Despite delays in meeting KPIs, entire programme revamps and additional cost of upskilling and upgrading infrastructure, a common takeaway has been this—as much as 2020 has been a year of challenges, hardships and tough decisions, it has also been speckled with silver linings.
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“I’ve personally found the year to be a challenge from a work perspective. However, the crisis has led to a better appreciation for the blessings that we have. It has renewed my focus on tackling inequalities and helping out those whose needs have become more stark.”
“The pandemic has upended lives and caused so much suffering especially to the poor and underprivileged and I am glad YH has been able to alleviate some hardship. I must say we have adapted well to this new way of life but that does not mean that we don’t wish for a time when social interaction is permitted once again. For sure the pandemic has prompted various moments of introspection and have made us much more aware of our responsibility for the wellbeing of others and of our environment.”
Covid has impacted the lives of millions around the globe—and in Malaysia— requiring an immediate and targeted response to help the communities most affected. Yayasan Hasanah has played an important role in partnership with government and NGOs and has shifted its work expeditiously and effectively, getting close to the ground, to help those in need. Clearly there is still much to be done and the devastating effect of the pandemic is still reverberating.
2020 was a full-dressed rehearsal of what equity, justice and fairness for all humanity is about. It demands a different set of values—humility, trust, empathy and compassion—to be firmly rooted in order to translate it into reality be it on personal or professional terms. It calls for the practice of new norms of collaboration, openness, values-based, ingenuity and diversity as the lifeline towards a collective pandemic-prone future. Unfortunately, given what is dubbed as the vaccine apartheid unfolding in front of our eyes globally, we have yet a long way to go.
When the pandemic rendered face-to-face, chalk-and-talk teaching unsuitable, schools were faced with a textbook sink or swim situation. Almost immediately, teachers, students, schools and parents found themselves thrown into the deep end as they tried to adapt to this new form of classes, a whole different kettle of fish compared to the traditional classrooms they were used to.
Like traditional teaching, the flagship Trust School Programme too had to be revamped and focus shifted towards capacity building for district education officers. Yayasan Amir senior officer Anuar Jaafar found that the transformation of officers meant reaching more schools, even if the degree of impact varied between individuals who welcome flexibility and those who prefer prescriptive methods.
With online learning now commonplace, District Transformation Project (DTP) – AMAN was able to connect with Trusts Schools nationwide, an activity that would have involved travel and cost to convene in person pre-pandemic.
PPD Sik’s Asmadi Abdul Rahim says the learnings assist him in guiding and supporting better quality schools and students, a sentiment that Rosdi Bakar and Hajah Roslina Zainal Abidin of PPD Kulim Bandar Baharu echo, adding that it has equipped Middle Leader Teams with effective leadership.
Overall, almost all Education programmes migrated online and despite setbacks, partners met KPIs.
The mental health programme in Sarawak was greatly delayed as it involved practitioners from Hospital Kuching and Miri who did not have the luxury of time to conduct training with NGOs and school counsellors due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile Child Information, Learning and Development Centre (CHILD) that offers UPSR tuition classes for 6 SJK schools were postponed to 2021 given the uncertainties surrounding examinations. As the students were mainly from B40 families online lessons weren’t viable as devices and data were either limited or lacking.
As much as all the disruptions to the student component—as experienced by Chumbaka’s coding and Innovation Centre in Tenom schools—are disadvantageous, these times also present an opportunity.
This urgency for alternative learning pathways will hopefully lead to blended learning (combining face-to-face, self-paced and individualised delivery methods) the direction teaching seems headed towards globally. For a while now, the need for schools to reinvent themselves has been omnipresent in contemporary digital society and interestingly, the pandemic may be the unlikely catalyst the system needed.
The 'pile-on effect' of the coronavirus is that interruptions to education can have long term implication-especially for the most vulnerable. There is a real risk of regression for children whose foundational learning (reading, math, language etc) was not strong to begin with.
