?KUALA LUMPUR: ARAB NEWS
Published — Sunday 4 August 2013,Last Update 4 August 2013 5:49 am
The Saudi Students Club in Malaysia hosted its first Malaysian Orphans Day on Friday night, the Bernama News Agency reported.
The event was part of its annual community service program for the Malaysian community, according to club president Mohammed Alshaikh.
He said the club wanted to demonstrate its appreciation to Malaysia for its hospitality to Saudi students who live and study in the country. The club wanted to send a message to the orphans that the Saudi students were their brothers in Islam, Bernama reported.
Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Fahad A. H. Alrashid, attended the event and presented clothes, schoolbags and shoes to 25 orphans of Rumah Kasih Harmoni in Keramat.
An estimated 1,500 Saudi students in Kuala Lumpur provided the donated items.
The ambassador, Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Attaché to Malaysia Abdulrahman Al-Faisal, as well as the club, also donated “duit raya” to the orphans and partook of iftar with them, according to the news agency.
Abdulrahman lauded the initiative by the Saudi Students Club, saying the move indicated there were people who cared, loved and supported orphans, according to Bernama.He also said he looked forward to strengthening cultural relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.“I will discuss further with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and also some organizations dealing with orphans in Saudi Arabia to see if they can organize an orphan’s exchange program between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Alshaikh said the club planned to observe the Malaysian Orphans Day every Ramadan and hoped to work together with more higher education institutions and orphanages.
“In June this year we signed a letter of intent with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for partnership in the field of culture, sports and education.“We are now planning to sign a memorandum of understanding with orphanages to focus more on their needs, rather than give them something they least need,” he said.