Old folks home residents treated to action-packed movie
SANDAKAN: Senior citizens from Sri Harapan Old Folks Home were entertained when the Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan launched its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program by taking the senior citizens to watch an action-packed movie, and accompanied by the hotel associates, recently.
The idea came about as the hotel’s general manager, Peter Padman, pondered over the idea of doing something memorable for these lonely senior citizens, to coincide with the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, and bounced the thought with Datuk Affendi Hamdan, one of the owners of Lotus Five Star (LFS) cinema, over coffee.
The associates arrived early at the entrance to welcome the senior citizens.
There were 20 senior citizens from the home and were accompanied by staff of the old folks home. As soon as they arrived, they were ushered to the Lotus Five Star (LFS) cinema foyer where refreshments were served while a short get-to-know took place.
Peter started with a welcome address to break the ice.
“It was a meaningful meeting as one of the ‘guests’ was a chef many years ago and he shared his profession where his speciality was the Melaka Asam Pedas,” he said.
Peter also thanked the management and owners of LFS cinema, Affendi and Datuk Rena Doraisingam, for spontaneously supporting the CSR project, while Lai King Han of Seri Batik sponsored door gifts of batik shawls to keep them warm at the movies.
“The old folk were excited as it was their first time visiting a very high-tech cinema with such impressive state of the art audio and projection. It definitely made their day.
“After the two-hour long movie, they were treated to a sumptuous lunch at The Eatery, Level 13. The lunch began with a round of Yee Sang tossing, in conjunction with the Lunar New Year, wishing everyone good health and prosperity for the year ahead.
“They were also entertained by a karaoke session by the associates and their very own talented senior citizens,” Padman said in a statement here, yesterday.
The event ended with ang pow being given away by the hotel’s executive assistant manager, Daniyal Ng.
“It was a fruitful and meaningful trip for the senior citizens as they waved goodbye, bearing smiles on their faces from the windows of the luxurious coach, courtesy of STWA (Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure),” Peter added.