Financial aid for 180 underprivileged pupils from Semenyih schools

The Star, Friday May 24, 2013

By CHOO WOON LIM
woonlim@thestar.com.my Photos by ROHAIZAT DAUS

New bags: (From left) Setia EcoHill Sdn Bhd GM Tan Hon Lim, Lee, SJK(C) Sin Ming Semenyih headmaster’s representative Kong Choi Fern and SP Setia Foundation CEO Captain (Rtd) Datuk Liew Siong Sing presenting the new school bags to pupils.

 

ABOUT 180 pupils from six primary schools in Semenyih will receive aid under the Setia Adoption Programme (SAP), a programme by the SP Setia Foundation to champion education for underprivileged students.

The schoolchildren, who were presented with new school bags and stationery sets at SJK(C) Sin Ming, Semenyih, recently, will be getting educational assistance worth RM900 to RM1,000 annually for the duration of their primary education.

The aid will cover basic educational needs such as tuition fees, computer fees, school uniforms, stationery, school bags, books and food from the school canteen.

The pupils are from SK Semenyih, SK Bandar Rinching, SJK(C) Sin Ming Semenyih, SJK(C) Kampung Baru Semenyih, SJK(T) Ladang Semenyih and SJK(T) Ladang Rinching.

“The objective of the programme is to reduce the financial burden of poor families.

“We hope that by providing the assistance, the children will be able to do better in their studies without worrying about their financial problems,” said SP Setia Foun-dation chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He added that the move to reach out to deserving students was part of the organisation’s belief that education played an important role in helping to train and produce good citizens for the country.

Choosing Semenyih students for the programme was also in line with the upcoming launch of its Setia Ecohill project in the region.

“We are not only developing the area but ensuring that people in the neighbourhood and its surroundings will benefit from the programme,” said Lee.

Founded in 2000, the SP Setia Foundation has spent about RM23.4mil for the adopted children, benefiting more than 8,400 students at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

It spends RM3mil a year on the SAP programme alone.

With the addition of the latest 180 adopted pupils, the SAP has funded a total of 2,825 underprivileged primary pupils from 129 schools.

A meaningful festival for residents

The Star, Monday December 31, 2012

RESIDENTS of Persatuan Rumah Amal Murni, Kajang (PRAM) rejoiced as 30 volunteers of IOI Group and the Yayasan Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng (Yayasan TSLSC) brought the festivity into their home during the Winter Solstice (Dongzhi) celebration recently.

After being served lunch, the residents — ranging from homeless destitutes to young adults afflicted with Down’s Syndrome — had a great time playing musical chair and trying their hands at paper windmill handicraft.

While some volunteers were busy making tang yuan (glutinous rice balls delicacy), the others enjoyed interacting with the residents and proceeded to entertain them with Mandarin songs.

During the “IOI Style” dance (a parody of Psy’s Gangnam Style), even IOI Group executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor and Yayasan TSLSC executive director Datin Joanne Wong sportingly joined in.

The December babies were then feted with birthday wishes. Wong and volunteers then served tang yuan to the residents.

The residents received goodie bags filled with personal neccesities and toiletries.

“It was nice to see all the smiles as we opened our hearts to help the residents of Rumah Amal Murni Kajang in celebrating this meaningful festival,” said Wong.

Starting school with some help

The Star, Monday December 31, 2012

Eighty-four underprivileged children from Kajang are looking forward to the first day of school because they have new school uniforms.

No longer will they need to explain why their clothes are always dirty or why their parents are too poor to even afford rice, let alone a school shirt.

Instead, they can tell stories about how they celebrated Christmas with celebrity Lee Yvonne.

In the spirit of this season, The Nomad Offices presented Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Kajang (PKKKK) with gifts of school uniforms, socks, shoes, books and stationery.

“We were informed that some kids came to the centre crying, because schools sent them away for not wearing proper uniforms on registration day last month.

“As a child, you probably feel excited about going to a new school. But you end up feeling terrified and ashamed, because you can’t explain why you don’t have parents who can provide basic needs for you.

“As a provider of serviced offices, The Nomad Offices is able to depend on our large network of clients who are largely business people — many of whom are parents who know what it means to give the best to our children — to support this cause,” The Nomad Offices assistant general manager Cheng Shea Li.

“The Nomad SuCasa All-Suite Hotel and The Nomad Serviced Residences, Bangsar readily lent their support by getting hotel guests and The Nomad Bangsar residents to give donations.

“The Nomad SuCasa Hotel also sent its maintenance crew over to repair PKKKK’s leaking roof and other damages,” said The Nomad Group Bhd chief executive officer Roy George.

Cash collection totalled RM11,000 and sponsorship in kind from serviced office clients, residents, hotel guests and vendors came up to RM5,000.

Aside from gifts from The Nomad Offices, the “Share the Gift of Reading to Children” gave the children revision books, story books and stationery as part of their seventh year book-donation programme; Jati Bestari sponsored food and The House of Mini brought desserts for the party; The Nomad SuCasa catered a delicious tea-time spread; and Lee entertained the kids with a colouring contest.

PKKKK president Susie Arumugam, said the organisation started by helping children who came from broken families, without proper meals, without proper supervision and poor grades in school.

In August 2008, the teaching and feeding programme began with 15 kids. Today, Susie takes care of 84 kids from five to 17 years old.

The Star, Friday July 13, 2012

Learning to give back

IT WAS a fun day for the children of Rumah Keluarga Kami in Taman Bukit, Kajang when legal firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co (Zico) employees and interns visited them as part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme called Step Up.

About 50 employees, trainee associates and interns spent time with the children by playing various games including musical chair and football.

Christina Tey of Rumah Keluarga Kami enjoyed the games and interaction with the interns from Zico.

“I hope to see them again,” the 16-year-old said.

Fun time: Zico interns and employees playing with the children.

 

Zico managing partner Chew Seng Kok said the firm has adopted two homes, the other one is in Puchong.

“Instead of merely giving money, we want to interact with the children,” he said.

According to the firm’s Knowledge Management & Training partner Paul Subramaniam, the firm focuses on children’s organisation for its CSR programmes.

“We want our training lawyers to learn about social responsibility and know that it is not just about work but it is important to give back to the community.

“We visit the home at least once a year but some of them (from Zico) have returned to visit the children on their own,” he said.

Also participating in the CSR programme was Shunsuke Koyama, who hails from Kanagawa, Japan. He and two other lawyers from Vietnam are on secondment to Zico.

“This is the first time I am taking part in a CSR programme, I hope to bring this idea back when I return to Japan and propose it to the company management,” he said.

According to the home matron Caroline Pillai, there are 38 kids in the home, aged between five and 18, who are abandoned or from single-parent families.

She added that the home needs funds as they are expanding.

“We have doctors who volunteer and look into the children’s health,” she said.

To know more about Rumah Keluarga Kami, visit www.ssvprkk.org or call 03-8736 7877.