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More than 14,000 families across ASEAN to receive food essentials from Maybank Islamic Berhad

SETIU, 4 MAY 2019: Maybank Islamic Berhad’s flagship CR programme, Regional Ramadhan Relief will today see 14,645 families in Malaysia and 9 other ASEAN countries receiving food packs from the Bank, in conjunction with the fasting month of Ramadhan.
With an allocation of RM2.7 million, this year, the programme will aid more than 8,000 families in Malaysia, while the remaining families are in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and the Rohingya refugees (Myanmar) in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

The symbolic food box presentation ceremony was handed by Maybank Islamic CEO, Dato’ Mohamed Rafique Merican and witnessed by Maybank Islamic Chairman, Zainal Abidin Jamal and Chairman of Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM), Prof Dr Azni Idris to 150 local fishermen families here.

IRM is the Bank’s implementing partner for this initiative.

Also present were Setiu Member of Parliament Shaharizukirnain Abdul Kadir, Maybank Regional Director for Pahang, Kelantan & Terengganu (PKT), Abd Razak Kamardin, CEO of IRM, Zairul Shahfudin Zainal Abidin, Maybank Islamic Board of Directors and IRM Board of Trustees.

To date, the community programme which was initiated in 2013 has allocated funds of more than RM10 million and have benefited more than 110,000 underprivileged families comprising single mothers, disabled, orphans, homeless and other disadvantaged people.

Maybank Islamic CEO, Dato’ Mohamed Rafique Merican said the programme is aligned to its humanising financial services mission across its operations to ease the burden of the less fortunate families.

“We are grateful as this is our seventh year running this programme which has benefitted not only the underprivileged in Malaysia, but also those in nine other ASEAN countries.”

The food supplies given comprise basic necessities such as rice, cooking oil, flour, sugar and other essential food items which are normally needed in the fasting month.

“The underprivileged deserves assistance such as this so that their well-being are not neglected and we are thankful that our contributions have managed to ease the burden of the affected people,” said Dato’ Mohamed Rafique.

He added that Maybank Islamic is not only committed to its Corporate Responsibility programmes which are activated throughout the year but will continue to seek better ways to elevate the economic level of the communities where the Bank operates.

Maybank Islamic’s other CR programmes in the pipeline for 2019 include education fund for students, empowering the mualaf (new converts) community programme, clean water & sanitation programme, foster family programme with urban poor families and sponsorship of heart surgeries for young children.