The launch of the Social Entrepreneurs’ Network (SeNet) on the 6th of September was a roaring success with more than 200 professionals attending the function. Amongst the guests were Dato’ Seri S. Samy Vellu, Minister of Works, Dato’ S. Subramaniam, Dato’ S. Veerasingam, and Dato’ G. Palanivel. Also present, were a group of invited guests which includes Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Dato’ Cyrus Dass, Prof. C.P. Ramachandran, Dato Dr. Thambirajah, Dato’ Dr. Veeraramany, Mr. P.O. Thomas and Mr. Pardeep Kumar.

The first part of the evening was a structured programme which began with an address from Dato’ Seri followed by the launch of the official SeNet website which is at www.senet.com.my. This website hopes to link all SeNet members as well as to provide an avenue for online discussions, sharing of material, networking, and profiles of members as well as the target groups.

Ms. Siaw Mei Li gave a short summary on some of the community needs and the target neighbourhoods of the SeNet. We have selected 12 neighbourhoods in the Klang Valley to pinpoint for now: 6 of which are in Selangor, namely Rumah Panjang Rawang, Lembah Subang, Taman Sentosa, Flat Desa Mentari, Rumah Panjang KTM and Semenyih and 6 of are in Kuala Lumpur: Jinjang Utara, Jinjang Selatan, PPR Sri Pantai, Sg. Bunos, Kg. Pasir and Sri Terengganu.

Some of the common features of these neighbourhoods are that they have multi-ethnic populations though high-density of Indians, low education levels, high-risk areas, low or no skilled working individuals, and they are fragmented communities
There was then a series of six 5-minute presentations on some proposed SeNet programmes. All the slides from the presentations will be made available on the SeNet website for the public. There were 3 student based programmes presented by Ms. Reinu, Mr. Krishnamoorthy and Ms. Malini. 2 presentations were on social support programmes, one a mentorship programme by Mr. Lim Cheng Soon and another a athletics programme by Mr. Paneer. The final presentation was by Ms. Pushpa Ratnam who is planning to initialize a legal assistance programme.

After the meeting, the guests adjourned to the next room for a dinner cum discussion. An MIC leader and a SeNet Moderator were placed at each table to encourage ideas and discussions.

Guests seemed to be highly motivated and excited about the whole idea. The only worry is sustaining this excitement, and constant encouragement. There are no monetary benefits, which is why we are targeting the professionals from the middle class who are financially secure and may feel convicted to giving something back to the community.