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December 2008 The RHB Banking Group enhances reading facilities for rural schools Kuala Lumpur, 4 December 2008:The RHB Banking Group continues to play its role as a caring corporate citizen by embarking on yet another Corporate Responsibility (CR) initiative, duly named “Let’s Learn with RHB”. This time the financial services group is working closely with the Ministry of Education to inculcate good reading habits among Malaysian school children and consequently improve their command of both the English language and Bahasa Malaysia, and enhance their knowledge base. Dato Abdullah Mat Noh, Chairman of RHB Investment Bank Bhd, reading to the students of SK Seri Mendapat, Merlimau, Melaka. Looking on are (from left) Dr Masnah Ali Muda and officials from the Ministry of Education. 14 rural schools from 14 states nationwide have been identified to benefit from the initiative. The schools were selected based on their need for good reading materials and resource centres. “This is in line with the Government’s aim to produce a highly literate society, as part of its aspirations towards reaching the status of a developed nation and we are pleased to be able to play an instrumental role in helping the Government to achieve this aim. We believe that providing these schools with the right reading materials will give them an equal if not better opportunity to explore good quality reading materials which will improve their reading skills and at the same time sharpen their general knowledge,” said Datuk Azlan Zainol, Chairman of RHB Bank Berhad (“RHB Bank”). The CR initiative kicked off at SK Sri Mendapat in Merlimau, Melaka, on 14 November 2008, with the presence of Dato Abdullah Mat Noh, Chairman of RHB Investment Bank, Dr Masnah Ali Muda, Deputy Director of the Educational Technology Division at the Ministry of Education, and officials from both parties. Besides reading materials, RHB also provided the resource centre with a desktop computer and relevant library solutions software. 13 other schools will be provided with reading materials and computer by the end of the year. For the RHB Banking Group, being involved in educational causes is nothing new. In recent years, RHB Bank has presented bursaries to children of its employees who do well in school. Last year, the RHB Banking Group was the main presenter of the nationwide Search for the Best Teenage Writers, another educational initiative that brings out the scribe in every young person. The initiative involved an essay-writing competition to find the best writers from among secondary school pupils in English and Malay nationwide. This year, RHB embarked on yet another educational initiative, the RHB-NST Spell-It-Right (SIR), jointly organized with The New Straits Times, in nurturing the interest in students from primary and secondary schools throughout the country to learn and improve their language skills. Corporate Responsibility (CR) has become an integral part of the RHB Banking Group. The RHB Missing Children - Reuniting Families programme, launched in July 2007 with the collaboration of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) sees the Group assisting the police in publicizing cases of missing children. A series of safety tips for children were published in the local newspapers to create safety awareness amongst parents and children, which were later compiled into a booklet in two languages. The booklets were distributed to 170 urban primary schools nationwide, and a series of roadshows to six cities involving 20 schools, the police and the Education Department was carried out between February and November 2008. The RHB Banking Group seeks to take on further initiatives to promote children’s safety in the near future. Issued on behalf of RHB Bank Berhad by Group Corporate Communications Division, RHB Capital Berhad. For more information, please call Eza Dzul Karnain at 012-3420060 or Sandra Foo at 012-3188412  |
