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Brewing a better future

CARLSBERG Group recently launched the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation in Malaysia, which will raise funds to support three pillars, namely education, sports and environment.

Carlsberg Malaysia begins a new chapter in philanthropy with the launch of the foundation, the first of its kind to be established in Asia.

Malaysia was chosen as it is where Carlsberg set up its first Asian branch.

Set up and managed independently from the brewery in Malaysia, the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation will champion local philanthropic efforts by raising funds that can further contribute to the betterment of Malaysian society through just and sustainable solutions.

All funds generated by the foundation’s activities will be channelled to support education, sports and environment causes.

The launch event raised more than RM400,000, of which RM300,000 was channelled towards 18 schools and homes under the foundation’s education pillar, and to the Olympic Council of Malaysia, Paralympic Council of Malaysia and Malaysia Federation of Wushu, Negri Sembilan as part of its sports pillar.

Beneficiaries under the environmental pillar that night included Do Something Good, Hati Malaysia and Community Recycle for Charity (CRC).

Over 800 customers, business associates, friends, beneficiaries and the media attended the event, which was graced by guest-of-honour Danish ambassador to Malaysia Nicolai Ruge.

Also in attendance were Professor Flemming Besenbacher, chairman of the Carlsberg foundation the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg A/S who flew in from Denmark to officially launch the new foundation, and Carlsberg Group senior vice-president of Asia Christopher Warmoth.

The evening also saw the introduction of the foundation’s Board of Trustees, which is chaired by Carlsberg Malaysia chairman Datuk Lim Say Chong.

The foundation’s other trustees comprise Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar, Datuk N. Sadasivan, Datuk Larry Gan Nyap Liou and Carlsberg Malaysia managing director Henrik Juel Andersen.

Speaking at the launch, Lim said: “This is a milestone moment for us in Malaysia as we carry on the vision of Carlsberg’s founder by enhancing the quality of life of Malaysians. We like to think of the Foundation’s work as an investment in the shared future of our nation.

“As it will be managed independently from the business operations of Carlsberg Malaysia, the J.C. Jacobsen foundation will enable us to expand our reach and we look forward to raising the bar and making a greater contribution to a larger segment of society in Malaysia moving forward.

“The foundation’s mission is to collaborate with both existing and new charitable organisations as we believe that partnerships and working together will make an even greater difference.

We hope the foundation’s tagline, ‘Let’s brew a better, greener future’ will inspire us to go beyond and help shape the community and the environment.”

Andersen added that Carlsberg Malaysia had a long history of contributing to social advancement via the company’s CSR activities such as the Top Ten Charity Campaign which had contributed more than RM400mil to the advancement of Malaysian education.

“We set up the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation in order to reach out to Malaysians who would be better served by the institutional support of a foundation and hope to serve the public good in a way which would make Jacobsen proud.”

At the fundraising dinner, guests were entertained by the performance of renowned local violinist Dr Joanne Yeoh and they marvelled at the swift work of speed artist Vinn Pang, who painted the portrait of founder J.C. Jacobsen, which was later transformed into the new foundation’s logo in mere minutes.

A choir club comprising 30 pupils from SJK (C) Sentul, Kuala Lumpur mesmerised the audience by delivering an impressive vocal performance.

Three Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) athletes Ho Ro Bin, Chai Fong Yeng and R. Purvaneswaran and two former Paralympians, Lee Sheng Chow and Mariappan Perumal, who were present to receive cash sponsorships under the sports pillar, also spoke of the impact the foundation has had on their careers in the past.

A stomp performance with recycled Carlsberg packaging materials provided a fitting finale to the entertainment, while reflecting the goals of the foundation’s environment pillar at the same time.