UOB Malaysia shares the festive spirit of giving with more than 100 children from Yayasan Sunbeams Home
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 23 December 2019 – This festive season, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) shared the festive spirit of giving with more than 100 children from Yayasan Sunbeams Home1, a non-government foundation that provides education and care for children from challenging backgrounds.
To make the day a memorable festive occasion, UOB Malaysia hosted a party and distributed gifts to each child. Each gift came with a personal message from UOB employees who had signed up as ‘Secret Santas’ and purchased gifts based on the children’s very own Christmas wish list.
Mr Wong Kim Choong, Chief Executive Officer, UOB Malaysia, said that the ‘Secret Santa’ drive was the Bank’s way of making a meaningful and personal connection with the children through the UOB Heartbeat Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
“At UOB Malaysia, it is our tradition to give back to the community throughout the year as part of our ongoing UOB Heartbeat programme. During this festive season, we wanted to do something a little different and therefore we asked the children of Yayasan Sunbeams Home to write down what they wanted for Christmas. We then asked for UOB Secret Santa volunteers to help make each child’s wish come true. Our people took up the role of a Secret Santa enthusiastically and we hope that through this small but personal gesture, the children of Yayasan Sunbeams Home will have a memorable and enjoyable Christmas.”
UOB volunteers also helped organise games and activities for the children on the day. There was plenty of excitement as the children competed against UOB Malaysia employees in a friendly relay race which brought a lot of cheer and laughter. There was also a round of carolling before lunch was served.
Pastor Victor Maniam, the General Manager of Yayasan Sunbeams Home said, “We are happy to see companies such as UOB Malaysia focus their efforts on giving back to the community. Our children not only enjoyed the day’s activities but they were also thoroughly delighted to learn that ‘Santa’ had read their letters and given them the gifts they asked for this year. Our children enjoyed the event hosted by the Bank and the interaction with the volunteers from UOB Malaysia.”
This community outreach initiative is organised as part of the UOB Malaysia’s Heartbeat CSR programme, which supports communities in the areas of art, education and children. Other initiatives under the UOB Heartbeat programme include the annual UOB Islamic Banking Aidilfitri outreach activity, UOB Heartbeat Run/Walk, the UOB Commercial Banking Lunar New Year outreach event and the UOB Heartbeat Employee Volunteerism programme.
1 Yayasan Sunbeams Home, was founded in 1995 and is a non-governmental and self-funded multi-racial foundation. More information: http://www.sunbeamshome.org