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 .
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 , 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
