By Jugjet Singh
THE Charity Golf In Honour of Gary Player at the Mines Resort and Golf Club yesterday raised RM100,000 even though it was cut short by torrential rain.
The Gary Player Foundation received RM20,000 from the total, while RM80,000 will be distributed to selected rural schools in Sarawak.
New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd CEO Datuk Anthony Bujang, Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin, the president and CEO of the Sapura Group, and former Inspector General of Police Tun Hanif Omar were the privileged trio who played with the golfing legend.
New Straits Times Press contributed RM25,000 to the Foundation.
"It was a great feeling to be on the same flight with a legend like Gary Player. His foundation has raised a lot of money for the underprivileged children of the world," said Anthony.
"The man is full of energy at 74, and he spoke mostly about good values, health and many other topics which mesmerised our flight."
| (From left) New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd CEO Datuk Anthony Bujang, Mines City founder Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew and golfing legend Gary Player pose with a mock cheque after the Charity Golf In Honour of Gary Player at the Mines Resort and Golf Club yesterday. — Pic: Mohd Yusni Ariffin |
A total of 57 golfers took part in the nine-hole event, and after the prize presentation two drivers, autographed by Player, went under the hammer and another RM25,000 was collected for the Foundation.
Initially, only one driver was auctioned off but keen bidding by Freiberg (Malaysia) managing director Lim Chai Huat and Shahril, took the starting bid of RM2,000 to RM12,000.
This was when Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, the founder of the Mines City, came up with a brilliant idea to double the donation.
"I see that two people are very interested in the autographed driver, so we will give another autographed driver for RM10,000 to Datuk Shahril (his last bid), and one to Lim for RM12,000. And to round matters up, I will donate another RM3,000 to take the total to RM25,000," said Kim Yew.
Player said: "It is indeed a great day for charity, and my favourite question in functions that I attend is to ask people if their children go to school by car? Have a house to live in? A clean sheet to sleep on? And three meals a day?
"And then I tell them that millions of children around the world do not have any of the above. My small foundation has raised US$25 million (RM86 million) to date to help the poor children to have some basic amenities."
"My great dream, after winning all that can be won in golf, is to try and effect the lives of 200 million youth worldwide. With help from the media, I want to get the message across to them that the body is a holy temple, so look after it and you will be able to contribute more to the country and society," Player added.
