Latest news with #Lei
Mint
16 hours ago
- Automotive
- Mint
China's smartphone champion has triumphed where Apple failed
Ever since he co-founded Xiaomi in 2010, Lei Jun, the chief executive of the Chinese tech giant, has pulled off feat after feat of salesmanship. A decade ago he earned a Guinness World Record for selling 2.1m smartphones online in 24 hours. These days, though, he is not just flogging cheap phones. Last month Xiaomi sold more than 200,000 of its first electric SUV, the YU7, within three minutes of bringing it onto the market. Xiaomi's rise over the past few years has been vertiginous. Only Apple and Samsung sell more smartphones worldwide. The company also peddles a vast array of devices that connect to its handsets, from air-conditioners and robo-vacuums to scooters and televisions. After a slump in 2022, which it attributed to 'cut-throat competition" in China for consumer electronics, Xiaomi has roared back to growth, with its revenue increasing by 35% last year. Since the beginning of 2024 its market value has nearly quadrupled, to HK$1.5trn ($190bn; see chart). With the successful release of the YU7—its second electric vehicle (EV) after the SU7, a sporty sedan launched in March last year—Xiaomi has pulled off a feat that eluded Apple, which ditched plans to make its own EV after burning billions of dollars on the effort over a decade. Xiaomi, which announced its carmaking ambitions in 2021, has put more than 300,000 of its EVs on Chinese roads over the past 15 months, and has a backlog of orders that will take more than a year to fill. Although its EV division has lost money so far, Mr Lei has said he thinks it will become profitable later this year, an impressive feat in China's brutally competitive car market. Xiaomi now has its sights set on world domination. Over the coming years it intends to open 10,000 shops abroad, up from just a few hundred last year, which it will use to show off its sleek new cars alongside its consumer electronics. Can anything stop its stunning ascent? Xiaomi's success in EVs is partly down to being in the right place at the right time. China these days is awash in carmaking know-how; Mr Lei was able to nab top talent from a number of other companies. Prices for parts and machinery have plummeted, given the oversupply of both. Getting a factory approved and built can be done far more quickly in China than most other places. But Mr Lei also deserves plenty of credit. Insiders note that, unlike Apple's Tim Cook, he took personal control over his company's carmaking project. Success required deep changes to how the company operated. Prior to its foray into EVs, Xiaomi did not own factories; like Apple, it outsourced the production of its phones and other devices. Yet it chose to build its own EV factory in Beijing, which it is currently expanding, in order to ensure strict oversight. It is now adopting the approach elsewhere in its business: last year it began producing smartphones itself at another facility in Beijing, and is building a plant in Wuhan where it will make other connected devices, starting with air-conditioners. Xiaomi's marketing strategy—which relies heavily on Mr Lei's cult following in China—has also aided its expansion into EVs, much as adoration for Steve Jobs helped Apple sell its first iPhones. Wuhan University is said to have enjoyed a surge in interest thanks to Mr Lei's attendance there some 30 years ago. 'Mi Fans", as diehard Xiaomi customers are known, collect company memorabilia and race to get their hands on every new product. Xiaomi has even managed to sustain the excitement around its EVs despite a horrific accident in March in which three university students were killed in an SU7 that was being piloted down a motorway by the company's autonomous-driving system. The episode led to criticism of Xiaomi's safety standards and a temporary sell-off in shares, but they did not quell demand for the YU7 when it was launched three months later. It also helps that Xiaomi has a vast customer base to which it can hawk new products. At the end of last year it claimed 700m monthly users across its devices globally, up by about 10% from the year before. Many of them play games purchased on Xiaomi's app store and view ads sold by the company (these generate a half of the company's total profit, according to Bernstein, a broker). And a sizeable share of users buy their Xiaomi products directly on its app. The company has already proved adept at persuading them to upgrade to more expensive phones. It needs only a small fraction of them to buy a car for the endeavour to be a huge success. Many of Xiaomi's Chinese customers were in their early 20s when they bought one of its first smartphones a little over a decade ago. They are now in their mid-30s, the target demographic for Xiaomi's EVs. Mr Lei is looking beyond China, too. Nearly half of the revenue the company makes from smartphones and other connected devices comes from overseas, primarily in developing markets such as India and Indonesia. Mr Lei wants Xiaomi to start selling its EVs abroad by 2027. These will probably not enjoy the kind of rapturous reception they have at home: Xiaomi does not command anything close to the same brand loyalty in foreign markets, and few overseas customers will have heard of Mr Lei. That helps explain why Xiaomi is investing in building a vast network of bricks-and-mortar shops abroad, which should raise its profile. At the same time, the