NEWS: Carlsberg’s 22-year devotion to education

WHEN one has been dedicated to the same cause for over 20 years, others are bound to take notice.

So it is with Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd (Carlsberg Malaysia) whose efforts to promote education have found a place in the Malaysia Book of Records.

Look up “Longest Running Chinese Charity Show in Malaysia” in the Malaysia Book of Records and you will find the “Top Ten Charity Campaign”, a collaborative effort that started in 1987 between Carlsberg Malaysia and local Chinese daily newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau and later, China Press.

The campaign has been part of an effort to raise funds for the advancement of Chinese education and the development of Chinese institutions through concert-style charity road shows at Chinese primary schools across the country.
Soren Jensen

Over the past two decades, over RM320mil in donations has been collected for over 500 schools to help them implement their development plans and improve their facilities to promote education for the children, says Carlsberg Malaysia managing director Soren Holm Jensen.

“We’re very proud we have been doing this for 22 years and we have set ourselves a target to reach RM500mil by 2015,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Last year, the campaign managed to raise over RM17mil, Jensen says.

“It’s a big show featuring some of Malaysia’s up and coming (Chinese) talents. There are no strings attached in that people who attend can choose to donate money for the betterment of the schools. If they don’t donate, they get treated to a great show anyway.”

Jensen says the event helps highlight Carlsberg Malaysia as a caring corporate citizen rather than as a beer company.

“Because the event is held at schools, we are careful to promote the event as Carlsberg Malaysia the company rather than Carlsberg the beer brand. It is a charity programme, not a beer campaign and no beer is served,” he says.

Besides raising funds for the respective schools, the campaign also serves as an avenue for young and talented Malaysian Chinese artistes to gain exposure and showcase their talents, Jensen adds.

“Many of these singers are ‘uncut diamonds’ in that they are extremely talented but have never got the chance to be exposed. Sometimes we release a CD compilation of the songs and the event has been known to attract talent scouts.

“Some of our previous performers have gone on to become stars at the regional level,” he says. This year, the campaign is tentatively set to commence next month.

Despite the current economic downturn, Jensen says he is optimistic about the amount of donations expected.

“It will be interesting to see if donations would be equally handsome in tough times. But we feel that helping promote education is important, regardless of the economic climate,” he says, adding that Carlsberg Malaysia would not be cutting back on its corporate responsibility-related activities this year. An extension of Carlsberg Malaysia’s efforts to promote education is its Carlsberg Hua Zong Education Fund, an interest-free study loan sponsored by the company in collaboration with the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia.

“The fund was set up with a RM5mil revolving study loan to provide financial assistance to students who wish to pursue their tertiary education,” says Jensen.

Going forward, Carlsberg Malaysia is pushing for more sustainable initiatives that benefit the Indian community.

“We have had several one-off programmes specifically for the Indian community but nothing long-term. We are looking at something more sustainable like our Top Ten Campaign that is done annually,” Jensen says.

He adds that the company is hoping to attract corporate partners to help realise its vision of assisting the Indian community.

“We are a beer company, not organisers. We need a partner to help us organise these things. We have not been as fortunate in finding something with sustainability or continuity so that’s one of our tasks this year,” he says.