In 2014, a licensed children’s home, named the Ang Tiong Loi – Rotary Children’s Home was purpose built on a plot of land in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. The land for the home was donated by property developer Tasek Maju and the physical structure was built from crowdfunding exercises.
The home is the brainchild of Tan Chee Seng, a chartered accountant by profession. He initiated the idea during his tenure as the President of Rotary Club of Johor Bahru from 2013 to 2014 with the vision of providing social mobility to children from broken families.
“It is not easy being an orphan and more so coming from an underprivileged background. We must have compassion to bring healing to the young hearts of the children,” said Chee Seng when asked about why he set up the home.
Running under the registered name of Cross Community Berhad, the home serves as a shelter for underprivileged school-going children from destitute families. Currently, the home has 16 children with the capacity to accommodate up to 28 children. Three caregivers are employed to cater to the needs of the four boys and twelve girls that live in the home ranging from 7 to 16 years of age.
The home currently provides a hybrid education system encompassing local and private education syllabus as well as life skills through its Rotary Community Academy to the children. Tutors are provided and under Marlborough College’s outreach programme, the children from the home are given the opportunity to use their facilities.
“Education licensing is a challenge and getting teachers to share the same vision is a priority we can’t compromise on. We also need kind donors to aid us as it roughly costs around RM650 per month to accommodate per child,” said Chee Seng when asked about the challenges faced by the home.
The Ang Tiong Loi – Rotary Children’s Home is also planning to open a dedicated boy’s home in the near future to accommodate the required gender privacy. Kind donors are welcomed to speak to Madam Wan Wai Kuan at 012-2333111 or email: rca.crosscom@gmail.com.
