KUCHING: The Drug Prevention Association of Malaysia (Pemadam) Sarawak committee members are urged to double their efforts and comply with the new norms.
Its chairman Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has called on members of the local coordination committee to double their efforts in creating public’s awareness of the eradication of substance abuse and its menace while complying with the new norms of doing things.
“We are now living in the new normal due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced us to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) which include ways to conduct public awareness programmes that are now restricted to limited the number of people during public gatherings or activities,” he said during the 74th Coordination Committee Meeting held at Merdeka Palace Suites and Hotel on Tuesday (August 25).
According to Abdul Karim, like any other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Pemadam Sarawak will need to abide with the SOPs stipulated by the authorities such as State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and Ministry of Health (MoH) and other entities to ensure public health and safety.
“We need to keep up with the latest policies with regards to public gatherings and activities in order to curb the spread of Covid-19. These have restricted the number of people who are allowed to attend such activities, including those to be organised by Pemadam in Sarawak,” he added.
On the use of social media channels as among the platforms to disseminate information on programme and activities by the association to the local folk, Abdul Karim, who is Minister of Youth and Sports, pointed out its importance due to the popularity among the young generation who are relying on the Internet as their source of news, entertainment and socialising network.
“We need to leverage on the popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, because our local citizens especially the youngsters are always on the Internet.
“This provides them a host of convenience in getting entertainment, socialising with friends and even latest news or gossips via online,” he stated.
Abdul Karim, who is also the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, stressed the members of Pemadam Sarawak coordination committee must always keep abreast with the latest trends in organising public engagement strategies in view of the new norms, whereby the use of communication technology and the popularity of the Internet must be taken into consideration.
“Our fight against substance abuse and its menace will never stop, despite being restricted by the new norms; our compliance with the SOPs is still important to ensure public health and safety are always safeguarded,” he highlighted.
Also present during the meeting was vice president of Pemadam Sarawak, Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali, who is also the Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring.
