SCB initiative to help the visually-impaired
Thursday, September 6, 2007
EMBARKING on a new project, the Standard Chartered Bank is taking another step forward with their 'Seeing is Believing' initiative through their Employee Volunteering Programme (EVP).
Under the project, staff members provide educational assistance to visually-impaired students in the country by reading out the printed textbooks and recording their voices on tapes to further assist them in their revision.
The first to receive the tapes was a Secondary Five student from Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School, Ernie Yushammy who, since the age of five, has been visually-impaired.
"This employee volunteering activity where it involves the bank staff members to read Ernie's textbooks and record on tape is the bank's response to a need that is close to our hearts, which is also our global initiative to help the visually impaired," said Tiew Siew Chuen, chief executive officer of SCB Brunei.
She was at the school yesterday to visit Ernie and introduce herself.
The meeting also gave both the chance to get to know each other better.
According to Tiew, for the past four weeks, 22 SCB staff have contributed to more than 22 hours of reading time for Ernie, in subjects such as English, Malay Literature and Principles of Accounting.
"And everyday, more and more staff members are fulfilling their pledges by volunteering their time to this cause," said Tiew.
During the visit, she presented Ernie with a gift — a walkman for her to use when she is listening to the recordings.
Several teachers including the deputy principal of the school were also present to witness the meeting.
After taking a group picture, Tiew later walked Ernie back to her class.
Speaking to The Brunei Times, Ernie shared that the reading tapes was a much needed assistance and she was happy when her teachers first told her about the news.
"Before the tapes, I usually read by myself, but I cannot read for longer than an hour because my head will hurt," said Ernie who also suffers from bad migraines.
She faces difficulties when it comes to reading as she can only function with her left eye which is also working on low vision.
On her right, she wears an artificial eye to replace the one that was removed during a second childhood operation after a corneal failure.
The programme which was launched globally recently, encourages SCB staff members to volunteer their time and effort to community services including SCB's corporate social responsibilities and initiatives such as those that relate to 'Seeing is Believing' and 'Living with HIV', the previous helping to improve the lives of the visually-impaired community and the latter raises awareness on HIV/Aids in the country.
The Brunei Times
Under the project, staff members provide educational assistance to visually-impaired students in the country by reading out the printed textbooks and recording their voices on tapes to further assist them in their revision.
The first to receive the tapes was a Secondary Five student from Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School, Ernie Yushammy who, since the age of five, has been visually-impaired.
"This employee volunteering activity where it involves the bank staff members to read Ernie's textbooks and record on tape is the bank's response to a need that is close to our hearts, which is also our global initiative to help the visually impaired," said Tiew Siew Chuen, chief executive officer of SCB Brunei.
She was at the school yesterday to visit Ernie and introduce herself.
The meeting also gave both the chance to get to know each other better.
According to Tiew, for the past four weeks, 22 SCB staff have contributed to more than 22 hours of reading time for Ernie, in subjects such as English, Malay Literature and Principles of Accounting.
"And everyday, more and more staff members are fulfilling their pledges by volunteering their time to this cause," said Tiew.
During the visit, she presented Ernie with a gift — a walkman for her to use when she is listening to the recordings.
Several teachers including the deputy principal of the school were also present to witness the meeting.
After taking a group picture, Tiew later walked Ernie back to her class.
Speaking to The Brunei Times, Ernie shared that the reading tapes was a much needed assistance and she was happy when her teachers first told her about the news.
"Before the tapes, I usually read by myself, but I cannot read for longer than an hour because my head will hurt," said Ernie who also suffers from bad migraines.
She faces difficulties when it comes to reading as she can only function with her left eye which is also working on low vision.
On her right, she wears an artificial eye to replace the one that was removed during a second childhood operation after a corneal failure.
The programme which was launched globally recently, encourages SCB staff members to volunteer their time and effort to community services including SCB's corporate social responsibilities and initiatives such as those that relate to 'Seeing is Believing' and 'Living with HIV', the previous helping to improve the lives of the visually-impaired community and the latter raises awareness on HIV/Aids in the country.
The Brunei Times
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