KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — The look on their faces says it all: Relief. The food has arrived.

As of this past week, PichaEats — a social enterprise that delivers food made by families from marginalised groups — distributed almost 1,000 meals to various hospitals and needy communities, with 3,000 more meals to be distributed till March 31.

On Thursday alone, 413 packets of food were delivered to Serdang Hospital, UM Medical Centre, Klinik Kesihatan KL, Elderly Care Centre, and two refugee communities in Kepong and Setapak.

All the dishes are cooked by Picha Chefs from Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan and more, who now call Kuala Lumpur home.

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Some of the meal recipients under the Zaza Movement include Serdang Hospital, UM Medical Centre, Klinik Kesihatan KL, Elderly Care Centre and two refugee communities.
Some of the meal recipients under the Zaza Movement include Serdang Hospital, UM Medical Centre, Klinik Kesihatan KL, Elderly Care Centre and two refugee communities.

This is part of PichaEats’ revival of their  Zaza Movement, named after their late Syrian chef, Zaza, who died in 2017.

PichaEats co-founder Kim Lim says, “Before Zaza passed away, he mentioned that he wanted to serve food to the people in need in Malaysia. However, he couldn’t do so and we decided to fulfil his wish by creating a fund for people to enable that wish to come true.”

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In 2018, when PichaEats (then known as the Picha Project) first started the Zaza Movement, it was a programme where the public can buy meals from a refugee family to be given out to communities in need during the holy month of Ramadan.

This allows the communities involved, such as those from refugee learning centres and People’s Housing Programme (PPR) areas, to break fast with a proper nutritious meal.

Boxed PichaEats meals made by refugee families from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.
Boxed PichaEats meals made by refugee families from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

Lim says, “People were requesting us to cook for the front-liners, an abandoned old folks centre, police officers and refugee communities where the adults lost their job and are in hunger. So we re-activated The Zaza Movement where people can put in money and we will send meals to the people who need them the most.”

Restarting the movement now during the Covid-19 crisis means the refugees who are partnering with PichaEats will be able to cook and still make a living.

Lim says, “The food will then be distributed to the front-liners who are working day and night to save our country and also the people who are in need of food because most of them have lost their jobs during this trying period.”

PichaEats is dependent on help and contributions from the public if the team is to continue their good work, assisting both the front-liners as well as the refugee chefs and their families.

The situation is dire. Lim says, “We are currently distributing the food to three hospitals, three refugee communities, one B40 community and one abandoned elderly centre.”

Happy front-liners who don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.
Happy front-liners who don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

The service is increasingly becoming essential as the front-liners do not have time to buy food in the hospital and some also have limited access to proper meals during this time.

As such, PichaEats is also redoubling their efforts by “connecting with other individuals and organisations to see how we can further assist the communities we are now working with. For the chefs who are cooking with us, it means they don’t have to rely on donations to survive as they can cook and gain a sustainable living during this trying period.”

How you can help

People who are looking to contribute may contact PichaEats at +6012 679 4353 (9am-6pm), email [email protected] or visit

https://www.facebook.com/pichaeats/ &

https://www.pichaeats.com/. Donors to the programme will be able to receive daily updates on the distribution.