L'OREAL DOES ITS PART TO HELP HAITI EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), Feb 8 (Bernama) -- L'Oréal, the world's largest
cosmetics and beauty company, believes that lasting business success is built
upon ethical standards which guides growth coupled with a genuine sense of
responsibility for the community at large.

As a company that believes in good corporate citizenship, Loréal is keen to
contribute to projects that serve the wider community which reflects the
company's deeply rooted values, its Corporate Communications & Media Relations
director, Tay Ai Leen said.

She told Bernama in an interview that there was an acceptance in the
community today that the private sector had a role to play in fulfilling its
corporate social responsibility (CSR) abd making society a better place.

To this end, in every country where it has operations, L'Oréal supports
projects that contribute to the community at large through philanthropy and
long-term partnerships.

One of the latest CSR programmes L'Oreal Malaysia participated was the
recently launched Haiti Earthquake Appeal Fundraising drive which aims to to
help earthquake survivors recover from the disaster.

The campaign, themed "Rebuilding Lives in Haiti" was organised by the
Humanitarian Organisation Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) with support from the
Malaysia National News Agency (Bernama) and 21 other corporate partners
including L'Oreal Malaysia.

The one-month campaign which started on Jan 29, was launched by Bernama
general manager Hasnul Hassan and aims to raise RM250,000 (US$1=RM3.4).

During the interview, Tay handed a cheque amounting RM15,000 to Bernama to
be given to Islamic Relief Malaysia as a support for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal
campaign.

She said the money was donated by its employees and for each Ringgit
Malaysia donated, L'Oreal Malaysia gave an additional one Ringgit.

Tay said: "Loreal as a global company, we have a pledged to support the
Haiti victims. What we have done globally is actually donate 500,000 euros to
the Haiti Relief Fund."

L'Oreal Malaysia, in line with its parent company, L'Oréal Group,
headquartered in Paris, France, together with other L'Oreal subsidiaries
worldwide, is not lagging in playing its role towards achieving the aspiration
of being a good corporate citizens by participating in CSR and philanthropy
programmes.

"Loreal, as a company believes that we want to be a great citizen of the
world.

"That is why in every subsidiary that we do business we want to give back to
the society. This is because we believe that while business is doing well, it is
important that we give back to the community where we do our business,'' she
said.

As a corporate citizen of the world, she said: "We need to balance...apart
from making money, we need to give back to the society, so we believe in
philanthropy work."

She said it was also important for employees especially the
young ones as they would be proud to be with a company that cares for the
society.

As a caring company, L'Oreal in turn also cares for its employees.

She said half of the funds raised for charity goes to the Red Cross and the
other half to the corporation which supports the relief and the victims.

She said subsidiaries should also donate.

"For every dollar that the employees donate, L'Oreal will donate one
dollar, so one for one.
"
As a company, it pledges another half a million euros, so in total actually
it amounts to 1.5 million euros," she said.

To make a donation in the Haiti Relief Fund, a donation box was also set up
at L'Oreal Malaysia's Human Resource Department.

"Apart from the money contributed by the global company, we are happy to
contribute the money to the Islamic Relief Fund Haiti," Tay said.

Touching on other CSR programmes, she said L'Oreal has developed a tier of
programmes, and that programme evolves basically on science, education and
solidarity.

"So when we talk about our corporate programmes, we talk about science.
"Our number one international philanthropy programme is for women in
science. It is basically about giving support, encouragement and recognition to
women in the field of science.

"What we realise is in the world today, two to three per cent of
scientists are female and that is a very low percentage, whereas in L'Oreal
itself, out of 3,000 researchers, 55 per cent of them are women," she said.

Tay said L'Oreal believes in giving equal opportunity to men and women and
sometimes, "we feel it is great because it (science) drives innovation."

At international level, she said L'Oreal awarded five leading women
reserchers from each continent namely from Asia, North America, South America,
Africa and Europe.

Tay said L'Oreal Malaysia's first philanthropy for women programme locally
was called the "The National L'Oreal Malaysia For Women and
Science Campaign.'

She said the company works hand-in-hand with UNESCO as well as the Ministry
of Higher Education, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Academy
of Sciences.

During its 100th year anniversary celebrations, it joined hands with the
Malaysia Aids Foundation to support 100 children aged 12 and
above who are affected or infected with the disease.

Tay said another CSR initiative by L'Oreal Malaysia is the "Look Good and
Feel Better," programme, where it works closely with the Malaysian National
Cancer Society, to help women going through cancer treatment.

-- BERNAMA