I’ve personally found the year to be a challenge from a work perspective. However, the crisis has led to a better appreciation for the blessings that we have. It has renewed my focus on tackling inequalities and helping out those whose needs have become more stark.
Undergraduate Chin Qi Qi’s gaining admission into the prestigious Harvard University was a record-breaking feat for the year. For our March 2020 cycle, out of the 64 scholarships awarded—following online interviews — 23 are from B40 households.
When the pandemic reared its ugly head, the veracity behind Rudyard Kipling’s words—for the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack—was put to the test. And the response by our partners and beneficiaries affirmed them.
One shining example is a group of women at PPR Lembah Subang 1 and 2 who since the first MCO till now have spearheaded the distribution of food provided by Women of Will (WoW) and a host of other NGOs.
According to PPR Lembah Subang Community Leader fondly known as Kak Misha, besides making sure aid reaches families in need, a lean team was put together to cook meals and kuih for daily distribution.
Similarly, at the pitching session for mini grants after Me.Reka Makerspace’s digital youth entrepreneurship workshop, Community Development Lead, Anita Ahmad, was moved to learn that more than half the participants expressed desire to give back to the community if selected.
Another interesting aspect of Me.Reka’s project was the pre-engagement programmes namely digital t-shirt printing, e-sports tournament and a rapping workshop, which appealed to youth. Anita pointed out that “traditional workshops have high drop-out rates as the majority are either working odd jobs or seeking employment, making it difficult to commit to a programme.” This time however was different.
Another key programme for the year was PS The Children’s NGO training on the importance of intervention and ways to support a child who has been abused. This was, unfortunately, apt for the times since instances of abuse rose significantly during lockdown.
Following its December 2019 Status Report on Child Rights in Malaysia, an online conference was held in January this year where NGOs that would have otherwise been limited by distance and budget benefited from best practices shared by international speakers at the virtual conference.
All things considered, both Anita and WoW’s Chief Operating Officer Lakshwin Muruga say the biggest lesson of the year was in resiliency.
“Whilst 2020 has been fraught with unimaginable challenges, we also witnessed incredible fortitude with inspiring stories of successes… It is crucial that we continuously work towards building resilience—financially, emotionally, mentally and physically so that the beneficiaries are prepared irrespective of future challenges.,”
Lakshwin aptly sums up the year that has been.
The community has its own social capital to support each other…the B40 are quite capable, we just need to facilitate the process…Having mentors and coaches gave beneficiaries someone to talk to and a resource for information when the pandemic hit, allowing projects to be carried on and continuous income generation
The pandemic has upended lives and caused so much suffering especially to the poor and underprivileged and I am glad YH has been able to alleviate some hardship. I must say we have adapted well to this new way of life but that does not mean that we don’t wish for a time when social interaction is permitted once again. For sure the pandemic has prompted various moments of introspection and have made us much more aware of our responsibility for the wellbeing of others and of our environment.
While we go about our lives, the richly biodiverse, mighty Central Forest Spine (CFS) is being chipped away and for any real change to happen, we must stop viewing marine and forest ecosystems as attractive natural economic resources.
In June 2020, South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), in collaboration with the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM), spearheaded an assessment of natural capital, conservation value and priority linkages in the CFS via Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-based Assessment (TESSA).
According to SEARRP’s Assistant Director for Policy, Melissa Payne, the pandemic interrupted crucial preliminary stages of building partnerships and common understanding. “Face-to-face interaction with a new network of partners across eight CFS states and travelling restrictions” as among challenges cited. Though many major activities had to be postponed, she remains optimistic about the coming year.
Although limited movement orders interrupted many projects, it hasn’t been all bad news. During this time, various ecosystems worldwide have shown signs of recovery. One example is Mantanani Island in Sabah where Reefcheck conducts waste management and livelihood programmes, to bring about collaborative management of marine natural resources surrounding the island.
