GEORGE TOWN: With nearly 70 tonnes of food going to waste during the Thaipusam celebration two years back, the Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) and the Malaysia Hindu Sangam have urged devotees not to resort to wastage this year.
More than 1.5 million people are expected at the three-day Thaipusam celebration in Penang from Feb 4 to Feb 6.
During Thaipusam, charitable organisations and companies provide free food known as "Annathanam".
CAP education officer N.V. Subbarow appealed to the 150 panthal (makeshift stall) operators to portion out the food to be given to the devotees.
"In previous years, pre-Covid-19 pandemic, we see these panthal operators dishing out a huge portion of food to each of the devotees. Many of the devotees ended up not finishing and threw them away. This is sheer wastage.
"And with food items becoming increasingly expensive, we don't want to see the food served to devotees going to waste.
"Maybe they (panthal operators) can consider cutting the portion by half this time around.
"There are more than 100 panthals and everyone will be dishing out food. There will surely be enough food for the devotees," he said today.
Elaborating, Subbarow also said the panthal operators could also donate additional untouched food to the numerous orphanages and old folks' homes to prevent wastage.
Meanwhile, Subbarow also called on the management of all the temples in Malaysia that celebrate Thaipusam to do away with polystyrene food containers when serving food to devotees.
He said polystyrene plates and cups were widely used to serve food and drinks to devotees, citing convenience as a reason to manage the large crowd.
He added that as a result, lots of polystyrene garbage was produced every year. Even shops that sell sweets and prayer items use plastic bags.
"The use of disposable polystyrene containers creates a large amount of garbage. Many are not aware of the fact that polystyrene takes around 500 years to degrade in the environment.
"Polystyrene packaging normally contains some residual styrene because the manufacturing process is not 100 per cent efficient. These chemicals can migrate into food when it is new and when it is old it breaks down from heat, sun or wear.
"Eventually, these chemicals are absorbed by the body and pose numerous health problems. This polystyrene garbage when burned emits dangerous chemicals which again pose a health threat to consumers.
"As Thaipusam is a religious festival, it is important that devotees are not exposed to harmful chemicals. Bearing this in mind, temple management should ensure that devotees are served food and drinks in safer biodegradable containers.
"Devotees too can play their part by bringing their own containers to receive food. This will reduce the amount of garbage produced," he said.
After two years of slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 1.5 million people are expected at the three-day Thaipusam celebration in Penang from Feb 4 to Feb 6.
Besides the locals, devotees from as far as Singapore, Jakarta and London are also expected to join in the three-day celebration.
About 30,000 kavadi bearers are expected and hundreds of thousands of paal kudam bearers (milk pot kavadi).
A total of 120 panthals are expected to line the 2km stretch from Jalan Macalister to the Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Devastanam Temple. Another 30 panthal will be sited along the chariot routes.
As in previous years, the golden chariot will set out first on the procession on Feb 4, followed by the silver chariot.
The golden chariot will set out from its temple in Queens Street at 6am on Feb 4 through Lebuh Chulia, Lebuh Victoria, Jalan Prangin, Jalan CY Choy, Jalan Magazine, Jalan Datuk Keramat, Jalan Utama, Jalan Kebun Bunga to the Thanenermalai Balathandayuthapani temple.