IPOH, 2 AUGUST 2015: More than 1,000 cycling enthusiasts participated in the Maybank Islamic Berhad’s cycle event today to help raise funds to sponsor paediatric heart patients from Malaysia and across ASEAN.

The fundraising initiative which is part of Maybank Islamic’s 5-year collaboration with the National Heart Institute (IJN) inked in 2012, has raised an additional RM100,000.

Under the collaboration, Maybank Islamic has previously pledged RM2.55 million to sponsor heart surgeries of children from underprivileged families, not only from Malaysia but also in all ASEAN countries where the Maybank Group is present.

“Cycle Save a Child’s Heart 2.0” is the second one to be organised by the bank after the success of the inaugural one held last year in Putrajaya which raised a total of RM50,000.

The event today was graced with the presence of DYMM Paduka Seri Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah who flagged off the cyclists and later participated in the 10km VIP Ride together with DYMM Raja Permaisuri Perak Tuanku Zara Salim.
Among those who were present today are Perak Menteri Besar YAB Dato’ Seri DiRaja Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Maybank Islamic chairman YBhg Dato’ Seri Ismail Shahudin, Maybank Islamic CEO En Muzaffar Hisham, IJN CEO Dato’ Dr Azhari Yakub, and several member of the State Executive Council.

In his speech, Dato’ Seri Ismail said after Putrajaya and Ipoh, the cycle event will move to other cities across the country and eventually later it will make its debut in key ASEAN cities.

He said Maybank Islamic is building this charity cycling event as part of its Corporate Responsibility programme which champions three main focus comprising Children, Health and Education.

“Maybank Islamic’s cycling series will further cement the bank’s commitment to have a sustainable programme through a noble cause and instil the spirit of charity while promoting healthy living though sporting activities such as cycling,” he said.

"It will also convey our Group's mission to humanise financial services through charitable activities and support the Government's aspiration to promote not just a healthy lifestyle among Malaysians but also a generation of disciplined and competitive society.”

Maybank Islamic CEO Muzaffar Hisham said collaborating with other countries in the region will also indirectly support the Malaysian government’s aspiration to promote the country as a preferred medical hub.

The Maybank Islamic and IJN collaboration has seen more than RM1 million of the bank’s RM2.55 million sponsorship been used to help a total of 42 young children, which included 5 patients from Indonesia and 2 from Somalia and Bangladesh.

“Last year, we flew the parents of two Indonesia children to Kuala Lumpur for their heart operations and provided them with lodging and some pocket money for their expenses. This will be our way moving forward as we want to see more regional patients getting their treatment at the region’s renowned heart centre,” said Muzaffar.

Maybank Islamic is targeting that by the end of 2016, a total of 58 paediatric patients would have received the heart surgeries and 18 of them, will be regional patients from the countries where Maybank Group has its presence.

For this event, there are three categories, namely the 10km (VIP Ride), 30km (Fun Ride) and 120km (Endurance Ride).

A lucky drawn was held at the end of the event, with some lucky winners walked away with prizes totalling close to RM55,000 from travel packages, bicycle vouchers to electronic and mobile gadgets.