Maybank brings cheers to SK Sacred Heart Semaba

0

SHOW OF APPRECIATION: Pupils of the school holding up placards expressing their thanks to Maybank for refurbishing the school. Looking on are Richard (left), Khan (second right) and the school’s headmaster John Sikos (first right).

KUCHING: For years, SK Sacred Heart Semaba has found it hard to improve and upgrade facilities in the school due to lack of funds.

But their prayers were finally answered this year after Maybank Sarawak decided to pick the school for its Global Corporate Responsibility Day programme in which over 300 of the bank’s employees participated.

Within a few days after the programme started, the school now has new and brighter shades of colour, the surroundings have been spruced up, and all its seven classrooms are now refurbished, thus providing a more conducive learning environment.

Kampung Semaba headman Richard Laut was brimming from ear to ear to see the physical transformation of the school and considered it a blessing for being chosen by Maybank for this noble project.

“The school’s board of management tried for many years to seek funds for the maintenance of the school. Most of the time we depend on our YBs (elected representatives), but it was still not sufficient.

“So, we feel very privileged that our school was selected for this programme by Maybank.”

Richard added that SK Sacred Heart Semaba is now 60 years old, and it was established in 1952 as a mission school.

At present, the school has around 250 pupils from Semaba and neighbouring Tematu and Sudat. These are predominantly Bidayuh villages located near Kuching, and it comes under the Batu Kawa state constituency and Stampin parliamentary area.

Maybank Sarawak regional director Nasir Khan said the corporate responsibility (CR) initiative at Semaba was to improve the learning environment and to increase literacy level at the village and the surrounding areas.

He pointed out that the event was also to provide an avenue for Maybank to socially interact with the local communities since it would not be one-off project as it was packaged with long-term objectives.

“We are thrilled to participate in this year’s Global CR Day as we have to come up with sustainable initiatives to bring value to society at the same time. Maybank has always been about lending a helping hand, and this value is a significant part of who we are today.”

Khan pointed out that what they had done at Semaba formed part of the biggest CR initiative ever undertaken by a Malaysian company globally and simultaneously in a day yesterday since it involved over 18,000 Maybank employees throughout the world.

It was also the third consecutive year that Maybank Global CR Day was held. In 2010, over 10,000 employees participated, while last year more than 15,000 employees were involved.