Although Hartalega Sdn Bhd can hold its head up high as the world’s largest manufacturer of nitrile gloves, the company remains down to earth and stays in touch with the needs of the local communities.
Hartalega is sponsoring The Star’s NiE (Newspaper-in-Education) pullouts worth RM40,000 that will benefit 10 schools in Kuala Selangor and 7 schools in Sepang. The Star’s NiE pullout is a 12-page English language resource aimed at providing students with a different method of learning English. The 17 schools will be receiving the pullouts for this entire year.
Hartalega’s Human Resource Director Kuan Vin Seung said: “NiE was very much aligned to the company’s Corporate Social Respon¬sibility (CSR) initiative. We are interested in building sustainability and capabilities, and education is one area that we are very involved in.”
Hartalega currently has two adopted schools in Kuala Selangor – SMK Raja Muda Musa and SMK Sultan Sulaiman Shah, both in Bestari Jaya. One English teacher from each of the recipient Kuala Selangor schools was invited to join the mock cheque presentation held at Hartalega’s plant in Bestari Jaya. They were also given an exclusive workshop on the upcoming NiE sports-themed poster contest called Game4Life.
Kuan said he realised that English is an area that needs attention. He said: “From our interviews with potential employees, we find that the level of English among graduates these days is not up to par. After having a look at the NiE pullout, we found that it can be very impactful. A lot of activities encourage students to converse in English. It also keeps students up-to-date on current affairs.”
Community Affairs Head Mohd Ridzuan Kunjan noted that this CSR project can help play a role in the sustainability of the company. He said: “Ten years down the road, these children will be our potential employees. In a way, we are contributing to the talent pipeline. Being in a sub-urban area, the students here are not as privileged as the ones in the city. Here, they don’t get much exposure to English. We have to make an effort to encourage them to speak the language. That is why we feel that NiE is very suitable with what we want to do.”
In line with our commitment to environmental sustainability, Hartalega organised a riparian tree replanting initiative along the Selangor River.
Hartalega has been included into the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index since 2014.
Hartalega recently organised a Selangor River clean-up initiative in conjunction with World Rivers Day 2016.