General Interest
A sound gift for the hearing impaired
Siemens and Rotary Tie -Up benefits 100 hearing impaired children
Kuala Lumpur, Nov 12, 2008
Driven by intellectual curiosity and social responsibility, 100 underprivileged children with hearing impairment received Siemens Hearing Instruments as part of the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja’s Learning and Living Aids for Handicapped Children at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.
Of the 100 children from around the country identified by the Special Education Unit of the Education Ministry, 6 of them were present today at the ceremony with their parents and teachers, where the children were fitted with Siemens Hearing Aids. The remaining 94 children will be assisted by Siemens Hearing Division unit’s dealers Sountex Hearing Instruments and Pro Hearing Audiolab Sbn Bhd, who are located throughout the country. The two dealers were also present today to help fit the hearing aids for the 6 children.
This is the second phase of the on-going project which begun in 2006. To date, the joint partnership has seen a total of 250 sets being donated to the special children.
In Malaysia, hearing loss has been registered by the Welfare Society Department of Malaysia third in the list of disabilities with 31,715 cases reported in 2007. Each year, this number increases, not including thousands more cases which go unrecorded. While the Welfare Society Department provides grants to support the needs of the disabled community, this alone will not suffice.
The Learning and Living Aids for Handicapped Children project is an initiative by The Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja aimed to assists underprivileged children with special needs. The project is reserved for children aged 2 to 10 years old, where they will be provided with living and learning aids for their education in a bid to give them a chance to be independent members of the society; apart from leading normal lives.
Through partnership with a corporate organisation, this time with Siemens Malaysia, the hearing impaired children were pampered by Siemens through Siemens Hearing Aids inclusive of not only the hearing aids, but ear moulds, fitting and usage training, one year of battery supply and a 2 year warranty and maintenance.
For every one unit sponsored by Rotary, it was matched by Siemens, which amounts to 200 pieces (or 100 pairs) of hearing solution. The contribution from Siemens for 200 units of hearing aids including peripherals and services is worth close to RM300,000. Adding the contribution from Rotary brings the total sponsorship value to RM600,000.
Also present at the ceremony was Siemens Malaysia CEO & President Tan Sri Rainer Althoff, President of Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja, Mr.Francis Chan and Organising Chairman, Provision of Living and Learning Aids to Handicapped Children Project, Mr. PP Chan Kam Fatt of the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja.
At the event today, Tan Sri Rainer Althoff said that the primary focus of Siemens’ citizenship initiatives is on advancing and integrating underprivileged and disadvantaged segments of the community.
“These segments consist of the hearing impaired, the visual impaired and the mentally challenged. Today we are focusing on children with hearing loss. The impact of hearing loss can be quite devastating and because of that we at Siemens believe in giving them support to encourage them to help themselves. All Siemens corporate social responsibility events focus on youth and talent development as part of our Siemens Caring Hands programme,” said Althoff.
About Siemens Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors. The company has around 400,000 employees (in continuing operations) working to develop and manufacture products, design and install complex systems and projects, and tailor a wide range of solutions for individual requirements. For over 160 years, Siemens has stood for technical achievements, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. In fiscal 2007, Siemens had revenue of €72.4 billion and income from continuing operations of €3.9 billion (IFRS) - preliminary figures, unaudited.
Since its inception into Malaysia in 1972, Siemens has actively participated in Malaysia's dynamic economic and social growth. With close to 4,000 staff strength, it has grown to become the second largest German company in Malaysia. Backed by its global network of innovation, Siemens Malaysia assures its customers of international expertise localized and tailor-made to suit their business needs. Today, it is one of the leading technology providers in the country with comprehensive products, services and solutions for various sectors in the Malaysian of economy such as oil and gas, power, water, process industries, ports, airports, rail, healthcare and hospitality.
Siemens Group of Companies in Malaysia includes Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Siemens Industrial Workshop Sdn Bhd, Siemens Multimedia Sdn Bhd, OSRAM (M) Sdn Bhd and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
For more information, visit
www.siemens.com.my.
Corporate Responsibility
As a committed corporate citizen, Siemens Malaysia has actively participated in various local corporate responsibility activities, focusing on the areas of arts and culture, sports, and charity. Siemens champions the local performing arts scene by being a founding sponsor of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. Siemens reaffirmed its commitment towards sports and charity through Siemens Run 2007, an annual run whereby proceeds of the recent run were channeled to the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, the Malaysian Paralympics Council and the School for the Blind, Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Jalan Batu. Bringing technological innovation for the betterment of lives, the company also recently donated to a 150 underprivileged children with hearing impairment received Siemens Hearing Aids.
About Siemens Healthcare
Siemens Healthcare is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare will be the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -- from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of €9.85 billion (on a pro forma basis including Dade Behring roughly €11 billion), orders of €10.27 billion, and group profit of €1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.
This press release has been published by the Communications Department, Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Your contact at Siemens Malaysia:-
Ms Vasanthe Narayanasamy
Head, Communications
Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd
DL: 03 -7952 4180
M: 012 – 315 0515
Email: vasanthe.narayanasamy@siemens.com
Ms Ranjini Thangaraju
Executive, Communications
Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd
DL: 03-7952 5164
M: 017-294 5717
Email: ranjini.thangaraju@siemens.com
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