company plans to continue expanding into new lines of business. It has developed its own humanoid robot, CyberOne, and in May unveiled an advanced three-nanometre chip it had designed itself. Roughly half of its staff work in research and development, spending on which grew by 26% last year, to $3.4bn—more than the company generated in net profit. The thinking within the business is that by developing technologies from the ground up, it can identify efficiencies and raise barriers to competition. Perhaps the biggest risk for Xiaomi is that it is fighting on too many fronts, considering its many products. The price war among Chinese EV companies continues to intensify, and despite its growth, Xiaomi remains a small player. It currently sells around 20,000 cars a month, compared with more than ten times that for BYD, the market leader. Competition in smartphones is also heating up as Huawei, another Chinese tech giant whose handset business was hobbled by American sanctions in 2019, makes a comeback. Still, Mr Lei's salesmanship is not to be underestimated.
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
CCP supporter claims China criticism is ‘fake news' as she clashes as with Sky News host
A Chinese Communist Party supporter has clashed with a Sky News journalist on the streets of Melbourne in a heated debate over the topic of freedom of speech in China. Sky News host Cheng Lei, who was released from a Chinese jail only two years ago after spending three years behind bars, on Friday visited Melbourne's Box Hill – an eastern suburb of the city that has a significant Chinese population for their reactions to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's six-day visit to China. The journalist spoke to a number of locals in Box Hill about what they thought of Mr Albanese's visit - including one woman who expressed her support for the CCP. The woman said she thought Mr Albanese's trip was 'very good' for Australia-China relations, which she claimed had suffered under the previous Scott Morrison government. 'It was Australia's fault. Us, China, we've always been open and inclusive. Morrison was coerced by the US,' the woman asserted. The woman outlined her support for the CCP, insisting without the party, 'how can there be such a wonderful China?'. Lei then questioned the woman about a lack freedom of speech in China, which the woman immediately shut down. 'Impossible. China definitely has freedom of speech,' the woman replied. Lei pressed her further on the topic, saying 'If you said one bad thing about the Chinese President in China, you'd go to jail?'. 'Impossible, and it's never happened,' the woman claimed. 'That is all because of internet rumours and fake news," claimed the CCP supporter. The Sky News host hit back saying 'it's true' people have been imprisoned for speaking out against the Chinese government, revealing her own personal experience of having lived in China. 'I've lived in China 70 years,' the woman said. 'But I work in media,' Lei replied. 'You may be biased. Even if you said something bad about a leader, you would not go to jail. You're talking about the past, many years ago, not now,' the woman told Lei. The heated interaction comes just a day after Lei warned the Prime Minister not to be 'naive' in China during his visit and that he should not forget the 'fundamental differences' between the two countries. Lei was a popular presenter and journalist on China's CGTN – a state-owned English-language news channel – when she was secretly taken into custody in August 2020. She spent a total of 1,154 days in CCP custody before finally being released and returning to Australia in October 2023. Lei described watching Mr Albanese's trip to China a 'surreal' experience, pointing out that 'two years ago at this time I would have still been in the cell'. His visit came at a time of heightened tensions in region, with China having conducted live military exercises near Australian waters, sent a spy ship to trawl the coastline and dropped flare in front of an RAAF plane in recent months. But the prime minister largely steered clear of any conflicting issues with the CCP such as the Darwin Port, China's support for Russia or recent military drills near Australian waters during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Chinese giant that has succeeded where Apple has failed
Lei and Xiaomi's 'charisma, brand recognition and ecosystem cannot be underestimated,' Yale Zhang, the managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said. 'It's a big influence on young consumers who have filled their homes with Xiaomi products. When it comes time to buy an EV, they naturally think of Xiaomi.' But building cars is a far more complex, capital-intensive challenge than making phones or rice cookers. It requires mastering safety regulations, global logistics and production at scale, all while competing against legacy automakers with long histories and large model line-ups. Any international expansion will also require navigating complex geopolitical landscapes. As one of the first tech giants to actually manufacture a car, Xiaomi is in uncharted territory. Apple's failings Apple's car project, internally dubbed Project Titan, failed in large part because it wasn't just an EV – it was at one point an attempt to leapfrog the auto industry with a fully autonomous, Level 5 self-driving machine. Its goals were lofty and the direction constantly shifting, the result being over a