Malaysia S Smart Team Sacrifices Their Raya Hols So Myanmar Quake Victims Can Get To Hold Their Children Again

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“WE could be heroes … just for one day,” sang the incomparable David Bowie on his seminal hit, Heroes.
But unlike that song, a real team of men and women are preparing to be heroes for more than just 24 hours.
In a post on X, marketing influencer Richard Ker (@richardker) shared the moment of glory that transcended personal gratification but one in the name of humanity as 30 members of the elite Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) team headed to Myanmar to aid disaster relief after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake devastated part of the country.

Instead of the usual Raya festivities in the comforts of home, the SMART team members will be knee deep in destroyed buildings searching for survivors.

The earthquake which struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region last Friday (March 28) with an epicentre close to Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, was the most powerful earthquake to strike Myanmar since 1912 and the second deadliest in Myanmar’s modern history, surpassed only by upper estimates of the 1930 Bago earthquake.
Myanmar’s military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in a televised address on today (April1) said the death toll had reached 2,719 and could even exceed 3,000 while 4,521 people were injured and 441 were missing.
A photo of final checks before flying off – presumably with Malaysia’s pride as the ASEAN chairman on their shoulders – showed the personnel in quiet contemplation as the focused at the task at hand.

The poster also highlighted MAS-01, the country’s United Nations (UN)-certified elite heavy urban search and rescue team which was also heading out to Myanmar. The team has experience in flood, quake, war and disaster zones.

Alongside HAZMAT (Hazardous materials) officers and medical personnel, there will be 30 tonnes of tools allowing the team to operate for 30 days.

Instead of typical Raya joy, members of this team will be engaged in the challenge of finding survivors amid the grim reality that there will be more dead bodies than live ones.

No thoughts of any holiday but instead the team is fully focused on the rescue mission as two A400M planes would be transporting them to the disaster zone in Myanmar.

As the poster succinctly put it, the SMART team is giving up their Raya holidays so that some of the earthquake victims in Myanmar “might get to hold their child again”.

The post has generated over 593K views with many applauding the search and rescue personnel’s dedication while wishing them well.

Instead of highlighting Mat Rempit, crooked cops or little Napoleon civil servants, these are real life heroes whose deeds and actions should be used as positive role models.
May their sacrifices gain greater recognition and that they return home safely. –  Focus Malaysia

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