Many Malaysians and some of the country’s institutions made a positive impact on the lives of others.
Here are some of them.
Azwan Omar
With only RM50 in his pocket and a boat strapped to the roof of his Perodua Viva, Melaka native Azwan Omar stormed into headlines this month by selflessly heading to Selangor to help rescue flood victims.
Now a social media sensation, the 29-year-old machine operator dubbed ‘Abang Viva’ then headed to Pahang to help flood victims in Temerloh and Mentakab after his heroics in Selangor.
One of the numerous Malaysians who displayed courage and character by volunteering to help total strangers trapped in the floods, Azwan was hailed by Melaka chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali as a “hero from Melaka”.
Kuan Chee Heng
Kuan Chee Heng, known as “Uncle Kentang” by many who follow his acts of charity online, was given the Commonwealth Points of Light Award in May in recognition of his philanthropy.
The award is given out weekly to a person from the Commonwealth in recognition of their community work. The charity hero was only the fourth Malaysian to receive the honour since its inception in 2018.
Uncle Kentang and the organisation he founded, Community Policing Malaysia, have been responsible for a number of aid efforts aimed at helping society’s most vulnerable, such as a RM1 hearse service, cheap ambulance services, food deliveries to the poor, and his “10 sen pasar” programmes, where he sells donated clothing, appliances and books to the needy.
Dr Serena Nik-Zainal
A Malaysian scientist based in the United Kingdom, Dr Serena Nik-Zainal was awarded the 2022 Francis Crick Medal and Lecture by the Royal Society in August for her “enormous contributions” to the understanding of the causes of cancer.
The Royal Society is the UK’s national academy of sciences. It lauded Serena for her analyses of mutation signatures in cancer genomes, which is now being applied to cancer therapy.
Serena was also in the spotlight in 2019, when she won the Dr Josef Steiner Cancer Research Prize, regarded as the Nobel Prize for cancer research, for her breakthrough research on cancer genome interpretation.
Lee Zii Jia
The rising badminton star became only the third Malaysian men’s singles shuttler to win the All England title this century, which marked the then-world No 10’s first major title.
The Kedahan tamed title holder Viktor Axelsen in three tight games to win the world’s oldest badminton tournament in March, with the national No 1’s biggest achievement prior to his winning the 2018 Chinese Taipei Open.
The last Malaysian men’s singles shuttler who won the All England title was Lee Chong Wei, who lifted the coveted trophy in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Kuala Lumpur City FC
Kuala Lumpur City FC stunned eight-time defending Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) to win the Malaysia Cup in November after a 2-0 win over the wealthy holders from Johor.
The triumph marked KL’s fourth success in the tournament and came as a shock to fans and pundits alike, many who picked local football giants JDT as odds-on favourites to lift the cup.
The victory ended a 32-year wait for KL, with the win even more memorable as the country’s most prestigious tournament celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.
Frontliners
Malaysia’s healthcare frontliners have been the true heroes of the pandemic, working tirelessly over the past two years to battle the various waves of infections.
Fatigued and stretched to the limit by the surge in Covid-19 patients in 2021, especially in the Klang Valley, the country’s frontliners have been instrumental in bringing cases down and rolling out the nation’s massively successful vaccination drive.
Set to be tested once again by the expected wave of Omicron variant cases, they will need all the help they can get from the Malaysian public to ensure compliance with Covid-19 SOPs.
White flag campaign
A campaign that quickly gained traction on social media in light of the lockdown in June, the white flag campaign called for people to put out a white flag to indicate that they need assistance, especially necessities.
It was received positively by netizens and triggered a wave of posts by private individuals on social media attempting to reach out to those in dire situations.
Food banks sprouted across the country in a bid to provide some much-needed relief, helping to ensure that the communities most affected by the pandemic would not go to bed hungry.
Masjid Bandar Bukit Raja
The yet-to-be opened mosque in Bandar Bukit Raja welcomed more than 1,000 flood victims of all races after rising floodwaters submerged houses in the area on Dec 18 and 19.
Mohd Zulkifli Othman, the president of a group comprising 32 residents’ associations in Bandar Bukit Raja, made an urgent call to Md Nazri Mohamed Nor, the chairman of Masjid Bandar Bukit Raja’s construction committee, and they both agreed to open the mosque’s doors to the area’s residents.
“I don’t care whether they are Buddhist, Christians or Muslims. In Bandar Bukit Raja, Alhamdulillah, our ties are like family,” Zulkifli told FMT.
Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya
Klang Valley residents of all races and religions banded together at a Sikh house of worship to prepare thousands of vegetarian food packs for flood victims.
Among those who visited Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya to help cook was former religious affairs minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, sending a clear message to critics by casting aside doubts spread online over whether the food prepared at gurdwaras was halal or not.
With such a diverse group working together to prepare and cook food, the camaraderie fostered as a result of the crisis was clear to see.
The Malaysian public
If there’s one thing that the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and devastating nationwide floods have demonstrated, it’s that Malaysians’ spirit of generosity is second to none.
From rescuing flood victims trapped in their homes to donating food and other necessities to those financially affected by the lockdown, 2021 has shown that when times are tough, Malaysians don’t think twice about helping out.
While many have criticised the government for its apparent failure to protect the people’s welfare during the pandemic or to rescue flood-trapped victims, the Malaysian public has shown that they are always ready to roll up their sleeves and lend a helping hand.