When reduced tourist footfall adversely affected tourism-reliant businesses, Reefcheck was quick to introduce alternatives like virgin coconut oil extraction, and vegetable and abalone farming, in order to sustain the community on their food security. The years leading up to the pandemic had created jobs for eight diving guides, 14 snorkeling guides, a handicraft maker, a local food maker and eight successful homestays.
When the project kicked off in 2017, the 480 kg of waste (70% organic) produced by local population and 340 kg by tourists, on a daily basis were mostly discarded at sea. As of June last year, Reefcheck is happy to report that organic waste is now turn into animal feed and as compost as fertiliser, while the rest are transported to the mainland for disposal/recycling, 90% of households have practiced waste management and 170 of them with recycle bins.
This progress coupled with reduced tourist intervention may have made room for nature on the island to slowly heal but this does not automatically promise a fully recovered environment, post-pandemic. As stimulus packages are rolled out in a pandemic afflicted world, the opportunity to invest in the environment is ripe for the taking. It is our actions, policies and decisions in this crucial period— or the absence of which — that will make all the difference.
2020 was to be THE number year for environment with three international meetings expected to yield a strong global treaty on biodiversity, a long-awaited high seas ocean agreement and climate convention that would hold countries accountable to drive up our planet's climate ambition - then Covid-19 happened.
Covid has impacted the lives of millions around the globe—and in Malaysia— requiring an immediate and targeted response to help the communities most affected. Yayasan Hasanah has played an important role in partnership with government and NGOs and has shifted its work expeditiously and effectively, getting close to the ground, to help those in need. Clearly there is still much to be done and the devastating effect of the pandemic is still reverberating.
For the most part, our relationship with the arts is a classic case of ‘not knowing what one has till it’s gone’. When limited industries were allowed to operate due to the pandemic, Indian poet Madhu Raghavendra described this very phenomenon through his poignant words in Artist: ‘art is non-essential until it is not’.
Be it an exquisite batik apparel, enraging documentary or a song you bobbed to, the people who produce these artistic expressions are often overlooked. 2015 figures by the Department of Statistics suggest there are over 400,000 registered artists. This, however, does not include those who remain unregistered in the nooks and crannies of the country—essentially the craftsmen and women we work with.
In response to adversely affected livelihoods, cashless food aid was provided for three months to artists via MyKasih and the aptly-named Arts for All Seasons (ArtsFAS) was organised (full details in the Covid Response section of this report). Though the birth of ArtsFAS was pandemic-linked, it aspires to be a yearly affair of not just song and dance, but also high level conversation with policy makers.
Another project was the preservation and conservation of the glorious yet rare telepuk (a woven textile, discernible by small gold leaf and foil flower ornamentals). At one of the online workshops, YMM Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agung Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Binti Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj who is keen for its revival, was among the participants.
In Penang, Arts-ED’s Projek W.E. employed artistic and creative approaches to improve waste management at Chowrasta Market and held the inaugural Community-Engaged Arts: Connecting People through Creative Approaches training workshop involving baseline studies, cultural mapping and community engagement. These initiatives built on a strong sense of milieu.
Meanwhile, Netcarbon’s Kelab Satria Cipta that encourages students to combine arts and science for real life solutions received the nod of approval from the Ministry of Education. Mohd Rashdan Ramlee, CEO of Netcarbon was delighted that switching to an online mechanism meant reaching students in rural areas who would have otherwise missed out. “Moving forward, we shall continue the online component while building our on-the-ground support network to strengthen the Satria Cipta community,” he enthuses, alluding to a welcomed silver lining in the tumultuous year that it was.
To a degree, the pandemic catapulted practitioners to realise that technology adoption is the sustainable way forward. But then again, internet penetration in Malaysia is quite low and we are dealing with grassroots... There needs to be a consciousness amongst arts practitioners to include the less privileged.
