The Malaysian Insight

BETWEEN a vegetable vendor and an operations training manager, some 700 poor families in the Klang Valley have been getting a constant supply of vegetables for free since the start of the movement control order (MCO) last year.

The vendor, 51-year-old Michael Tan, is a vegetable wholesaler at the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market in Selayang while 60-year-old Gabriel Moses is the operations training manager of a freight forwarding company.

The two met through friends and for the past one year, have been working together to help the migrant communities and those from the B40 group in the Klang Valley.

Tan would call Moses two or three times a week if there is an oversupply of vegetables which cannot be sold.

Moses would pick up the vegetables in baskets and make stops at various areas such as Selayang, Sentul, Pandan Indah, Setapak and Gombak, where the poor communities would be waiting.

Tan told The Malaysian Insight that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many people still do not show up at the market and as a result, a lot of his vegetables used to go to waste.

“When Moses approached me, I was thankful to know the vegetables would not go to waste. Some poor families will be able to enjoy them,” said Tan.

“I may not be able to provide them on a daily basis, but whenever there is a big chunk of items left, I would call Gabriel in the evening and he would show up after his work. This happens two or three times a week.

“Before this, all the extra vegetables would be thrown away. But with Gabriel around, at least I don’t feel guilty of wasting the efforts of the farmers,” said Tan.

Moses said prior to this, he was helping out his church to distribute groceries to the poor, but everything hit a snag during the MCO when churches were closed.

“Many contacted me for help. I told them I was not sure how I could assist and that night I could not sleep,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“The next day, I rang the church up and suggested going around in my vehicle to distribute the groceries.”

It was then that Moses made contact with Tan through friends.

Moses initially used his car to do the rounds, but found it too small for the vegetable load.

His friend, Leonard Paiva, lent him his van and both of them are now familiar faces among the migrant and B40 communities.

They would normally get a call from Tan in the late afternoon and by the time they finish their rounds distributing the vegetables, it would be past 10pm.

“When we get the call, we will contact the poor communities at the locations we will be visiting that day and tell them to expect us,” said Moses.

“By the time we arrive, there would be a small crowd waiting. We will unload the boxes and baskets and wait for them to have their fill.

“We try to ensure that no vegetable is wasted. If there is extra, we will keep driving around looking for others until everything is distributed.”

The Malaysian Insight followed Moses on one of their rounds last week to Sentul where a crowd was waiting for the van.

They queued in an orderly manner and took whatever was there – cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, brinjals and leafy vegetables such as sawi and kangkung.

There was no rush. They took as much as they wanted, thanked Moses with grateful smiles and left.

One of them, Ashwin Baskaran, a 19-year-old refugee from Sri Lanka, said the vegetables could be used for up to a month for his household.

“My mother runs a food stall in Jalan Masjid India, so we do take a bit extra compared with the others, as my mum can use the vegetables at her stall,” he said.

“There are six members in my family and this donation has helped ease our burden a lot.”

Refugee Jasentha Anandarasa, 45, who has been in Malaysia for 16 years, said this was the first time someone has come forward to help her with open arms.

“Before this, when we went to the market, it was more often to buy vegetables as we could not afford meat and fish,” she said.

“This is a big help. With the money saved, we can now afford fish or a bit of meat.”

She said although the van is always filled to the brim, she only takes what she needs.

“We have to think of the others who are lining up too,” she added.

Sri Kanjaran was another happy man when met collecting the vegetables in Sentul.

The 43-year-old lost his job as a wireman during the MCO and found it difficult to put enough on the table for his wife and two children.

“Most of the time, it would just be plain rice. But things changed in the last two months when we started getting free vegetables,” he said.

“It has not only helped my family to save up but also put a smile on the faces of my family members as now we have more items on our plates.”

Moses hoped more youth would take part in helping the poor and he encouraged people to join him in his mission to provide for the needy. Those interested to volunteer or assist him can contact 012-209-9114. – April 14, 2021.