UOB Malaysia employees unite to raise RM300,000 in a month in its latest COVID-19 relief effort

United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia)’s colleagues and customers from across the Bank raised RM300,000 in a month for the UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund. The funds raised will help ease the financial burden of vulnerable communities as they face unprecedented challenges from the pandemic.

The UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund is an initiative under UOB Group’s #UnitedForYou COVID-19 Relief Programme, which demonstrates the Bank’s long-term commitment to help see communities through to better times. The beneficiaries of the UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund in Malaysia include HOPE Worldwide Malaysia, Dignity for Children Foundation and World Vision Malaysia. The funds will be distributed equally across the three charities to help more than 25,000 children in need, particularly children from vulnerable families in urban and rural areas, single-parent households and socio-economically challenged communities.

The charities will use the money to purchase fresh food, nutritious meals, toiletries and essential health items such as surgical face masks and hand sanitisers for the children. A portion of the funds will also be used to help to pay for workbooks, stationery, and internet data to help more than 1,800 underprivileged students continue their online education through remote learning.

Mr Wong Kim Choong, Chief Executive Officer, UOB Malaysia, said, “At UOB Malaysia, we care for our communities and believe in giving to those in need, especially at a time when everyone is worried about their livelihoods, health and safety. The impact of the pandemic has been far-reaching and will continue to have prolonged effects on all communities, particularly children and families from challenging socio-economic backgrounds. Through the UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund, we hope to help these vulnerable groups of children and their families by providing them with the daily necessities they need to tide over these difficult times.”

Throughout the month of May, UOB Group ran the global fundraising effort across its 18 markets namely; Australia, Brunei, Canada, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam.

Mr Darick Wong, Country Director of HOPE Worldwide Malaysia, said, “Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the implementation of the Movement Control Order, many low-income families have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and are unable to put food on the table. We are grateful for UOB Malaysia’s donation which will support our endeavour to support those who are hardest hit by the pandemic. With these funds, we will be able to provide children and their families with food and supplies as well as to help them stand on their feet again so that they can fend for themselves when the outbreak is contained.”

In all, UOB colleagues and customers from across the Group’s global network raised more than RM5 million (S$1.65 million) in a month for the UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The UOB Heartbeat COVID-19 Relief Fund follows UOB Group’s other initiatives over the past three months to help ease the burden and stress faced by vulnerable groups in the community. One such initiative is the UOB My Digital Space, an education programme which aims to bridge the digital gap for children from disadvantaged backgrounds across the region by providing them with digital learning kits comprising a new laptop for each and online learning resources.