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Renuka Indrarajah:
GAB’s Commitment to CR
“Leading companies don’t just do CR but
they shape the path for others to follow…”*
This is a philosophy that GAB and its Foundation
have held steadfastly to in our ways of working.
As the market leader of the Beer and Stout industry,
we encourage our trade partners and suppliers to
operate in a responsible and sustainable manner.
We started the GAB Academy 3 years ago to help
train the frontline staff of our trade partners on
customer service, food-pairing and the sensible
serving of alcohol, to help improve the country’s
food and beverage industry service level. In our
Supplier Appreciation event held earlier this year,
we included an award category for Corporate
Responsibility, in line with our commitment to
CR, to encourage our suppliers, the majority of
whom are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),
to operate in a sustainable manner.
As for the GAB Foundation, when we first
embarked on the 3-year journey to rehabilitate
Sungai Way in December 2007 through the
WATER Project, we were doing something that
had never been done before in this country.
Three years have now passed and the WATER
Project has successfully empowered the
community through engagement and education,
to play an active role in rehabilitating the
river. In the end, the community has made the
difference.
The WATER project has become a showcase
for river rehabilitation in Malaysia. We have
since published a handbook documenting the
learnings and lessons, to share and encourage
others to take the same path. We have shared
this handbook with the Drainage and Irrigation
Department (JPS) and jointly organised a training
session for its officials so that they may apply the
same model in rehabilitating the rivers across
Malaysia. We have also presented the WATER
project case study at the World Sustainable
Cities Conference and recently, we talked about
our CR strategy and CR activities, at the CSR Asia
Summit 2011, so that others may learn from our
experiences, and adapt and apply them.
Another project that the GAB Foundation has
taken the lead in is the English Programme.
While there are similiar programmes by other
corporations to improve English proficiency
among school children, the Foundation
extended the training to the teachers to equip
them with the necessary teaching tools.
This would, firstly, enable them to develop as
teachers and secondly, result in the students
benefiting through improved teaching methods.
To-date, 29 teachers have completed the training,
many of whom have lauded the programme,
acknowledging that it has helped them in their
teaching and in developing their confidence.
We are only at the beginning of our journey and
there is a lot more to be done. We will continue
to invest our time and our resources in CR as a
business, and through the GAB Foundation,
expanding and extending our successful initiatives.
We strongly believe that in order to really
make a difference, we have to lead by example,
shaping the path for others to follow. As the
great Mahatma Ghandi once said… ”We must be
the change we want to see in the World.”
About Renuka Indrarajah
Renuka Indrarajah is the Corporate Relations
and Legal Director of GAB. She also
serves as Director of the GAB Foundation
Management Committee. GAB’s Corporate
Responsibility strategy and the running of
the GAB Foundation fall under her purview.
*
Note: This was shared by Michael Hastings, Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE – Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity, KPMG International
at the ACCA Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Awards (MaSRA) 2011 on 4 October 2011.
The WATER Project booth
at the World Sustainable
Cities Conference.
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