PENANG, July 2015 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will continue to help those in need by organising more community engagement programmes as a way of showing care and concern to the surrounding communities as well as bringing festive cheer to them.

USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community Network) Professor Dato’ Dr. See Ching Mey said this when handing out ‘duit raya’ and items such as children books, colour pencils, cookies, toys and food to some 230 children and 50 adult patients during the ‘Tautan Kasih Ramadhan’ Programme, organised for the fourth time by USM Centre for Drug Research (CDR) with the cooperation of USM Industry and Community Network Division (BJIM) at the Penang General Hospital here recently.

The patients and their caregivers were also treated to clown performances and entertained by USM School of the Arts and Dewan Budaya staff who sang some popular Hari Raya songs led by the school’s Deputy Dean (Student Affairs & Networking) Associate Professor Dr. Razif Mohd.

Ching Mey hoped that besides bringing cheer, the presence of USM will provide some motivation for the children to continue to fight against the illness, and the gifts and clown acts will to some extent be able to restore joy to them in welcoming Syawal which was just around the corner.

“We are very happy that this charitable programme held in conjunction with the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri had brought cheer and joy especially to the seriously ill children who are not able to go back home for this Raya, as can be seen from the smiles on their faces,” she said.

She added, this year’s programme was made more special by the presence of the granddaughter of the founder of B. Braun who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Anna Maria Braun who joined the visit and gave away ‘duit raya’ and toys to the sick children who are receiving treatment in the Paediatric wards.

B. Braun, an internationally recognised supplier of healthcare products and services, was delighted to be able to participate in the programme together with USM, as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative.

Meanwhile, the Project Director of Tautan Kasih Ramadhan 2015 and a lecturer from CDR, Dr. Darshan Singh A/L Mahinder Singh, said he felt very privileged to be part of this endeavour, and that CDR was able to work closely with BJIM and Penang GH once again to carry out this programme successfully.

“We hope to organise more of such community outreach programmes in the near future, especially those that can cheer up the patients as well as contribute to their well-being, and CDR will be organising one for breast cancer patients this October,” he added.

Nursing Supervisor (Paediatric Ward, Penang GH) Lee Khuan Yeng, 58, said this is the sixth visit the hospital has received during the Ramadhan month, but what made the visit by USM and B. Braun special was that it was accompanied by singing and clown act.

“We are delighted to have representatives from USM and B. Braun bringing Hari Raya joy to the patients especially the children, and we thank all the parties involved for this noble effort,” said Khuan Yeng who has served in the hospital for nearly 38 years.

Also present were General Manager Corporate Communication for Asia Pacific Region of B. Braun Medical Industries Sdn. Bhd. Joanna Ng; BJIM officers, CDR officers and officials from Penang GH.

Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Siti Naquiah Abdillah/Photo: Mohd. Fairus Md. Isa