KLANG, July 20, 2019 – Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was attending at the Grand Dinner 2019 in conjunction with the 111th Anniversary (1908-2019) of St. John Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM), today. He also launched the SJAM National AED Program. On the other hand, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad and St John Ambulance Malaysia Chairman Datuk Lai See Ming were also attending.
The Malaysian government encourages everyone to learn first aid as it plays a very important role in helping the needs as well as saving the lives of those who suffer from injuries, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said.
The prime minister said such help can be a crucial improvement to the medical outcome before medical help arrived and in numerous instances, it can also mean the difference between life and death.
“Therefore, I would encourage all Malaysians to support and give your services to organizations such as St John Ambulance so that together we can really make a difference in our community and help those who are in need,” he said at the St John Ambulance of Malaysia 111th anniversary grand banquet dinner here tonight.
Dr. Mahathir, the president of St John Ambulance Malaysia, said one of the significant contributions of St John Ambulance is their tireless effort in equipping Malaysians, especially the younger generation, with first aid and nursing care skills.
“Through such effort, the young are trained in this life-saving skills and in this process, they too learn about leadership, teamwork, perseverance and relationship management which is very crucial in our nation-building.”
“In the end, these young volunteers will develop strong values of compassion, kindness, and humility,” he said, adding that he is satisfied to realize that St John Ambulance has been serving Malaysia for a truly amazing duration of 111 years.
He said it was amazing to realize the progress made by St John Ambulance were on several occasions, he had the chance to meet many dedicated volunteers and learn about the effort that the organization has worked on.
“And more than a century of service is not something we will come by every day. It is indeed a remarkable milestone that not many others can emulate easily,” he said.
At the ceremony, Dr. Mahathir also set up the National Automated External Defibrillator (AED) program which is intended to decrease the number of death caused by the heart attack in public places.
St John Ambulance of Malaysia intends to place AED devices in public places in the Klang Valley and increase the awareness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED education programs, where it will teach local communities about the importance of learning CPR and the method of using AED devices to save lives.
Earlier, Dr. Mahathir presented the competition challenge trophies for the 32nd Malaysia-Singapore First Aid and Nursing Competition and Asian Pacific Regional Youth First Aid Competition to the winners.
Source: pmo.gov.my
