PETALING JAYA: Tycoon Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan (pic), who died on Nov 28 at the age of 86, contributed RM1.5 billion through his various charitable bodies for students to pursue education.
A source close to his holding company Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd told theSun that Ananda believed in his lifelong philosophy that education is a tool to make a living.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the leading role in disbursing funds from profits made by the companies in the group over the past four decades is undertaken by the Malaysian Community and Education Foundation (MCEF), set up in 1975.
It provides financial support to the community to pursue education, with beneficiaries encouraged to give back to society by applying the skills they acquired to serve Malaysians, and taking part in activities that contribute to uplifting the community.
MCEF has supported Malaysian communities by being a catalyst for programmes through its three main thrusts
of education, community welfare and development to ensure sustainable long-term impact for underserved communities.
The source said Yayasan DayaDiri and the Yu Cai Foundation cater for Bumiputera and Chinese communities respectively.
Under Yayasan DayaDiri, priority is given to the Orang Asli community.
With yu cai meaning “nurture talent” in Chinese, the Yu Cai Foundation was initiated by Ananda and, according to its website, is committed to promoting the learning of vernacular languages, multilingual and multicultural facets of the Malaysian education system and preserving its cultural heritage.
It has allocated funds to Chinese schools to build facilities such as science laboratories and classrooms.
The source said scholarships are also given to train vernacular school teachers at Universiti Sultan Idris in Tanjong Malim, and to secondary school and university students, including for the training of
medical specialists.
“This year, we started sending the Orang Asli community for teacher training at the university,” he said, adding that it is standard practice that contributions are given through the group’s charitable foundations and never personally in Ananda’s name.
The source added that Ananda was passionate about matters related to art and heritage, and for the past 25 years, Usaha Tegas has been organising the Tanjong Heritage and Art competition, named after Tanjong PLC, another company in the group.
Usaha Tegas has also set up charitable foundations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Sri Lanka, where the first generation of Ananda’s family is from.
Ananda truly lived up to the definition of a philanthropist, a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others with generous donations of money for good causes.
