Philanthropic entrepreneur: 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, after the launch at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan has pledged to donate at least half his wealth to charity.
Tan becomes the first Malaysian to pledge this as part of The Giving Pledge, an initiative founded by Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, and philantrophist and financial guru Warren Buffet.
"I pledge to donate at least half my wealth for philantrophy, and I hope my public pledge to join the initiative inspires other wealthy Malaysians to join as well," said Tan in his impromptu speech at the launch of the inaugural Berjaya Founder's Day charity carnival today.
"To start off my plans to donate to charity this year, I will personally donate RM20million to various charities."
The Giving Pledge is an initiative to encourage the wealthy citizens of the world to pledge half their fortunes to charity.
Tan also promised to donate an amount to match every ringgit raised from the carnival.
"I understand (the amount) is about RM1.5million so far," he said.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, he said "When you're wealthy, you can afford to give back to charity."
He added that he had been thinking about joining this initiative ever since he heard about it, and that the Carnival is just the best time for him to announce his pledge.
Tan, who ranked 12th in Malaysia's richest, has assets worth RM2.43billion.
He is also no stranger to charitable works, having founded the Better Malaysia Foundation and also the Sports Toto Ang Pow donation campaign.
A coffee table book titled "A Legacy of Care" was also presented to Tan by his son Datuk Robin Tan, during the carnival. It chronicles Vincent's charitable works throughout the years.
His announcement was greeted by loud applause from guests at the event and shoppers at Berjaya Time Square yesterday.
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.
According to a recent Bernama report, Tan is the nation’s 12th richest person with assets worth RM2.43bil.
He is ranked 828th on the Forbes 2010 world billionaire list with a net worth of US$1.2bil (RM3.66bil).
Tan also donated RM1.5mil to match the RM1.5mil fund that was raised from the Founder’s Day carnival for 28 selected non-governmental organisations and charitable organisations.
The Founder’s Day event was initiated to honour the philanthropic efforts of Tan in conjunction with his birthday on Feb 23.
A special coffeetable book chronicling his charitable works titled A Legacy of Care was also presented to him yesterday.
According to Berjaya Corporation chief executive officer Datuk Robin Tan, Founder’s Day will be held in February annually.
