-Initiative among the many by Maybank employees for Global CR Day
Over 18,000 Maybank employees worldwide today commemorated the seventh Maybank Global CR Day engaging directly with the communities in their respective locations through various corporate responsibility initiatives.
With the theme “Enabling Communities with Solutions”, the Maybank Global CR Day is part of the Group’s employee volunteerism programme believed to be the largest single community programme undertaken simultaneously in one day, by a Malaysian-based corporation on a global scale. It involves employees not only in Malaysia but also its offices abroad – from New York and London to Greater China and across ASEAN – coming together to reaffirm their commitment to social and community development.
In Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, employees watched an Angklung orchestra performance by autistic and other special children from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Baru Sentul (SMKBBS), who were accompanied by their classmates. The Maybank employees, from the Group Corporate and Legal Services (GCLS) had helped in the formation and training of this orchestra over the last few months as part of their employee volunteerism programme. Present at the event were two Directors of Maybank, namely Nor Hizam bin Hashim & Dr Hasnita binti Dato’ Hashim, Maybank Group General Counsel & Company Secretary, Wan Marzimin Wan Muhammad as well as GCLS employees.
Wan Marzimim said that the initiative by the employees of GCLS was aimed not only at bringing the power of music to help the development of the special children but also to promote awareness of this traditional musical instrument which is not as popular these days.
“We are indeed happy to see the progress the students have made since our programme began earlier this year and the positive impact it has made in their lives. We are today also committing to continue sponsorship of the Angklung classes for the children for the rest of the year,” he added.
At the event, Maybank also handed over a set of high quality black bamboo Angklungs (comprising 32 Units of Angklung Melody (3 Tabung); 12 Units of Angklung Chords (Major and Minor); and 1 Unit of 2 levels Angklung Hanger) for use by the special children of SMKBBS in a bid to develop the orchestra further.
Apart from the Angklung performance the GCLS employees organised various other fun-filled activities included an angklung demonstration for guests at the event, traditional games, singing, a cake cutting ceremony and a heart-warming montage of the journey leading up to the event. One of the highlights for the day was a mesmerising song performance by Umar, a young boy with autism, whose voice was featured in sound track of the movie ‘Redha’
Group Chief Human Capital Officer of Maybank, Nora Manaf said that the Global CR Day is a unique volunteerism event where employees reinforce Maybank’s mission of humanising financial services and its commitment to be at the heart of the community sustainably. On this day, Maybankers across the group go down to the ground to volunteer and carry out together their various sustainable CR initiatives that they have been and will be implementing in communities where the Bank has presence.
“Our theme for this year’s Group-wide Global CR Day resonates strongly with our role as a responsible corporate citizen. This theme reinforces our commitment in creating and empowering solutions for the communities to improve their lives. We believe the solutions that we are bringing through our initiatives today, will benefit the present communities for a better future,” she said.
Nora added that this year’s Global CR Day marks yet another milestone for the Group as it is not only the seventh consecutive year that the employees are getting together on a single day, to contribute to the betterment of society and the environment in a sustainable and impactful manner, but it takes our impact farther on the sustainability front with the principle of Paying it Forward weaved intensively into the activities.
This year, over 90 initiatives are being implemented by employees across the Group. These included various community projects involving special children, the elderly, disabled, single mothers and orphans as well as the environment.
In Kuala Lumpur, Maybank Chairman, Tan Sri Dato’ Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor joined in a fun run and walk with Down Syndrome children from the Orchid Home at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) to raise funds for special needs students as well as cancer children from the University of Malaya Medical Centre Cancer Unit.
Maybank Group President & CEO, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias joined employees in a community programme to raise funds through various activities for the National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), as well as create more awareness of autism among the public. Activities included a telematch with autistic children, colouring contest and the refurbishment of the school area.
Elsewhere, employees engaged in numerous other initiatives ranging from engagement with the physically challenged, mentoring and supporting indigenous and financially disadvantaged communities, planting trees in public parks, or joining hands to spruce up community areas. They also cleaned up rivers and wetlands, promoted waste recycling awareness and helped in greening available space at Menara Maybank, with the food produce donated to welfare homes.
The Global CR Day was first held in 2010 in conjunction with Maybank’s 50th anniversary. Over 10,000 employees took part in that inaugural event. The increasing number of participants over the years reflects the strong team spirit among employees to come together and participate in such a unique global volunteerism programme.