PETALING JAYA: While four lucky punters walked away as multi-millionaires sharing the country’s biggest lottery payout of RM121mil by Sports Toto last week, another man who took advantage of the event with a cheeky plea on Facebook is celebrating his “jackpot” win with a windfall of a different kind.
Social activist and philanthropist Kuan Chee Heng, popularly known as Uncle Kentang, is ecstatic after his post on Facebook urging the lucky lottery winners to each donate an ambulance to his charity led to a “win” of two more being added to his fleet.
Hours after the post went up, he received calls from a company and two individuals who pledged to donate two ambulances worth RM300,000 each.
However, both parties were not the winners of the jackpot but merely generous donors in support of his charity work.
Kuan’s crowd-funded charity, Community Policing Malaysia (CPM), provides free services for the underprivileged, such as transporting the sick and dead in the 22 ambulances it operates.
“It is just like when your friend wins a small fortune on striking the 4D number, and you ask him to ‘belanja’ you lunch or dinner.
“I was just pushing my luck hoping the jackpot winners would respond since they are now multi-millionaires and we could do with more ambulances.
“My punting paid off when these kind souls, a man, a woman and a company owner, stepped up and made the pledge,” he said.
Kuan said the two individuals deposited RM100,000 upfront almost immediately and assured him of settling the balance when the ambulance is delivered.
“This is my ‘jackpot’ and my ‘winnings’ will serve thousands of people, especially the aged and disabled. God surely works in very mysterious ways,” he told The Star.
Aimed at serving the impoverished and disabled, CPM handles about 1,500 cases each month, from transporting the sick to and from healthcare facilities to undertaking hospital bills and funeral costs.
Kuan said that since government ambulances are only for emergencies, the sick, especially those suffering terminal illnesses, often do not have the financial means to charter a private one.
CPM has 22 ambulances and 30 full-time paramedics, first aiders and assistant medical officers.
“We can definitely do with more ambulances as we handle an average of 50 cases daily,” he said.
