61 Penampang primary school students receive MyKasih aid
PENAMPANG: ConocoPhillips Malaysia presented its annual contribution of RM160,000 to MyKasih Foundation for the fourth consecutive year, yesterday.
The sponsorship, disbursed to 220 underprivileged primary school students under the MyKasih ‘Love My School’ student bursary program, is extended to 61 SK St Theresa Inobong and SK St Paul Kolopis primary school students.
“As a major global energy company, ConocoPhillips is fuelling the world’s growth. We aim to do this in a responsible and sustainable manner, working closely to build strong relationships with all of our stakeholders. Working with people with integrity is one of our core values and that includes the local communities and education for schools,” said ConocoPhillips Malaysia president David Hendicott during the handing over ceremony at St Theresa Inobong here, yesterday.
“I can’t think of any single thing that is more important than having a brighter future through solid education. It is really your ticket to better opportunities in the future.
“So we are delighted to continue our collaboration with the MyKasih Foundation and proud to bring a better quality of life to poorer families and children by helping to make education affordable for everybody,” he added.
MyKasih Foundation chairman and co-founder Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat is livingproof of how education is key to freedom from poverty.
As a child born and living in China, Ngau is too familiar with hunger, having to steal potatoes as his family struggled through ordeals during the early communist period there before successfully escaping to Malaysia.
In a peaceful environment, Ngau’s mother emphasized on him the importance of further study, never giving up during difficult times and of being brave enough to take risks.
Today the 68-year-old cofounder of the 1984 Dialog Group Berhad, one of the most successful and richest men in the world, holds on the great belief of giving back to the unfortunate in the world. “ConocoPhillips demonstrates its caring values as a responsible corporate citizen with the continuation of the ‘Love My School’ program in the same four primary schools they have adopted since 2013, namely SK St Paul Kolopis and SK St Theresa Inobong in Sabah, and SK Combined and SK Sungai Apong in Sarawak,” said Ngau.
“Through the bursary programme, students from economically-challenged backgrounds receive much needed financial support for daily meals and learning necessities, which in turn, will give them a better chance at completing their education and building a better life for their families.
“We hope other companies will be inspired to come forward to collaborate with MyKasih Foundation, as we continue to help more families and students here and the region,” he urged.
Ngau also presented 20 bicycles to the best performing SK St Theresa Inobong and SK St Paul Kolopis students under the MyKasih program.
Students from low-income households who are adopted under the ‘Love My School’ program are rendered assistance in the form of bursaries via a contactless MyKasih smartcard.
Once the students are registered under the program, accounts will be opened against the students’ MyKad in the MyKasih system into which a spending allowance of RM30 to RM40 will be deposited twice a month.
The students will draw on the allowances by using their MyKasih student smartcard to pay for purchases of school books and stationery from the school bookstore, as well as food from the school canteen. The bursary scheme is subject to annual review where students’ academic performance is assessed.
Also present at the ceremony were MyKasih Foundation Trustee Datuk Yaacob Amin, ConocoPhillips Malaysia (Assets and Commercial) general manager Richard Thomas, Foundation managing director Jeffrey Perera, the headmasters of Sekolah Kebangsaan St Theresa Inobong and Sekolah Kebangsaan St Paul Kolopis - Martin Sibit and Edwin Gustin, as well as the student beneficiaries from those schools.
Since its inception in 2009, MyKasih Foundation has reached out to more than 230,000 low-income households in over 400 locations nationwide, out of which,11,000 are primary and secondary student beneficiaries in 200 schools.
To date, more that RM180 million worth of aid has been channelled to targeted beneficiaries using the MyKasih cashless payment system.