Bangalore, 21 September 2022 – CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, has launched its second CapitaLand Hope School in Bangalore, India to provide more than 400 children from underserved families with access to education.  CHF has contributed INR 50 million towards the construction of the school, which is the 31^st of the CapitaLand Hope Schools which span across India, China, and Vietnam.  Through the schools, CHF aims to provide children with a holistic education for a better start in life.

Located in Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore, the 20,000-square foot Government Kannada and English Medium Higher Primary School comprises eight classrooms, a staff room, a multi-purpose room, a playground, a kitchen, a sick room, library, computer and science laboratories, art & crafts room, and lavatories.  

CapitaLand staff volunteers and partners collaborated and built the school over a one-year period.  CapitaLand staff from International Tech Park Bangalore provided their real estate expertise to Karnataka Education Department including designing and managing the development of the school. Indian contemporary artist Madhuri Umashankar designed The Hope Wall which was unveiled at a ceremony for the handover of the school on 19 September 2022. 

CHF also partnered with an international non-profit organization, Room to Read, to set up the school library with materials to improve literacy amongst the children.  This is the 14^th library that CHF has established with Room to Read since they launched libraries across Bangalore to benefit some 2,000 children in March 2022.

 Mr. Gauri Nagabhushanam, Chief Executive Officer, India Business Park, CapitaLand Investment said: “We are extremely proud to complete our second Hope School in Bangalore to help over 400 children and their immediate families.  We are passionate about education and have contributed over INR 100 million to develop three schools, two in Bangalore and an upcoming school in Pune.  We take an active role in setting up the schools and continue to engage the children as well as contribute in various ways including donating various items and organizing activities for them.  It is extremely heartening to be able to reach out and touch the lives of the communities as we grow our business in India.”

Mr. D R Ramamurthy, Block Education Officer, South – 4, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore said: “On behalf of the education department, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to CapitaLand Hope Foundation for building this state-of-the-art school in Krishnarajapuram for students from underserved families. These modern facilities are unmatched by any school across Bangalore and will immensely help our long-standing need to have this school and ‘Guru Bhavana’ (education office) in East Taluk. With deep appreciation and gratitude, we acknowledge CHF’s contributions towards the children and society, and we would like to continue collaborating with them for great work in the future.”

 CapitaLand #GivingAsOne campaign

CapitaLand is distributing 2,500 school kits to the CapitaLand Hope School in Mahadevpura as well as children across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune as part of its #GivingAsOne campaign.  Each kit contains a notebook, a geometry set, a pen, a pencil, and a dictionary.  Held from September to October this year, #GivingAsOne brings CapitaLand staff and partners together to do good by uplifting the lives of vulnerable groups and supporting the environment in communities where CapitaLand operates.  Staff is also rallied to pen messages of hope and encouragement through #Pen4Hope for children and seniors in  Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.  CHF will donate INR 1,100 for every message and volunteer hour contributed.  Other than the distribution of the school kits, CapitaLand will be unveiling the upcoming hope school in Pune.

 Mr. Tan Seng Chai, Chief Corporate and People Officer of CapitaLand Investment and Executive Director of CHF, said: “As a socially responsible company, CapitaLand is committed to contributing to the environmental and social well-being of our communities.  To provide a conducive learning environment and improve children’s access to education, we have helped to build 31 schools benefitting over 28,000 children in China, Vietnam, and India since 2005.  We also support seniors and conservation efforts through various programs.  Through our annual #GivingAsOne campaign, we galvanize our staff and partners to come together to give back as it is through collective action that we can truly make a positive and meaningful impact in the communities.”

 About CapitaLand Hope Foundation (www.capitalandhopefoundation.com)

CapitaLand Hope Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, was established in 2005. As a registered charity and grantmaker, the Foundation aims to nurture and inspire the young, improve the quality of life of seniors, and protect the environment for future generations, with a focus on communities where CapitaLand operates. Going beyond donations, the Foundation also advocates volunteerism as an integral part of building a caring and inclusive community.

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In February, construction operations in China halted when the government prolonged the lunar New Year break and urged residents to remain indoors for a coronavirus epidemic preventive. The flu-like disease began from central Wuhan has killed 3,158 people and affected over 80,000 in mainland China.

Japan’s Komatsu report, one of the most significant manufacturers of earth-move equipment in the world, showed that their machinery was used in China almost 30% less to 32 hours last month, compared with one year earlier. In January, that is 59.1 hours, and in February of last year 44.9 hours.

Millions of construction workers in China returned to their hometowns for a traditional week-long celebration of the Lunar New Year, which started in late January.

Nevertheless, the government prolonged the holiday for a further two weeks to deter the virus spread. Projects on properties and infrastructure, like the second phase of the pipeline project China-Russia, are halted till late February.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) of Caixin/Markit reported the most rapid contraction in factory production, which decreased dramatically from 51.1 in January to 40.3 in February.

Construction steel rebar inventory with Chinese dealers tapped a record high of 12.23 million tonnes on Friday, up almost 20% year on the year, as seen by Mysteel’s consultation results.

Approximately 13.71%, up 5.13% per week, were the average rate of utilization of cement producers across China last week. Nevertheless, cement factories were largely shut down in Northern China, as resumption was still sluggish at construction sites.

As new diseases have fallen, China is trying to get employees back to their workplaces by providing funds and authorizing new development schemes and making it easier for companies to continue operations.

24 regions had reduced their response to the epidemic by Wednesday. At the beginning of April, the Ministry of Transportation expects all migrant workers to return.

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