Entrepreneur Couple Shares SARA Appeciation Aid With Welfare Home

IPOH,  Sept  13 (Bernama) -- Religious differences were no obstacle for an entrepreneurial couple who decided to share the  Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA)  Appreciation Aid they received to help ease the burden of a local welfare home.

Chang Jiang International Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, Foong Choa Mun, 47, and her husband, managing director Kong Kin Loong, 48, said the assistance became more meaningful when shared with those in need.

The couple selected the Cahaya Kasih Kinta Welfare Organisation in Taman Rapat Setia as the recipient, using their SARA Appreciation Aid to purchase various essential items, such as eggs, rice, cooking oil, biscuits, and vermicelli, for the home, which cares for underprivileged Muslim children.

“Today, using SARA, we bought essential items to donate to the orphanage. We feel they need these items more than we do. For us, there are no religious differences when it comes to helping those in need,” Foong said when met after presenting the contribution yesterday.

Also present was Chang Jiang International Sdn Bhd project executive, Chan Jin Onn, 50.

Foong said she chose the orphanage as the beneficiary because she understood the challenges faced by those running the home.

Sharing her experience redeeming SARA, she said the process was easy, with no forms to be filled out, only the MyKad had to be presented.

She expressed hope that the value of the SARA assistance and the range of eligible goods for purchase would be expanded to include fresh produce.

She also hoped that others who do not really need the aid to consider doing the same charitable act.

Meanwhile, the orphanage’s owner, Norizan Razali, 56, thanked Foong and her husband for the contribution.

“Alhamdulillah, we are truly grateful because we really need these items,” he said, adding that the contribution helps ease the burden of caring for the 15 children, aged between eight and 15, at the home.

Norizan shared that he and his wife, Mamdazh Abd Kadir, 50, who became an orphan at the age of nine following her father’s passing, established the welfare home after they realised many orphans and underprivileged children were left without support.

He also expressed hope that more individuals who are financially capable, or who do not need the SARA appreciation aid, would channel their contributions to those who are more in need.

The SARA  RM100 is a one-off cash assistance credited into the MyKad of over 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above. It can be used to purchase selected essential items under 14 product categories.

-- BERNAMA