SINGAPORE, Sept 16 — In the spirit of Malaysia Day celebrations, Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore office has initiated a food donation drive to help the Malaysian community in the republic affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially those in the tourism sector.

Speaking to Bernama, Tourism Malaysia director, Edzuar Zar Ayob Azari said that currently the initiative, dubbed Tourism Malaysia-Singapore Cares Donation Drive, focuses on Malaysians working in the tourism and travel industry who are struggling to make ends meet with the unfortunate layoffs and major pay cuts.

Edzuar said that the pandemic has adversely affected the tourism industry, where travel agencies had to reduce the number of their staff which affected Malaysians.

"This initiative is hoped, to some extent, to alleviate the daily burden of about 30 Malaysians who previously worked in travel agencies,” he said.

He said that the initiative also received support from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) in linking corporate bodies in Singapore to make it a success.

"The support is very encouraging. Not only corporate bodies but also about 15 Singaporeans have contributed to this initiative,” he said.

Edzuar said 40 members of Otai’s Bikers Brotherhood also played a role in distributing the donations to affected households.

This initiative will continue to help affected Malaysians working in the hospitality sector until the end of the year, he said, adding that among donated items are shopping vouchers, canned food, rice, oil, instant noodles and dry goods.

The two-day donation drive was held on September 5 and 6 at Tourism Malaysia’s Singapore office at Robinson Road, and donations were distributed to the recipients on September 13, to coincide with Malaysia Day celebrations. — Bernama