decade of effort with nothing to show. Lei, 55, was comparatively stingy with time and resources and staked his personal reputation on the endeavour, claiming that making cars would be his 'last entrepreneurial project'. Xiaomi's public narrative is that Lei and his team learnt by visiting multiple Chinese automakers, including Zhejiang Geely and Great Wall Motor, and talked to more than 200 industry experts in some 80 meetings. The reality is also that he used Xiaomi's reputation as an innovative consumer behemoth to get close to China's large carmakers and pick off their top talent. Geely and its billionaire founder Li Shufu welcomed Lei to the automaker's research institute in Ningbo in the months leading up to Xiaomi's announcement that it would enter the car business, to discuss topics including potential collaboration. It's Geely lore that Lei added the WeChat contacts of many staff at the institute, including then-director Hu Zhengnan. Hu later joined Shunwei Capital Partners, the investment firm co-founded by Lei. Xiaomi headhunters also courted Geely staff intensely, according to people familiar with the matter. While it's common for talent to move between companies in the same industry, it was unusual to see this level of aggressiveness around recruitment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is private. Geely didn't respond to a request for comment. Hu, known for his love of the German luxury marque Porsche, was one of the team members credited as being instrumental to developing Xiaomi's EV business, Lei said at the SU7 launch in 2024. Lei added that Hu left his previous employer after his contract ended. Other executives who joined Xiaomi came from companies including BAIC Motor, BMW, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co – the General Motors joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd – and auto supplier Magna Steyr LLC. Besides assembling top Chinese automaking talent, Lei made a prescient bet on investing in a self-controlled supply chain – insulating Xiaomi's operation from manufacturing vagaries. This came from painful lessons learnt in Xiaomi's early smartphone-producing days, when external suppliers would cut off components unpredictably. In 2016, some members of Xiaomi's supply chain team displeased Samsung representatives and the South Korean firm threatened to halt supply of its industry-leading AMOLED screens. To mend the fractured relationship, Lei flew to Shenzhen to meet with Samsung's China head at the time. The pair drank five bottles of red wine during their dinner meeting, according to a Xiaomi company biography, and Lei also made multiple trips to Samsung's headquarters in South Korea to apologise and negotiate the resumption of supply. Representatives from Samsung declined to comment. After Xiaomi went into the car making business, it invested into almost all parts of the EV supply chain, from batteries and chips to air suspension and sensors. It pumped more than $US1.6 billion via Shunwei or other Xiaomi-led funds into over 100 supply chain companies between 2021 and 2024, according to data compiled by Chinese analytics firm Zhangtongshe and Bloomberg. Loading The components from some of the companies that Xiaomi invested in have ended up in its cars, such as lidars from Hesai Technology Co. and onboard chargers and voltage converters from Zhejiang EV-Tech Co. With the 10 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) it committed to the first phase of its EV venture, Xiaomi also built its own factory, rather than going down the contract manufacturing route that some Chinese makers, including Nio and Xpeng, did when they started out. 'Among tech companies that now build electric vehicles, those who previously had hardware products seem to be more successful than those who only had software products or information services,' said Paul Gong, UBS Group AG's head of China autos research. Copycat allegations Despite its early success, there are many who argue Xiaomi's one-hit car is copied from elsewhere – and that a sole successful vehicle does not a successful auto producer make. Lei's aggressive approach has also raised hackles in China's car industry. Yu Jingmin, vice president of SAIC's passenger car division, reportedly described Xiaomi's approach as 'shameless' in a critique of the SU7 resembling Porsche. The SU7 has been colloquially dubbed 'Porsche Mi' by netizens. SAIC didn't respond to questions about Yu's remarks. Xiaomi's design team, led by former BMW designer Li Tianyuan, has defended the SU7's aesthetics, emphasising that the choices were driven by aerodynamic efficiency and performance benchmarks. In late March, there was another setback after a fatal accident involving the SU7. The car had its advanced driver assistance technology turned on before the crash, which afterwards led to authorities reining in the promotion and deployment of the technology. The usually vocal Lei kept a low profile on social media for more than a month after the March accident. He returned to more active engagement in May with a missive that said this period of time was the most difficult in his career. Fortunately for Xiaomi, its consumer base is sticky. Known as 'Mi fans,' the loyal customers have played a pivotal role in the company's rise. Xiaomi cultivated this fandom early on by prioritising user feedback, and the grassroots allegiance has helped it build strong brand equity, especially in China. The SU7 has remained a top-selling model even after the accident in March. Dealers have reported that nearly 50 per cent of customers plump for the SU7 without comparing it to other brands. 