MBG’s ‘health is wealth’ campaign promotes children and family health

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IF LAUGHTER was the best medicine… then fruits and art could be the double dosages needed to help in speedy recovery.

This adage has inspired MBG FruitShop to visit the UKM Hospital (HUKM) to offer 20 paintings and fruit baskets to all the children from HUKM’s paediatric ward in conjunction with Children’s Day celebrations in Malaysia.

The art works will be displayed on the hospital’s walls and playrooms to create a vibrant, happy and conducive environment to aid the children’s speedy recovery.

Top shot: Grand prize winner, Tan’s winning pictures

Money was also raised through MBG’s art events and channelled to the HUKM’s Children Fund.

MBG managing director Adnan Lee said: “The contribution to HUKM children’s wards is part of our annual CSR campaign ‘Health Is Wealth’ to promote healthy living among Malaysians. To support the Children’s Day celebration, we had focussed on promoting children’s physical and mental health and family interaction.

“We also recently organised a Facebook contest to encourage people to eat more fruits and advocated family health, with children as the focus.”

Adnan said spending time and communicating with children were crucial.

“Parents should continuously instill good values, investing time to be involved in their daily lives. Children inspire and make a healthy family. Their role and contribution to a healthier and productive nation starts with us.

No laughing matter: Consolation prize winner, Aaron Chin’s winning picture.

“The winners were mainly children and they had cleverly used the power of people as key picture angles — capturing the fun, energy, teamwork, camaraderie and laughter — all essential elements for good mental and physical health.

“Children can take part in healthy activities such as Facebook contests to cultivate the spirit of excellence and creating good family interaction, health and values as well,” he added.

Children “saved the day” as the two top winning entries came from children.

The grand-prize winner Tan Ann Ann, 13, displayed an intimate bond between a daughter and her mother working together that can be rewarding.

When Ann Ann decided to join the facebook contest, the first thing she did was to tell her best friend — her mother, Madam Lee. A tuition teacher, Lee helped to pull together all her students and got her daughter to snap pictures of the children’s chatting and having fun.

Of the other winning entries, 80% were children. Lee enthused: “This contest which advocates eating fruits for health goes beyond that for me. It gave me an opportunity to have fun with my daughter.

“We spent a lot of time together, laughed and had fun teaming up through the whole process to prepare for the picture shooting.

“This top prize may be a great reward to us, but being a true friend to my daughter is the best gift,” she said.

She encourages all mothers to treat their children as their best friends to bridge the generation gap that was increasingly prevalent in the community today.

“Children should come to their parents as friends, to share a problem or their happy moments. By being involved in our children’s lives daily help to foster healthier families and mitigating today’s deteriorating social ills,” suggested Lee.

A total RM10,000 prizes were given out to all winners.