Vincent Tan presents donations from theSun-Mercy Malaysia Bosnia Flood Disaster Relief Fund

(The Sun Daily) – When Tan Sri Vincent Tan bought the Sarajevo Football Club late last year, little did he know about the events that would unfold in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the months to come.

In May this year, the heaviest rains and floods in 120 years hit Bosnia and the surrounding region. The worst effected areas were the towns of Doboj and Maglaj, which were cut off from the rest of the country when floods deluged all major roads.

Damage from landslides and floods was estimated to run into hundreds of millions of euros and twenty four people lost their lives. The cost of the disaster, official said, could exceed that of the Bosnian War.

The catastrophe initiated a large international aid campaign, with numerous countries, organisations and individuals donating humanitarian, material and monetary support for the affected areas.

On the forefront of this was Tan, who spearheaded theSun and Mercy Malaysia’s Bosnia Flood Disaster Relief Fund, which the Berjaya Group founder himself kick-started with an initial pledge of RM500,000.

Tan presented pledges of assistance of BAM250,000 (RM550,000) each to two hospitals in Doboj and Maglaj during the halftime break of the Europa League qualifying match between Sarajevo FC and Norwegian club FC Haugesund at the Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo last Thursday.

It had been decided after a damage assessment survey by theSun and Mercy Malaysia in Bosnia last month, that the money raised would be used to purchase and donate much-needed medical equipment for the two hospitals.

Receiving the donation pledges for assistance in the form of much needed medical equipment were Dr Anda Susic of Poliklinika Doboj and Dr Drnda Cicehlic Euwira of Poliklinika Maglaj.

On hand to witness the event were Malaysian Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Anuar Kasman and the mayors of the two towns, Mayor Obren Petrovic of Doboj and Mayor Mehmed Mustabasic of Maglaj.

The reaction from the crowd during the presentation was deafening, a clear indication that the people of Bosnia have not forgotten the support they received from Malaysia during their darkest hour, the Bosnian conflict that took place between 1992 and 1995.

For those unfamiliar with events that took place during that time in the Balkans, it was when Yugoslavia disintegrated into what is now Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, and how Europe stood still again, as they did when Adolf Hitler started World War 2,when the more powerful Croatia and Serbia took chunks of Bosnia, destroyed Sarajevo and forgot about humanity.

One of the major critics of the war and the ethnic cleansing was former prime minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, who approved sending UN-sanctioned peace-keepers to Bosnia. Ordinary Malaysians also chipped with the RM1 fund raising to help the Bosnian people. Tun Mahathir was later nominated by Bosnian NGOs for the Nobel Peace Prize, a clear indication of their gratitude to the former leader of Malaysia. On a more modest scale, there are plans to name a street in Sarajevo after Mahathir.

During a pre-match interview with a local television station, when Tan was thanked for his financial aid towards the two hospitals and unselfish help to the people of Bosnia, he said: “It is my personal philosophy to do whatever I can to help people in distress.

“And because of my involvement with Sarajevo Football Club, when I heard about the floods, I urged theSun newspaper to run a campaign to raise donations to help Bosnia.

“I started it off by personally giving RM500,000 and am very glad to note that quite a few readers have contributed.

“I am also happy that at the same time, we have made people aware about the plight of the Bosnian people and I hope that my investment here will help to foster closer relations between the two countries so that we can work together and more Malaysians will know about Bosnia and vice-versa.

“The first time I came here was with Tun Dr Mahathir, our former prime minister, who is a very strong supporter of Bosnia.

“He loves Bosnia and has always asked Malaysians to help Bosnia.”

While Sarajevo did not come out triumphant against Haugesund, losing 1-0, the clear winners are the people of Bosnia, who are trying to rebuild their lives with a little bit of help from their friends.