'A significant number of older consumers are buying the SU7 for their children, indicating that the model has built trust among more conservative buyers thanks to its safety and quality,' said Rosalie Chen, a senior analyst from investment research firm Third Bridge. Small scale Xiaomi has set a delivery target of 350,000 units in 2025, up from its previous goal of 300,000, buoyed by demand for the newly launched YU7 and a ramp-up in production. The starting prices for the SU7 sedan, at 215,900 yuan ($46,427), and its SUV, at 253,500 yuan, make them competitive alternatives to models such as Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y. The EVs are also showing financial promise. Xiaomi posted record revenue for the first quarter this year, driven by car and smartphone sales. Its EV division is expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2025, Lei said in an investor meeting in June. But even if the popularity of Xiaomi's EVs can spring beyond the company's devoted base, production is still on a much more boutique scale. China's top car brand, BYD, sold around 4.3 million EVs and hybrids last year, many overseas, while Tesla moved about 1.78 million vehicles globally. Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, sold some 10.8 million vehicles and boasts a line-up of approximately 70 different models. Lei doesn't seem to be prioritising the mass market of below $US20,000 yet, which drives significant volume and is where BYD dominates, Automotive Foresight's Zhang said. Without a line-up in that segment, Xiaomi cars will remain niche purchases for middle to higher-income consumers and Xiaomi may face the same risks as Tesla, which is seeing its sales slump, exacerbated by a narrow consumer base and limited models. Nonetheless, Lei seems buoyed by Xiaomi's early wins and is now looking at global expansion. Xiaomi will consider selling cars outside China from 2027, he said earlier this month.
The Age
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Age
The Chinese giant that has succeeded where Apple has failed
Lei and Xiaomi's 'charisma, brand recognition and ecosystem cannot be underestimated,' Yale Zhang, the managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said. 'It's a big influence on young consumers who have filled their homes with Xiaomi products. When it comes time to buy an EV, they naturally think of Xiaomi.' But building cars is a far more complex, capital-intensive challenge than making phones or rice cookers. It requires mastering safety regulations, global logistics and production at scale, all while competing against legacy automakers with long histories and large model line-ups. Any international expansion will also require navigating complex geopolitical landscapes. As one of the first tech giants to actually manufacture a car, Xiaomi is in uncharted territory. Apple's failings Apple's car project, internally dubbed Project Titan, failed in large part because it wasn't just an EV – it was at one point an attempt to leapfrog the auto industry with a fully autonomous, Level 5 self-driving machine. Its goals were lofty and the direction constantly shifting, the result being over a decade of effort with nothing to show. Lei, 55, was comparatively stingy with time and resources and staked his personal reputation on the endeavour, claiming that making cars would be his 'last entrepreneurial project'. Xiaomi's public narrative is that Lei and his team learnt by visiting multiple Chinese automakers, including Zhejiang Geely and Great Wall Motor, and talked to more than 200 industry experts in some 80 meetings. The reality is also that he used Xiaomi's reputation as an innovative consumer behemoth to get close to China's large carmakers and pick off their top talent. Geely and its billionaire founder Li Shufu welcomed Lei to the automaker's research institute in Ningbo in the months leading up to Xiaomi's announcement that it would enter the car business, to discuss topics including potential collaboration. It's Geely lore that Lei added the WeChat contacts of many staff at the institute, including then-director Hu Zhengnan. Hu later joined Shunwei Capital Partners, the investment firm co-founded by Lei. Xiaomi headhunters also courted Geely staff intensely, according to people familiar with the matter. While it's common for talent to move between companies in the same industry, it was unusual to see this level of aggressiveness around recruitment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is private. Geely didn't respond to a request for comment. Hu, known for his love of the German luxury marque Porsche, was one of the team members credited as being instrumental to developing Xiaomi's EV business, Lei said at the SU7 launch in 2024. Lei added that Hu left his previous employer after his contract ended. Other executives who joined Xiaomi came from companies including BAIC Motor, BMW, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co – the General Motors joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd – and auto supplier Magna Steyr LLC. Besides assembling top Chinese automaking talent, Lei made a prescient bet on investing in a self-controlled supply chain – insulating Xiaomi's operation from manufacturing vagaries. This came from painful lessons