KUALA LUMPUR, December 18 — Established since 1938, the Salvation Army Malaysia is known for their many relief efforts to the less fortunate.

Among their famous work is the Christmas Kettling fundraising campaign, where they’ll open up booths with the iconic red kettle to raise funds by selling used books, clothes and official merchandise while spreading the joy of Christmas.

According to their regional officer, Major Francis Ng, the Christmas Kettling campaign has been a tradition in Sabah and Sarawak and it had just been reintroduced in peninsula Malaysia in 2016 with the most recent one held in Citta Mall, Ara Damansara last year.

"The purpose of the Christmas Kettling tradition is to raise funds for local projects where the kettles are at,” said Ng.

"For instance, funds raised in Kuching will remain in Sarawak and the proceeds will be channeled into the maintenance of our two children’s homes (Kuching Children’s Home and Kuching Boys Home).

"Also to our community services projects in the area, where we offer support to families in need and also emergency relief works,” he said.

Unfortunately, the global Covid-19 pandemic has left the Salvation Army Malaysia to cope with the significantly increased demand for their services apart from facing a reduction in financial contributions as well.

Because of this, Salvation Army Malaysia had no other choice but to innovate this year’s Christmas Kettling online.

"People are encouraged to donate in big or small ways and you can find out more information on our Facebook page so that we can continue our work in our local communities.

"For members of the community that are in need of assistance, we will provide food parcels that include rice, canned food and instant noodles, and also milk formula and diapers for families with young children.”

"For emergency relief work, we will provide essential goods depending on the severity of their needs, and this may include food and clothes,” Ng said.

Even though the Christmas Kettling is online, they have also managed to open five physical Christmas Kettling stations in shopping malls in Kuching, Sarawak including at CityONE Megamall, Plaza Merdeka and Vivacity Megamall.

The Christmas Kettling station is also available in peninsula Malaysia at Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya Medical Centre, which will end just before Christmas.

Besides that, the Salvation Army Malaysia also has a wide range of social services projects in other areas such as Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Banting, Melaka, Bintulu and Kota Kinabalu where they operate residential homes and community based support programmes.

The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 in the United Kingdom and is currently present in 130 countries globally.

The first Christmas Kettling campaign was done by the San Francisco chapter in 1891 where they decided to raise funds for a hot Christmas meal for the poor in the area.

Ever since then, the Christmas Kettling has been a tradition in many countries where the Salvation Army serves, including  South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

For more information on how to contribute to this year’s Christmas Kettling campaign, please click here.