St John hopes to go 24 hours

KUALA LUMPUR: The St John Ambulance Malaysia hopes to provide 24-hour ambulance service throughout the nation by next year.
Its commander-in-chief Datuk Dr Low Bin Tick said presently, only the capital, Selangor, Johor Baru, Malacca, Batu Pahat and Penang offered such services.

Happy birthday: Liow (second from right) and Dr Low blowing the candle at the St John Ambulance Malaysia’s 100th year anniversary celebration in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. With them are council members Tun Hanif Omar (second left) and Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye (right).

It is learnt that the lack of facilities in most states has restricted the organisation to expand the service nationwide.
“We hope to get more support from the Government including making amendments to the St John Ambulance Act so that we can get more than RM30,000 allocation per year to fund our activities,” he said in his speech at the St John Ambulance Malaysia 100th year anniversary dinner here last night.
He said the organisation had 60,000 members, adding that it needed more funds to provide training to its members.
Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, who is the vice-president of the organisation, announced a RM50,000 allocation for St John Ambulance Malaysia.
“More than 50,000 cadet members are currently being trained by St John Ambulance throughout the nation and it is the biggest youth organisation in Malaysia,” he said in his speech.
Liow also said his ministry would continue to provide assistance for the organisation’s good work.

The Star 15th December 2008