2020 was a full-dressed rehearsal of what equity, justice and fairness for all humanity is about. It demands a different set of values—humility, trust, empathy and compassion—to be firmly rooted in order to translate it into reality be it on personal or professional terms. It calls for the practice of new norms of collaboration, openness, values-based, ingenuity and diversity as the lifeline towards a collective pandemic-prone future. Unfortunately, given what is dubbed as the vaccine apartheid unfolding in front of our eyes globally, we have yet a long way to go.
Movement Control orders have resulted in minimal utilisation of Cruyff Courts. Despite that, certified coaches progressively developed its Heroes of the Cruyff Court Programme regardless of various pandemic-related obstacles which include delays in the relocation of some courts.
To build a socially cohesive
Malaysia by empowering people
and conserving the environment, and arts.
To maximise individual potential and produce future ready talents and leaders in various fields
To enable social and economic empowerment to vulnerable communities as a means to improve their wellbeing
To enable Malaysia’s critical ecosystem of forests, rivers and seas to be clean and conserved for all Malaysians and serving as a refuge for all biodiversity
To create a cohesive and contemporary national identity around Malaysian Arts, Heritage and Culture (AHC) through the preservation and celebration of existing AHC assets and the strengthening of the ecosystem
Thought leadership through study and research of the Impact Areas through targeted collaboration
Impact evaluation of completed projects to identify most effective levers
Systematic management of external funds and exploration of new funding provision mechanisms
Strengthen the organisation through training, talent acquisition, culture, and performance management
Centralise communications within YH and improve targeted stakeholder engagement
Capacity development of the sector across all levels and introduction of foundation standards in Malaysia
Harness partnership and collaboration models for impact
Digitalise internal and external processes to improve efficiency
The five-year plan beginning in 2021 will provide more focus to its impact areas and influence all facets of Hasanah’s work namely, communications, monitoring and evaluation, capacity development, funding and grants, partnerships and collaboration, internal capability as well as digitalisation.
As we continue on the trajectory of convenor, collaborator, and catalyst of change, our learnings over the last five years will heavily guide the work of Hasanah’s key impact areas—all of which contribute greatly towards nation building—for the next five.
Copyright © 2021 Yayasan Hasanah
Completed field testing of indicators
Developed communications plan
With the pilot rollout of the Alternate Assessment for Children with Learning Difficulties, (PASM – Pentaksiran Alternat Sekolah Menengah) expected in a dozen secondary schools nationwide in 2021, this year has been all about conceptualisation, design and realisation of instruments for that purpose. The partner is creating a tool to measure students’ abilities within their disabilities, an objective that traditional pen and paper examinations cannot satisfy.
Selected schools in Perlis were first introduced to embedded systems, coding, electronics, mobile apps, AI and various soft skills, after which students showcased their newly gained knowledge in innovation competitions with the ultimate goal of applying technology platforms to identify and solve real life problems in their community.
Economic devastation is possibly one of the most severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, second only to medical-related ones. And for the beneficiaries of Pertubuhan Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Umum Malaysia (PKKUM) comprising of urban poor, jobless, B40, single mothers, senior citizens, the differently-abled and other marginalised communities around Chow Kit, this is a very real problem. So much so that for some, putting food on the table daily was a huge challenge.
In response to this, PKKUM Pusat Bantuan Khidmat Sosial (PBKS) commenced its Food for All street feeding project during the very first MCO. On top of providing daily meals, its second objective was to assist those from B40 communities and whose earnings had been affected by COVID-19.
In July, PKKUM received the Hasanah Special Grant enabling it to provide 330 packs of food—guaranteed nutritious and comes with clean drinking water— for 110 beneficiaries on a daily basis.
“We heard and understood the day-to-day struggles of our beneficiaries when they came reaching out to us. The Food for All project plays a vital role in providing sustenance to the less fortunate, serving as a lifeline for communities in need that would otherwise starve,” explains PKKUM programme manager Myra Hashim on what led to the birth of this initiative.
With HSG assistance also, the organisation was able to expand the types of capacity building classes it offered, which at that time, covered topics such as how to conduct an online business, business registration, marketing and accounting. The organisation’s PBKS Project 2020 saw 20 beneficiaries benefit from monthly workshops and classes on basic business knowledge and management. The aim was to expose them to and equip them with skills suited for new job opportunities.
