110 primary school children from Lumut, Prai and Tanjung Bin donning Malakoff t-shirts were spotted dashing about various popular venues in the heart of Kuala Lumpur over the weekend! They were clearly excited as they explored the exhibitions at various places of interest.

This is thanks to Malakoff’s annual ‘Learning Beyond The Classroom’ Programme where deserving primary students from Malakoff’s ten adopted schools across Malaysia were brought for a three-day educational trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Over the course of this trip, Malakoff’s Committee and Volunteers discovered that for most of these children, it was their first time away from home, staying at a hotel, enjoying a hotel buffet spread, visiting places of interests like the High5 Bread Museum, the National Science Centre, historic National Museum and also the activity-filled Zoo Negara!

Despite the packed schedule and having to brave city traffic, the Organisers were heartened by the enthusiastic chatter of these students throughout ~ a reflection that they truly enjoyed themselves.

Organised by Malakoff for the 12th consecutive year, the ‘Learning Beyond The Classroom’ Programme was initiated to provide exposure to the children on life outside their hometown and for them to gain more knowledge, exposure and broaden their horizon.

Since the maiden event in 2000, Malakoff has allocated over RM80,000 annually towards hosting this event, which is an integral part of the Malakoff Community Partnerships – the Company’s flagship CSR platform .

Yusop Abdul Rashid, Malakoff’s Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations said, “Our objective is for these students to gain exposure outside of their own school and home surroundings. As such, we have identified specific places for them to visit. These are not only recreational in nature, but also are venues which impart knowledge. This way, they get to enjoy the learning process. That’s the key.”

“Malakoff has always recognised that education equals empowerment. Therefore, we are simply doing our part in assisting these students acquire knowledge not just from books, but also experientially,” he added.

In addition, Malakoff also allocates RM200,000 annually to support its adopted schools. This is by way of equipping them with better infrastructure and learning aids. This includes developing educational facilities such as libraries, computer and science labs, depending on the requests by school authorities.

Head teacher of SJK (T) Ladang Huntly from Lumut, Mrs Kawita, was both impressed and pleased with this Programme. “It was well organised and the students really enjoyed visiting places they only read about through the newspapers or watched on television. As a bonus, they also got to make so many new friends from other states!”

“We are very thankful for Malakoff’s consistent support in providing such opportunities for our children. This experience of exploring the city has certainly opened their eyes to possibilities and the sky’s the limit now for their aspirations. We hope they will continue to run this Programme, have us back next year and inspire many more rural school children,” she added.

A volunteer in this Programme for 12 years running, Shahril Mohamed Salleh, a Malakoff staff based in Lumut quipped, “My team mates and I are really happy to be involved. Taking these children around places of interest in the city, we can see firsthand how excited they are about learning. Seeing the joy on their faces is more than enough thanks for us.”

As the children boarded their respective buses to return home, some 20 Malakoff employees who volunteered to be with these children throughout their three-day visit, distributed each student with a goodie bag comprising of a t-shirt, a pair of shoes and a school bag, to gear them up for classes in the year ahead.

As the students bid farewell, they left with the sound wisdom that for the eager mind, there are no boundaries for continuous learning and the acquiring of new knowledge.