SHAH ALAM: A total of RM28,968 was raised for underprivileged Orang Asli children and the disabled community from The Next Gen charity golf event at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the Majlis Datuk Persekutuan Malaysia (MDPM), in collaboration with the SME associations of Hulu Langat and Klang.
The goal of the charity tournament, which was partcipated by 120 golfers, is to foster a caring and inclusive society through impactful initiatives that promote education, equality and inclusive development.
The money raised will be used to fund two projects: the 'Sponsor an Orang Asli Child to Read, Write and Count' and the 'To Make Society More Inclusive of People with Disability'. They raised RM16,468 for the former and RM12,500 for the latter.
MDPM member, Datuk Grace Chia, said the dropout rate among Orang Asli children from school is very high because they face challenges in education.
"They have their own unique culture and language, so we came up with an initiative to help them read, write and count.
"These are the fundamental skills that can help them build confidence, so they can proceed to secondary school and gain further education.
"We will use the money raised today to work with the Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JKOA) to run a pilot programme to benefit the Orang Asli Children," said Grace at the dinner after the conclusion of the tournament.
The JAKOA official for Batang Padang and Muallim district, Annuar Shafie, said he hopes that more corporate and private entities will come in to assist in initiatives to benefit the community.
"As we all know, education is important, the initiative by MDPM is focused on reading, writing and counting. Inability to master these basic skills is the biggest barrier for the Orang Asli children to follow mainstream education," he added.
At the gala dinner after the golf tournament, there were booths set up for members of the SME associations of Hulu Langat and Klang to promote their businesses and sell their products.
There was also a charity auction held to further raise funds for the two initiatives. Among the items were a luxury watch and a massage chair.
MDPM president Datuk Iskandar Malik and the political secretary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Chan Ming Kai, handed mock cheques to Annuar.
Iskandar and Ming Kai then handed the second mock cheque of the evening to Datuk N. Mohandas for the disabled initiative.