Telekom Malaysia Bhd does its part in contributing to society through impactful corporate responsibility initiatives that are governed by three major pillars: Economic, Environment and Social.
As an example, TM empowers single mothers under Program Sejahtera by providing them with entrepreneurial skills and seed funds to set up or develop their businesses, hence enabling them to better provide for the needs of their households.
The telco pumps in a considerable amount of investment to bridge the education gap by adopting underperforming schools and helping them improve their academic results. Since 2003, it has helped improve over 20,000 lives nationwide through its school adoption programmes, it said.
Deserving students get access to educational opportunities, in the form of scholarships, grants or financial assistance, disbursed through TM’s Yayasan Telekom Malaysia (YTM).
According to its website, YTM offers five schemes:
- YTM EduXcel Jr: Aimed at recognising teenagers with excellent academic and co-curricular achievements in secondary schools for financial support and participation in various development programmes.
- YTM Talent-A full scholarship scheme for talented students with excellent academic and co-curricular portfolio for tertiary education in high-performing institutions worldwide.
- TM EduAssist: Provides financial assistance for selected TM staff to pursue higher academic qualifications domestically.
- YTM Post Graduate Scholarship: A special scholarship for TM staff to pursue postgraduate studies.
- TM EduXchange: A short-term aid for high flyers interested in an exchange programme or internship related to a TM Group business area anywhere in the world.
In the sporting arena, TM’s Team Malaysia platform unites every Malaysian to support national athletes. It noted that Team Malaysia members have grown in numbers from the time it was established in 2011.
In conjunction with the Rio Olympics in 2016, Team Malaysia gathered and deployed a small group to broadcast exclusive content and live footage of the sporting events on their smartphones, to be streamed in real time over Facebook.
Meanwhile, under the Universal Service Provision (USP), led by TM and the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC), network and application services are installed in underserved or unserved neighbourhoods nationwide.
In an initiative parked under its Smarter Nation vision, TM pledges to continue reaching out to rural and remote areas, as seen through its fiberisation project connecting Jerantut to Kampung Mat Daling, both in Pahang, which was completed in 2016. The telco also said that by 2019, residents and visitors to Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Tioman would have high-speed connections.
TM also instills the spirit of charity and volunteerism. It offers aid in times of crisis via its TM ROVers and organises community programmes, such as the TM Earth Camp, held in collaboration with the Malaysian Nature Society to increase environmental awareness among schoolchildren. There is also BumiKu Camp, which has the objective of creating awareness on the importance of preserving the environment among employees of TM and its subsidiaries, as well as humanitarian relief missions.
In October 2015, several members of TM ROVers were selected to attend a Disaster Preparedness Training programme during BumiKu Camp 2015, in collaboration with the Negeri Sembilan Civil Defence Department, to equip them with basic knowledge of disaster preparation.
On the environment front, TM advocates carbon footprint reduction via numerous energy-saving initiatives, and measures its carbon emissions to meet set targets.
It has established a baseline and benchmark for electricity usage of its telecommunications network exchanges and commercial buildings, specifically utilising the Power Usage Effectiveness metric, introduced by the Green Grid and Building Energy Intensity, and allows IT organisations to better understand and improve the sustainability and energy efficiency of their existing data centres.