when required, the people in MVFRA also
undertake the more mundane but necessary tasks – education and
prevention in the event of an emergency. Currently they are focusing
on educating kids on fire prevention.
The association has an active membership of more than 100 people
(total membership is a lot more). The volunteers range in profession
from teachers, doctors and technicians, to architects and
interpreters, and they include both men and women, able and disabled
individuals. The volunteers act as a back-up team for the Fire &
Rescue Department (FRD).
In 1992, the association’s rescue efforts in the Bright Sparkles
fire tragedy in Sungai Buloh earned them recognition from the FRD. A
year later, MVFRA once again responded to a call for help during the
Hill View Highland Towers tragedy which claimed more than 40 lives.
In 1999, the association was bestowed the National Youth Award. Capt
Bala himself has been awarded the Loyal Service Award and the
Director-General’s medal (the department’s highest award) by the
FRD, as well as the Outstanding Young Malaysian Award.
There are many more Malaysians trained in fire-fighting out there
now, thanks to MVFRA.
“We accept anyone who wants to serve the country through this
association. You will be equipped with knowledge and skill that
could one day be put into practice,” says Capt Bala, 31. Several
MVFRA volunteers even served in Bam, Iran, following the massive
earthquake there.
“Our volunteers are basically ordinary people doing extraordinary
things,” Capt Bala says. He thinks of fire-and-rescue duty as a
noble endeavour – more so when one does it without monetary
incentives. “The training isn’t tough, and it is an on-going
process. Even after 14 years in this line, I can’t call myself
‘qualified’,” he says. “Each situation that we face is unique and
different.”
There are several “categories” of volunteers in the association’s
pool of volunteers, such as action volunteers (those who are
well-trained and prepared to be called into action at anytime);
professional volunteers (like doctors and geologists); and
prevention volunteers (those that work in educational programmes,
etc).
“However these categories do overlap,” Capt Bala points out. The
MVFRA has a communications officer in charge of its database and who
handles call-ups in an emergency. Regular training takes place on
Sunday for about two hours. The association has a few vehicles that
it maintains by itself, including a boat bought with money the
volunteers pooled together.
When he’s not on volunteer duty, Capt Bala is a lecturer and
consultant on mass evacuation and emergency occupational safety. He
has advised government bodies, private corporations and facilities
like airports on safety issues.
“There is joy in helping people,” Capt Bala says. “If I can save
just one life, that would be enough.”
Help them help us
THE saying, Prevention is better than cure, always hits
home whenever there is a disastrous fire. Taking the message in the
old saying to heart, the MVFRA is being pro-active by training
children to be aware of the dangers of fire.
So far they have trained 7,000 “Firekids”. These are children who have undergone
training via the association’s Firekids Club, which educates kids on
fire prevention and safety. The programme ends with a glorious
graduation – a ride in a fire engine! MVFRA has set a target of
training 25,000 Firekids.
The main challenge the association faces isn’t in getting the 70
volunteers required for each session – it’s getting the funds.
“Each time we conduct one of these workshops it costs RM15,000,”
says Capt Bala.
“We have to raise all the funds for the association by ourselves,
and we are run entirely by unpaid volunteers. It’s a challenge.”
Apart from holding fundraisers, the MVFRA is also looking for
sponsors for its programmes.
“To fight a fire only when it happens is not just costly in terms
of life and property loss, it’s also expensive in terms of
mobilising people and resources. So it’s best to channel money and
effort towards prevention. It’s cheaper and, more importantly,
painless,” observes Capt Bala.
The association believes in “starting them young” when it comes
to instilling fire safety awareness – from as young as three, though
most of the kids they reach out to are between five and 12. The
programmes target both children and parents.
“If you ask adults to attend a fire safety programme, chances are
they wouldn’t do it. But when they accompany their children, they
indirectly learn too. The kids can also educate their parents. We
also find that children tend to learn better from ‘outsiders’ than
from their parents.”
“We have conducted surveys at kindergartens to observe children’s
attention span. We want to ensure they have a great time and, at the
same time, derive maximum educational benefits from our programmes,”
Capt Bala explains.
The sessions are therefore lively and incorporates elements of
music, adventure as well as “special effects” (smoke machines, etc
are used).
To raise funds and achieve its target of training 25,000
Firekids, the MVFRA is currently selling 1,000 tickets at RM23 each
for the charity premičre of the fire-fighting movie, Ladder
49. The screening (at Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya) is for Oct
13 at 9pm.
The fundraising event, which will be launched by Datuk Lee Lam
Thye, begins at 7.45pm. There will be an exhibition on volunteer
fire-fighters and a quiz on fire safety at 7.30pm (offering prizes
like exclusive Ladder 49 posters and T-shirts). A total of
1,000 paper fireman’s hats will also be given away to kids. W
For ticket enquiries or corporate sponsorship, call (03) 9200
1994/012 288 5067 or e-mail: mvfra_anita@hotmail.com.
Delivery can be arranged for purchases of five tickets or more. More
information about the association as well as lots of safety tips are
at http://www.mvfra.org/.
