School supplies put smile on faces of underprivileged students

(From left) Esther Van Nes, Jasbant Singh and Azman Mashuri with some of the Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih students.

PETALING JAYA:

The University of Alberta’s “Asian Students for Students” club has bought 150 sets of school supplies in an initiative to help students of Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK), a school for underprivileged children.

This initiative was supported by FMT and Mydin hypermarket.

The club, which connects students of various Asian backgrounds at the University of Alberta (UoA), had been raising funds to support communities in need, particularly students, both in Canada and overseas.

The club’s co-founder, Ariane Perreault, said the partnership helped make a meaningful impact on the lives of the SBJK students, adding that she looked forward to future collaborations with FMT.

Ariane Perreault, co-founder of the University of Alberta’s ‘Asian Students for Students’ club.

“We are amazed by the outpouring of support we received here at the University of Alberta to help students from the low-income group. None of this would be possible without the support and guidance we received from FMT,” said Perreault, who has Malaysian roots.

The event held at FMT’s office today was attended by the students, SBJK principal Azman Mashuri, assistant principal Abang Abdillah Abang Johny and the Canadian high commission’s political counsellor Esther Van Nes.

A UoA alumnus herself, Van Nes said it was heartwarming to see students from her alma mater taking the initiative to reach out to another country to do something positive in the world.

She said her time at UoA had taught her to look beyond her nation’s borders and to get involved in a bigger global community.

“We have a lot of government-to-government cooperation, people-to-people, students-to-students. From Asian students working or studying in Canada to Canadian students coming together to reach across, I really think this is a privilege,” she said.

Members of the Asian Students for Students club.

With the new academic year starting at the end of March, Azman said he was thankful for the heartwarming initiative by FMT and UoA students.

“We hope the school supplies provided by the students of UoA with FMT’s support will help the SBJK students,” said Azman.

At the event, the students received their goodie bags filled with school supplies, such as pencil cases and stationery, from FMT managing editor Jasbant Singh.

“I would like to express how proud we are to partner with the fine, young students of the ‘Asian Students for Students’ club. I think it’s superb that they’ve raised funds to buy 150 sets of school supplies for the benefit of their ‘juniors’ in Malaysia,” he said.>

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School supplies put smile on faces of underprivileged students

A Canadian varsity club and FMT worked together to provide school supplies to students of Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih, a school for underprivileged children.