KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia's telecommunications (telco), entertainment and property tycoon, and Ruby Khong, the regional director of China Overseas Petroleum Corp, have been featured in Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy.

Both made it into a list of 48 prominent givers to society in the Asia-Pacific region, whose causes range from disaster recovery, education, health and culture to science, with education being the popular choice among the featured philanthropists this year.

Two other Malaysians in the list are Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, the chief executive of property developer SP Setia and Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, YTL group managing director.

John Koppisch, Associate Editor, Forbes Asia said those listed were not always the biggest givers.

"Instead we aim to highlight a varied group of generous people, some holdovers from last year, but mostly new names who deserve recognition. By calling attention to these 48 (givers) we hope to encourage more giving," he said in a statement yesterday.

According to Forbes, Ananda, who received a scholarship to earn his undergraduate degree at Melbourne University, has been extensively developing talents through school programmes.

Through his privately-owned company Usaha Tegas, he has helped underprivileged, high-achieving Malaysian students of South Asian descent to continue their studies in non-Tamil secondary schools, as well as supporting education for other groups in Malaysia.

The global financial crisis hammered fortunes all over Asia, but the past year was still a good one for Ruby Khong who donated US$400,000 (RM1.32mil) to the Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK), which she helps to run.

She was homeless in her teens and started the kitchen in 2006 with five friends. KSK delivers 830 packets of vegetarian food a week to the urban poor in Kuala Lumpur.

Liew, through SP Setia Foundation which he set up in 2000, pays the school fees and basic essentials for 2,300 children a year. It also provides medical aid to the disabled and poor as well as community enrichment programmes.

One of Yeoh's charitable acts is the Pride Foundation, which promotes awareness of breast cancer and provides support to victims.

Yeoh was also honored by Queen Elizabeth II with a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his philanthropic work.

Last year, four Malaysians were listed as Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy: Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah, Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing and Datuk Raya Erom.

-The Star/Asia News Network