Lotus’s Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Lotus’s Malaysia) together with the Pintar Foundation are set to make a meaningful impact on thousands of under-resourced students for the remainder of 2025.
Ahead of the third annual Lotus’s Ceria Charity Run (CCR) 2025 this month, the retail chain has announced its commitment to channel the RM400,000 raised from CCR 2024 into education programmes under the Lotus’s-Pintar Smart Up School Programme. The programme will benefit more than 6,400 students, aged 10 to 15, from 40 of Lotus’s adopted schools nationwide.
The programme was designed to raise awareness among students on the importance of money management, and to foster positive financial and shopping habits from an early age.
The first school to experience the programme was SMK Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SMK SAAS) in Kajang last month, with participation from Form Two students.
According to Lotus’s Malaysia communications and sustainability head Hanim Hamdan, the school was selected through the recommendation of Pintar Foundation. SMK SAAS was the first of 63 schools to go through the programme.
“The programme’s objective is to teach students how to be financially savvy. It teaches them how to budget and to understand the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’,” she said.
Wiser kids, smarter shoppers
Developed in collaboration with Pintar Foundation, the programme aims to provide students with robust and sustainable education through two key phases:
➤ Phase 1: Smart Shopper Plus
Instil a smart consumer mindset through specially designed modules that encompass “needs” versus “wants”, visualising financial goals, Smart budgeting, cost comparison and packaging awareness.
➤ Phase 2: Smart Learning
Students will progress to this stage to learn practical strategies for enhancing academic performance, navigating adolescence and creating a supportive school environment. Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in the latter part of the year.
For Smart Shopper Plus, the programme has four modules, with the first being Needs and Wants, where students learn to differentiate between the two. Next, is Smart Budgeting, which covers what a budget is, its importance and how to create one.
The third module is Smart Spending, which teaches students how to stretch money, to get the best value and the difference between promotions.
At the end of the programme, students will be exposed to the final module Packaging Awareness, which is about how to read and understand the different information on labels, boxes and so on, in order to make smart and healthy choices when shopping.
As SMK SAAS headmistress Maheran Abdul Rahman put it: “The initiative and programme by Lotus’s and Pintar Foundation is helpful for students to better understand the importance in becoming an intelligent consumer.”
Practical takeaways
Following the first half of the programme, the media spoke to SMK SAAS students on their experience.
One student said that before the programme began, she had hoped it would explain ways to spend money carefully to avoid wastage.
“For me, it is hard to save money as it will always finish fast. The programme has shown me how to spend and manage my finances better,” she said.
Another student said she had a greater understanding of the importance and value of money.
“I learned that we should spend wisely and not just on whatever we want.”
Lotus’s will bring back its third annual CCR 2025 on Sept 14 at Lotus’s Bandar Bukit Puchong. Continuing its mission, RM20 from each ticket sold will be channelled to the Lotus’s-Pintar Smart Up Programme. Tickets are limited with some categories already sold out.
Registrations are open until Friday at www.jomrun.com/event/Lotus’s-Ceria-Charity-Run-2025-Powered-By-JomRun.
