CyberCare Children Connect with Bill Gates

CyberCare Children Connect with Bill Gates

Microsoft Foundation Campaign provides scholarships to CyberCare children

CYBERJAYA, Malaysia, Sept. 13, 2000 — Children from the Lions’ Club of CyberCare Kuala Lumpur connected with Microsoft Corporation Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates during a brief interaction session, when Gates answered questions ranging from how he
“became so smart”
to
“what are you going to do next with computers.”

Such was the scene as more than 20 CyberCare children from five orphanages were at Microsoft Knowledge Capital Centre’s premises at Century Square, with about 20 more participating by video-conference.

Before fielding questions from the youngsters, Gates announced that a scholarship programme will be set up to fund CyberCare children who excel in their studies. The Microsoft Foundation Scholarship Programme, worth RM500,000 over four years, will award either cash to students who excel in government exams, or financial sponsorship to students who qualify for entry into local tertiary educational institutions.

In announcing the scholarship programme, Gates said that Microsoft has always had a deep involvement in community affairs.


At Microsoft, we are passionate about giving – as a company and as individuals around the world who want to make our communities a better place to live. Our giving is based upon a simple belief: give people the resources they need, and they will accomplish great things.

“At Microsoft, we make grants of cash, software, and technical support to nonprofit organisations around the world. Our giving is guided by our desire to help bring the benefits of information technology to under-served people and communities, and to provide support to organisations in communities in which our employees live and work,”
Gates said.

Gates continued that the company’s community affairs and philanthropy programmes in Malaysia were implemented through Microsoft Foundation Campaign, the community affairs and philanthropy unit of Microsoft Malaysia.

Microsoft Foundation Campaign is a founding corporate sponsor of Lions’ Club of CyberCare. Since its inception, Microsoft Foundation Campaign has worked closely with CyberCare to bridging the digital divide by providing access to the Internet for the CyberCare community members. To date, more than 650 children from 25 orphanages in Malaysia have benefited from Microsoft Foundation Campaign in terms of PC and software donations, hardware upgrades, and training for orphanage administrators. The objective is help cultivate and nurture disadvantaged children’s interests, experience and skills through the use of information technology that will help them in the new economy.


CyberCare and Microsoft share a common belief that every individual, regardless of their economic, religious, and cultural background, be empowered with IT skills and knowledge to excel in life by having access to learning tools, such as the Internet.

“Microsoft Foundation Campaign Scholarship Programme is our commitment to the children of CyberCare, that they will have the opportunity to obtain the necessary knowledge and IT skills to join and contribute to the knowledge economy,”
said Gates.

Internationally, Microsoft helps make available the benefits of information technology to people and communities through its subsidiary offices in more than 60 countries. The company’s contributions support learning through the use of technology, IT skills training to enhance employment opportunities, and software and technical assistance to nonprofit organisations.

About Microsoft Foundation Campaign

Globally, the Microsoft Foundation Campaign is a corporate initiative that sees Microsoft returning a portion of anti-piracy settlements and damages to the communities in which it operates. The Microsoft Foundation Campaign in Malaysia brings together, under one umbrella, the corporate philanthropy and community developments of Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. By including successful settlements of copyright infringement cases, the company also hopes to increase understanding of the importance of, and direct link between, software piracy and local communities.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation and was incorporated on July 8, 1992.

Microsoft and its worldwide enterprise partners deliver a total solution: integrated platforms, powerful business applications and comprehensive global services that drive the success of its enterprise customers. Large organisations can work directly with Microsoft or choose among the many highly qualified Microsoft enterprise partners to implement solutions based on Microsoft enterprise products. More than 13,000 customers in 45 countries are realizing significant business value and competitive advantage from Microsoft worldwide enterprise solutions.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.

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Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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