Yayasan Sime Darby's Back to School Assistance for Flood Victims in Kelantan

Left only the clothes on their back, getting their lives back to normal is a slow and arduous task. Well-wishing Malaysians have rallied to send supplies to help them weather the storm. Although the waters have long receded, the trauma remains.

Earlier this year, Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) contributed RM700,000 to the Medical Relief Society (MERCY) Malaysia’s Humanitarian Relief Fund for its emergency flood relief efforts which included RM50,000 for the ‘Back to School Assistance’ programme for affected school children in Kuala Krai.

Over the last weekend, MERCY Malaysia volunteers and Yayasan Sime Darby distributed back to school items to 300 primary and secondary school students from the worst hit areas of Kampung Bekok and Kampung Tualang. Amongst the items distributed were school uniforms, school shoes, socks, backpacks, pencil cases and stationeries.

Beaming with excitement and thankful for the assistance, the schoolchildren waited patiently in queue for their turn. Ever since school started on 11 January, these children have been attending school donning donated clothes minus schoolbags, books and uniforms. YSD’s timely aid provided a huge relief for both parents and their children as some form of normalcy has returned to their lives.

YSD’s Chairman, YABhg. Tun Musa Hitam said: “I hope our assistance makes a huge difference in the lives of the affected families. Even during normal circumstances, buying school supplies can be an expensive affair. Now, with everything washed away and families have to rebuild their lives, assistance like this will help lessen their burdens.”

YSD has also allocated an additional RM1 million for a project with MERCY Malaysia to build 66 new homes for villagers whose homes were swept away by the floods. The homes for the villagers in Kuala Krai are expected to be ready by early March.

Community and Health, one of the pillars of Yayasan Sime Darby’s philanthropy supports community-based programmes and sustainable initiatives intended to promote the wellbeing and health of disadvantaged people and enhance the welfare of neglected children and senior citizens, vulnerable women, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

YSD has been actively involved in flood relief initiatives since 2014. Early December, YSD in support of (MERCY) Malaysia’s emergency flood relief efforts sponsored 1,000 hygiene kits, medicines, fuel as well as logistics expenses to mobilise MERCY Malaysia’s medical teams in the three worst affected states, namely Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.

YSD also contributed RM500,000 to provide 800 families from flood affected villages surrounding Sime Darby estates in Pahang with food items and hygiene kits, electricity generator sets, cleaning equipment and kits for post-flood relief efforts and logistics expenses for distribution of the relief items. To date, YSD has contributed RM2.2million in total towards flood relief efforts.

For more information on the Yayasan Sime Darby, please visit www.yayasansimedarby.com

Yayasan Sime Darby 

Yayasan Sime Darby, or Sime Darby Foundation, was established in 1982 and is the primary driver of Sime Darby Berhad’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

The objectives of Yayasan Sime Darby are supported by its five pillars, namely: education; environment, community & health; youth & sports and arts & culture. While led by independent members of a Governing Council and managed by a dedicated team, Yayasan Sime Darby works closely with the Sime Darby Group, in areas of mutual interest.

Since its inception, Yayasan Sime Darby has awarded scholarships worth RM217 million to 2,519 students both in and outside Malaysia. It is supporting long term research projects of significant scientific value like the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project which is the world’s largest ecological project, a joint effort with the Royal Society (The UK and Commonwealth Academy of Science). Yayasan Sime Darby is also actively involved in the development and improvements of sports in Malaysia namely track cycling, lawn bowling, cricket, tennis and golf. Under its community & health pillar, Yayasan Sime Darby supports initiatives to promote the well-being of disadvantaged people irrespective of race, culture, religion, creed or gender and works with established organisations to promote the development of arts and culture.