KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Nov 2008: Yayasan Salam, together with the Hong Leong Foundation, is pioneering an entrepreneurship programme for single mothers in Chow Kit in a bid to ease their financial burden as well as to educate them to be independent.
Yayasan Salam Trustee, Datuk Ahmad A Talib said the programme would enable single mothers to live a better life with income coming from their own businesses.
He said single mothers who submitted applications for assistance would be given financial aid to start a business or to invest more on their existing ones.
“During economic uncertainties, we are aware that many single mothers living in cities, especially here, will face difficulties.
“Thus, we hope the public will come to their rescue…Poor single mothers cannot even afford to send their children to school,” he told reporters after the launch of the Entrepreneurship Stands Strong in Chow Kit programme, here today.
Ahmad said financial aid would be given to the eligible applicants based on their business proposal.
“Every two weeks, we will monitor them and they will report back to us their progress, problems they might be facing, or maybe some new ideas they have for the business,” he said.
He said the programme was primarily aimed at promoting small businesses to single mothers in the Chow Kit area here as well as helping poor urban women to develop a better future for themselves and their families.
Yayasan Salam has been organising the programme since last year by managing the applications and guiding the participants while Hong Leong Foundation provides the financial aid.
The Entrepreneurship Stands Strong in Chow Kit programme was organised in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 which started on 17 Nov and will end on 23 Nov in 75 countries worldwide. It is hosted by the Global Heritage. — Bernama
