Newsroom | 11 Mar 2021
SOMPO Welfare Foundation Grants RM37,000 To Silent Teddies Bakery
Presentation of mock cheque to Silent Teddies Bakery
Edible Garden
Berjaya Sompo Insurance together with Silent Teddies team
Kuala Lumpur, 10 March 2021 - The Sompo Welfare Foundation (“The Foundation”) today presented a cheque amounting to RM37,000 to Silent Teddies Bakery, who were among four (4) recipients of the Foundation’s FY2020 International Social Welfare Grant outside of Japan.
The Foundation launched the international grant programme for social welfare organisations in 2010 as an extension of its financial support programme for social welfare organisations in Japan. The Foundation offers grants to support non-profit organisations engaging in social welfare activities in developing countries and regions. The grants are awarded based on recommendations solicited from local representatives of Japanese companies based in India or the ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Berjaya Sompo Insurance (“Berjaya Sompo”), the Malaysian operating entity and part of Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd, recommended Silent Teddies Bakery to be one of the recipients of the grant for their continuous effort in providing training and employment opportunities to young adults from the deaf community in the food and beverage industry.
Mr. Tan Sek Kee, Chief Executive Officer, Berjaya Sompo said “This is the eighth year running where the Foundation has granted a portion of its international grant programme for Malaysia. We are honoured to be a part of this collaboration to enable these young adults from Silent Teddies Bakery to acquire the necessary entrepreneurial skills they need to enable them to be independent. Berjaya Sompo values inclusivity in the workplace and provides equal opportunity to all employees regardless of their differences which is something that the organisation greatly values. We are proud to see that Silent Teddies Bakery is a vehicle for changing lives for the deaf community by providing them skills training as well as providing them meaningful work in the food and beverage industry.”
Mr. Tan Sek Kee presented the RM37,000 mock cheque to Ms. Cindy Leong, the founder of Silent Teddies Bakery. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Leong said that the organisation aims to empower the deaf with the skills needed to increase their job opportunities, as well as raise social awareness of deafness through its Revitalisation Project.
The Revitalisation Project started in 2019, an idea that Ms. Leong initiated to raise funds for the Deaf Community, and other Persons with Disability (PWDs).
The revitalisation of the building would allocate space for a learning centre that supports the education of the Deaf, and to give special attention to children and youths in need. The building is in its final stage of refurbishing its bakery, café, and arts/event space to cultivate the student’s entrepreneurial skills and independence in a conducive environment.
Additionally, the new building design aims to set an example, reducing the environmental impact of the operations by integrating sustainable features like solar energy generation, maximisation of natural light, passive cooling, rainwater harvesting, and an edible garden. The Sompo Welfare Foundation grant will support part of the Revitalisation Project for its Phase 4 which covers the rainwater harvesting system and roofing works for the Edible Garden.
Silent Teddies Bakery was established in July 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, it started as The Society of Interpreters for the Deaf in 1990. Then it became the Community Service Centre for the Deaf in 1995 to provide an adequate education for the community, before progressing with a project where the graduate students run a bakery for a living. Since then, over 100 deaf young bakers were trained in Silent Teddies Bakery. To support their journey, you may contact Silent Teddies Bakery at the following:
Ms. Cindy Leong
Silent Teddies Bakery
41A, Lorong Ampang, 50450
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 016-295 6831
Email: cindy@sid.org.my
Download a copy of the press release here
The Foundation launched the international grant programme for social welfare organisations in 2010 as an extension of its financial support programme for social welfare organisations in Japan. The Foundation offers grants to support non-profit organisations engaging in social welfare activities in developing countries and regions. The grants are awarded based on recommendations solicited from local representatives of Japanese companies based in India or the ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Berjaya Sompo Insurance (“Berjaya Sompo”), the Malaysian operating entity and part of Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd, recommended Silent Teddies Bakery to be one of the recipients of the grant for their continuous effort in providing training and employment opportunities to young adults from the deaf community in the food and beverage industry.
Mr. Tan Sek Kee, Chief Executive Officer, Berjaya Sompo said “This is the eighth year running where the Foundation has granted a portion of its international grant programme for Malaysia. We are honoured to be a part of this collaboration to enable these young adults from Silent Teddies Bakery to acquire the necessary entrepreneurial skills they need to enable them to be independent. Berjaya Sompo values inclusivity in the workplace and provides equal opportunity to all employees regardless of their differences which is something that the organisation greatly values. We are proud to see that Silent Teddies Bakery is a vehicle for changing lives for the deaf community by providing them skills training as well as providing them meaningful work in the food and beverage industry.”
Mr. Tan Sek Kee presented the RM37,000 mock cheque to Ms. Cindy Leong, the founder of Silent Teddies Bakery. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Leong said that the organisation aims to empower the deaf with the skills needed to increase their job opportunities, as well as raise social awareness of deafness through its Revitalisation Project.
The Revitalisation Project started in 2019, an idea that Ms. Leong initiated to raise funds for the Deaf Community, and other Persons with Disability (PWDs).
The revitalisation of the building would allocate space for a learning centre that supports the education of the Deaf, and to give special attention to children and youths in need. The building is in its final stage of refurbishing its bakery, café, and arts/event space to cultivate the student’s entrepreneurial skills and independence in a conducive environment.
Additionally, the new building design aims to set an example, reducing the environmental impact of the operations by integrating sustainable features like solar energy generation, maximisation of natural light, passive cooling, rainwater harvesting, and an edible garden. The Sompo Welfare Foundation grant will support part of the Revitalisation Project for its Phase 4 which covers the rainwater harvesting system and roofing works for the Edible Garden.
Silent Teddies Bakery was established in July 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, it started as The Society of Interpreters for the Deaf in 1990. Then it became the Community Service Centre for the Deaf in 1995 to provide an adequate education for the community, before progressing with a project where the graduate students run a bakery for a living. Since then, over 100 deaf young bakers were trained in Silent Teddies Bakery. To support their journey, you may contact Silent Teddies Bakery at the following:
Ms. Cindy Leong
Silent Teddies Bakery
41A, Lorong Ampang, 50450
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 016-295 6831
Email: cindy@sid.org.my
Download a copy of the press release here