From an operations perspective, social distancing requirements have had a tremendous effect on the people-centric organisation that PKKUM is, limiting face-to-face interactions with its beneficiaries. But in time, everyday tasks were customised to comply with standard operating procedures and above all, keep everyone safe during a time when adapting is the only way forward.
One of our key learnings from 2020 was (discovering) the true social and financial impacts of the pandemic on the urban poor, jobless, B40 and other marginalised communities around Chow Kit.
A huge part of the Global Environment Centre’s (GEC) conservation efforts in the Upper Kinta River Basin (UKB) involves interacting with nearby communities and during the pandemic, they noticed an urgent need for alternative livelihood options. This led to an initiative to empower targeted Orang Asal and peri-urban communities living near the 25,000 hectare UKB—a crucial part of the Central Forest Spine and the primary watershed providing potable water to Ipoh.
Movement Control Orders posed a challenge to those who would typically venture out to sell their products while others employed by nearby quarries and development projects were adversely impacted when work was put on hold. Assistance from HSG was put to good use in response to this situation.
On key takeaways for the year, the GEC cites face-to-face meeting restrictions and lengthy feedback time of government agencies as hurdles that delayed implementation during already uncertain times.
“However, we quickly adapted to the situation and continued capacity building by conducting all meetings virtually, communicating via WhatsApp and mobilising local leaders to action. As many Orang Asal lack phone and internet access, an officer from the Department of Orang Asal Development facilitated communications during the early MCO phase,”
senior programme officer Sathis Venkitasamy explains.
Having overcome all that, the results speak for themselves. 35 families or 139 people in Kampung Makmur recorded increased income from the programme, an indication of GEC’s step in the right direction.
GEC felt that these identified communities would need additional support to empower it with new skills and enhance their livelihoods that were badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (We find that) the nature of HSG’s post-COVID strategy to support and empower communities is in line with local needs.
When pandemic-driven movement restrictions orders were enforced, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) was faced with a predicament. Its main source of income—ticketing sales—was lost.
Dr Wong Siew Te, the founder and Chief Executive Officer, explains that said revenue would normally go to cover husbandry cost for 43 rescued ex-captive sun bears that call it home, including an average of RM26,000 per month for their food.
The smallest of its kind and only found in Southeast Asia, the Malayan sun bears are unfortunately threatened by forest degradation, illegal hunting for body parts and poaching of their young for pet trade.
Owing to HSG, the rescue and rehabilitation centre in Sepilok, Sandakan was able to feed 40 bears and three cubs, without further depleting financial reserves that had been dipped into during challenging times.
Not only has the aid been helpful but also echoed the spirit of conservation as Dr Wong explains. “Besides, conservation is not the sole responsibility of the organisation,” he begins by saying. “Collaborations with the government and private agencies are essential to financial sustainability and growth of conservation efforts.”
Indeed, as we share this world with other living beings, we are all custodians in some regard, with organisations such as BSBCC leading the way. In 2008, the wildlife biologist, tropical forest ecologist and sun bear expert, who has been fascinated with animals all his life, founded BSBCC. Six years later, the large forest enclosures that provide a natural environment, facilitating their rehabilitation into the wild, opened its doors to visitors.
Though at the moment, BSBCC’s on-site visits may be temporarily replaced by virtual tours, the spirit and objectives of the centre—the only sun bear conservation facility in the world—is resounding as ever, as they tackle old problems threatening the lives of the species in new, no less challenging times.
Conservation is a continuous effort regardless of the global situation. BSBCC has learned that it has to be dynamic in generating other forms of revenue to cope with unprecedented financial constraint.
