Foundation commends community-based effort to educate stateless children

Cheng (fourth from left) handing over the Best Project for 2016 gift to Siti Rahayu.

PHOTOS of excited young children sitting on mats eagerly listening to their tutors about the streets of Chow Kit captured everyone’s heart during the Khind Starfish Foundation’s Project For Happiness 2016 event.

Buku Chow Kit founding member Siti Rahayu Baharin, who won the crowd over with her presentation, called the stateless audience, which her non-profit organisation encourages to read and learn, her “children”.

Impressed by their efforts, Khind Starfish Foundation named the Buku Chow Kit initiative the Best Project for 2016.

“We have big dreams. Next, we want to open a school for these children, and one day, head to the United Nations to lobby for the right for children to study in any government school in the world, regardless of their nationality,” said Siti Rahayu.

Project for Happiness is an initiative by Khind Starfish Foundation that encourages Malaysian undergraduates to design, manage and execute grassroots projects.

The 2016 edition celebrated 21 community-based projects in an intimate sharing event that looked back on the previous year’s achievements.

Members of the Buku Chow Kit initiative (from left) Nadia Nadir Ghazali, Nur Hanun Muhammad, Adnin Aqilah Yusrizal and Siti Rahayu Baharin

Khind Starfish Foundation chairman Cheng Ping Keat said the final presentations was the culmination of the efforts by 21 different university student groups to bring happiness to Malaysians.

“The reason we sponsor these students is to instil the seed of kindness in the mind and expose them to corporate social responsibility work because they are the future of our country,” he added.

Cheng said a total of RM134,939 was handed out to the 21 projects.

However, prior to that, each group had to raise 10% of the grant amount.

The event marked the third year that Khind Starfish Foundation had handed out grants to help community causes.

To-date, they have donated a total of RM352,000.

“This year, we have decided to rope in other private companies to join in.

The young ladies from Guardian 1.0 Sungai Udang, a project to document the heritage of the Teochewspeaking community.

“We have managed to get three companies on board who have pledged RM85,000,” he added.

The companies are Tiong Nam, Kasut You and Fiffy Baby.

During the event, 14 groups set up booths to present their projects.

The top three, including Buku Chow Kit, were picked for a special presentation.

The other two included a group of girls from three different universities who carried out the Guardian 1.0 Sungai Udang project and another group from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) with its Community Outreach programme.

Guardian 1.0 Sungai Udang saw the girls heading out to Sungai Udang, an old fishing village, and documenting their heritage.

The Community Outreach programme by the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris dance students brought traditional Malaysian folk dances to people of all ages through a collaboration with the Damansara Performing Arts Centre.

They captured the traditions of the Teochew-speaking community and ended their research with an exhibition that paid tribute to the village.

The UPSI students, on the other hand, are a group of young dance students who brought traditional Malaysian folk dances to people of all ages through a collaboration with the Damansara Performing Arts Centre.

During their lively presentation, they dazzled the crowd by performing the traditional Sarawakian Orang Ulu dance called Leleh and Wau Bulan from Terengganu.

Khind Starfish Foundation has now opened applications for 2017 grants and is calling on all university undergraduates to participate.