Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia's telecommunications, entertainment and property tycoon, and regional director of China Overseas Petroleum Corp Ruby Khong have been featured in Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy.

The duo made it into a list of 48 prominent givers to society in the Asia-Pacific region, whose causes range from disaster recovery, education, health and culture to science, with education being the popular choice among the featured philanthropists this year.

Two other Malaysians in the list were Liew Kee Sin, the chief executive of property developer SP Setia and Francis Yeoh, YTL group managing director.

John Koppisch, associate editor, Forbes Asia said those listed were not always the biggest givers.

"Instead we aim to highlight a varied group of generous people, some holdovers from last year but mostly new names who deserve recognition. By calling attention to these 48 (givers) we hope to encourage more giving," he said in a statement today.

According to Forbes , Ananda, who received a scholarship to earn his undergraduate degree at Melbourne University, has been extensively developing talents through school programmes.

Through his privately-owned company Usaha Tegas, he has helped underprivileged, high-achieving Malaysian students of South Asian descent to continue their studies in non-Tamil secondary schools, as well as supporting education of other groups in Malaysia.  

His Usaha Tegas founded Harapan Nusantara, an education fund focused on Malays and the Yu Cai Education Foundation for the Chinese. Most recently, the quiet contributor set up the US$2 million (RM6.7 million) Monfort Girls Centre here to help less academically-inclined girls gain vocational skills.

Forbes said developing talent was his main focus, through university scholarships, school programs and other support. There were also Internet boot camps for rural high schoolers, funds for equestrian sports and Malaysia’s Olympic athletes and even stipends for local children studying Indian classical dance and music.

"But tagging a dollar figure on Krishnan’s philanthropy is difficult. Usaha Tegas releases little information, and government figures on giving are unavailable. But by many accounts the 71-year-old, through his private and listed companies, is among Malaysia’s biggest givers," said Forbes.

Ananda controls Maxis (a telco), satellite TV and entertainment company Astro All Asia Networks and Tanjong, which is active in gaming, power generation  and property.

Jackie Chan on the list

On Khong, Forbes said she donated US$400,000 (RM1.32 million) to the Kechara Soup Kitchen, which she helps run.

It delivers 830 packets of vegetarian food a week to urban poor in the capital, as well as assisting with job placement and other services. She was homeless in her teens and started the kitchen in 2006 with five friends.

One of the high-profile givers this year is Andrew Forrest, founder of Fortescue Metals, from Australia who started the Australian Employment Covenant in 2008 with a few other business leaders to raise job prospects for Australian Aborigines.    

Also listed is Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan, 55, who recently donated US$730,000 (RM2,456, 812) to the United Nations and the families of eight Chinese peacekeepers who died in the Haiti earthquake, and had previously given US$1.5 million (RM5.01 million) to assist victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

- Bernama