Baiduri Bank continued its annual ‘Let’s Give Back This Ramadhan’ initiative with residents in the Tutong district yesterday.

The event took place at Hua Ho Petani Mall, Tutong, where the Bank’s volunteers arranged a shopping excursion with 10 underprivileged families. The families were identified through the Ministry of Education, and in the spirit of collaboration, the Bank also continued its partnership with Setia Motors as the logistics partner for the event, whose volunteers helped to pick up the families from their homes and send them home at the end of the event.

The ‘Let’s Give Back this Ramadhan’ initiative is a series of events aimed at bringing festive cheer to underprivileged families in the country in preparation for Hari Raya. Now in its seventh year, the initiative is part of Baiduri Bank’s ongoing commitment to supporting the community and promoting social responsibility.

Similar to the previous years, this year’s initiative is organised through ‘Baiduri Cares’, an internal programme where employees of Baiduri Bank and its subsidiaries are encouraged to invest their time, skills and efforts to give back to the community and make a positive impact on society by being directly involved in various volunteering activities.

Last year, due to the restrictions from the pandemic, and for the safety and comfort of the families, the Bank’s volunteers acted as ‘personal shoppers’ and helped to purchase the household items and necessities on behalf of the underprivileged families. This year marks a return of the initiative’s usual format, where the Bank’s volunteers spent time to shop with the families themselves and ended the event by having sungkai together.

After the shopping spree, the volunteers also presented stationery sets to the families with children who are still in school. The set comprises a new school bag, pens, pencils, as well as art supplies that will provide the children with materials they may need when they return to school after the holidays. The stationery sets were purchased through donation from the Bank Group’s employees and was organised through the Employee Wellness Initiative, the Bank’s internal initiative to promote awareness of their employees’ physical, mental as well as spiritual health.

Present to shop with the volunteers was Ng Yick Wei, Head of Group Strategic Marketing and Communications, who said that initiatives like ‘Let’s Give Back This Ramadhan’ provide an opportunity for the Bank’s volunteers to make a impact on the local community, through active partnerships with local businesses and the public sector.

She said: “In the spirit of co-creation, this year we’ve partnered with the Ministry of Education to identify the families in need, as well as Setia Motors to help these families with transportation. Last year we weren’t able to meet with the families personally due to the pandemic, so to be able to shop with them and spend time breaking their fast together is a meaningful act for our volunteers.

“We hope that our humble contributions can bring festive cheer to these families as they prepare for the upcoming Hari Raya festivities.”

Also attending the event was Chris Ang, Head of Group Finance Division, Wan Ahadiatul Hussni Wan Silmy, Head of Group Compliance, and Jonathan Lim, Head of Group Risk Department, Baiduri Bank.

The ‘Let’s Give Back This Ramadhan’ initiative is part of a broader effort by Baiduri Bank to support the community through various initiatives, including financial health, entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability.

The next event will be held on Wednesday 12 April 2023 at Hua Ho, OneCity shopping centre, for underprivileged families from the Temburong district.

For more information on Baiduri Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, visit the Bank’s website at www.baiduri.com, follow Baiduri Bank’s social media accounts.