Yayasan PETRONAS ushers in Chinese New Year with underprivileged families and children nationwide

UTP vice chancellor Prof Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib (right) handing over the festive hampers and care packages to Pertubuhan Pengurusan Rumah Anak-Anak Yatim dan Miskin “Anning” Ipoh chairman How Kok Peng witnessed by Perak Department of Social Welfare director Nor Tipah Majin.

IPOH: Yayasan PETRONAS ushered in the Year of the Tiger with its Sentuhan Kasih festive contribution activities involving 1,460 underprivileged families and children across the nation.

From Jan 24 until Feb 9, Yayasan PETRONAS, in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare (JKM), has distributed festive food hampers, and personal hygiene care packages to the underprivileged families and children at nine orphanages.

The festive hampers also included cookies specially made by participants of Yayasan PETRONAS’ MEKAR (Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat) programme for recipients in Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, and Trengganu.

Through this Sentuhan Kasih programme, the beneficiaries in 13 states and two Federal Territories received contributions amounting to RM355,400 from the foundation.

For Perak, the Sentuhan Kasih Chinese New Year activity was implemented by Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) recently. The university reached out to 140 beneficiaries from Pertubuhan Pengurusan Rumah Anak-Anak Yatim dan Miskin “Anning”, low-income families from Kinta, Kampar and Larut, Matang and Selama districts. They received their festive hampers and care packages from UTP vice chancellor Prof Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib.

Yayasan PETRONAS chief executive officer Shariah Nelly Francis said: “This Year of the Tiger would be especially memorable as we are celebrating it with a lion dance at the orphanages.

“We will be with the children at nine orphanages across Malaysia as well as beneficiaries in several locations in Sibu, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu.

“After two years of not being able to visit or meet in person due to the pandemic and movement restrictions, we are glad to be able to do so now and bring cheer to the beneficiaries with traditional Chinese New Year activities.

“We hope that this gesture will bring the joy of celebrating this auspicious occasion to all beneficiaries.”

Each year, in conjunction with major celebrations in Malaysia, Yayasan PETRONAS extends necessities to the less fortunate via its Sentuhan Kasih programme to create a memorable celebration during the festive seasons.

Sentuhan Kasih is part of Yayasan PETRONAS’ community well-being and development focus area. The programme is also in line with the PETRONAS Sustainability Agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.