MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 13 January 2020 – MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd “(MSIG Malaysia)”, has teamed up with MyKasih to provide bursaries of RM720 per annum (each) for 130 students in two schools in Sabah and Selangor.
The programme, which developed out of MSIG’s involvement with FINCO (Financial Industry Collective Outreach), is focused on children from underprivileged families in the B40 income group. Student beneficiaries are rendered assistance in the form of cashless bursaries via a contactless MyKasih smartcard. Once registered, a spending allowance of RM30 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. As part of the bursary scheme, each student will also be annually reviewed in terms of overall attendance and academic performance.
Mr. Chua Seck Guan, Chief Executive Officer of MSIG Malaysia, said, “MSIG is delighted to be working with MyKasih and FINCO to help these underprivileged, children and their families. We are a supporter of UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, which is focused on creating inclusive and equitable educational opportunities for all. We hope that the bursaries will allow these children to focus on their education, rather than worrying about basic provisions which more privileged children take for granted”.
MSIG will be supporting 80 students at SK Babagon Toki, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (the entire school) and 50 selected students at SJKC Damansara, Damansara, Selangor. As part of their ‘Love My School’ programme, MyKasih will be working with the children and their parents to ensure that the bursaries are spent responsibly.
“As one of Malaysia’s leading general insurers we have been impressed with how this MyKasih programme will help educate both the children and their families about the benefits of prudent financial budgeting and planning and we are glad that we have been able to partner with both them and FINCO in developing this programme,” Mr Chua concluded.
“We are grateful to MSIG and FINCO for choosing us as their partner in reaching out to underprivileged children in schools. Education is a key area of MyKasih’s work. Beyond providing students with cashless bursaries, we also furnish schools with computer labs, robotics equipment, aquaponics edible garden projects, sports development programmes, as well as English, music and financial literacy classes to enhance their learning experience. The students will no longer need to worry about daily school meals and learning essentials, and can therefore focus on their studies. With improved academic success, we hope this would enable them to seize better opportunities in the future, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty”, said MyKasih Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder, Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat.
In addition to the financial contribution, MSIG will also be working with FINCO and MyKasih to develop meaningful activities at the schools where MSIG staff can directly participate, sharing their time and experience to create additional value for these schools and students.
Clare Walker, Chief Executive Officer of FINCO added, “This is a great initiative by MSIG and a good example of FINCO’s collaborative approach to working with the financial industry to support young people. Ensuring these children have their daily needs taken care of means that they can better focus on their education and work towards achieving their full potential”.
This programme is one of several sustainability initiatives that MSIG Malaysia has committed to in the past year. Other examples include their support for visually impaired photographers, sponsorship of prosthetic limbs for road traffic accident victims, creation of a dedicated insurance product for social enterprises and a partnership with EPIC Homes, aimed at providing housing for marginalised Orang Asli communities. All of these initiatives are linked through MSIG’s support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which have guided and focused the company’s sustainability efforts in 2019.
