OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad CEO Datuk Ong Eng Bin led the way as a hundred of his staff planted 80 hardwood and fruit-bearing trees at Field 43 of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) recently.

The go-green initiative, spearheaded by a team of OCBC Young Bankers, saw saplings of trees such as cengal, merbau, rambai and jambu bol planted at the designated spots in the world-renowned man-made forest reserve.

Ong, who was eager to join the Young Bankers in their worthy effort, sounded the clarion call early on for others to take up the challenge as well that Saturday morning.

“I’m pleased to have been part of this environment-protection initiative. For many of us, it was the first time to FRIM and it turned out be a refreshing exercise indeed! The camaraderie and hard work will one day literally bear fruit; so this is a blessing in more ways than one. I’m proud of all my staff who took the time to come together for this meaningful CSR activity,” Ong said.

Several other members of the OCBC Bank senior management also took part in the exercise, including Chief Financial Officer Teoh Yin Meng, Chief Risk Officer Thor Boon Lee, Head of Global Treasury Stantley Tan, Head of Human Resource Kok Lai Ching, Head of Consumer Financial Services Lim Wyson and Head of Corporate & Commercial Banking Jeffrey Teoh.

The half-day event started off with an eye-opening briefing by FRIM staff on the history and vision of the Institute followed by a 5km trail walk (to and fro) preceded by a warm up exercise and the planting exercise proper.

According to one of the project directors, Karin Chong, the response from OCBC Bank staff was overwhelming because everyone immediately recognised the long-term benefit of what they were setting out to do. 

“It was very meaningful to have had the trees planted by the staff themselves,” she said.

The other project director, Gordon Low, added: “One of the pillars of OCBC Bank’s CSR thrust is caring for the environment. We were aware from the outset that what we are doing today is not really for us but for the generations to come. We were humbled to learn that some of the trees we planted grow just a few centimetres each year, meaning several of them will be barely a few feet tall even in decades to come. Standing amidst so many tall trees we began to appreciate how much has gone into preservation and are glad to have done our part,” he said.

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