Learning to ride a bicycle, going shopping, learning to speak again, or having a comfortable mattress to sleep on; these are things we all take for granted. But for someone who is an orphan, or a stroke survivor or is disabled and bed-ridden, they can be a dream come true.
These are among the wishes that young Malaysians from AISEC, ELC International School and Nuffnang bloggers will turn into reality within a month under the Promise Me youth engagement programme initiated by The Truly Loving Company (TLC). During the one-month campaign period, the youth who have volunteered to make these wishes come true, will record their progress at www.tlcpromiseme.com, a dedicated microsite that will allow the online public to follow their individual journeys and participate by assisting the youths in fulfilling their pledges.
About 70 wishes have come in from TLC’s charity partners: The Handicapped & Mentally Disabled Children Association Johor Bahru, Hospis Malaysia, National Stroke Association of Malaysia and Rumah Aman.
TLC’s Promise Me campaign was launched on 5th July 2010 by Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Minister of Women, Family & Community Development at the concourse of the Bangsar Shopping Complex. Also present at the launch was Engku Emran bin Engku Zainal Abidin, the CEO of Bernama TV.
Julia Chong, CEO and Founder of The Truly Loving Company commented that Promise Me is about channeling the collective energy of communities in helping the less privileged in our society. “As Gen Y is the next generation of opinion leaders and decision makers, it is important that we inculcate in them caring values so that when they venture into the work force, Corporate Social Responsibility becomes a way of life,” she said.
Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil emphasized that this campaign was an excellent example of how the ministry can collaborate with the private sector to jointly benefit the community and demonstrate the caring values of all Malaysians. She said the TLC Promise Me campaign was an innovative and inspirational way to engage youth in community development.
“Youth are the trustees of our future, and critical stakeholders in all aspects of society. With their energy, motivation and fresh outlook on things, they can make a big difference to the wellbeing of our community. I am really looking forward to seeing the outcome of this programme,” she added.
Engku Emran, CEO of Bernama TV felt that this project is very meaningful and as the official TV partner, Bernama TV can help spread the caring message of the TLC Promise Me campaign. It will be a heart-warming experience to embark on and it inspires the public to help the less fortunate as there is nothing more gratifying than contributing to and changing the lives of others for the better.
Pulse Group PLC (Asia’s leading Digital Research Agency – www.pulse-group.com) is also supporting this campaign with the tracking of TLC’s brand and campaign awareness, usage and attitude trends in order to help TLC develop future strategic directions. Bob Chua, CEO of Pulse said “We are extremely delighted to be able to participate in such an important program, and wish that more companies would contribute to such causes in the future”.
The Truly Loving Company (www.thetrulylovingcompany.com) is Malaysia’s first social enterprise which pledges 100% of its dividends to its Charity Partners through The Truly Loving Company Charitable Trust held by HSBC (Malaysia) Trustees Bhd. TLC’s revenue is derived from sales of the TLC brand of quality household and personal care products such as dishwashing liquid, floor and toilet bowl cleaners, shower crèmes and hand & body lotions in retail outlets and hypermarkets such as Giant, Tesco, Jusco, Carrefour and Cold Storage.
Bernama TV was launched on 28th February 2008, and it is Malaysia’s first 24 hours news channel, delivering up to the minute news from all over Malaysia, Asia and around the globe. This 24 hours news channel delivers local news with an international style creating Malaysian News that is accessible, pertinent, relevant and current. Bernama TV offers news in four languages; Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil. Besides current news, the network also air other news- based programmes like Sukan@Bernama, and live talk shows/ forums
such as 1Konsumer and Helo Malaysia which discusses current issues and featuring interviews with well- known local personalities and celebrities. Bernama TV News Channel is available on ASTRO’s Channel 502.
AIESEC (www.aiesec.my) is a global, non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education for leadership and management development. AIESEC Malaysia was started in 1968 and currently has 10 local chapters nationwide in public and private universities with over 500 active members. AIESEC Malaysia aims to create greater awareness amongst Malaysians about the importance of equipping our youth with practical experience and leadership skills, to have a positive impact on our society.
Over the years, elc International School (www.elc.edu.my) has unwaveringly pursued one guiding objective, which is to make a significant contribution towards the development of its students into responsible and successful men and women of the future. The school’s vision is to be an outstanding school by world standards in the academic and social development of its students through student and staff passion for excellence, loyalty and commitment
Nuffnang.com is Asia-Pacific’s first and leading blog advertising community. It reaches out to more than 100,000 blogs within Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines. Beyond blog advertising, they also pride themselves in being a community for bloggers by bloggers, organizing and supporting a wide range of events such as movie screenings, seminars/ workshops, parties and much more for their bloggers. Their community has in the past participated in a number of charitable causes such as the Befrienders, SPCA, WWF’s Save the Sumatran Rhino campaign, WWF Earth Hour 2009, etc
Go to www.tlcpromiseme.com to follow the stories of how these wishes are being fulfilled
To document the stories of the extraordinary people who have helped put this campaign together, the inspiring stories currently happening around us and the lives of those whom we have touched.
