LONDON: Zeferi Mohamad Zaidell, a victim of the recent fire in West London, has received a financial donation from CIMB Foundation, a corporate responsibility arm of the bank.
Its group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, who arrived from Malaysia yesterday, said he read about Zeferi’s predicament in the papers and called up the London office to locate and offer the man and his family some financial assistance.
“CIMB foundation has been around for 10 years and we support individuals, sports, but also on ad hoc basis, where we can help Malaysians in need particularly those facing crises. Malaysians must look after Malaysians, wherever they are,” he said after handing over the cheque to Zeferi.
Zeferi and his family, who lived on the ground floor of a two-storey annexed building of Grenfell Tower, was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday morning when fire broke out at about 1.16am and engulfed the 24-storey tower in less than half an hour.
He also took Nazir to see for himself the charred building and recounted what had happened.
On the donation, Zeferi told Nazir that, once he could confirm that his family’s belongings were undamaged, he would hand over the cash to other victims.
“I consider myself lucky. I have my family. Many people have lost their loved ones.
"Our flat unit is on the ground floor of the annexed building. At the moment, I have not received news of the fate of the flat. But if everything is alright, I will certainly give the money to other victims,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zeferi said his three children were still traumatised by the incident especially when they were updated about their missing friends.
“They were quiet and traumatised. They knew some friends in that building. Now they are with my parents and hopefully there is a sense of some normalcy.
"I dont want them to be affected. As for myself, it has been hard. The number of people I knew who are missing is growing.” he said.
The Malaysian community in London has been quick to respond to the disaster that has so far claimed 30 lives.
The Perwakilan London, the group of Malaysian women from the Malaysian High Commission and other organisations have donated £400 to the Al Manar Mosque in Ladbroke Grove nearby, which is handling donation of clothes and other necessities for the victims.
Makan Café nearby handed over a collection of almost £1,000, donated by their customers as well as SOFA Education UK, a Malaysian-run religious education in west London.
Many members of the Malaysian community here too have been quick to volunteer.
Rowena Razak, a Phd Student, spent her free time driving and sending supplies from one collection centre to another.
“Yesterday, I picked up a few things such as tapes, markers and boxes from the Maxilia social club to the Nottinghill Methodist Church, one of the centres that has opened its doors to help the victims.
"I must have made five trips. I have had to deliver prayer mats, hand sanitisers, phone chargers, women’s scarves and helped with the labelling,” she added.
She described the atmosphere as amazing because a lot of volunteers turned up to help with just about anything.
"The team spirit was good." she said.
By the second day after the tragedy, centres were already turning away donations of clothes and food as plenty were already piling up and needed to be sorted out.
Around the corner from Al Manar Mosque yesterday, hundreds of young people were sorting out mountains of packages and boxes of clothings when a double decker red London bus arrived with more clothes and necessities.
The bus had to be turned away.
For now, the centres have enough but in the next few weeks and months, what would be more needed would be counselling for those who were emotionally affected by the tragedy.