P&G Malaysia Opens Library for Indigenous children
P&G Malaysia Opens Library for Indigenous children
Over 200 Children from Tanjung Sepat’s Orang Asli community now have access to a new education space as part of P&G Malaysia’s lineup of activities during its 30th Anniversary
P&G Malaysia, in partnership with NGO The Budimas Charitable Foundation (Budimas), recently opened a Children’s library which will act as both a community center and an education space for the 200 children of Tanjung Sepat’s Orang Asli (indigenous) community. This announcement is a key milestone in a series of community-based initiatives which P&G has organized so far throughout the year in celebration of their 30th Anniversary in Malaysia.
With the new center, P&G and Budimas aims to provide a comfortable and collaborative space for the children to come to after school and cultivate a habit of reading and revise their studies and prepare for school examinations in the comfort of their own village. As part of their efforts, P&G employees raised funds and organized a book donation drive which resulted in over RM80,000 (almost $20,000 USD) raised and 2,000 books being donated to Budimas to build the center. The company also matched this amount to build the library.
Ong Yuh Hwang, Managing Director of P&G Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Global Development Markets Asia said “As we celebrate our 30th anniversary in Malaysia, it was only fitting that we marked this milestone by uplifting and empowering the communities around us. Our partnership with Budimas has been inspiring as we share the belief that it is important to nurture the love of reading, curiosity and collaboration in our future leaders. We have worked together throughout the year to ensure we have provided the children with a conducive space that will fulfill the community’s educational needs. The library marks the first phase of our long-term partnership as P&G will be continuously coming back to help the students with their studies.”
Prior to the opening of the ‘P&G & Budimas Children’s Library’, 40 employees travelled to the village to set up the library as well as put their creativity to the test with hand-crafted decorations. They then stayed on to get to know the children, who all participated in a series of fun and educational activities such as traditional weaving, tree handprint art, storytelling sessions, arts and crafts and a fun photo booth bookmark exchange program. All the children also received P&G schoolbags and stationaries as a parting gift.
“We are most grateful for this partnership with P&G. Their efforts in raising donations, collecting books and setting up the library have helped us realize Budimas’ seventh Children’s Library. The Budimas Children’s Library project was initiated three years ago as part of our aim to provide education opportunities to underprivileged children in Malaysia by establishing educational facilities like this library, in rural and poor villages in our country,” said Y.M Tunku Yahaya @ Yahya Bin Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah, Treasurer of The Budimas Charitable Foundation. “The foundation hopes that via this effort, we are able to help the children of Tanjung Sepat continue putting an importance towards education and contribute to the creation of a literate future generation,” he added.
The launch was also attended by Düden Freeman, Economic Officer of the United States Embassy of Malaysia, Norliza Mohammad Basiron, Director of Department of Orang Asli Development, Selangor & Federal Territory, as well as several Board of Trustees members of The Budimas Charitable Foundation.
P&G Malaysia has been prioritizing citizenship efforts and have been ensuring the communities where they operate remain strong and thriving. In 2017, we launched ‘Daripada Ibu Kepada Ibu’ in partnership with Food Aid Foundation during the festive Hari Raya period to encourage Malaysians to help ease the burden of single mothers all over the country by making donations of non-perishable goods. In addition to Orang Asli children and single mothers, P&G Malaysia also helped flood victims and Malaysians with no access to clean drinking water via the Children’s Safe Drinking Water initiative through their long-term partnership with the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) and iM4U.
