UNABLE to watch babies go hungry, a man in Batu Pahat, Johor, has decided to start his own volunteer team to distribute food items to families in need, including milk powder for babies.

Klaus Lim Chun, 33, a father himself, is a contractor. He started distributing supplies for families in need at the height of the white flag campaign in July.

The campaign urged those in need to raise a white flag outside their homes to alert those who may be able to help. The movement has now moved online.

“I saw some families living in miserable conditions. On top of the poor living conditions, one family with five children couldn’t afford to buy milk for the baby.

“They were feeding the baby sugar water and condensed milk,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Lim said that while adults could go hungry, it is difficult for children who don’t know any better and will cry when hungry.

“Babies are innocent. Looking at what was happening, I discussed it with my brother, who is also a new father, and we decided to team up and distribute milk powder.”

The initiative called “Susu Baby Campaign” has been in operation for three months now.

During the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic, they received about 500 requests a month. To date, they have assisted nearly 2,000 families.

Lim said the request for help comes through various channels. He vets each request before delivering the supplies personally.

“During the peak, when there were 20,000 daily Covid-19 cases, regardless of the weather, I delivered the items in full protective gear. After that, we will immediately disinfect before going home to our families.”

Lim now has around 20 volunteers, who are mostly new parents as well.

At one point, Lim said at least RM30,000 worth of supplies were needed.

No discrimination

Fortunately for him, his family, friends, schoolmates and business partners supported his endeavour.

“In addition to providing milk powder, we also help raise funds for sick children. There was a baby who had blood cancer and needed regular visits to Kuala Lumpur but the father was only earning RM1,000 per month.

“We managed to raise some funds to help the family out.”

Lim said about 90% of the families he had assisted were Malays, Orang Asli and foreigners. He helps anyone who comes to his door without discrimination.

“Foreign workers here are often helpless and require our assistance. As soon as they resumed work, they notified us to stop providing them with aid and give to others.”

While his team is focused on helping in the Batu Pahat area, Lim said he has received requests for help from people in Johor Baru and even Kuala Lumpur.

After reviewing the request, Lim mails the supplies to them.

His work has now earned him the nickname Abang Susu among grateful beneficiaries.

Now that most economic sectors have been reopened, Lim said the number of requests coming in has significantly reduced but he does not have plans to stop helping those in need.

“We will continue to provide targeted milk powder assistance to babies who are ill and to those from poor families.”

Lim has set up a Facebook page with more than 4,000 likes to document his work. – November 12, 2021.