Corporate Social Responsibility - Media Chinese International Limited

Corporate Social ResponsibilityThe Group’s corporate social responsibility is an on-going commitment to protect and benefit the well-being of the community and theenvironment in which we operate. We believe that the social and environmental initiatives that we integrated into our business willmake our efforts more sustainable and ultimately benefit our shareholders and other stakeholders.As an international media corporate, the Group’s business and publications reach out to transnational Chinese communities, we thusbelieve it is our unshirkable responsibility to carry out projects that benefit society at all levels.We always incorporate social and environmental considerations into our business strategy and daily operation. Our approach tocorporate social responsibility (“CSR”) primarily encompasses four areas: Community, Marketplace, Workplace and Environment.COMMUNITYThe Group has developed a strong relationship with the community. As a pioneer of current trends in society, on top of reporting thefirst hand news to the public, the Group also serves as a bridge to raise funds for the disadvantaged.Humanitarian assistanceThe Group’s publications have encouraged participation by and contribution from the public through highlighting stories and plights ofpoor families in need of assistance. This is part of the Group’s social responsibility initiatives to help ease the burden of theunderprivileged and persons in need through a variety of programmes.In Malaysia, Yayasan Sin Chew and Yayasan Nanyang Press have been the social work platforms for the general public to donatemoney to various charitable causes, including provision of aids to victims of major catastrophes, natural disasters and humanitariancrises. Over the years, the fund has been used to aid people who are less fortunate, especially those in need of medical treatments.The selection and assessment process to assist the applicants is guided by examining a broad spectrum of community needs includingthe disadvantaged group with health and social problems in poverty, disabled and victims of natural disasters, etc.Education is a fundamental human right and vital to achieving economic growth, increasing income and sustaining progress in society.With this in mind, Yayasan Sin Chew has started the “Sponsor-A-Child Programme” since 2003. It encourages readers to makedonation to provide the poor children with monthly financial aid to help purchase textbooks, pay tuition fees and other needs forschooling. Similar projects are also extended to underprivileged children from impoverished families and orphanages in other countriesincluding China, Myanmar and Cambodia.To foster literacy, we encourage the public to donate funds to children who have only limited access to reading materials in rural areasin Malaysia. Books will be distributed to these children to enrich their learning while promoting the habit of reading in the society.To help single mothers, counseling services like tele-coaching helpline services, various empowerment workshops and family bondingworkshops have been provided to help them overcome their dilemmas and extend appropriate assistance when required.These programmes have always been very popular and responses received are overwhelming. With the successful launch of theseprogrammes, much closer ties with the communities have been built.Yayasan Nanyang Press’s “16 Navigators Visit with Compassion” is a pragmatic social programme that deliver social services by payingvisits to poor patients and underprivileged families with aims to spread the spirit of giving and sharing. During the visits, volunteershelp refurbish houses and provide food, groceries and free counseling to those visited. This project has been well received by thecommunities.ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13 23

