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Posted: 05 Sep 2011 10:37 AM PDT

Back to Somalia

2011/09/06
By Elvina Fernandez
news@nst.com.my

Putera 1Malaysia Club to set up camp dedicated to Noramfaizul

KUALA LUMPUR: The Putera 1Malaysia Club will return to Somalia next month to continue its humanitarian efforts there.

Club president Datuk Azeez Abdul Rahim said the details were being finalised.

"We learn from every mission and the club will improve safety measures. We want to set up a 1Malaysia camp dedicated to Noramfaizul (Mohd Nor, the BernamaTV cameraman who was shot dead in Mogadishu)," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

Azeez said, so far, about half of the recent mission team members were prepared to return to Somalia.

"They are prepared emotionally, mentally and physically to go back there." He dismissed the need for counselling to help participants cope with emotional instability or trauma from the incident.

"They are coping fine with the incident." Azeez said there was a medical team, headed by Dr Alwi Abdul Rahman, providing emotional support to participants.

He said comments and suggestions from various quarters would be taken into account as there was room for improvement before the next mission departed.

"We have an open mind to criticisms but the public has to also recognise our sacrifices.

"We did not carry out the mission for money or fame, but to bring humanitarian aid there.

"It was on a voluntary basis and purely a humanitarian effort."

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More want to sign up for club's next mission

Posted: 05 Sep 2011 10:36 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: No one was more fearful of something untoward happening in Somalia than Putera 1Malaysia Club president Datuk Abdul Azeez Rahim.

"The night before the flight, during a briefing, I kept telling the media personnel that if anyone wanted to step down, they could do so. Nobody did.

"I even gave blank cheques, credit cards, ATM cards with pin numbers to my wife before I left. I, too, have young children at home, and I made the necessary preparations in the event that I would die, because I was certain that if anyone was going to be shot in Somalia, it would be me," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

Despite the immense backlash he had faced, the allure of signing up for humanitarian missions in conflict areas was still very much alive.

Azeez said he received more than 50 text messages from the public, including media, asking if they could join him and the club on its next mission.

He also hit out at his detractors, who were calling for Umno Youth to be held responsible for the death of BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor.

"This has nothing to do with Umno Youth. Putera 1Malaysia Club is purely a non-governmental organisation with a membership comprising various races.

"People are trying to draw parallels between the club and Umno just because I am a supreme council member of the party."

Azeez said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had come to the Subang air force base on Sunday not because of his affiliation with the party.

"They were there because they were proud of their fellow citizens who contributed to needy countries, representing Malaysia and bearing the Malaysian flag."

On an online news portal report quoting Noramfaizul's uncle, Abu Bakar Md Yasin, demanding that the club take responsibility for his nephew's death, Azeez said he had spoken to the uncle last night and he was satisfied with his explanation.

"Noramfaizul's parents also told me that they accepted their son's death and thanked me and Datuk Seri Najib Razak for our concern," he said.

Earlier in the morning, Azeez, who appeared on RTM's Selamat Pagi 1Malaysia programme alongside Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, said he was informed by the insurance company that RM200,000 would be paid out to Noramfaizul's family.

He slammed critics who labelled him "unpatriotic" for not focusing on helping those in need at home first, adding that the club had placed 11 ambulances with 11 volunteer doctors and 66 paramedics on highways to assist balik kampung motorists involved in accidents.

He also criticised DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang for calling the mission a publicity stunt.

"Lim's statement is wrong. Ask DAP to do one dangerous mission and see if they'll do it or not."

Azeez also shared his account of what transpired during the incident.

Rais said the club had done everything according to procedures, but the current standard operating procedures should be fine-tuned to prevent mishaps in the future.

He said among the things that need to be looked at were the preparations for a particular mission, depending on whether it was related to natural disasters or an area of conflict.

He said it was also important for the organisers to take out special insurance policies for its participants.

Azeez said a team, comprising Malaysian ambassador to Libya Datuk Zulkifli Yaacob and a military intelligence officer holding the rank of colonel, had done reconnaissance of the area prior to the mission, adding that the club had gone a step further to insure everyone although they had signed indemnity forms.

Rais said volunteers and media personnel who had participated in humanitarian missions overseas could share their experiences with future mission participants and assist the Tun Abdul Razak Broadcasting and Information Institute (IPPTAR) in coming up with a syllabus on covering conflict zones.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Isnin, 5 September 2011