Berjaya Group Founder leads unveiling of Berjaya Garden Restaurant, Culinary Center

Berjaya Group founder and Malaysian philanthropist Tan Sri Dato Seri Vincent Tan was in the Philippines recently to fulfill another commitment to the Gawad Kalinga cause.

Tan Sri flew in to lead the unveiling of the Berjaya Garden Restaurant and Culinary Center (BGRCC), a training facility that supports the GK Enchanted Farm’s role as an incubator-hub for the country’s growing social entrepreneurship.

Located at the GK Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan, the BGRCC is envisioned as one of the vital cornerstones of learning inside the farm—touted as the “first farm village university in Asia”—as it serves as the primary food center of the farm.

It caters to 200,000 partners, entrepreneurs, and students who visit the GK Enchanted Farm yearly. The food served in the restaurant is locally produced, sourced, and processed, thus providing livelihood for local farmers. BGRCC is also a school-within-community where students can develop their culinary skills.

Milestone

The opening of the BGRCC was deemed a milestone that marked the Malaysian conglomerate’s steady support for the GK mission in the country.

The Berjaya-GK collaboration started in 2012 when Tan Sri, through Berjaya Philippines Inc., pledged to contribute P300 million within a three-year period to GK for the construction of houses for Filipinos affected by Typhoon Sendong and other natural calamities, as well as for the poverty-stricken families.

To date, Berjaya has successfully helped build 820 GK houses in 14 provinces.

What began as a shared vision to help victims of calamity has now expanded to bigger dreams of building a sustainable template through initiatives such as the BGRCC, which is seen to have a life-changing impact on the poor and needy.

Building faster

Tan Sri expressed his elation over the continued success and growth of GK communities in the different parts of the world.

“I’m very pleased and deeply honored to be given the opportunity to join GK’s vision of creating sustainable community development in the Philippines. GK’s work is very commendable. Many countries need GK,” Tan Sri said.

“But I have to ask GK people to build communities faster. If they do, we would like to commit building 5,000 homes, from the original 3,000 units that were first committed. This is just to emphasize my admiration and support for GK. Truly, every one of us, rich or poor, can make a difference in their own ways. People should go out and help each other in reaching a common goal,” Tan Sri added.

In terms of spearheading projects that help the locals, Berjaya Philippines country head Paul Soo revealed that one of teh Berjaya Group’s philanthropy highlights was its vital support for GK’s scholars.

The Group sponsored 42 Filipino indigent students to attend the Berjaya University of Culinary Hospitality, an institution in Kuala Lumpur specializing in culinary arts, hospitality and tourism education.

“The corporation itself does not stop in giving out cash donations. Our employees actually go and visit the GK sites and volunteer their time for the home-building. I think that an important thrust that we do, we ensure that the people who work at Berjaya Group are aware of the CSR works that we do for the communities and people in need,” Soo added .