A glass of milk daily can do wonders to boost the calcium in our bones! Hence, World Milk Day is a much celebrated event in Malaysia. In the spirit of spreading the goodness of milk, Dutch Lady Malaysia celebrates World Milk Day this year by giving out 10,000 packs of milk to primary school children. The celebration was held at Sekolah Kebangsaan Dato’ Onn Jaafar in Subang Jaya, where milk-loaded trucks were flagged off to deliver the nutritious beverage to schools.
It was definitely a joyous moment as students gathered to witness the launching. At the event, Mr. Tarang Gupta, Managing Director of Dutch Lady Malaysia said 2018 marks the dairy company’s 55th anniversary of providing Malaysians with quality nutrition.
“Every year, we celebrate World Milk Day by spreading the goodness of milk. This is done through sharing Dutch Lady Purefarm milk with Malaysians and sending the message of how milk helps us all grow stronger together as a nation. This year, with the 10,000 packs of milk that are on its way to primary school children is also our hope that they will enjoy and be reminded of the goodness of milk, especially on World Milk Day,” he added.
The celebration kicked off in high gear at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Dato’ Onn Jaafar, where eye-catching trucks adorned in Dutch Lady’s signature bright blue colour embarked on their journeys to deliver 10,000 packs of nutritious milk.
Gracing the ceremony was Mr. Cyril Christopher Singgam, Chief Assistant Director, Head of Strategic Planning Sector, Daily School Management Division of the Ministry of Education and the headmasters of the three visionary schools in Subang Jaya, SK Dato’ Jaafar Onn, SJK (C) Tun Tan Cheng Lock and SJK (T) Tun Sambanthan.
Besides nourishing the nation, Dutch Lady Malaysia has long forged a joint objective with the Ministry of Education to educate the healthy habit of drinking milk daily among school children. According to Gupta, the company became aware of the need for this when Dutch Lady undertook an independent survey a few years ago, called the South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS), which revealed:
- a high percentage of our children in Malaysia has vitamin D insufficiency despite the amount of sunlight we get in our country;
- our children have low levels of physical activity;
- 30 to 40 percent of our children are not getting the right nutrition, with one in five of them are overweight or obese.
“This has also brought to our attention, the rising concerns of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the world such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, which has made our mission even more important to educate teachers, parents, and children on the importance of getting proper nutrition,” he said.
Working hand in hand with the Ministry of Education, Dutch Lady has invested in initiatives such as Jr NBA, Anugerah 3K through their Drink.Move.Be Strong campaign. The campaign aims to educate teachers, school children that milk has the vital nutrients to help one achieve more in their everyday life.
These activities educated school children on the importance of eating a balanced diet that includes milk and doing physical sports daily, to push them to adopt healthier lifestyles – and to address the growing concerns of obesity and malnutrition in children in Malaysia.
Thank goodness, we’ve got Dutch Lady taking such an effort to educate children on the importance of healthy lifestyle. It was such an insightful event and I’m glad I was there to support it. Let’s all raise our glass and toast to ‘World Milk Day’!
If you would like more information about Dutch Lady Malaysia’s World Milk Day celebration, visit www.dutchlady.com.my.