Datuk Bridget Lai with En Mohd Shaharuddin Asmani, Acting General Manager, MERCY Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, 2 December 2009 - Employees of Alliance Financial Group (AFG) showcased their spirit of humanity as RM15,000 was collected from a nationwide Indonesia and Philippines Emergency Appeal Fund raising campaign. This two-week campaign was initiated by AFG across its subsidiaries and branches to assist the survivors and victims of the earthquake and typhoon disasters in Indonesia and the Philippines rebuild their lives.

Datuk Bridget Lai, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad and Director of Alliance Financial Group Berhad said, "We believe strongly in supporting this worthy cause which has certainly proved successful. Most importantly, I am touched by the generosity of our kind-hearted and caring employees, which I hope this contribution will further improve the lives of the victims".

She added that, "At the core of AFG is our dedication to people's well being, be it in business - in serving our customers - or in serving the public - every individual."

Alliance Bank topped up the amount and channelled the contribution to MERCY Malaysia, a non-profit medical relief organisation, to help in its efforts in providing medical and humanitarian assistance to the people in the two affected countries.

"The contribution from AFG signifies the unwavering support from the Malaysian corporate sector, in spite of the current economic situation. Financial contributions from corporations such as Alliance Bank are valuable for us to maintain our efforts in providing sustainable humanitarian relief especially to the victims in Padang, Indonesia, and Manila in the Philippines," said MERCY Malaysia's Acting General Manager, Mohd Shaharuddin Asmani.

On the home front, MERCY Malaysia provides basic healthcare to vulnerable communities such as, amongst others, the Orang Asli community in the Belum rainforest, street children residing in Rumah Nursalam Chow Kit, and far-off communities located in the remote interiors of Sabah and Sarawak.

Mohd Shaharuddin added that, MERCY Malaysia hopes that many more corporations will step up and emulate the efforts made by Alliance Bank so that the relief organisation can continue to provide hope and care to the community.

MERCY Malaysia is a non-profit organisation focusing on providing medical relief and sustainable health-related development programmes and risk reduction activities for vulnerable communities in both crisis and non-crisis situations.

MERCY Malaysia recognises the value of working with partners and volunteers as well as providing opportunities for individuals to serve with professionalism.

We uphold the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief and hold ourselves accountable to our donors and beneficiaries.

As a non-profit organisation, MERCY Malaysia relies solely on funding and donations from organisations and generous individuals to continue our services to provide humanitarian assistance to our beneficiaries.