Lo (front, third left) alongside Prabhu on his right and members of Iskcon Kuching in a photo call

KUCHING (April 7): International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) Kuching distributed 500 packs of vegetarian nasi lemak to the hawkers and patrons at Mile 3 Wet Market here this morning.Joining the group in distributing the food packs were Batu Kitang assemblyman Datuk Lo Khere Chiang and Iskcon Kuching temple president Kripa Sindhu Krishna Das, who is also known as Prabhu.

Speaking to reporters, Lo expressed amazement that Iskcon Kuching was able to prepare 500 packs of food despite being a small community.

“Even though this community is small, they have the means to prepare the food. This speaks a lot on the community at their centre. They must be blessed, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to provide such a delicious vegetarian food.

“I’ve been joining them in presenting these foods for many years, and every time we come to markets or meet the people, I can see a lot of smiles and happiness from them and this brings happiness to me for the rest of the day – everybody is appreciative of what we do,” he said.

Lo also said the charitable work also promotes vegetarian food, to encourage the public to have less meat so that they will not have to face various health problems and diseases.

“I would say yes, we should eat less meat because even animals have lives, so we should go for vegetarian food which is healthy as well.“A lot of times, we get to see people having heart disease, cholesterol problems, all kinds of (health) problems. I guess if we take less meat, we (will) have less health problems,” he added.

Meanwhile, Prabhu expressed his gratitude to Lo for supporting Iskcon Kuching’s charitable works such as the distribution of the food packs.

“We believe that God gives us everything, and the moment we share our things to other people, God gives us more. The more we keep the more we lose, the more we give the more we get. That is the concept.“So, what we are giving today are healthy vegetarian food. Nowadays, many people are having health issues so in another way, it is also promoting vegetarian food as diet food.

Aside from markets, Prabhu said they also distribute the food to charitable organisations and centres such as Sarawak Cheshire Home, Kuching Blind Centre, and old folks homes.