Company donates RM5,000 to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre

The Brother International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Brother), in support of the conservation of endangered wildlife, has donated RM5,000 to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) in Sandakan, Sabah recently.

The initiative was part of the Brother Cares corporate social responsibility programme that began in 2005, and has been a vehicle for the company to support various non-governmental organisations, non-profit bodies, causes and community programmes nationwide.

Orang utans are among the most endangered of Malaysia’s wildlife species. The SORC is among the most successful rehabilitation centres for these arboreal creatures that are immensely strong yet not strong enough to resist the relentless march of development.

Moving free: An orang utan going through its paces, at the sanctuary.

The centre was established in 1964 to return orphaned apes back to the wild. The centre is administered and managed by the Wildlife Department of Sabah. Other than the sanctuary, the centre also provides public education on conservation, research and assistance to other endangered species such as captive breeding of endangered rhinoceros. It is currently seeking sponsors and raising funds to buy more land to provide room for the 47 orang utans being rehabilitated there. 

Brother decided to lend a hand to SORC through a financial contribution to facilitate the rehabilitation of orang utans that had been raised in captivity, orphaned, abandoned, injured and those that had been uprooted from their natural habitat. At the same time 40 employees from the company pitched in to clean the surroundings and assist with chores around the sanctuary.

Brother managing director Yoshiaki Otsuka said the company looks for new areas and ways to express its care for the community and country that it operates in. “The more successful we become as a company, the more we target to give back and assist,” Otsuka said.

The contribution from Brother was received by SORC manager Sylvia Alsisto during a simple cheque presentation ceremony. “Orang utan need a lot of space to support their need for food as they tend to range far and wide for the diet they prefer. Our objective is to help them function and survive without assistance from us. In the meantime, we give them shelter, treatment and training to achieve this goal,” Alsisto said.

-thestar online.