Rosmah launches Roti 1Malaysia

The Roti 1Malaysia Charity Programme (Persatuan Kebajikan Program Roti 1Malaysia) is officially launched today by Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Roti 1Malaysia is a community project aimed to create a platform whereby individuals and the corporate sector could collaborate together to provide the underprivileged communities with good quality bread and pastries from five-star hotels and bakeries.

The programme is founded by Dato’ Anne Eu, the Chairman of the Eu Yan Sang Group with the support and patronage of Y. Bhg Datuk Heng Seng Kie, the Advisor to the Women, Family & Community Development Ministry and corporate friends who include Roti 1Malaysia’s Deputy Chairmen (Y. Bhg Puan Sri Cecilia Lim, Y. Bhg Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Y. Bhg Puan Sri Esther Tan and  Y. Bhg Puan Sri Sandra Lee); Advisor (Puan Sri Maimon Patail) and Roti 1Malaysia’s brand ambassador Dato’ Jimmy Choo.

The programme undertook its trial run in August 2011, in which quality bread and pastries were collected from several participating hotels across the Klang Valley and volunteers from youth organizations and some corporations were mobilized to deliver the food to various homes for the underprivileged. The support received has been very encouraging.

In November 2011, Roti 1Malaysia received the official full endorsement and support by the Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development Malaysia. Registered as a charity non-governmental organisation, Roti 1Malaysia works in close collaboration with the private sector, hospitality industry and youth associations.

To-date, Roti 1Malaysia has the support of 14 participating hotels, including 3 big hotel groups namely the Genting Group, Berjaya Group and Sunway Group and 11 outlets of Bread Story, that contribute as bread sponsors to provide fresh bread and pastries daily from Monday to Friday to 60 charities, comprising old folks’ homes, orphanages, homes for the disabled, hospice, HIV shelter and refugee centres. Some of the hotels and bakery outlets have taken the initiative to increase their bread and pastry production to enable more homes to benefit from this programme.

The participating hotels in the Klang Valley include Berjaya Times Square, Cyberview Lodge Resorts & Spa, Dorsett Regency, Grand Dorsett Subang, Grand Millenium, G Tower, Parkroyal, Putrajaya Marriot, Renaissance, Resorts World Genting, Sunway Hotels & Resorts, Sime Darby Convention Center, Swiss-Garden, The Ritz-Carlton and Bread Story Group.

Other corporations that have extended their support include the Lau Gek Poh Foundation - which sponsored vehicles to Roti 1Malaysia, the Eu Yan Sang Group, the Boston Restaurants Group, Buddha’s Light International Association, Jia Teck Industries Sdn. Bhd, Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards (HAPA) and Sunlight Taxi Group and Companies.

The programme targets another 10 hotels to join as bread sponsors. With more sponsor participation, Roti 1Malaysia aims to reach out to other parts of Malaysia and to widen the scope of its programme beneficiaries.

In her address at the launch, Dato’ Anne, who is also the Chairman of Roti 1Malaysia commented, “The merits of the Roti 1Malaysia Charity Programme is three-pronged. Firstly, it conveys care and brings joy to the underprivileged. For most of our beneficiaries who have never tasted a muffin or croissant before, a little sharing like this means so much. The programme also helps to curb food wastage and defray running cost of the homes, which mostly are surviving based on public donations. Lastly, the programme is not just about charity but it is also about bringing Malaysians together. It creates a community of people who are willing to contribute their personal time and effort to doing something good for the benefit of the less fortunate.”

YABhg. Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor in her speech congratulated the team, supporting partners and volunteers who have made Roti 1Malaysia possible. She said, “The sharing of good quality bread and pastries facilitated by Roti 1Malaysia for the underprivileged in our society is truly a notable charity cause. While charity work is highly regarded, it is not always easy to set up a charity organisation. Roti 1Malaysia stands out as one that has successfully harnessed the strengths of its own resources right from the beginning of its formation.

I am pleased that the objectives of Roti 1Malaysia very much dovetail with the Government’s overarching mission and vision for social and community development, which is to promote social welfare and well being and to develop a caring society as the basis for the formation of a developed nation of distinction.

The way I see it, Roti 1Malaysia is not only about helping the underprivileged, but it is also about fostering unity among Malaysians. It creates communities of people through meaningful charity collaborations between individuals, the corporate sector and volunteering youth associations.  ”

As the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah highlighted that the Government, in its support towards social and welfare development for Malaysians, had disbursed RM1.2 billion in 2010 to 424,526 beneficiaries, RM1.3 billion in 2011 to 473,928 beneficiaries and until November 2012, a total of RM1.4 billion has been given as aid to 497,624 beneficiaries under the Program Kebajikan Rakyat 1Malaysia or KAR1SMA.

On the future of Roti 1Malaysia, Dato’ Anne beams optimism. She said, “We have successfully registered Roti 1Malaysia as a charity NGO, an endorsement of our Government’s support. Geographically, we have brought the programme to the state of Kedah, while in terms of scope of beneficiaries, we have expanded to include prison inmates. Recently we have brought our Roti 1Malaysia programme to Perak, starting with the towns of Gopeng and Tambun. We really look forward to grow this project to cover the whole nation, and we encourage everyone in the public who can volunteer time and effort to join us in this charitable project. This isn’t about raising millions; it’s about getting the community involved.”

- Media release