learnt in Xiaomi's early smartphone-producing days, when external suppliers would cut off components unpredictably. In 2016, some members of Xiaomi's supply chain team displeased Samsung representatives and the South Korean firm threatened to halt supply of its industry-leading AMOLED screens. To mend the fractured relationship, Lei flew to Shenzhen to meet with Samsung's China head at the time. The pair drank five bottles of red wine during their dinner meeting, according to a Xiaomi company biography, and Lei also made multiple trips to Samsung's headquarters in South Korea to apologise and negotiate the resumption of supply. Representatives from Samsung declined to comment. After Xiaomi went into the car making business, it invested into almost all parts of the EV supply chain, from batteries and chips to air suspension and sensors. It pumped more than $US1.6 billion via Shunwei or other Xiaomi-led funds into over 100 supply chain companies between 2021 and 2024, according to data compiled by Chinese analytics firm Zhangtongshe and Bloomberg. Loading The components from some of the companies that Xiaomi invested in have ended up in its cars, such as lidars from Hesai Technology Co. and onboard chargers and voltage converters from Zhejiang EV-Tech Co. With the 10 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) it committed to the first phase of its EV venture, Xiaomi also built its own factory, rather than going down the contract manufacturing route that some Chinese makers, including Nio and Xpeng, did when they started out. 'Among tech companies that now build electric vehicles, those who previously had hardware products seem to be more successful than those who only had software products or information services,' said Paul Gong, UBS Group AG's head of China autos research. Copycat allegations Despite its early success, there are many who argue Xiaomi's one-hit car is copied from elsewhere – and that a sole successful vehicle does not a successful auto producer make. Lei's aggressive approach has also raised hackles in China's car industry. Yu Jingmin, vice president of SAIC's passenger car division, reportedly described Xiaomi's approach as 'shameless' in a critique of the SU7 resembling Porsche. The SU7 has been colloquially dubbed 'Porsche Mi' by netizens. SAIC didn't respond to questions about Yu's remarks. Xiaomi's design team, led by former BMW designer Li Tianyuan, has defended the SU7's aesthetics, emphasising that the choices were driven by aerodynamic efficiency and performance benchmarks. In late March, there was another setback after a fatal accident involving the SU7. The car had its advanced driver assistance technology turned on before the crash, which afterwards led to authorities reining in the promotion and deployment of the technology. The usually vocal Lei kept a low profile on social media for more than a month after the March accident. He returned to more active engagement in May with a missive that said this period of time was the most difficult in his career. Fortunately for Xiaomi, its consumer base is sticky. Known as 'Mi fans,' the loyal customers have played a pivotal role in the company's rise. Xiaomi cultivated this fandom early on by prioritising user feedback, and the grassroots allegiance has helped it build strong brand equity, especially in China. The SU7 has remained a top-selling model even after the accident in March. Dealers have reported that nearly 50 per cent of customers plump for the SU7 without comparing it to other brands. 'A significant number of older consumers are buying the SU7 for their children, indicating that the model has built trust among more conservative buyers thanks to its safety and quality,' said Rosalie Chen, a senior analyst from investment research firm Third Bridge. Small scale Xiaomi has set a delivery target of 350,000 units in 2025, up from its previous goal of 300,000, buoyed by demand for the newly launched YU7 and a ramp-up in production. The starting prices for the SU7 sedan, at 215,900 yuan ($46,427), and its SUV, at 253,500 yuan, make them competitive alternatives to models such as Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y. The EVs are also showing financial promise. Xiaomi posted record revenue for the first quarter this year, driven by car and smartphone sales. Its EV division is expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2025, Lei said in an investor meeting in June. But even if the popularity of Xiaomi's EVs can spring beyond the company's devoted base, production is still on a much more boutique scale. China's top car brand, BYD, sold around 4.3 million EVs and hybrids last year, many overseas, while Tesla moved about 1.78 million vehicles globally. Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, sold some 10.8 million vehicles and boasts a line-up of approximately 70 different models. Lei doesn't seem to be prioritising the mass market of below $US20,000 yet, which drives significant volume and is where BYD dominates, Automotive Foresight's Zhang said. Without a line-up in that segment, Xiaomi cars will remain niche purchases for middle to higher-income consumers and Xiaomi may face the same risks as Tesla, which is seeing its sales slump, exacerbated by a narrow consumer base and limited models. Nonetheless, Lei seems buoyed by Xiaomi's early wins and is now looking at global expansion. Xiaomi will consider selling cars outside China from 2027, he said earlier this month.
