The majority of Malaysian families eagerly anticipate the start of the new school year, racing to equip their children with all new school necessities.
However, for urban poor families, the new school year is laden with major expenses.
Malaysia has one of the fastest urbanisation rates in South-East Asia with 77.9% of the country’s 32.4 million population living in urban areas. According to Statista, the percentage of urban poor in Malaysia is relatively low at 3.8%, which translates to almost 960,000 urban dwellers living in poverty.
Most of the urban poor are residing in People’s Housing Projects or Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) low-cost flats, which are densely populated with limited public amenities.
Those with lower educational attainment tend to be from households with lower incomes, causing the income gap to widen.
Encouraging and improving education opportunities is key to reduce income inequality.
Understanding the plight of these urban poor families and recognizing the importance of education for all, the Cerahi Kehidupan Bersama TOP (Brighter Future with TOP) charity fund-raising campaign is collaborating with Mydin to equip a total of 200 primary one students from hardcore poor families living in PPR communities in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Penang, with back-to-school essentials for the 2023/2024 school year.
A portion of sales from selected TOP detergent products across Mydin stores from Dec 15, 2022 to Jan 15, 2023 will be channelled to equipping these students.
The back-to-school essentials include brand new school uniform, school shoes, socks, stationery set, pencil case, and colour pencils for each child.
TOP will deliver the personalised back-to-school packs to the families ahead of the new school term, giving parents and children ease-of-mind.
Southern Lion Sdn Bhd senior general manager Carmen Foo said the Cerahi Kehidupan Bersama TOP back-to-school campaign helps to ease the financial strain on poor parents and motivates their children to learn and build their future as other students.
“Rising cost of living is a global issue, and the urban poor are most at risk. Back-to-school preparations for even one child can disrupt the tight budgets of urban poor families, yet education is vital for these kids to break the cycle of poverty. Having similar back-to-school items as other students can help to motivate them and put them in the right headspace to excel,” she said.
Since its inception in 2015, the Cerahi Kehidupan Bersama TOP campaign has benefited 3,206 children from 97 communities nationwide with back-to-school essentials, while contributing TOP detergent products to their families and caregivers.
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