15 January, KUALA LUMPUR – Mah Sing Foundation recently launched MSF School+ in Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sungai Pelong following the success of the programme launch in SK Kampung Batu last year. MSF School+ represents a holistic and sustainable programme aimed at enhancing access of underprivileged students to education, health and safety. The Foundation contributed a total of RM144,000 to the MSF School+ programme which benefitted 200 students in three schools which are SK Sungai Pelong, SK Kampung Batu and SRJK(T) Ri Sungai Buloh.
Present at the cheque presentation ceremony held at SK Sungai Pelong was Mah Sing Foundation’s Chairman, Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman bin Syed Kamarulzaman, MyKasih Foundation’s Trustee, Puan Siti Khairon Binti Shariff and SK Sungai Pelong’s Headmaster, Tuan Haji Abu Hassan bin Abdul Majid
Chairman of Mah Sing Foundation, Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman said, “We believe that investment in a better tomorrow can be achieved when every child is provided with the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential”.
“Mah Sing Foundation’s vision, ‘Reinventing Hope, Creating Lasting Change in Children Lives’ centred on how the future of children are built upon the key pillars of the foundation of Education, Health and Wellbeing, and Community Development,” added Dato’ Indera Syed.
Mah Sing Foundation’s School+
MSF School+ comes with a series of programmes which includes annual student bursary programme, health screening, tuition classes, crime prevention and anti-bullying workshop and school infrastructure activity. The programme aims to improve students’ school attendance, grades and early detection of health issues while improving teachers’ teaching method and school safety by improving the accessibility, quality of education, and health and safety of the students.
The annual student bursary programme under the MSF School+ programme is aimed at lifting the burden of underprivileged families in sending their children to school. Through this programme, students are able to purchase food and drinks at the school canteen and books and stationeries at the school bookstore. This programme has been proven to improve student attendance in school. Purchases will be done using MyKasih’s cashless technology.
Charity with technology
Students from low-income households adopted under the programme are rendered assistance in the form of cashless bursaries via a contactless MyKasih smartcard. Once the students are registered under the programme, accounts will be opened against the students’ MyKad in the MyKasih system into which a spending allowance of RM30 will be deposited twice a month. The students will draw on the allowances by using their MyKasih student smartcard to pay for purchases of school books and stationery from the school bookstore, as well as food from the school canteen. The bursary scheme is subject to annual review where students’ overall performance is assessed.
In expressing gratitude to Mah Sing Foundation, MyKasih Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder, Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat, said, “Mah Sing demonstrates their caring values as a responsible corporate citizen with the adoption of the ‘Love My School’ scheme under their Mah Sing Foundation School+ programme.”
“Through the bursary scheme, students from economically-challenged backgrounds receive much needed financial support for daily meals and learning necessities, which, in turn, will give them a better chance at completing their education and building a better life for their families. We hope other companies will be inspired to come forward to collaborate with MyKasih Foundation, as we continue to help more families and students here and throughout the country.”
The Headmaster of SK Sungai Pelong, Tuan Haji Abu Hassan bin Abdul Majid, was grateful for the aid given to the students a s it will further motivate them to come to school and study hard.
“With all their basic needs in school being met, in terms of nourishment and learning necessities, the students can now learn comfortably, participate better and be more active in the classroom, as well as during extra-curricular activities”, added Tuan Haji.
2018-2019 flagship programmes: MSF School+, MSF Community+, Mushroom Cultivation Programme, Mah Sing’s Young Nation Builders Challenge
The Foundation’s MSF School+, MSF Community+ and Kampung Tudan Mushroom Cultivation Programme were the 3 flagship programmes rolled out in 2018. In 2019, the Foundation will be rolling out an additional flagship programmes, the Mah Sing Young Nation Builders Challenge, in collaboration with Edspace.
MSF Community+ is a programme that aims to empower underprivileged families through food aid and training. These programmes involve workshops on entrepreneurship and the distribution of food aid. One of the main programme in MSF Community+ is providing food aid using MyKasih cashless technology platform so that recipients do not need to worry about putting food on the table for their school going children. This will allow parents to focus on income generation endeavours such as taking up new skills, up-skilling or finding a better job.
Both MSF School+ and MSF Community+ are long–term and intended to change the lives of student and the community in which they live, in order to give them a ray of hope for a brighter future.
The Mushroom Cultivation programme kicked-off in collaboration with Hopes Malaysia Welfare Association with the aim to uplift the livelihood of the rural community in Kampung Tudan, Sabah. As of now, the foundation had funded RM168,000 to the programme, allowing the Kampung Tudan community to produce an average of 40kg of mushroom on a weekly basis to be sold to hotels in Kota Kinabalu. By inculcating the community’s entrepreneurial spirit, the Foundation hopes that the community will eventually be able to sustain themselves economically, without further support from donations and the help of non-governmental organisations.
In 2019, Mah Sing Foundation will kick-start the Mah Sing Young Nation Builder Challenge in collaboration with EdSpace. The competition provides students an opportunity to innovate and reinvent spaces within their own community. It also allows the students to imagine what future living means and to be involved in building spaces of the future which lines with the Mah Sing Group’s tagline, “Reinvent Spaces. Enhance Life.”
Chairman of Mah Sing Foundation, Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman said, “With these four flagship programmes and the Foundation’s vision and key pillars, we are adamant to move forward and create lasting change in children’s lives. This is because we believe that investing in children is an investment for a better future.”