KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Boxes and boxes of donated medical equipment from the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation landed in Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening to assist Malaysia in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s Embassy in Malaysia announced today.
In a brief Facebook post, the embassy did not specify the amount of medical equipment in the cargo that was flown to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), but said this was part of the two foundations’ larger aid to four countries.
“On the evening of March 25, the medical supplies donated by the #JackMa Foundation and the #Alibaba Foundation arrived at KLIA.
“The shipment of face masks, testing kits, protective suits and face shields is part of a wider donation initiative to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The four nations will collectively receive a total of two million face masks, kits for testing 150,000 people, 20,000 protective suits and 20,000 face shields,” it said in the Facebook post.
On March 19, both foundations announced that it would send two million masks, 150,000 test kits, 20,000 protective suits and 20,000 face shields to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Chinese business magnate Jack Ma is the co-founder and former executive chairman of e-commerce and retail company Alibaba Group.
China and Chinese companies have been donating batches of medical equipment to Malaysia, following Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s March 16 meeting with China’s ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian, where the latter pledged to supply medical equipment to Malaysia for the Covid-19 fight.
On March 19, China’s Embassy here announced its first batch of donation of medical aid, where it donated and delivered 5,000 face masks and 10,000 surgical face shields as an aid to Malaysia’s medical personnel at Hospital Sungai Buloh.
On that day, Hishammuddin wrote on Facebook to thank the Chinese government for quickly delivering its first batch of medical aid donation, noting that it had been just three days after he had discussed with Bai Tian about the possibility of Chinese aid to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak.
Hishammuddin also said then that he had written to his counterpart in China to request for aid in terms of face masks, hand sanitisers and Covid-19 test kits.
On March 24, China’s Embassy in Malaysia said it, together with China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd, donated 5,000 N95 grade face masks, 20,000 medical masks and 1,200 goggles to the Health Ministry for use in the fight against Covid-19.
On March 25, the embassy said it together with China Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia (CECCM), China Communications Construction Company ECRL, Chinese humanitarian group Mammoth Foundation as well as BGI Group donated 5,500 Covid-19 test kits to the Health Ministry.
Earlier today, Wisma Putra announced that the Malaysian Consul General in Guangzhou, China — Beh Ching Chye — had received on behalf of the Malaysian government a contribution of 35,000 face masks and 1,120 protective clothing from a fundraising team from China, while AirAsia had provided free transportation for the equipment to be sent to Malaysia and to be delivered to National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
