In conjunction with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Baiduri Bank partnered with the Children’s Cancer Foundation (YASKA) to hold a series of activities with the children, culminating in the YASKA and Thalassaemia Awareness Roadshow at Times Square Shopping Centre on September 25.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony.
YASKA provides children diagnosed with cancer and their families support while undergoing treatment. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) aims to increase awareness of childhood cancer in Brunei Darussalam.
Every September, the Sultanate marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with activities to help and support children whose lives have been affected by cancer, as well as their family members.
Activities are also geared towards turning the spotlight on cancer and thalassaemia, an inherited blood condition causing an individual to have less haemoglobin than normal.
The roadshow served as the highlight of the month’s activities between YASKA and Baiduri Bank, and included family-friendly games, fun fitness activities and quizzes for the public.
Twenty Baiduri Bank employees volunteered to conduct the event and activities throughout the day, to spend time with the children, and to give back to the community through the bank’s employee volunteering programme ‘Baiduri Cares’.
The programme allows employees to volunteer their time, knowledge and skills towards activities focussed on the bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) pillars of social, economic and environmental initiatives.
On top of the volunteers from Baiduri Cares, the bank also opened volunteering opportunities for the event through Mengalinga, the nation’s native mobile application platform for volunteers to participate in events organised by companies, organisations and NGOs.
The app is the product of the bank’s partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, inked during a memorandum of understanding signing in April last year.
Baiduri Bank brought the kids and their families to watch Musical Mania 4 at Jerudong International School (JIS) Arts Centre on September 11.
This was followed by a baking workshop at the Moon Patisserie on September 23, where the children got creative in preparing delicacies to bring home to share with friends and families.
Baiduri Cares volunteers acted as sous chefs, helping the young pastry chefs with their creations.
Baiduri Bank Chief Executive Officer Ti Eng Hui commented on how the bank’s partnership with YASKA has grown stronger over the years, and how the bank is looking to engage similar organisations to help support their activities.
Previously, YASKA has been a beneficiary of the Baiduri Masters Charity Golf Tournament, alongside other organisations dedicated to helping the differently abled, such as Society for the Management of Autism Related issues in Training, Education and Resources (SMARTER) Brunei and Learning Ladders Society.
“Baiduri Cares provides a platform to engage, empower and mobilise our employees to make meaningful contributions to the communities we serve, and partnerships like these is big part of making that platform effective.
“Through such collaborations, our employees can come together and bring our brand values to life. We hope to empower them to make lasting and positive contributions to our local communities, such as providing support to vulnerable groups in the society,” he said.
Meanwhile, YASKA Advisor Dr Hajah Norehan binti Haji Johari said, “We would like to thank Baiduri Bank’s volunteers who have given their time and effort to get to know our children, and giving them such a wonderful experience. At the same time, they’re sending out a very important message that our children and their families are not alone in their fight against cancer.”
