As the country prepares to celebrate the 66th Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day, the spirit of unity and independence is in the air. For social enterprise Projek57, whose community work is inspired by the nation’s founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman’s vision of inclusivity, the aim to encourage hope among Malaysians while improving lives of disadvantaged youth reached new heights this year.
Projek57 together with supporters have raised funds and built a new preschool to benefit Orang Asli children in Gua Musang, Kelantan. The first enrolment will see 25 five- to six-year-olds in attendance in January 2024.
With a large segment of Projek57’s initiatives centred around underprivileged Orang Asli youth since it was set up in 2015, the social enterprise believes that instilling the values of education from a young age is an enabler to achieving purposeful lives.
Projek57 Co-founder Syed Sadiq Albar said, “Education can be a tremendous equaliser. It can give Malaysians from all walks of life an opportunity to advance regardless of background, race or culture. Our main reason for starting this preschool project was to better prepare Orang Asli children for primary school which can be more challenging for disadvantaged groups. By helping them embark on their education journey from an early age with the right tools and nutritious meals, they can get a head start that will hopefully help them to continue learning and thriving.”
According to Projek57, approximately RM100,000 will be needed to maintain the operations and infrastructure of the preschool annually. This includes providing healthy daily meals for all children during the school term.
Syed Sadiq added, “The preschool project is designed to be modular and can be quite easily replicated in other locations and communities that need such educational facilities. We believe that the earlier preschools can be the catalyst for more preschools to be built and with more partners with similar core values.”
A staunch Projek57 supporter, Prudential Ampri Cleanroom Services’ (PACS) contributions was instrumental in the collaborative efforts to build the preschool from ground up.
PACS Chief Executive Officer Phng Wee Kiat shares Projek57 patriotic values and love for country. He said, “We chose to partner with Projek57 due to their admirable goal of providing educational support and other opportunities for the Orang Asli’s ongoing development. As fellow Malaysians, the Orang Asli also need our assistance to help the community progress. PACS is very pleased to be part of this preschool project to empower through education equality.”
The partnership will continue with Projek57 becoming PACS’ main corporate social responsibility platform. In addition to the pilot preschool programme and plans to replicate the programme to build preschools in other parts of the country, there will be a PACS employee engagement and sale of Projek57 merchandise to raise more funds for future projects.
Collin Swee, Projek57 Co-founder, said “Unity remains the goal for a Malaysia that is for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, or culture. We hope to have raised greater awareness and support for the disadvantaged communities in Malaysia, by doing our small part for the education and empowerment of the Orang Asli. With the Unity Ribbon, other initiatives, and sale of merchandise, we can touch more lives and keep hope alive with the support of our fellow Rakyat as we develop as a nation.”
A familiar symbol of Projek57’s cause, the Unity Ribbon draws inspiration from the Jalur Gemilang.
First introduced in 2018, the Unity Ribbon has today been recrafted in pewter. Made by Royal Selangor, the striking new version of the Unity Ribbon is being sold at RM63 each, with 100% of the profits generated from the sale to be directed towards funding Projek57’s programmes. The pewter Unity Ribbon is available for purchase at all Royal Selangor retail shops and showrooms. In addition, the cloth Unity Ribbon can still be purchased online from Projek57 and at all Pos Malaysia outlets.
For more information, please visit https://www.projek57.com/ or visit Projek57’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/projek57, Twitter page at https://twitter.com/projek_57 or Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/projek57/.
