- Over 90 children from special homes treated to Christmas gifts & creative fun
‘Tis the season to be jolly’ - It was a momentous Christmas celebration filled with acts of giving for over 90 children from five homes in the Klang Valley when they each not only received Christmas goodie bags, but were given the chance to ‘Pay it Forward’ at the Maybank Christmas celebration held in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
It was filled with cheer, laughter and music as the children from Stepping Stones Living Centre, City Revival Boys & Girls Homes, House of Joy, Rumah Destiny and Pusat Jagaan Rumah Juara were overjoyed to receive Christmas goodie bags filled with essential items such as stationaries, toiletries, cookies and a Christmas cash gift each.
The event saw Maybank Chairman, Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, Group President & CEO, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Board and senior management members spending time to celebrate the occasion with the children as well as employees of the Group.
The lobby of Menara Maybank was also filled with colourful Christmas arts and crafts, such as Santa hats, greeting cards, Christmas socks and colourful candy wrappers made by the children during the Craft-Making Activity session, capturing the attention of those who passed by.
The mesmerising sounds of bagpipes performed by a local music band ‘Voice of Percussion’ also lingered harmoniously in the Bank’s foyer, ushering in the spirit of Christmas season.
Favourite Christmas Carols were then performed by the Maybank Christian Fellowship for the guests joined by children of the Stepping Stones Living Centre and the Group’s senior management.
Maybank Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Nora Manaf said, “Each year, we aim to create a sense of togetherness with our special guests during our festive celebrations. Apart from sharing gifts with them, this season, we are teaching them the joyous act of ‘Paying it Forward’, which we truly believe promotes the spirit of giving.”
“We encouraged them to auction their best Christmas handicrafts made during the Craft-Making Activity session to the Group staff, with the proceeds raised by the children given to another Home which attended the event. We are overjoyed with the response to the auction as the children managed to raise over RM3,600!” added Nora.
“The celebration is also our way of demonstrating our mission of humanising financial services. Maybank celebrates major festivities by organising activities that provide opportunities for our employees to appreciate the rich heritage of respective communities where the bank operates in. We will continue to celebrate diversity through our different staff engagement initiatives including such festive celebrations,” she added.
One of the attendees, Santos, 16, from Rumah Juara said, “I’m so happy that I can get together with my friends here at Maybank to celebrate this Christmas event. I really think that this is quite interesting and I’m so happy to be here today. I also enjoyed the bagpipes performance. It was cool!”
Meanwhile, Marlini, 17, from Stepping Stones Living Centre said, “It was an exciting day and of course I’m very happy to celebrate this with all of my friends who are here today. I’m thankful enough because Maybank has organised this event for us. I’m also looking forward to be celebrating Christmas with my friend soon at Stepping Stones Living Centre. I have just finished my SPM exams and I think it is going to be a very exciting Christmas this year.”