Kuala Lumpur, 2019 – Mah Sing Foundation has contributed RM168,000 towards the community at Kampung Tudan, Kota Belud, Sabah through the Mushroom Cultivation Programme, one of the flagship programme of Mah Sing Foundation in 2018. The programme is in collaboration with Hopes Malaysia Welfare Association (Hopes Malaysia), and aims to uplift the livelihood of the rural community in Kampung Tudan. This programme will provide the villagers with the infrastructure to cultivate mushroom and in turn, assist them in diversifying their income sources and become economically independent.
Sustainable Community Development
Kampung Tudan located in Kota Belud, Sabah are one of the many villages under the B40 community. Household incomes in Kampung Tudan currently average at RM500 per household per month. “The 2015 earthquake that affected Sabah resulted in 40 families struggling with access to clean water due to the damage inflicted on the gravity water system,” said Sam Lee, Founder and Executive Director of Hopes Malaysia. Hopes Malaysia, a local non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Sabah, assisted the village by constructing a new gravity water system in 2017. This project also brought light to the plight of the Kampung Tudan community in terms of requiring a more sustainable source of income.
Mah Sing Foundation, in collaboration with Hopes Malaysia initiated the Mushroom Cultivation Programme in April 2018. Mah Sing Foundation contributed RM168, 000 to fund the project in order to build and manage the mushroom cultivation farm and purchase mushroom spores. The funds will also be used to kick-start an economically sustainable community development where the revenue of the sold mushrooms is to be used to uplift the village infrastructure, manage operational costs and salaries and the livelihood of the 260 villagers. Overall, the Foundation hopes that the village will ultimately be able to sustain themselves and minimize their dependency on corporate donors and NGOs.
Mushroom Cultivation Programme Soft Launch and Mah Sing Berhad Inaugural CSR Week
It took about 8 months to build the 3000 sqft mushroom farm whereby 1600 sqft is currently in use. About 6000 units of mushroom are being cultivated with an average production rate of 40kg per week. A soft launch of the programme was held at Kampung Tudan on 18 November 2018. The soft launch was officiated by Carlye Lajimin, Political Secretary to the Rural Development Minister of Sabah and attended by Mah Sing Foundation’s Chairman, Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman bin Syed Kamarulzaman and Mah Sing Berhad’s Senior General Manager, Strategic Communications, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Lyanna Tew.
Dato’ Indera Syed said, “For Mah Sing Foundation, assisting the villagers towards the improvement of their livelihood by diversifying their income will in turn benefit their children of Kampung Tudan”.
The programme also saw support from hotels in Kota Kinabalu such as Sabah Oriental Hotel and Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort at Spa. Dato’ Indera Syed also mentioned “We are pleased that the first harvest of 8kg was successfully delivered to Sabah Oriental Hotel and South Memory Restaurant on 9 November 2018. We thank them for their support and hope that more hotels and restaurants will come forward to purchase mushroom from Kampung Tudan”.
The employees of Mah Sing Group in Sabah also conducted their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity at Kampung Tudan on 25 November 2018 in conjunction with the Group’s inaugural CSR Week from 24 November – 1 December 2018. The employees were tasked in the setting up and building of 8 units of mushroom cultivation racks. They were also able to engage with the community throughout the volunteering session. “We are happy to contribute to the betterment of the community and enhancing their life through this Mushroom Cultivation Program,” said Mah Sing’s Group Managing Director, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum.
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