Four Malaysians on Forbes donor list

Four Malaysians on Forbes donor list

PETALING JAYA - Four Malaysians are among the Asia Pacific region's noteworthy givers on Forbes Asia's annual Heroes of Philanthropy list.

They are alongside 40 honourees from 13 countries, including a mix of billionaires, entrepreneurs and captains of industries, who have made newsworthy donations in the past year.

The list also recognised those with a long record of supporting worthy causes.

The Malaysians honoured are Mah Sing group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd chairman Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian and his wife Daybreak executive chairman Puan Sri Sandra Lee, and Eu Yan Sang Malaysia chairman Datuk Anne Eu.

Husband-and-wife team Oi Hian and Sandra pursue separate causes.

"Named after his father, Lee's Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Foundation awards scholarships to 50 to 60 students a year, while his wife's training centre rehabilitates physically and mentally challenged people," Forbes said in a statement.

Eu led the Roti 1Malaysia campaign which channels surplus food and goodies from five-star hotel kitchens to orphanages, old-age homes and refugee centres.

It also enabled the distribution of water filters and rice cookers in rural Sabah earlier this year.

Leong has disbursed more than US$2.5 million (S$3.4 million) to education initiatives such as funding students and refurbishing classrooms, as well as for the Nepal earthquake relief and other projects.

The list includes two Singa­poreans - Sino Group chairman Robert Ng who set up the Ng Teng Fong Foundation in 2010 which donated US$92 million to rebuild a hospital in Jurong, and Tan Chin Tuan Foundation chairman Tan Kheng Lian, who is the daughter of the late OCBC chairman and philanthropist Tan Chin Tuan.

China has five entries in the list, including Tencent Holdings chairman and chief executive officer Pony Ma, who pledged 100 million shares of his Internet service provider - worth US$2.3 billion - to the Tencent Foun­­dation which supports healthcare, environment protection and new technology.

The full list can be found at http://bit.ly/29jOJIp.

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