By M.Saraswathi
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 -- Yayasan MRCB is capitalising on its founder, Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd’s (MRCB) expertise in construction in its quest to contribute towards nation building.
Founded in 2015, Yayasan MRCB, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of MRCB's core focus has been on education, a continuous effort from the CSR days within MRCB which it will continue to pursue, said Chairperson Datin Jasmine Abdullah Heng.
"The yayasan assists underprivileged students and communities in the areas of education, enhancement of skills for special needs youths and refurbishment for schools," she told Bernama in an interview recently.
Among others, in June 2019, Yayasan MRCB launched a one-year meal programme worth RM231,000 for 384 less fortunate students from 12 schools in the Federal Territories, Penang, Selangor, Perak, and Johor.
To date, she said the foundation has adopted seven schools, contributed to about 4,000 underprivileged students, sponsored youths with special needs, as well as provided calculators, back to school items, a mobile clinic to the Orang Asli community, and braille to blind schoolchildren.
The foundation's focus is on the B40 Group, especially children in the group, its Trustee, Datuk Shamrat Sen Gupta said.
"MRCB has the expertise, a well established property, construction and engineering company and it is being put to good use in Yayasan MRCB," he said.
In tapping the expertise within MRCB, Shamrat said as a construction firm, MRCB, for example, could refurbish a school library at a lower cost that that of the construction industry.
"At the same time, Yayasan MRCB can use the remaining funds to buy additional items to furnish the school library. It is an effective use of resources," he said, adding that this is Yayasan MRCB's way of contributing to nation building.
Perhaps this is where Yayasan MRCB differs from other such establishments, he said, adding that, the CSR works are very often carried out in the vicinity of MRCB-related development.
"But it doesn't stop us from helping others. The proportion of help extended to the communities within the vicinity of our development and other areas is 70:30," he said.
Recently, about 2,000 underprivileged students and 100 less fortunate families from Langkawi received RM90,000 from the foundation even though MRCB does not have any direct development on the island, he quipped.
"We would like to do more but it depends on the availability of funds," said Shamrat, acknowledging that MRCB is the largest contributor to the foundation.
Besides getting contribution from MRCB and the public, which could be done through its website, the foundation also organises events to raise funds, said Jasmine.
Its first fundraising activity was held last year in collaboration with the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia for the Malaysian Open Squash Championship.
This year, she said it is organising a Charity Concert with Yannick Bovy, a popular Universal Music’s recording artiste at Istana Budaya on Oct 5, 2019.
He is known for his silky moves, jazzy tunes and is Belgium’s answer to the next Michael Buble.
The net proceeds from the concert will be channeled to Yayasan MRCB's initiatives to help the underprivileged and needy communities.
"The fund will be channelled to our future programmes as well, for instance, the Orang Asli community by providing basic infrastructure such as solar power to their homes and organising programmes for the urban poor. The public is encouraged to contribute to this worthy cause," she said.
Shamrat said the foundation is mulling the idea of extending its programme to higher education for the less fortunate.
"It shouldn't stop at the basic back to school and lunch programmes or repairing their toilets and libraries. We’ve spoken about scholarship for underprivileged kids," he said.
Such move would further reinforce the foundation's purpose to continuously strive to implement programmes that could improve the quality of life of those it assists and to extend the light of hope towards building better lives and Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA
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