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Carrying The Torch Lit By Her Mother
Datuk Seri Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz Sultan Abdul Halim Mu`adzam Shah is a down-to-earth Kedah princess, dedicated to continue the good work of her late mother`s foundation, Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah.
The modest shoplot in Shahab Perdana that houses Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah (YSB) is flanked by an unoccupied lot on the right, and on the left, rows of shops that sell unpretentious products from express bus tickets to furniture and food. Further off to the right are paddy fields, and at the moment the dry, harvested plots are filled with children from the surrounding villages flying kites and playing tag. This is why YSB chose this location, about 10 minutes drive from the city centre of Alor Star, Kedah.
Shahab Perdana is the Puduraya of Alor Star, the main bus terminal for passengers from all over the country. There is also a taxi station next to the terminal.
Datuk Seri Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz Sultan Abdul Halim Mu`adzam Shah, the chairman of YSB, says: "I like it here. It is a good place for the people to come and see us. They can just walk over from the bus and taxi stations. There are also cheap restaurants for them to have a drink and a meal if they have to wait a while for their transport."
Every day, someone, somewhere in Kedah asks for help from YSB, either for financial aid to rebuild a house destroyed by fire, or for smaller things like travelling expenses to seek medical treatment in Kuala Lumpur, or to buy essential items such as food and blankets for victims of a natural disaster. It could even be for something as simple as a bicycle for a school-going child.
They also come for referrals from YSB to whomever could make their lives easier, or the life of someone else better. More often than not, these people are poor out-of-towners and kampung folk whose only means of transport is public transport.
"They find out about us either through word-of-mouth or when other Government agencies, such as the Social Welfare Department, refer them to us," says Tunku Puteri.
As proof that YSB has 'arrived†as a true charity, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) recently suggested YSB to a multi-national company which wanted to donate funds to tsunami victims in the north. Kota Kuala Muda and Langkawi were among the areas in the state affected by the December 26 tsunami.
YSB (www.ysb.com.my) is a charitable organisation which takes its name from its first royal patron, the late Sultanah Bahiyah of Kedah. Since her death in August 2003, Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah has assumed the role of royal patron.
Tunku Puteri says her mother wanted to set up an organisation that could assist in the elevation of education and eradication of poverty in the state.
"The pursuit of education was important to my parents," she adds.
While still the Crown Prince of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim studied Social Science and Public Administration at Wadham College in Britain, which was also the place where his father Sultan Badlishah studied. Sultanah Bahiyah, the Negeri Sembilan Royal who married the Sultan in 1956, completed her higher education in Social Science at Nottingham University in Britain in 1954.
Tunku Puteri's elder sister, Datuk Seri Tunku Soraya studied fine arts at Brighton Polytechnic in Britain. Tunku Soraya's twin sister, Tunku Sarina, died in 1991. Tunku Puteri is a Political Science graduate from the University of Sussex in Britain.
"I attended a public kindergarten and my father did not allow anyone from the palace to watch over me while I was at kindergarten. My best friend then was the driver's daughter," reminisces Tunku Puteri.
She has brought that level-headedness to the way she runs things at YSB. She is there most days, putting in regular office hours in a no-fuss office – no thick Persian carpets on the floor, nor expensive oil paintings on the walls. Most of the furniture is hand-me-downs from her own palace or her personal purchases.
"These are still good, so why waste money on buying new furniture. We are about collecting from the haves to give to the have-nots. The more money we save on running this place, the more can be channelled to those in need. So I always tell my staff to cut costs wherever possible," Tunku Puteri says, as she invites me and a photographer to sit on one of the "second-hand" sofas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1996, YSB is headed by a Board of Trustees. Its main function is to conduct community initiatives, educational programmes and training to benefit Kedahans. Its activities are managed and run by a team of permanent staff. But the "poster girl" of YSB remains Tunku Puteri.
Many donors give out of respect for her and the people-friendly Sultan and his late Sultanah. Among the must-attend events on the royal couple's calendar, year in and year out, was the prize presentation at primary and secondary schools during Speech Day.
Tunku Puteri remembers the days when her parents used to plan their other activities (over 300 functions in a year) around the many invitations that they received, either individually or as a couple, to attend these Speech Days. They made the effort to attend because they did not want to disappoint the teachers, parents and children.
Generations of Kedahans passed through schools in Alor Star, Jitra, Sungai Petani, Kulim and Langkawi with memories of a small handshake, a small word or a smile from the royal couple.
"My parents' reputation has been built over 47 years. Both of them have always placed emphasis on the eradication of poverty and the elevation of education. My late mother wanted this foundation to continue that objective in an organised manner," says Tunku Puteri.
