M'sian billionaire to donate half his wealth

M'sian billionaire to donate half his wealth

Tan Sri Vincent Tan looking at a photo album belonging to Norlina Alawi (right), founder of the Nurul Iman Welfare Society For the Children of People Living with HIV/AIDS

By Fazleena AzizBerjaya Corporation Bhd founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan has pledged to donate half of his wealth to charity.

According to a recent Bernama report, Tan is the nations 12th richest person with assets worth RM2.43bil.

The announcement was made by Tan during an impromptu speech at the launch of the Berjaya Founders Day event in Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur Saturday, where he spoke about his decision to join The Giving Pledge that was initiated by Bill Gates, his wife Melinda and Warren Buffett.

To kickstart his plans, Tan will donate RM20mil this year to various charities that will be announced soon.

I will also channel to the Better Malaysia Foundation to honour my country.

Eventually, I would like to give away half of my wealth and I hope it will inspire more wealthy Malaysians to donate money for charity, he said.

The philanthropic entrepreneur is ranked 828th on the Forbes 2010 world billionaire list with a net worth of US$1.2bil (RM3.66bil).

He has donated additional RM1.5mil to match the RM1.5mil fund that was raised from the Founders Day carnival for 28 selected non-governmental organisations and charitable organisations.

The Founders Day was initiated to honour Tan's philanthropic efforts in conjunction with his birthday on Feb 23.

It will be held annually in Feb.Photos by Yap Chee Hong
Published Feb 27 2011