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communityempowerment
underprivilegedandruralempowerment
We have provided continued support to Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputra
which is a foundation promoting education under the Unit Peneraju Agenda
Bumiputra (Teraju) as well as Yayasan Sejahtera.
Yayasan Peneraju aims to undertake various initiatives to support the educational needs of underprivileged bumiputra students such as through scholarships as well as
capability and capacity building. The mandate of the foundation is to increase the quality, quantity and relevance of bumiputra talents through academic and vocational
education. The foundation is part of Teraju’s mission to strengthen the participation of bumiputras in the economy in line with the Malaysian government’s aim to make the
country a developed nation with a high income by 2020. Our support reaches some of the most underprivileged bumiputra students as well as those in the rural areas of
Malaysia.
We also support Yayasan Sejahtera. Yayasan Sejahtera seeks to help the extreme poor create a better life for themselves by equipping them with the necessary tools, skills,
infrastructure, and opportunities to break out of the poverty cycle. Maybank’s support of over RM300,000 has enabled Yayasan Sejahtera to address and provide solutions
to water, as well as youth activities in Pitas, Sabah. The programmes included distribution of water tanks to Kampung Kinango, Kampung Tampahaku and Kampung Sungai
Eloi, gravity-fed water supply solution in Kampung Kinango and a participatory video for youths.
We will continue our support for Yayasan Peneraju and Yayasan Sejahtera with the aim of complementing the Malaysia government’s efforts to assist rural communities
through targeted empowerment programmes.
ProjectH.e.a.r.t
Project H.E.A.R.T (Helping Every Asian Rise Together) is a project to supply free
solar-powered light bulbs to communities across Asia.
There are many rural areas that still do not have adequate lighting which in turn impairs quality of life and affects learning amongst school children. Across the world, one in
four people live without electricity or access to a free light source, thus limiting their productivity and exposing them to health and safety risks. A significant proportion of
these people live in Asia.
The project was befittingly launched during Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, which is celebrated by the Hindu community all over the world by lighting their homes with
lamps to signify the triumph of light over dark as well as good over evil. The first community to benefit was Kampung Chuweh, an Orang Asli settlement in Gerik, Perak,
Malaysia, Barrio Bliss and Barrio Udlot in the Philipines as well as Pensiangan in Sabah, Malaysia.
We are evaluating the reach of Project H.E.A.R.T as well as the feasibility to extend it beyond being a one-off programme. Whilst our focus is on nurturing high impact and
long-term projects region-wide, which will be able to evidence year-on-year progress, there will always be a few one-off programmes that will be particularly relevant to a
certain community or that will meet their direct needs at a particular time, which we will consider on a case-by-case basis.
COMMUNITyANDCITIZENSHIP
Three young children showing how life does not stop when darkness falls with the help of Project H.E.A.R.T’s solar-powered light bulbs
