Bank CEO, staff pitch in to build up school
Remmy Faizal, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Paint drips down on an unfinished sketch of the World Trade Center on the classroom wall of a school's health unit.
The painter looks at his work.
"As you can see, I probably will need some help from some of the children later on to make it tidy," said Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Richard McHowat.
Over 150 HSBC staff members, including senior managers from all Jakarta branches, teamed up on Saturday with students of state elementary schools SDN 01 and 02 in Karet, Central Jakarta, to paint and clean up their schools. The two schools are separated by stairways, and both hold classes in the morning.
The sight of senior bank managers mopping floors and cleaning windows attracted the attention of people in the area, who came around to see the foreigners painting fruit and animals on the walls.
The project was part of HSBC's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program for the schools. Earlier, HSBC had donated Rp 100 million (US$10,600) to buy books and repair the schools' facilities. HSBC staffers also teach English there every Saturday.
"They (the bank) earlier built us a garden, replaced our water pump and put up a fence ... for our security," said SDN 01 teacher Suharso.
McHowat said HSBC had a wide range of CSR programs here in Indonesia, sometimes in the form of donations.
"But my preference is always to have my staff involved in some kind of activity," he said.
McHowat admitted that the idea of painting a school came from his experience in doing the same thing about six years ago, when he was in Thailand.
"That's the benefit of learning what good things you can do in one country and you can carry across to another country," he said, adding that his office was "only five minutes from here, just around the corner".
The principal of SDN 02, Rameli Rahmat, welcomed the activity.
"It's really good for the children's education," he said.
SDN 01 principal Erna Sukarsih said she was grateful for the help, especially in the English classes, which have helped her students improve their proficiency. She also hoped this assistance would continue.
McHowat said recruiting volunteers for community development activities like painting the schools was not difficult. Usually an announcement is placed on the Internet and interested individuals would apply to participate.
"We always have more staff than we need," he said.
The volunteers also expressed their enthusiasm. Lona, from customer services, thought projects like these were positive and must be continued.
"Aside from the fact that HSBC is in the same community as this school, it's really good to introduce HSBC's programs," she said while painting an orange.