Malaysian born international actress Michelle Yeoh and Malaysia Armed Force chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Nor are leading a special relief team to the field hospital set up by Malaysia in Coax’s Bazar, Bangladesh for in aid of Rohingya refugees.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak sent off the team at Royal Malaysian Air Force base. Yeo, now an ambassador of United Nations Development Programme, played the role of Aung San Suu Kyi in the movie The Lady.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh who played the role of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the movie The Lady, leads a team of special relief from Malaysia in her capacity as ambassador of United Nation Development Programme to visit a field hospital set up by Malaysia in Coax’s Bazar, Bangladesh where humanitarian aid is extended to the Rohingya refugees.
The Rohingya crisis is worsening at fastest rate in the world.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has won Nobel peace prize after becoming an international icon of democratic movement in Myanmar for being placed under house arrest by the Myanmar military regime, now faces criticisms from international community accusing her of not speaking up for the Rohingyas .Yeo had special relationship with Suu Kyi. She visited Myanmar in Dec 2010, met up with Suu Kyi who was recently released from house arrest and they became friends. Yeo picked up Myanmar language In order to play Suu Kyi and imitated Suu Kyi’s gesture to be as close as possible play the role of Suu Kyi in the movie.Yeo and Armed Forces Chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Nor led the special relief team to deliver crisis relief aid for the field hospital.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak sent off the team at the Royal Malaysian Airforce Base. Also present were Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Deputy Health Minister Hilmi Yahya, Health Secretary-General Noor Hisham Abdullah, High Commissioner of Bangladesh Md. Shahidul Islam and representatives of Saudi Arabia and UAE. A statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said Yeoh, born in Ipoh, joined filming of Star Trek: Discovery recently. Despite not playing a major role, she is the first Asian female captain in the Star Trek series.
Yeoh had proposed to Prime Minister that she planned to visit the hospital catered to Rohingya refugees. “I thank the Prime Minister for his support and accommodate to my request.”She said this is time to take action now and urge all countries to offer support especially to help old folks, women and children. Their survival is determined by every one’s generosity.
Najib said one of the missions of the special relief team is to assess the impact of aid provided by Malaysia and to ensure the Malaysia-built field hospital is well equipped to meet the needs of Rohingyas. He said the special team would decide whether to extend the operations of the field hospital. The hospital is scheduled to operate until next month. Najib promised that Malaysia would continue to seek peaceful solution and assist refugees in the camp.
He said the special relief team received support from governments of Saudi Arabia and UAE, including providing medical facilities and equipment in hospital. The special relief team is made up of 57 people – representatives from Prime Minister’s Department, health officers from Defence Ministry and media. Special relief items would be distributed to Rohingya refugees including medication, food and necessary goods. Up till now, the Malaysia medical team in the hospital has treated 3,768 patients. Malaysia set up RM18 million (USD $4.61 million) worth of medical facilities in the hospital and the three-month operation have incurred RM 3.5 million (USD $890,000) so far.