During the first lockdown, Malaysia Official Designers Association (MODA) answered the call for PPE gear for our medical frontliners
Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown had left fashion designers like Melinda Looi and Khoon Hooi in a bit of a spot as orders were cancelled and demand for new apparel fell drastically. Despite the gloom, Looi felt the need to turn this into something positive—and that was by harnessing her skill as a garment-maker to produce PPE gear for medical frontliners. However, she knew she couldn't possibly do much on her own.
As president of the Malaysia Official Designers Association (MODA), she rallied a community of designers to volunteer their services. Combining forces, they managed to raise enough money to buy the first sets of material for the PPEs—MODA eventually raised RM700,000 for this purpose.
The designers pooled their resources together, with their respective seamstresses working tirelessly to make the essential gear. Vivy Yusof introduced MODA to the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia Response and Relief Team (IMARET), who helped them to connect with the hospitals across Malaysia for distribution of the PPEs. This initiative brought much relief at a time when hospitals were facing dwindling supply of PPEs as the number of Covid cases increased.
Watch the video below for a tribute by Dr Husna Musa, one of the founding members of IMARET, to the team at MODA.
For their Covid relief efforts MODA received Tatler's Community Award that recognises a group of people who have made a significant impact on society in the past year. Looi and members of MODA were invited to a luncheon at ATAS restaurant in RuMa Hotel & Residences to receive this honour.