The Star
5 days ago
- Science
- The Star
Helping students is their mission
Hands-on approach: Students participating in an character building session held by SMF staff at one of their hostels. (Inset) Lei sees value in teaching science subjects for the future of Sabah. PETALING JAYA: From building hostels near schools to providing accommodation for students from rural communities, Starfish Malaysia Foundation (SMF) is now hoping to directly help those same students achieve academic success. Founded to make attending school safe and easier for rural students, the foundation's ambitions to assist students have grown significantly since it was named as a Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) winner in 2023. SMF founder Jimmy Lei said the recognition has since enabled them to easily find potential partners or sponsors for their cause. 'The recognition we received has been very helpful as we now include SGHA in all our communications with others. 'This has led to big names, like local banks, supporting our efforts. We hope to expand our goal of supporting education in Sabah,' he said in an interview. Lei said SMF now plans to further assist students academically by building a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) centre after noticing a dip in students enrolling in science subjects in recent years. 'We want to spark interest among the students to take up science subjects by teaching them its importance, not just for their future but Sabah as well,' he said. Lei also said renovations were already underway on a 0.3ha property in Tuaran to turn it into a STEM centre, with additional plans to promote STEM education with cooperation from the Sabah Education Department. He said this will include hosting STEM roadshows and establishing STEM hubs in 30 selected urban and rural primary and secondary schools around the state. Starfish Malaysia Foundation (SMF) founder Jimmy Lei The first programme will kick off on July 14. 'We will supply STEM equipment for over 30 interactive display stations to SMK Sri Nangka in Tuaran for the roadshow. 'Towards the end of the event, we will gift the equipment to the school to establish their own STEM hub so that the students can have easy and free access. 'Hopefully, this could encourage more students to take up science,' he said. Looking to continue its original goal, Lei said SMF has also completed the construction of a new dormitory in Pitas last November to replace the rundown 50-year-old one in the area. The new fully-functional building has the capacity to accommodate up to 40 boys and two tutoring or visitor rooms as they continue adding new items to further furnish the premises. The dormitory joins SMF's other five hostels that they manage directly across northern Sabah, which provide a safe home for 180 students, comprising 50 from primary schools and the rest from secondary schools. 'We will continue to organise tuition classes, usually done by volunteers both face-to-face and online, on several subjects that the students need help on. 'Other programmes that focus on character building and life skills are also held during weekends at our hostels,' he added. Meanwhile, the SGHA returns for the 11th edition to honour everyday Malaysians whose compassion and selflessness have made a lasting impact on others. With McDonald's Malaysia as the new strategic partner, SGHA is poised to broaden its reach and deepen its impact nationwide. This year also marks the debut of the McDonald's Caring Hearts Award – a special recognition honouring individuals or grassroots groups whose heartfelt acts of kindness have uplifted lives in profound and lasting ways. Since its inception in 2015, SGHA has honoured over 100 individuals and organisations whose efforts have inspired action, transformed lives and strengthened communities nationwide.
