Published on: Thursday, January 06, 2005 |
Kuala Lumpur: Some 800 Malaysian prisoners, including those awaiting execution, have dipped into their savings to help victims of the tsunami disaster, officials said.
The total of around RM3,000 may be paltry but it was a major sacrifice for the inmates at the Taiping Prison in Perak, said Prison Director Narander Singh.
"The money is what they have saved to help them start a new life after being released. But they decided to donate that money after reading about the plight of the victims," he told AFP.
Singh said the inmates earned between 40 and 80 sen a day for seven-hour shifts, depending on the work they do ranging from gardening to painting.
He said some of them had wanted to give up their entire savings but the prison felt it was unfair to them and told them to only donate one-third of their collection.
Some 800 inmates, including 18 on Death Row, contributed to the fund, he added. The scale of the December 26 tsunamis that devastated many countries on the Indian Ocean has moved people around the world to dig deep to help victims, with more than 145,000 people dead and millions homeless.
While Malaysia lies closer to the epicentre of the earthquake than many countries harder hit, it was protected from the full force of the waves by Indonesia's Sumatra island. A total of 68 people died in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, national carrier Malaysia Airline said it would give a 50 per cent discount on humanitarian aid cargo bound for tsunami-hit countries out of Newark airport in New York.
The carrier would also offer discounted fares to aid workers, medical teams, volunteers from non-governmental organizations and journalists heading to the disaster zone.
