Exclusive - Inspired by Gawad Kalinga, Malaysian Billionaire Will Build 5,000 Homes for Poor Filipinos!

Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan has promised to help the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Community Development Foundation and build 5,000 homes for poor Filipinos.

Tan, the founder of the Berjaya Group of companies, committed P300-million for the building of over 3,000 homes for Filipinos hit by natural disasters.

In 2012, Tan donated P100 million to GK. Later that year GK secured a new partnership with Berjaya, through Berjaya Philippines Inc. Tan’s company is engaged in property development, management, and investment.

In 2015, Tan came to the Philippines to lead the historical ceremony for the 100 units that Berjaya pledged to construct for the survivors of Typhoon “Sendong.” A generous statement was also made by the Malaysian businessman: “I pledge half of my wealth to charitable work. The masses support our business and who are the masses? Many of them are poor.”

During the recent 4th Global Social Business Summit held at the GK Enchanted Farm, Tan said: “The rich became rich because a lot of poor people supported their businesses.”

The Berjaya chairman revealed that his company and GK had built 1,000 houses during the summit’s closing ceremony.

“We committed 3,000 houses several years ago and if you build faster, we would like to commit 5,000 houses,” he added.

Apparently inspired by the efforts of our local GK, Tan hopes to replicate the same charitable work GK has done in the Philippines in his native Malaysia.

“We’re going to do something in Malaysia and hopefully, we could get pledges from other organizations who could donate to build homes for the poor who could not afford these,” Tan said.

“We’re very pleased to help the Philippines by doing business here. Like what I always say, the rich people need the poor to support their businesses and I think the rich must give back as much as possible,” Tan added at a news briefing.

According to the GK foundation, Berjaya and GK have established 12 villages all over the country. Two villages, in particular, were for survivors of Typhoon “Pablo” in Compostela Valley.

Inside the GK Enchanted Farm, Tan led the launch of the Berjaya Garden Restaurant and Culinary Center (BGRCC).

According to GK founder Antonio Meloto, the BGRCC is the primary self-sustaining food hub of the farm. The livelihood program was designed “to cultivate the culinary talents of the poor. Currently, it caters to 200,000 people who visit the farm.