It was a fun filled 'green and cultural' day for close to 100 Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) staff who participated in a nature awareness programme at the Mah Meri Cultural Village located at Pulau Indah, Selangor recently.

Aimed at increasing environmental awareness and instilling a sense of belonging amongst TM Selangor employees as well as to enhance the landscape of the Mah Meri Cultural Village, the one-day programme saw the planting of various trees like the Nyireh Batu, Nyireh Bunga, Nipah, Nim and Mulberi.

The programme, called "Chill Out with GCC", is an employee engagement initiative coupled with environmental efforts organised by TM's Group Corporate Communications (GCC) division. Previously held at various states including Melaka, Pahang and Perak, this session in Selangor was led by Datuk Zaini Maatan, Vice President, TM Selangor who was also accompanied by Izlyn Ramli, Vice President, Group Corporate Communications, TM.

Speaking at the event, Izlyn shared, "At TM, we encourage an open communication environment between the management and staff. This engagement initiative is also another platform for TM's management to reach out to and meet up with staff from various units at the state level."

During the gathering, the management shared the vision for TM with staff while at the same time listened to their concerns and feedback for future enhancement of the Company's operations. The session was also made more entertaining with some amusing and interactive communication-oriented games conducted to further emphasise the importance of effective communications among TM employees.

The unique experience, in addition to conserving the environment, also provided the opportunity to increase the participants' knowledge on the culture of the local community with the encouraging support from Rashid Esa, Director, Mah Meri Cultural Village and the Orang Asli community of Sungai Bumbun. The participants were exposed to traditional Mah Meri cultural games and handcrafts which they had the chance to try their hands on for better understanding on the Mah Meri culture. It is hoped that through programmes of this nature, TM employees will value and appreciate Mother Nature and Malaysia's diverse traditional culture even more.

This programme is in line with TM's "BumiKu" campaign, a staff awareness campaign launched in October 2009 to educate TM staff on environmental practices, increase awareness on climate change and encourage them to do their bit to save energy at work and at home.

Explaining on TM's environmental efforts, Izlyn said, "This initiative is part of a bigger programme in TM's effort to conserve the environment. TM has carried out a lot of activities under the BumiKu campaign within the last 2 years which include recycling programmes, car-pooling initiatives and tree planting, volunteer activities at Zoo Negara and landscaping competition, among others. I am very proud of the tremendous response and participation from Warga TM, which proves that aside from our day-to-day job, we still spend time and make effort to show that we care for the environment."

TM has embarked on a more serious commitment in conserving the environment since 2010, which is also one of its Corporate Responsibility (CR) platforms apart from Education, Workplace and Community. TM is also aggressively streamlining its environmental efforts across the board with some major activities in store, which includes 'greening' awareness and implementation activities at TM premises and the community it provides services to.

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