KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Sept 2017:
The Budimas Charitable Foundation (Budimas) has opened a children’s library – which will act as both a community centre and an education space for the 200 children of Tanjung Sepat’s Orang Asli community.
This is a key milestone for Budimas, in a series of community-based initiatives which partner Procter & Gamble Malaysia (P&G) has organised so far throughout the year in celebration of its 30th anniversary in Malaysia.
With the new centre, 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 organised a book donation drive – which resulted in over RM80,000 raised and 2,000 books being donated to Budimas to build the centre.
“At P&G, it is important that we touch and improve lives through meaningful was in everything that we do by uplifting and empowering the communities around us.” said Ong Yuh Hwang, managing director of P&G Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Global Development Markets Asia.
“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 fulfil 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.”
The Budimas Charitable Foundation treasurer Tunku Yahaya @ Yahya Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah said: “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 realise the 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.
“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.”
P&G has been prioritising citizenship efforts and have been ensuring the communities where they operate remain strong and thriving. In 2017, P&G launched ‘Daripada Ibu Kepada Ibu’ in partnership with Food Aid Foundation during the 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 and iM4U.