A Few Small KMs for Microlink, One Giant Leap for Education.

The KMs to Champs campaign is a Community Care initiative involving all employees of Microlink to come together and raise funds of RM10,000, either through running or cycling. For every kilometre clocked, the company committed to contribute RM1 to the cause. The idea behind the initiative was to encourage employees to be part of giving back to society at large and to also instill a work-life balance among employees.

Microlink decided to contribute the RM10,000 raised to Teach For Malaysia (TFM), an independent, non-profit organization. As Microlink Group CEO Chia Yong Wei says, “We share the same belief in their mission of ending education inequality in Malaysia and mobilising a movement of leaders to empower the quality of education among young people in Malaysia.”

Malaysia’s Education Blueprint 2013-2025 has reported that more than two thirds of students in the majority of under-performing schools in Malaysia come from challenging socio-economic backgrounds.

The funds contributed by Microlink will be used to assist 400 students along with 200 teachers (or TFM Fellows as they are known) with training materials and workshops, classroom projects and tools that are aimed to bring out the best learning experience for all participants.

Over the years, TFM has built a strong eco-system of former students, who previously struggled academically but overcame their challenges with the help and guidance from the Fellows. These students have gone on to recceive scholarships from universities, and some have now set out to help and inspire the current crop of students to realise their potential and provide support through this programme.

Yong Wei adds, “We wanted to do more than just making a monetary donation: we want to remain involved and develop partnerships that are long-term and more sustainable for our beneficiaries.

We need to have collective responsibility. The company has recognised the value it gets from doing this, both from the employees and employer perspective – in improving staff engagement and morale.”