Jardine Cycle & Carriage Group (“JC&C”) believes in fulfilling its role as a good corporate citizen by contributing to the communities where it operates and encouraging employee volunteerism. In line with this, the Group supports a range of programmes in the areas of charity and community, mental health, education, arts and employee welfare and development.

Charity and Community
The aim of JC&C’s “Care for the Community Programme”, which began in 1997, is to help ease the transportation burden of the less privileged. Under this programme, a total of more than 30 vehicles have been donated since its inception, including three passenger vans in 2009 to the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and Touch Community Services. These vehicles have been specially modified to cater to the needs of the voluntary welfare organisations and include features such as passenger seats with three-point seat belts, window protective bars, first aid kits, side steps and other physical aids.

JC&C also supported other organisations in various children’s educational and recreational programmes such as the Children for Children Celebration at The Singapore Zoo, HSBC Education for Kids Fund and DBS Helping Children Experience the Magic of Theatre. In Malaysia, Cycle & Carriage Bintang donated grocery items to a childcare centre for disabled children.

In Indonesia, Astra’s group companies and foundations have developed a framework to spearhead their social responsibility mission, named Astra Friendly Company (“AFC”). AFC guidelines have been instrumental in improving Astra’s relations with its stakeholders, including employees and their families, shareholders, customers, suppliers, the community, and the government. For the community, AFC has produced several programme categories that can be developed into various activities according to the needs assessment conducted by each company. When earthquakes struck West Java and West Sumatra regions in 2009, Astra took part in the community recovery efforts in the aftermath of the disasters with cash donations and its staff volunteering their time and effort in rebuilding.

Since 2006 Tunas Ridean has channelled its social activities through a programme called TUNASCare with the objective of providing aid to needy staff, disaster victims and the surrounding communities. In 2009, Tunas Ridean made donations to flood victims in Situ Gintung, earthquake victims in Garut, West Java and earthquake victims in Padang, West Sumatra. It also made contributions to the community, including aid to those requiring hospitalisation and medical treatment and for religious celebrations, national holidays and events.

In Vietnam, Truong Hai Auto Corporation (“Thaco”) organised a blood donation event as part of its “Community Helping Hands” initiative. Over a two-month period, more than 1,000 staff donated blood under the programme.

Mental Health
As part of the Jardine Matheson group’s initiative to make a difference in the area of mental health, JC&C has been supporting the Institute of Mental Health since 2004 in fundraising events in support of the hospital patients’ medical and rehabilitation needs and has donated two passenger vans.

Education
At the Singapore Management University, three JC&C scholarships were awarded to outstanding business management undergraduates during the year. The scholarship programme, which began in 2000, provides financial aid to students with excellent academic ability, strong community involvement and leadership skills. Cycle & Carriage Bintang sponsors the Academic Excellent Award to encourage and recognise children of employees to pursue academic excellence.

Astra, through its Toyota Astra Foundation, offers scholarships to students from elementary to secondary levels and provides textbooks and other assistance to those pursuing an education in engineering up to postgraduate level. Astra has continued its development programme for the Meulaboh Pilot Elementary School in Aceh which covers training for teachers, extra curricular activities for students and the procurement of teaching and learning facilities such as language laboratory and library. In 2009, this pilot elementary school achieved the international standard pilot school status.

Thaco sponsors the scholarship programme “For A Better Future” by Dong Nai Newspaper to help children from poor families to pursue their education. In 2009, scholarships were granted to 200 students under the programme with the aim of supporting young talent in their continued learning and enabling them to capitalise on the opportunities in the country’s development.

Arts
In 2009, JC&C contributed to the “Kings of Freedom” project that saw four sections of the historic Berlin Wall displayed in Singapore at the Bedok Reservoir Park. The project aims to provide insights to the historic events leading to the building and subsequent fall of the Berlin Wall.

Employee Welfare and Development
JC&C places great significance on the welfare and development of its staff and has developed the “Workplace Health Programme” to promote mental resilience at the workplace. In line with the mental wellness drive, an employee counselling helpline manned by trained professionals from the Changi General Hospital provides a confidential avenue for employees should they feel stress over family, work, financial or personal issues. To improve the personal skills of its staff, more than 200 Singapore employees have undergone skill enrichment and development courses offered by the Government’s Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (“SPUR”) to improve their customer service delivery, problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Tunas Ridean continues to invest in the personal and professional development of its staff. Intensive training sessions were conducted covering product and technical knowledge, customer service, sales and marketing and managerial development. In 2009, a new facility called Tunas Development Centre was built as a commitment to continually improve the skills of staff.