Corporate Social ResponsibilityYayasan Nanyang Press has set up 4 dialysis centers throughout Malaysia. Other than donating dialysis machines, it also providesmonthly dialysis treatment subsidies to low-income patients.In Hong Kong, the Group also organise donation activities on a regular basis. In the company donation event, our staff is encouraged todonate their used textbooks, fictions and magazines which will then be classified and given away to schools, charitable groups andhospitals. Used computers and electronic equipment are also collected and re-distributed to non-profit making organisations.EducationIn Malaysia, the Group has always been in the forefront of fund raising activities for education. With the support from Yayasan Hai-Oand Carlsberg Malaysia, we have organised a series of charity shows throughout the country to raise fund for Chinese primary schoolsto build new schools, upgrade existing facilities and provide scholarships to the less-privileged.Working together with many private higher education institutions, we continue to meet annually and assess the needs and academicqualifications of the disadvantaged applicants and offer scholarships to finance their further studies. During the year, scholarships ofvarious courses have been awarded to students to fulfill their dreams in Malaysia.The “Malaysian School Teachers Counseling Conference” was also conducted with the objective to enhance school teachers’knowledge and skills in the areas of child and all-round development.These events allowed our group titles to establish an interactive and friendly relationship with the community.The “Ming Pao Student Reporter Scheme” has been held by Ming Pao Daily News for 16 years in Hong Kong and has served almost6,500 senior secondary students over the years. The scheme aims to expand the students’ horizons and stimulate their independentthinking and analytical skills by a series of lectures and trainings on basic journalistic and multimedia publishing skills. Exclusivereporting opportunities have been lined up to provide them with practical training. Students with outstanding performance will beselected as trainees in our pressroom and to join the interflow camp with student reporters across the region.“The 7th Hong Kong Cup Diplomatic Knowledge Contest” was held to broaden students’ understanding on the national diplomaticpolicy of Mainland China and nurture their sense of belonging to the country. It was well-received by schools and the public with over3,000 participants participated in this year contest, which broke the record of past years.The Group has continued to support “The Guangdong Province Remote Area Education Relief Fund” jointly with Department ofEducation of Guangdong Province. This year marks the 20th year of the fund and over HK$25 million has been donated to providefinancial aid to 176 schools in Guangdong Province for renovation and re-building of dangerous school buildings. To enhance thecompetitiveness of the students and keep them apprise with current technological knowledge, classroom facilities have also beenupgraded to make e-learning possible.MARKETPLACEAs a media corporate, we strive to maintain our reputation as an independent and trusted source of news and information provider. Inthis connection, all employees are required to conduct business in an honest manner and with the highest integrity. The Group hasadopted the Code of Ethics and Conduct to assist employees in understanding these obligations.The Group continues to organise various activities such as carnivals, exhibitions, seminars, education programmes, health talks andsocial events for its readers and advertisers. These enable us to have an interactive relationship with our readers and advertisers thusdefying the perception that print media is a static media.24MEDIA CHINESE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (MALAYSIA COMPANY NO. 995098-A)

Corporate Social ResponsibilityAs an effort for advertisers to reach out to our readers, contests like “Miss & Mr Sunshine”, “Romance 2012 ”, “NationalDynamic Dance Competition 2012”, “Futsal Carnival”, “Sin Chew Image Transformation” have been held during the year.Ming Pao Daily News and the Chinese University of Hong Kong have jointly organised the “Prestigious Corporate Brand Awards 2012”to recognise the devotion and innovation of brands in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Yazhou Zhoukan has also hosted “AsiaExcellence Brand Award 2012” in appreciation of outstanding brandnames in the Asian region, and to encourage Asian enterprises topursue business excellence.WORKPLACEThe Group continues to invest in our own people and organisation as we believe that this is as important as our philanthropic andcommunity CSR endeavours. We perceive our human capital as an invaluable asset as we thrive in a competitive businessenvironment. Thus, courses and training workshops to enhance employees’ skills and knowledge are conducted periodically todevelop its talent pool and to groom future leaders.The Group also strives to maintain a highly safe and healthy working environment for its employees that go beyond all statutory labour,health and safety laws. To achieve this objective, we continue to create better awareness and understanding at the workplace. Aseries of in-house training programmes on safety and occupational health have been conducted with external experts and thecommittee members. Body checks such as eye checks, blood tests and free glucose and cholesterol checks were also provided tosome of our staff.The Group considers “work-life-balance” a key to maintain mental and physical health. As such, the Group encourages employees toreduce over-time work in order to allocate time to their family lives and further studies. We also encourage employees to bond witheach other through social events held by our sports clubs such as sports activities, day trips, gatherings and feasts during festiveseasons, etc.For years, the Group has provided its staff in Hong Kong with shuttle bus service that circulates between the company office andnearby MTR station to make travelling to and from work more convenient.ENVIRONMENTThe Group acknowledges that environmental sustainability is vital to the well-being of our organisation, society and nation. Hence, theGroup has kept a vigilant eye on the environment to ensure that corporate initiatives, activities and practices are executed withminimal adverse impact on the environment, and where possible, are geared towards conservation and preservation of thesurrounding environment.To offset resources used in the production of newspaper, our newsprint supply was mainly produced from recycled paper. Moreover,all waste newsprint, unsold newspapers, aluminium plates, plastics, cardboard, ink and rags from the print sites are separatelydisposed for recycling.During the year, the Group participated in “Used Printer Cartridges Reuse & Recycling Programme” organised by Friends of the Earth inHong Kong. Through this programme, used printer cartridges are collected and sent for refill or recycle depending on their condition.The recycling partner of Friends of the Earth will then make donations for every cartridge received.In our daily operations, the Group promotes eco-friendly elements such as the recycling of paper, as well as electroniccommunications and energy saving practices among staff. In addition, energy consumption has been reduced through the installationof energy efficient equipment and water saving apparatus.ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13 25