Captain K. Balasupramaniam, founder of Malaysia International Search and Rescue (MISAR) and the Code Red Survival Academy, has dedicated over four decades to saving lives through emergency response and public education.
Having participated in major international disasters including the 2004 Aceh tsunami, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and 2015 Nepal earthquake, he transformed his field experience into comprehensive training programs that empower ordinary citizens with vital life-saving skills.
For his noble efforts, Capt.K.Bala is named as one of the 10 winners of the Star Golden Hearts Award 2025, an annual award by The Star that honours everyday Malaysian unsung heroes.
00:00Hi, I'm Kei Bala, I'm the Chairman of the Malaysian International Search and Rescue, MISA Malaysia,
00:06and we are the winner of the Golden Harder War, 2025.
00:09When disaster strikes, most people freeze in fear.
00:32But for 51-year-old Kei Bala Supramaniam, fondly known as Captain Kei Bala,
00:37every crisis is a call to action.
00:40He has dedicated his life to saving flood victims in Malaysia and earthquake survivors abroad,
00:45while teaching others how to save themselves, transforming tragedy into training.
00:51After graduating, Captain Bala founded the Malaysia International Search and Rescue, or MISAAR, in 1991,
00:59creating a platform for Malaysians to acquire training respond for emergencies professionally.
01:04When you see an incident, something happened in front of your eyes, and you wanted to do something,
01:13and you are unable to do it because you don't have that knowledge.
01:18That's inspired me that we can give knowledge and train somebody so that the ordinary person can be an extraordinary person,
01:27and they can do extraordinary things during emergence.
01:31And when something happens in front of them, they should be able to react and provide some help.
01:37Driven by their commitment to help those in crisis, the all-volunteer group began assisting disaster victims across Malaysia,
01:44from annual floods to the tragic 1993 Highland Towers collapse.
01:48As our operation not only in Malaysia, we are also responding for major disaster around the world.
01:58I lost count with the local operation because every year we have about 20 to 35 operation,
02:04especially on the flood relief and other emergency relief operation.
02:09We don't have much of a search and rescue operation in Malaysia,
02:12but we have like one year, twice, or major tragedies or operations that we involve.
02:19But internationally, we have deployed more than 11 operations.
02:24The group faced their toughest test during the 2003 BAM earthquake in Iran,
02:30where Captain Bala and his team endured extreme heat and freezing nights
02:34while rescuing victims in isolated zones.
02:37We were placed in a very isolated place.
02:39This is a sand castle. At any time when there is aftershock, you can get buried immediately.
02:46We have to take turns to look after each other, and it was minus 11 there.
02:50And we have communication problems because we don't have people who can speak to Iran.
02:56Instead of being traumatised, the experience inspired him and his team
03:00to join more international rescue missions to learn and grow.
03:04See, we can have the knowledge, we can have the skill, we can have the facility,
03:07but we need to have an experience.
03:09So working around the world is the way that we can enhance our skill and experience.
03:15So whenever we work in the overseas, people usually thank me for coming down all the way down
03:20to support and provide a search and rescue operation.
03:24And I replied to them with another thanks that you give me an opportunity to learn.
03:29And today we have the experience.
03:31We have responded for more than 10 international search and rescue operations.
03:35So today we can prepare something, we can invent something, we can develop training modules.
03:39It's all based on experience.
03:42The team also participated in major disasters,
03:45the 2004 Aceh tsunami, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and 2015 Nepal earthquake.
03:52Drawing from this experience, Captain Bala founded the Code Red Survival Academy,
04:03featuring training grounds, simulators, and a flood pool.
04:07There, his team trains teachers, caregivers, and the public,
04:11often free of charge on disaster and flood safety,
04:15guided by the belief that survival begins with knowledge.
04:19The academy works more for the public education.
04:23So I develop children's modules, I have adult modules,
04:26I have special needs modules to train people.
04:30And I need a place to train.
04:32This is where the academy plays an important role.
04:36And I do a lot of R&D, how to train them fast,
04:39and get them experience like when the cars are merged in the water, how they escape.
04:44So the academy is a place where I disseminate the knowledge
04:47that we gathered during a disaster and normal operation.
04:54This belief led Captain Bala to launch the Fire Kids Club workshop in 1994,
05:00the organisation's first children's safety programme.
05:03Using play-based training, over 600,000 children have learned essential skills,
05:09including road safety, and how to respond to fires, floods, and other emergencies.
05:14I have a lot of corporate companies come to me,
05:18and this corporate company actually provides us funding.
05:22When it is a public programme, it is done free of charge.
05:25Be it adults or children, it's free.
05:28So the poorest can learn something.
05:30So there's no excuse for you to say that,
05:32OK, I don't learn because it's an expensive thing.
05:34But the real payoff for Captain Bala was when he met one of his students,
05:42who still remembers his lessons years ago.
05:45I was so happy when I came back.
05:47I tell all my members that I met somebody who have attended our training when they're eight years old.
05:52This thing happened very frequently, so I realised that this is what we're going to see in the future.
05:57So if we keep training them today, we can see the result in the future.
06:01One day when I leave this organisation, I want somebody to continue what I'm doing,
06:06so that everything should be properly documented, and it should be properly carried out,
06:12and systematically done, so that an organisation can operate truly and professionally.
06:18And I want those people who have a heart to serve, have a platform to come and perform their duty assimilation.
06:26Captain Bala's life-saving work extends beyond training and rescue to innovative emergency equipment,
06:33including the capsule relief guard, a waterproof, solar-powered survival capsule
06:38that can sustain up to 144 people in disaster zones, isolated from aid.
06:43We want people to know that we are prepared, and it's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
06:50So why are we waiting for something to happen and catch off guard when we can prepare ourselves?
07:13We want people to know that we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and we are prepared, and
Be the first to comment