One afternoon, Ayu (not her real name) and her three children walked two hours in the scorching heat to the nearest police station. With only RM20 in her pocket, the beatings she endured the night before in the hands of her husband was the final straw. Searching online led her to being referred to the Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) and a social worker stayed in touch with her via phone right up to her lodging a police report, undergoing medical check-up and approved for interstate travel so that she and her children no longer had to be at the mercy of an abusive husband and father.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident.
Between March and May 2020, the WCC saw a near doubling of child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. Instances of domestic violence (DV) recorded an alarming increase too, making up 80 out of the 238 new cases handled.
The World Health Organisation attributed an increased likelihood of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at home (particularly children already living in violent or dysfunctional family situations) to ‘movement restrictions, loss of income, isolation, overcrowding and high levels of stress and anxiety’.
While dealing with escalating instances of CSA and DV, social distancing meant cancelling WCC’s major 35th anniversary fundraiser and budget reviews alongside a steep learning curve of operating remotely, all at once. As an organisation dependent on public donations to sustain work, it was badly affected monetarily and HSG assistance couldn’t have come at a better time.
According to WCC Executive Director Loh Cheng Kooi, the funding was well-utilised for a wide range of efforts, namely providing critical counselling for women and children, launching two online storybooks (Lisa and her Secret and Yusri and his Secret) aimed at children and teachers, ten awareness-driven webinars and 40 e-posters in BM, English, Chinese and Tamil as well as capacitating staff in handling and advocating cases in line with the new norm that included working from home with extended hotline hours.
That said, the organisation has reinvented itself and emerged stronger. “In every crisis, lies an opportunity. HSG enabled us to transform our physical work seamlessly into the virtual world; and the results were resounding, way beyond our expectations,” says Loh summing up the key takeaway from 2020.
Our work is no longer limited to Northern states. Via social media platforms, WCC reached nearly one million people of various ethnicities nationwide from June to December 2020 alone. We also noted the complementary role of vernacular webinars— for example, we receive more calls from Tamil-speaking women after a Tamil session.
For 32 years, Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation National Centre (KDSF-NC) has provided its Early Intervention Programme for children with Down syndrome, from the age of two months to six years. It involves therapy, exercises and activities designed to address developmental delays. Students pay a heavily subsidised, minimal-fee and further deductions are available for those from low-income families.
When COVID-19 hit, the centre had to close and its 34 students could no longer benefit from the sessions. Teachers and therapists had to upskill almost as quickly as decisions were being made. Hence, the KDSF Re-adapted Early Intervention Programme was born.
Concerning funding, public donations dwindled tremendously and all fundraising events came to a halt as most—such as the Annual Charity Funfair—involved large crowd attendance. Seeing that it depended solely on public donations to sustain operations and programmes, Heng says that HSG helped maintain the full teaching team, upgrade internet infrastructure and technology equipment.
“As a non-profit, we have always been prudent in our spending and preferred traditional teaching materials over investing in technology,”
KDSF–NC Executive Director Angie Heng explains, citing realising the importance of the latter as one of the organisations key learnings for 2020. Luckily, some of the teachers utilised their personal laptops, reducing the cost of procuring more devices.
Some other challenges were parents struggling to guide children through classes, giving up easily or lacking computer savviness. Teaching tools had to be improvised to suit what parents could find at home and therapists shouldered an additional role of guiding parents during activities.
“Some parents are receptive to this new way of education but do not have enough gadgets to utilise among their school-going children. It would usually be our students that have to give way to (for example) their older siblings who attend typical schools or require it for exams,” Heng observes.
Besides insufficient gadgets and poor internet connection, having parents watch over their shoulders throughout lessons and being unable to access teaching resources at the centre during restricted movement orders were but some of the hurdles. This experience brought to light the need to pay attention to the mental health of the facilitators.
On the bright side, having to convert to e-learning revealed the possibility of reaching students outside urban areas, rendering it a year of learning and re-learning for the organisation and its students alike.
With assistance from HSG, we were able to waive fees for students whose parents had taken pay cuts or were out of jobs—students who otherwise would not be able to continue their education (with us)
