Tuesday July 7, 2009

Charity dinner to raise RM1mil for foundation

By KEE HUA CHEE

A CHARITY dinner will be held on July 18 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, to raise funds for the Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation (TAFF), which will be five years old in August.

The event, which aims to raise RM1mil for TAFF, will be held in conjunction with Eu Yan Sang’s 130th anniversary.

At a media briefing recently, TAFF founder and life president Tengku Puan Pahang Tunku Azizah Iskandariah Sultan Iskandar recalled how she had met Eu Yan Sang chairman Datuk Anne Eu and the circumstances in which the upcoming dinner took shape.

A unique cause: Datin Hamimah, Datuk Sharifah Sofianny Hussain, Datuk Daing Khatijah, Tunku Azizah, Eu and Lok Eng Hock.

“We met in Britain through our children, who went to the same school, Harrow. Last year, I was guest of honour at Eu Yan Sang’s charity dinner for cancer research and we began discussing raising funds for TAFF.”

TAFF helps childless couples to conceive and requires a million ringgit each year as it fully sponsors the fertility treatments which cost RM15,000 to RM30,000 at regular fertility clinics.

Selection is on a case-by-case basis, with priority given to those aged between 35 and 45. The couple’s joint income should not exceed RM4,500 a month.

Currently, TAFF helps 50 to 60 childless couples per year through 13 fertility clinics and government hospitals.

“So far, TAFF remains the first and only fertility foundation of its kind in the world. TAFF has sponsored 237 treatments and 49 babies have been born.

“Only two babies have died, one of a set of twins and one, a triplet.”

She said the response was overwhelming. “We receive phone calls even at 2am. Some anxious couples must have read the article at 2am.”

The feisty and indomitable Crown Princess of Pahang underwent 16 arduous fertility treatments before she was blessed with four children, though her fifth child was conceived naturally.

“My children were born in Singapore and I always remind Minister Mentor they should be honorary citizens of Singapore as they spent six years in Singapore in a freezer!”

She also attributes her success to Chinese reflexology and foot massage.

Indeed Tunku Azizah and Eu are exploring the feasibility of incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices in TAFF programmes.

She said: “In the Quran, it is said the hand which gives is more noble than the hand which receives. So all of you who are helping TAFF in so many ways are the noble ones.”

Eu said: “Eu Yan Sang celebrated its 130th anniversary this year and we are honoured to raise funds for TAFF as we share a similar philosophy.

“Our company motto is ‘Caring for Mankind’ while TAFF’s is ‘Give Life a Chance’. Last year Eu Yan Sang raised RM1.3mil for cancer research through my late husband’s Joseph William Yee Eu Foundation. All proceeds went to the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (Carif), a non-profit Malaysian foundation.”

Raising RM1mil this year for TAFF sounds daunting but it is already there!

“Times are bad yet my friends have all chipped in and the final amount will be bankrolled by Eu Yan Sang,” Eu added.

For the Eu Yan Sang charity dinner this year, Shangri-La’s chefs will be consulting the company’s TCM experts to prepare nutritious, wholesome and halal dishes.

This unique feast will feature ginseng, bird’s nest, cordyceps, lingzhi, mushroom, chrysanthemum, cinnamon and wolfberry.

Datuk Jimmy Choo will fly in from London to sponsor a made-to-measure pair of shoes which will go to the highest bidder. On the back will be inscribed “130th Anniversary of Eu Yan Sang”.

The dinner, will feature entertainment by ABBA Cadabra, the most successful lookalike band from Canada.

Limited seats are available from RM30,000, RM20,000 and RM10,000 per table.

For details, call 03-2116 8200 or Miss Kier at 019-359 3130.