WELCOME MESSAGE BY BOARD CHAIRMAN

ULTRUST is also very active in fulfilling the role of social responsibility in areas where it is rare to intervene, such as investing in law firms that often help oppressed and disadvantaged communities, in addition, ULTRUST has also made a significant contribution to the continuity of operations for the construction and maintenance of the underprivileged communities family homes in several episodes of TV3's Bersamamu reality program, as well as emergency food stock donations, and room rental deposit assistance for university students from poor families and orphans around Sarawak, Johor, Selangor, Perak, and Kedah.

ULTRUST also aspires to further expand the conquered area to the entire state and country one day, in a mission to share sustenance and moral support to the various parties who trust ULTRUST. After all, ULTRUST's involvement over the years is part of the government's efforts to support the government's aspirations as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan or Rancangan Malaysia Ke-12 (RMKe-12), which is a national development plan designed to achieve more inclusive, sustainable, and balanced social and economic progress within five years (2021-2025). One of the government's main aspirations in the RMKe-12 is to; (i) Raise the standard of living of the people through the provision of better social protection and services that can improve the well-being of the people. (ii) Providing better health services and easier access to the people is among the important agendas in the RMKe-12. This includes strengthening the public health system, providing wider medical facilities, and introducing telemedicine services and mental health initiatives. With this, it is hoped that people will be able to get treatment faster, more effectively, and at an affordable cost. (iii) Emphasizes education as one of the main mediums to improve the living standards of the people. This involves providing better educational opportunities, including vocational training, higher education, and skills relevant to the needs of the job market. In the long term, this aims to increase social mobility and reduce income gaps among the people. (iv) Invest in the development of quality and sustainable infrastructure, such as housing, transportation, and basic amenities to improve the living standards of the community, especially in rural areas and small towns. (v) Reduce social and economic gaps among Malaysians, especially between urban and rural areas, and between the rich and the poor. This is done by introducing inclusive economic development, encouraging entrepreneurship, and strengthening employment opportunities.

Looking back on our history, ULTRUST once experienced a problem of insufficient operating funds at the beginning of the implementation of the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO) which began in 2020. At that time, I was still a university student and a young entrepreneur who enjoyed doing social entrepreneur activities, having to sacrifice my personal income to supplement the insufficient funds for charitable activities. Without realizing it, my actions made me have to starve in order to feed others, so I intended to fast. Despite the pressure, I still believe that the sweetness of my actions will be clearly felt when the community I helped meet again in 2023 and thank me even though I no longer remember them, they still remember me. Therefore, I am determined to continue these social entrepreneur activities until now and the establishment of ULTRUST.

I would also like to share more stories about my life from childhood to adolescence. From the hardship and poverty I experienced since childhood due to domestic violence and my parents’ divorce, I learned that higher education and entrepreneurship are the only ways out or exit plan of a life of suffering. Without money, we cannot defend ourselves when falsely accused in court. Without money, we cannot afford to provide basic necessities, buy insurance, or receive proper treatment in hospitals. Without money, we also lack the resources to further our education or fund our business dreams. I still remember my days as a university student — struggling to survive, especially during exam seasons due to financial constraints. To preserve my family's dignity, I never asked for public help and endured days of hunger until I fell ill. I would often arrive late to class because I had no money for motorcycle petrol, forcing me to walk from my rented room to campus. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to ask for help, but I was ashamed of constantly being broke. I emerged from this darkness through small-scale businesses funded by the leftover amount from my PTPTN education loan. I used the profits as pocket money and to cover additional education costs and living expenses. I never had the luxury of enjoying my youth. Although I desired to live freely like others, poverty weighed me down. I once tried to apply for ZAKAT, but because my father was a high-ranking naval officer, I was deemed ineligible — assumed to be from a wealthy family. In reality, I grew up without a father figure, not even knowing his whereabouts, let alone receiving any support or adequate allowance.

With this awareness, I founded ULTRUST to help others who share similar struggles. I believe there are many more young people who have endured hardship from a young age and had to rise alone. ULTRUST is the starting point for me and my team to reach out and help others who are less fortunate and come from complex, overlooked backgrounds — just like I once did.

So, to support the continuity of the charitable activities carried out by ULTRUST, the Board of Governance (BOG) of ULTRUST has unanimously decided to establish several registered business companies under The Companies Commission of Malaysia Act 2001 [Act 614] and bring them together under the supervision of the BOG to ensure that ULTRUST has sufficient funds to carry out its activities. There are also several companies ready to operate, ULTRUST bought the majority shares, invested and attracted the companies involved as ULTRUST members as well. Each company that is a member of ULTRUST has also been instructed by BOG to establish a Board of Directors (BOD), where BOG will provide free training on how to manage the business efficiently and provide quality services until they are proficient.

Most BOGs are of the view that today we can no longer rely on community contribution funds, government contribution funds, and crowdfunding, because many charity and community service activist was slandered for embezzling public contribution funds when they reached the peak of success and popularity. By doing business under the identity of a joint company, and by appointing the owners or highest shareholders of each company that joins the ULTRUST union as BOG members, the money distributed is the property and rights of the BOG members because they are the leaders of the companies that contribute funds, as long as the contribution is a voluntary contribution by the profit owner, then there is no dispute worthy of being raised. We do not need external funds to do whatever we want to do.