Last Saturday (30 July 2011), once again the staff of Malakoff Corporation Berhad visited Maahad Tarbiyah Islamiyah Al-Ansar for a gotong royong with its residents. This time around, 30 staff and their family members joined hands to spruce up the premises.

Besides cleaning the school area, Malakoff also contributed to construct an outdoor multipurpose court for the children, new toilets and kolah (or a communal pool for the muslimat to use for bathing). In addition, the Company also donated 10 computers to create a computer lab for the children as well as lights and fans for the muslimat dormitories and the surau.

The morning drizzle did little to dampen the spirits of volunteers. After a simple breakfast of bihun sup and tea prepared by the hosts, they happily donned caps and reached for brooms and mops. The ladies made a line and cleared the girls’ storeroom by passing items from one person to the other. That storeroom was cleared in no time and the rubbish dump quickly filled up with unwanted items.

Everyone was in high spirits. This was a noble deed and felt extra special given the upcoming month of Ramadhan. Those who attended truly wanted the children there to have a comfortable place to study and live in.

It was also an eye-opener for some the staff and their children as they went into the dormitories and bathing areas, and saw how children there lived daily. Without the comfort of air-conditioning, individual shower stalls or washing machines, they were still happy and grateful for whatever they had.

After hours of cleaning and clearing, hungry volunteers & children were treated to lunch. A delicious array of dishes were served in metal pans or dulang to accompany hot, freshly-cooked rice. Fried salted fish, sambal belacan, fried chicken with gulai daging masak kicap and gulai nangka were among the tasty kampong fare greated enjoyed by all.

At the closing ceremony, En. Raziff Embi, Vice President of Ventures II, shared that the welfare of the children at Maahad Tarbiyah Islamiyah Al-Ansar has always been close to the hearts of all at Malakoff.

“Riding on our corporate social responsibility platform, the Malakoff Community Partnerships, we remain committed to the Community and Education. We strongly believe in the role of education towards the upliftment of society. With our small contribution of this multipurpose court for the children to enjoy outdoor recreational activities and along with the donation of 10 computers, we hope to not just foster computer-literacy among these children, but we also look to their having fun, being healthy and active as they pick up and hone their skills both on and off the court. At the end of the day, we look to these simple ‘gifts’ empowering students here and preparing them for the outside world and future occupations.”

“As a Company, we are very pleased to actively participate in activities such as this gotong royong as we believe in people, both within and outside our Organization. Our contribution to the local community is not just via physical donations, but we also welcome opportunities like this to work and grow, hand-in-hand.”

Headmaster of Maahad Tarbiyah Islamiyah Al-Ansar, Ustaz Sazli Ansari was humbled by Malakoff’s generosity to ease the burden of these children and caretakers.

“With the increase in the number of students at (Maahad Tarbiyah Islamiyah) Al-Ansar, we gratefully welcome Malakoff’s help in improving our living conditions. Malakoff is like a big brother to us and we are deeply thankful that a caring corporate company such as Malakoff is concerned with our students’ well-being here.”

On behalf of the Senior Management, our CEO, En Zainal Abidin added, “Thank you to all those who participated in the gotong royong, be it in terms of money or in-kind. Those who volunteered sweat and tears, with their children in tow, an extra big Thank You! Without your collective generosity, kindness and sacrifice, this gotong royong will not have been possible. These children at Maahad Tarbiyah Islamiyah Al-Ansar have not just a more comfortable Hari Raya to look forward to, but also a brighter future knowing people from a company called Malakoff, care & will continue to help them grow and live up to their potential.”