PUTRAJAYA, Sep 8 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said helping the plight of Palestinians does not mean ignoring Malaysians, but rather about sharing and helping more people.
She said the National Welfare Foundation’s efforts to assist needy Malaysians have neither been stopped or reduced.
“It will continue to provide the various services it offers to Malaysians and is expected to offer more,” said Dr Wan Azizah during the foundation’s Palestinian Fund campaign launch.
She said doing good deeds is not something that should be constrained by boundaries, adding that other countries assisted Malaysia during the 1993 Highland Towers tragedy and the East Coast floods in 2014 and 2015.
“It is not about a trade-off between helping someone and not helping others. It is not a zero-sum game,” said Dr Wan Azizah.
Acknowledging that Malaysia as a country is experiencing a difficult period, she said it does not mean Malaysians cannot be generous.
“The food of one person is enough for two, and the food for two is enough for four, and the food of four is enough for eight,” said Dr Wan Azizah, quoting a saying by the Prophet Muhammad.
The foundation is working together with other NGOs to provide support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The agency currently operates 711 schools and over 150 clinics in the Palestinian Territories, with over 500,000 children dependent on their schooling system.
