#Showbiz: Shahrol Shiro: Better to help others than to bicker

KUALA LUMPUR: Actor and TV host Shahrol Shiro does not want to be part of a recent online spat between netizens and celebrities on whether artistes should be given aid during these trying times.

The 35-year-old comedian, whose real name is Shahrol Azizie Azmi, would rather concentrate his efforts on helping the needy.

In a news report today, he said: "Now is not the time to fight about who is deserving enough to receive help. We can see around us that there are people whose food supplies have run out during this Movement Control Order (MCO), so why don't we help each other instead?"

Shahrol and his friends have since started handing out aid to the less fortunate in his hometown of Kluang, Johor.

“Seeing that I'm now living in Kluang, I felt a responsibility to help those who need it here.

"During the MCO, I noticed that there were some people who had their food supply chain cut off. So, I do what I can with the other youngsters in the village to help deliver daily necessities.

"We sometimes get wind of certain people who are eligible for aid but can't receive it quickly enough. So, we go to the village to check out the situation and help those who are really in need," he said.

Initially, Shahrol had helped out frontliners. But after receiving a lot of requests from other parties, he decided to extend his help to them as well.

"I had made known on social media that those in need of help could WhatsApp a number given.

"I received messages from Sabah and Sarawak, but unfortunately, those places are too far off for me to help. In Kluang, I received over 300 names of needy people.

"God-willing, I will be able to work with the youngsters and food delivery services like Foodpanda to send over supplies according to zones. I would not be able to do this all by myself. I fear that the deliveries would be late, too, if it were just me alone."

Shahrol added that the supplies that were delivered, such as cooking oil, flour and rice, were personal donations from himself as well as his friends.