Grant Making Foundations in MalaysiaMany charitable foundations in Malaysia were established by rich businessmen in the 1970s. They include prominent ones like the Lee Rubber Foundation (established by the late Tan Sri Lee Kong Chian), Kuok Foundation (established by Robert Kuok Hock Nien), Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Foundation (established by the late Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng) and Syed Kechik Foundation (established by Tan Sri Syed Kechik). The foundations set up by new generation of rich Malaysians includes Yayasan Albukhary (established by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar), The Malaysian Community and Education Fund, Harapan Nusantara Fund and Yu Cai Foundation (established by Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan), Yayasan Pok Rafeah and Yayasan Haji Zainuddin (established by Tun Daim Zainuddin) and Hope Foundation (established by Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Kay Peng).The funds of private foundations are distributed to both solicited and unsolicited applications although solicited requests are given preference. The annual grants to programs varies and are none specific. However, there are some specific ranges for certain foundations or funding especially for higher education i.e. scholarships and loans. The private funding for education has always aligned funding to each recipient in parallel to government funding.For the causes of social funding, it is less systematic in the amount for applications. It is very much depending on circumstances and based on a case-by-case basis; subject to the need requested and approval from the funding committee. Thus, there is not a standard quantifying amount for every application or request. It may be given to a few large donees or many small donees and vice versa; and differed from year to year.Most of the foundations are funding for the cause of development i.e. education, charity, relief aid etc. These can further be translated into a more specific area listed by the Malaysian Business on 16 September 2005. Research carried out by the Malaysian Business listed the top three causes or activities that are most common and attracted by the foundations are education (consists of 50% of total causes), orphanages, and sports.The foundations generally do not limit their funding to domestic requests within the country as donations have also been channelled to international community, donating funds beyond Malaysia for good causes - helping during the natural disasters, political conflicts etc. However, for education funding most funding is provided to Malaysians, who pursue studies in Malaysian institutions. In exceptional circumstances Malaysian foundations sponsor higher studies overseas. Applications for higher education funding are opened annually in conjunction with the intakes of universities or higher education institutions. Forms are normally made available at bursary of colleges or universities and also can be obtained directly from the foundations.There are also government funded and state specific foundations. As expected, these government and state based foundations have always played a crucial role in providing important resources to the community.Few famous foundations in Malaysia currently are: (please make hotlink/drop-down with information of respective foundation starting in p. 4.Usaha Tegas Group (Harapan Nusantara, Yu Cai, Malaysian Community and Education Fund) Yayasan Albukhary Torch Fund SP Setia Foundation Hong Leong Foundation Nanyang Press Foundation Lim Foundation Datuk Chiew Swee Peow Chinese Education Trust Fund Yayasan Bursa Malaysia Lim Fong Sheng Education Fund Besides the private foundations mentioned above, Malaysian corporate and companies are also involved in giving as part of their corporate social responsibility. From the research carried out by Norsyida Abdul Rahim on top 200 public listed companies (based on their turnover), 65 companies were found to have donated about 82.1 million Ringgit Malaysia to various charitable societies, programmes, orphanages and the poor between July 2003 and December 2004. The top three donors have given RM30.5 million or 34.3% of the total contributions; and the top ten donors consist of 80% of the contributions.References:Utusan Malaysia Online, 16 September 2005. 'Ananda, Syed Mokhtar derma lebih RM287 juta untuk tujuan amal'. (Malay) http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/archive.asp?y=2005&dt=09 16&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=muka_hadapan&pg=mh_10 .htm&arc=hiveS. Jai Shankar. 2005. 'Foundations of Charity', Malaysian Business, 16 September. (English)Prathaban V. & Norasyida Abdul Rahim. 2005. 'Earners, All Givers?', Malaysian Business, 16 September. (English)Hartley, Cathy (ed.). 2004. 'The International Foundation Directory', 13th ed. London: Europa PublicationsFurther information:Hon. Prof. Datuk Mohd Yusof Kasim, Deputy Director General, Department of Higher Education Management, Ministry of Higher Education, Putrajaya 62505. Tel: +603 88835996 Fax: +603 88835909.Zawawi Tiyunin (TJ), Librarian, Cataloging and Processing Department, Library, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Locked Bag 2073, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Tel: +6088 320000 Ext. 2203 Fax: +6088 320232 Email :
[email protected] /
[email protected] Homepage: http://zawawitj.blogdrive.comHajah Fatimah bt. Mohamed, World Board Member, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS); Chief Commissioner, Girl Guide Association of Malaysia (1998-2003),Executive Director, USRA Sdn. Bhd., Lot 2 Jalan Haiba 16/18, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor. Email:
[email protected] Tel: +603 55199117 (10 lines) Fax: +603 55195136Janice Nga Lay Hui, EXCO of Malaysian Youth Council and member of National Youth Consultative Council; National / HQ Commissioner of Girl Guide Association Malaysia (Finance) (until 2004); currently a Phd student at the University of Leeds, UK. Tel: +44 113 3436591 Fax: +44 113 3436808 Email:
[email protected],
[email protected] Homepage: http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~easjlhn/Established by: Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, in 1996.Funding Priorities: Education, religion, community projects, cultural preservation, national initiatives, international projects.Unsolicited Applications for Funds: Yes.Funding for Activities Abroad: Yes.Contribution: Donated 127 million Ringgit Malaysia for the year 2003 to 2004.On the 1st February 2005, Yayasan Albukhary together with TechnoDex Sdn Bhd kicked-off the implementation of Yayasan Albukhary's online tuition management system. The system, Albukhary Tuition Management System (ATMS) provides a centralized and online management system for its 502 tuition centers in areas such as admission and enrollment of students, course timetabling, performance tracking of tuition centers and financial management including tracking expenses, purchasing and distribution of text-books and processing allowances. Yayasan Albukhary, with the support of the Ministry of Education offers free academic assistance focusing on science and mathematics subjects to selected students sitting for the SPM examination in public schools throughout the country. Pendidikan Albukhary Sdn Bhd is the administrator of the Yayasan Albukhary Tuition Program.Contact Information: Yayasan Albukhary 16th Floor, Menara Tun Razak, Jln Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-2698 2520 Fax:+603-26983329
