About 70 staff of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank), some of them with their family members as well, recently banded together to plant Leopard and Salam trees at Taman Pertama in Cheras, adding some lush greenery to the landscape.

The staff volunteers, mainly from the Bank’s Business Banking division joined arms with facilitators from DBKL’s Landscaping Department and the Jalan Serkut Flat management to create a more conducive environment for the neighbourhood.

The fruit of their labour was a set of trees that can grow 20 - 30 metres high within ten years.

The Leopard, which originates from eastern Brazil and is popular for its ornamental characteristics, is a handsome deciduous tree with a beautiful mottled bark that can hit heights of 20. Part of its attraction is a feathery-looking umbrella-shaped crown. The Salam, from the Southeast Asian region, can grow to 30 metres. It has a cylindrical crown of simple leaves that are elliptical and narrow towards the end.

Their white to pink flowers are small and faintly scented, arranged in small clusters along the twigs.

The staff volunteers helped by digging the planting holes, placing the trees in the centre of the hole and building a soil berm. They also tied the trees to ensure they remain upright and watered them to ensure they get to a good start in their new environment.

Commenting on the initiative, OCBC Bank’s Managing Director and Head of Corporate & Commercial Banking Mr Jeffrey Teoh, who mooted the treeplanting initiative and worked alongside his colleagues, said the community-related green effort was part of the Bank’s ongoing sustainability efforts.

“OCBC Bank continues to strive to be more involved in the localities in which we operate and to become even more engaged in the community, going beyond simply providing superior banking products and services to meeting the social needs of the people as well.

“We are confident that our 3-hour tree-planting effort will go a long way toward providing a greener surrounding for the community and we are grateful to have had the chance to be involved in this CSR effort,” he said.

The OCBC Bank staff had earlier raised more than RM10,000 in funds for the cause.