Eu Yan Sang and Genting Group have pledged RM500,000 each to kickstart the Flagbearer Education Foundation for the children of the cabin crew on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and MH370.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, who was appointed as the patron of the foundation, applauded Eu Yan Sang for establishing the foundation and other charitable drives that have improved the conditions of Malaysians who were less fortunate.

"My heart reaches out to the affected families (of the MH17 and MH370 tragedies). Their loss is great, an incomprehensible one that cannot be soothed by mere words of consolation and comfort.

"We could not begin to imagine their pain as much as we can try to be empathetic to their grieving. What we can do is to continue our best efforts to ensure that every affected family receives closure and to pray for the peace of those who have tragically departed regardless of our racial and religious background," he said in his speech at the "Eu Yan Sang's 135th Anniversary Celebration Gala Dinner", here, tonight.

Hishammuddin said with the kind of struggles that the nation had been going through recently, it was extremely commendable to witness a strong sense of communal responsibility from the local industries that supported those who were in need.

"It echoes the aspiration of the government to have more private and public organisations undertake strong positions in their corporate social responsibility programmes that centre upon the ideology of mutual respect, love and charity.

"In the future, we hope to see more such entities embodying this philosophy as we strive to become a nation that is not only economically driven but also morally responsible," he said.

At the event, Eu Yan Sang also donated RM1.26 million to the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation and the Registered Trustees of the Joseph William Yee Eu Foundation.