Boeing Steps up Community Work in SE Asia
Sunday, August 21st, 2005Aug 20 (Bernama) — The Boeing Company has presented a four-wheel-drive vehicle to the Penang branch of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) as part of efforts to improve the quality of life in the communities in which it operates.
“The four-wheel drive will enable the society to be in a better position to render medical aid in remote areas in times of disaster,” said Boeing’s Regional Vice-President Paul Walters. He said the US$28,000 (RM103,600) gift was decided by Boeing after a devastating tsunami hit Penang on Dec 26 last year.
Prior to the tsunami disaster, Boeing had donated an ambulance to the Penang branch of the MRCS last year but it was subsequently felt that a 4WD vehicle would serve the society better, especially in remote areas.
More than 60 people were killed by the tidal waves in Malaysia following an earthquake off Indonesia’s Aceh coast on Boxing Day. As part of its good corporate citizenship efforts, Boeing had budgeted US$44 million worldwide “to put back into the communities where we live and work and 10 per cent of that is spent internationally,” said Walters.
