Ahead of this year’s Chinese New Year celebration, Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC) recently shared some early festive joy at three charitable homes, in addition to releasing an original hip hop-rap Ford CNY song to usher in the festive season with all Malaysians nationwide.
Charity visits have been a long-standing tradition for the sole distributor for Ford in Malaysia. However, with multiple ways of giving back to the community, SDAC is expanding its CSR efforts beyond old folk’s homes and orphanages to support mental health and youth talent development in the local music industry.
For the Ford CNY song, SDAC scoured the Internet for hidden social media gems that showed potential but needed more exposure and industry-related experience. The self-taught amateur rap group Goodest Plan (GDP) stood out with their raw talent and unique blend of rapping and hip-hop dance moves. The result is a fun and catchy tune aired on the Astro MY and LITE radio channels starting from 16 January 2023 until Chinese New Year.
“We are glad to play our role in contributing back to society and spreading some CNY cheer this festive season. These charity visits have been part of SDAC-Ford’s CSR efforts for decades. Coming together to care for the less fortunate is an activity that our employees look forward to every year,” said Turse Zuhair, Managing Director, Sime Darby Auto ConneXion-Ford.
“This year, we also wanted to extend our support to youth development and the progress of home-grown talents that need opportunities and exposure. We know how challenging our local music scene can be, which is why we decided to engage a relatively unknown but very talented rap group to create a brand-new Ford song to welcome in the Lunar New Year,” he added.
Enhancing support and assistance for the less fortunate this CNY
Traditionally, the selection of homes for charity visits was conducted internally by SDAC-Ford.
This year, to help spread the word and generate more awareness about the dire need for funding and support by many destitute charity organisations, exacerbated by the pandemic, SDAC-Ford collaborated with Astro MELODY to run a contest.
Through the contest, listeners were invited to nominate the old folk’s home or orphanage that they think ought to receive some early festive cheer and assistance with the CNY preparations. From the list, two homes were selected for this year’s charity visit – Ti Ratana Welfare Society’s Orphanage and En Yuan Old Folk Home.
In the spirit of caring and sharing, SDAC employee volunteers visited the homes with Astro MELODY on three separate days to help with spring cleaning as is the tradition with pre-celebration preparations. They also brought cheer in the form of karaoke for the En Yuan old folks’ home and entertainment by a clown for the children of Ti-Ratana before lunch. They were also joined by popular MELODY DJs Mei Sim Hoon, Jentzen Lim and William San and one of the contest winners.
Separately, SDAC-Ford Ara Damansara and Petaling Jaya also selected a third home they wanted to directly support. Motivated by the desire to help shine a spotlight on the increasing prevalence of mental health issues, Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Terencat Akal Malaysia (IQ70Plus) was an ideal beneficiary.
Besides spring cleaning, the volunteers also brought along with them sundry provisions and other essential items as requested by each specific home based on their needs.
Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-kanak Terencat Akal Malaysia (IQ70 Plus) is a non-profit organisation that takes care of individuals who suffer from intellectual disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, Learning Difficulties, Spastic Paralysis, etc. They have a total of 70 residents, aged from two to 75 years old, predominantly from single or underprivileged families that are unable to care for them.
A new year, a new next level
SDAC-Ford also expanded its CSR efforts in a bid to support the development of home-grown young artists, many of whom are very talented but lack exposure to experts in the industry and publicity.
This CNY presented a great platform to create an unconventional Ford CNY song to spread festive cheer to all Malaysians while helping to generate some mainstream awareness for local rap group GDP. The talented group shows great promise with their hip-hop rap format, a genre that is currently trending throughout the world.
Those interested in catching the trendy Ford CNY song can tune in to the Astro MY and LITE radio channels from 16 January to Chinese New Year. If you miss it on air, the lyrics video will be available on the Ford Malaysia YouTube page.
“Goodest Plan consists of three artists and from the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank SDAC-Ford for this precious opportunity to create and record an official Ford CNY song. In a world where the number of social media fan following, views and shares are the main yardsticks, it is incredibly challenging for amateur artists. We are deeply grateful for this chance and we hope Malaysians will enjoy the Ford CNY song,” said GDP.
Keyword: SDAC-Ford brings CNY cheer to selected charities