Grab delivers a well-deserved Chinese New Year celebration to the underprivileged
We take a lot of our basic necessities for granted, like food and shelter. We don’t often think about how we become so vulnerable once those things are stripped away from us because it’s not really something that’s seen a lot, even when absolute poverty in urban areas has risen to 4.5% last year.
On the other hand, if you’re a Grab driver you’d find yourself driving through parts of KL you’ve never gone to and seeing sights you normally never see. These drivers have reported seeing many people sleeping on the streets and children going through trash bins to scrape up what plastic bottles and tin cans they can sell for the sake of financial survival. Sights like these are only exacerbated at night.
Additionally, some Grab passengers would rather walk the rest of the way home in order to save a few ringgit, even if they’re the elderly and carrying bags. Drivers have shared many heart-wrenching stories like these with each other. Looks like every driver has their own sad tale.
And so, this Chinese New Year, about 120 Grab drivers and delivery riders chose to celebrate the holiday by giving underprivileged communities a chance to celebrate it themselves, offering them meals and food essentials. In this #GongXiMakan For All initiative organised by Grab, these drivers are joined with NGOs The Lost Food Project, Kechara Soup Kitchen, Happy Charity Association, Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia, Society of Kuching Urban Poor, Hope Place, Rumah Kebajikan Anak Yatim & Fakir Miskin Perempuan, and Pertubuhan Kebajikan Anak Yatim Lelaki & Miskin Baitul Mukmin.
One such Grab driver, Shanlee Tan, has done work in Klang Valley with The Lost Food Project, a food rescue NGO that believes in redirecting food from landfills to people.
“I am truly inspired by the work of this NGO. Their efforts aim to address hunger issues and climate change by tackling the food waste problem. Instead of letting extra food go to waste, they collect and distribute it to over 80 charities and thousands of B40 families in less privileged areas, regardless of their background. From what I know, the TLFP team has saved 6.7 million kg of food from being wasted, which is the same as 19.1 million nutritious meals, and prevented 16.7 million kg of Greenhouse gases,” — Shanlee Tan.
It’s easy to get stuck in our own bubble of comfort, but when your job exposes you to all different walks of life, you get the kind of wake up call these drivers got. These drivers have expressed that, when people slip through the cracks of society, it is important for community to get together and remind those people that someone remembers and cares about them.
If anyone would like to support efforts like these, you can reach out directly to the aforementioned NGOs!