She is very much aware that some people donate sincerely, and some do it "for a pound of your flesh. There are two sides to this business."
But she`d rather think of the good deeds that YSB has been able to carry out using the funds. The foundation provides annual grants to other non-profit organisations in Kedah. It also makes regular visits to hospitals, orphanages and retirement homes. Educational programmes are held for women, including single mothers, the old and young, to encourage self-confidence, improve computer literacy and provide self-help tools.
Titian Bistari Tuition, launched in 1999, is a long-term commitment giving free tuition in Mathematics, Science and English to students in need in rural areas. At present, there are 2,400 students from Year Four to Year Six benefitting from the programme held at 21 tuition centres throughout Kedah. The education portfolio is headed by Tunku Soraya. The tuition project alone requires an annual budget of RM500,000.
Fund-raising – through charity concerts, golf tournaments and sporting events – is important to YSB, as it is dependent on public contributions to finance its activities.
Another regular activity is Caring Day, an annual event held at Kedah`s Stadium Darulaman to create awareness and to highlight the activities of non-governmental organisations and the charitable bodies that exist in Kedah. The two-day carnival, usually held in May, attracts some 40,000 people from all walks of life to donate while having fun through a jogathon, food fairs, children`s painting competition, public auction and second-hand bazaar.
"Whenever an auction is planned, I always ask my father and the other members of the royal family for items such as paintings or memorabilia to make the event more interesting.
"I have even donated blood at Caring Day, just to get others to do the same," says Tunku Puteri with a smile.
In its early days, Tunku Puteri says: "The foundation was small, kind of unfocused, and depended mostly on volunteers to run it."
Tunku Puteri came on board as chairman in 1998, after resigning from her job as an executive in the corporate planning department of Sime Darby Bhd in Kuala Lumpur. After a six-year stint at the conglomerate, she decided to go home to Kedah.
"When I told my parents of my decision, they were very happy. I primarily left Sime Darby to be with my mother," Tunku Puteri says. (Sultanah Bahiyah was then under treatment for colon cancer.)
"But the foundation kept her spirits up. Planning activities, attending events when her health permitted, she was excited for the foundation. I suppose when someone is seriously ill it helps to have something to keep the mind occupied."
When Tunku Puteri joined YSB full-time she read management books and looked up established foundations to study their organisations.
"Basically I just wanted to see how they run things. I had zero experience in running a foundation," she explains.
Through friends, she met with one of the programming directors of Britain`s The Prince`s Trust. Prince Charles set up the trust in 1976 to help young people reach their full potential. He was looking for ways he could contribute his time and energy to help people when he realised that many young people were being excluded from society because of the barriers they faced.
Tunku Puteri speaks of the same issue where youngsters are concerned in Malaysia. They are often solely blamed when things go wrong in their lives.
"Where are their parents, guardians? To me, youths get victimised a lot by adults who in the first place didn`t do anything to help them. For instance, in Kedah I feel that there are not many activities or places where young people can go to just have fun as they should," says Tunku Puteri.
So she introduced the YSB Extreme Team. A group of young people get together to skateboard or ride BMX bicycles in local and international level competitions. She is already supporting local football by lending her name to the Tunku Intan Safinaz Cup.
"Young people weren`t being given opportunities to just be themselves. No-one was putting the trust in them that they needed. If I was going to do anything to benefit them, it had to be something that gave the young people the feeling that they were trusted and allowed them to experiment," says the princess, who listens to Scissor Sisters, Coldplay, Linkin Park and Joss Stone on her iPod.
At 39, the youngest on YSB`s board of trustees, Tunku Puteri remembers the raised eye-brows among the more senior trustees (average age 50-something) when she first suggested the setting up of YSB Extreme Team. But they soon came to her way of thinking when they saw the success of such projects. One YSB Extreme Team member will represent Malaysia at an extreme sports competition in South Korea.
Apart from YSB, Tunku Puteri sits on many other charities including the Muslim Women`s Welfare Board Malaysia (LKPIM) and the Kedah branch of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. The week we met, she was making plans to fly to Kuala Terengganu to open a clinic under LKPIM`s auspices and receive donation for tsunami victims in Langkawi from a corporate body.
"I have not been able to attend my Book Club meeting for months now. We are reading Jane Austen`s Mansfield Park. I feel quite bad because it was I who initiated the club. Sometimes I feel that there are not enough hours in a day to do all the things I need to do," she says at the end of the interview, as she switched off the lights and air-conditioning in her office before locking up for the day. She was coming back later for a 9pm meeting and briyani dinner with the staff to discuss preparations for the upcoming Caring Day.
Alor Star 18/04/2005
