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The Indian community from the RGE (Royal Golden Eagle) global group of companies rallied to pool S$676,800 in donations to support India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Collected within a few days, the donations were used to procure and deliver 76 ventilators to bolster the world’s second most populous nation’s life-saving medical infrastructure.
The full news release may be accessed here.
India’s life-saving medical equipment crunch has been met with support from many countries and companies, and the RGE Indian community urgently rallied and pooled the donations, which comprised 40 Advanced MedTech Alpha Ventilators and 36 Yuwell Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure machines.
The donations came from over one hundred employees working in RGE companies that have operations and offices across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, the UAE, Brazil and Canada.
The ventilators were delivered to the Government of India via the High Commission of India in Singapore at a symbolic handover ceremony on 14 May 2021. The donations were further supported by Tanoto Foundation’s Singapore and International office, which also helped with the facilitation of the event.
At the ceremony, APRIL Group President Praveen Singhavi and Pacific Oil & Gas (PO&G) President Ratnesh Bedi called on the High Commissioner of India to Singapore, His Excellency Mr P. Kumaran. Both representatives from the RGE group of companies expressed their wishes and hopes for India’s recovery.
His Excellency Mr Kumaran expressed his gratitude to RGE and the RGE Indian community for taking the initiative in joining global efforts to help the Government of India in mitigating the spread of the pandemic and saving lives.
Mr Kumaran said, “The High Commission of India in Singapore appreciates this very timely assistance from the Indian community in the RGE group of companies. This act of solidarity, demonstrated here in Singapore, shows that we are all equally and deeply affected by the crisis, and that the pandemic will end only if it ends everywhere. We remain hopeful that the situation will improve thanks to greater support from around the world. We are doing our very best to save lives. We will overcome this together.”
Mr Praveen Singhavi said, “The RGE group of companies is a diverse global community, and we are all concerned about the difficult situation India is facing. Since the onset of the global pandemic, we have worked tirelessly to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees and the communities in which we operate. Our employees have friends and loved ones in India, and the RGE Indian community urgently rallied together to make this meaningful contribution to bolster India’s recovery. We are also grateful to be working with the High Commission of India in Singapore and we sincerely hope more lives can be saved.”
Mr Ratnesh Bedi added, “We have worked and coordinated with the Indian community from across all RGE business groups to expeditiously make this heartfelt contribution to India’s fight against COVID-19. On behalf of the Indian community in the RGE group of companies, we are thankful for the guidance from the High Commission of India in Singapore, and hope our donations will save more lives. In this interconnected global community, no one is safe until everyone is safe.”
APRIL Group is one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers with operations in Indonesia. PO&G is an independent energy resources company with operations in Canada and China. Indian employees from Apical Group, Asian Agri, Asia Pacific Rayon, and Bracell were also part of the employee donation drive. These companies are part of a group of companies managed by RGE and founded by its Chairman Sukanto Tanoto, who is also founder of Tanoto Foundation, an independent philanthropy whose programs stem from the belief that quality education accelerates equal opportunity. The Foundation harness the transformative strength of education to realize people’s full potential and improve lives.
This latest donation follows a series of COVID-19 pandemic relief and mitigation efforts by RGE companies and Tanoto Foundation in the communities where they operate, including the chartering of flights to bring masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) to Indonesia in the first half of 2020.
RGE’s mission may be ‘Improving Lives by Developing Resources Sustainably’, but we also stand with our communities in the greater effort to save lives.
APRIL Group President Praveen Singhavi and PO&G President Ratnesh Bedi met Indian High Commissioner to Singapore His Excellency Mr P. Kumaran at a symbolic handover ceremony to hand over a donation of 76 ventilators to bolster India’s life-saving medical infrastructure during the pandemic.
Members of the RGE Indian community stepped forward with donations to support India’s life-saving efforts and infrastructure.
