SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW
FOR THE LAUNCH OF INCIDENT SUPPORT UNIT
19 June 2022 @ Lee Sih Chong Soo
YB Phee Boon Poh
EXCO Alam Sekitar dan Kebajikan
YB Joseph Ng
ADUN Air Itam
YB Sim Tze Tzin
Ahli Parlimen Bayan Baru
Tuan Ong Swee Jin
Pengerusi CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Georgeown
Tuan Herry Teh Chee Kong
Presiden CERT Georgetown
Miss Phoong Chew Yee
Chairperson of Lions Club of Penang Hillview
Penguasa Kanan Bomba I Tuan Jamil Bin Abdullah@Othman>
Ketua Zon, Zon 1 Pulau Pinang
Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Negeri Pulau Pinang
YBrs. Dato’ Dr. Teo Gim Sian, Pengarah Hospital Pulau Pinang diwakili oleh Dr. Premaloshini Ramanathan,
Timbalan Pengarah (Perubatan) Hospital Pulau Pinang
Dr. Cheng Ming Hann
Ketua Jabatan Kecemasan & Trauma Hospital Pulau Pinang
Encik Lee Kok Eng
Pengerusi Lee Sih Chong Soo
Dif-dif Kehormat, Rakan-rakan Media dan Tuan-tuan & Puan-puan sekalian.
Salam Penang2030, Salam Sayang Pulau Pinang.
A very good morning to everyone.
I would like to congratulate the great efforts shown by Lions Club of Penang Hillview which had single-handedly raised RM130,000 to purchase this Incident Support Unit (ISU) for the use of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Georgetown. This is certainly no mean feat given the trying conditions faced by individuals and businesses after 2 years of pandemic.
As we transition to the endemic stage and things slowly picking up, prices of daily goods, unfortunately, are also picking up. The worst affected would be the B40 Group, single parent families and the elderly folks.
Given this scenario we are facing, Penang is fortunate in the sense that we have many active NGOs which are more than willing to collaborate with the state government to provide assistance to those who are in need.
This was clearly shown in the last two years where many voluntary bodies have stepped forward with their contributions. I was also personally involved and officiated at these programmes where food baskets, daily necessities and laptops were given out to needy families in order for their kids to continue studying while under lockdown and not to go to bed with hungry stomachs.
Other than that, many organisations and corporate bodies also contributed towards the well-being of our frontliners in the public hospitals and quarantine centres. Face masks, face shields, PPE suits, rubber gloves, you name them. Whenever supplies run low and our frontliners are at risk, the private sector would source for them and replenish our supplies in the nick of time. The priority, at the time, was for our frontliners because they needed to stay safe in order to keep us safe.
Indeed, those were very challenging times and I am very grateful that we pulled through. We succeeded in overcoming those threats because we (the state government, voluntary bodies and the people) stayed together to weather the storm. We believed in one another that during the darkest period, good will prevail as long as we stay calm and do the right thing together. Today, ladies & gentlemen, we bear witness that the worst is now behind us.
Distinguished guests,
From my understanding, the whole idea of donating this vehicle came after the Lions Club of Penang Hillview members went on a humanitarian mission to help out during the Pahang Floods. They realized some limitations after the mission and came up with this unit. I was told that the main element of this ISU unit is indicated by the displayed logo.
On the left is a cooling sign which is the Heat Recovery Zone. This heat recovery zone is inspired by the Singapore Civil Defense Force of their unit called Responder Performance Vehicle which was launched in 2020 and dubbed the first in the world. CERT Georgetown had imported the same equipment used by the SCDF in Australia.
The Kore Kooler Chair (KKC) is designed to help firefighters achieve faster recovery from heat by rapid cooling. It immerses the firefighter's arm in cold water and this lowers their core temperature. It is proven that firefighters will be operational again sooner through this method. The KKC is currently used in Singapore, Hong Kong, United States and Australia. CERT Georgetown will be the first to deploy this technology in Penang. We hope this will benefit our Bomba dan Penyelamat firefighters.
The symbol on the left is a three lightning symbol representing communication while the middle symbol represents medical assistance. The role of the ISU is to offer additional resources and assistance during major events. Tents carried by the ISU that can be set up as field medical treatment posts and incident command posts.
I am also happy to note that CERT members this morning are also providing training to volunteers of Lee Kongsi, MPKK Pykett Avenue and Jalan Northam members on CPR skills and how to use our Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). I hope everyone will learn them well because you never know when a life can be saved when such skills are put to use.
Thank you.
