Muhammad Yunus and his contributions to society

1. MUHAMMAD YUNUS AND
HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO
SOCIETY
Done by: WO Harman Poh
WO Leonard Chan
SSG Sudarshan
SSG Tan Ping Hui

2. SUMMARY
• His background information
• His aspirations/goals
• How he achieved his aspirations/goals
• His contributions to society
• Several challenges faced by him
• How he overcame these challenges
• Group and Personal reflections
• Overall conclusion

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
• Date of birth: 28 June 1940
• Place of birth: Chittagong, Bengal Presidency, British India
• Works as the founder of Grameen Bank
• Aspired to help the world by providing microfinance(small amounts of money) to
less fortunate people of Bangladesh to set up their small businesses

4. ASPIRATIONS/GOALS OF
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
• His dream was to help out the poor in Bangladesh and provide loans to them
• He started Grameen Bank to do just that and help the poor start mini businesses of
their own
• He wanted to give back to society through providing small funds and with that
small funds comes a huge step into the future for the poor as they now can afford
to set up their very own business and make a living instead of being poor and
unable to make a change in their lives.
• Wanted to help women who were in poverty as he believed women would use the
earnings to a better cause of helping their family through poverty

5. HOW HE ACHIEVED THESE
GOALS/ASPIRATIONS
• He was the founder of Grameen Bank and paired up with Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan,
founder of the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development, to help the poor
• The Grameen Bank was set-up with the intention to alleviate poverty and
empowerment of the rural areas. In order to fulfil its strategic objective, Grameen
has grown institutionally with its credit operations expanding rapidly and its
programmes becoming more diversified.
• With that in mind he started providing microfinance and allowed people to set up
their businesses and make a living for themselves and their families.
• More than 94% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer
disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their
earnings to their families.

6. HIS SUCCESSES/CONTRIBUTIONS
BACK TO SOCIETY
• He realised thjat his mini contributions of microfinance has made a significant
impact of the lives of the poor people of Bangladesh
• With the people now able to make a living, they are now able to provide for
themselves and their families
• Whatever he does is done as he enjoys seeing people being happy. Seeing others
happy makes him feel appreciated and feel joyful that he is able to contribute so
much back to society.

7. CHALLENGES FACED BY HIM ALONG THE WAY
• There were some situations whereby it was risky to go help out and provide loans.
• It would be a 50-50 chance that it would work out for either parties and the fact that
both parties are being given a huge sum of money is also another big risk.
• If the people are unable to properly set up their businesses properly, they will
eventually just become poor again and back to square one
• Thus, it was a hard decision whether to provide loans in the first place with all these
risks lurking around.

8. HOW HE OVERCAME THESE
CHALLENGES
• To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small
informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of
repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement.
• This ensured that people would pay back their loans as they had addition support
from their group members.
• This solved the issue of the deciding if the loan should be carried out.

9. GROUP REFLECTION
• Yunus’s actions are very admirable and have helped out a lot of people that were
struggling with poverty. His focus on women was also important as it meant that the
women weren’t forgotten about and had someone they could turn to for help. This
also meant that families would be better well-off as the women in the family could
also work and start their own business and not rely on the men in the family. This
isn’t something that everyone In the world can do but everyone can play their part
through small actions, like donating to a charity even if the amount is small as every
penny can help eradicate poverty. Even if you think doing this actions are not
helping anyone, simple actions like this can make a difference in someone’s live

10. INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION(HARMAN)
• Muhammad Yunus’s determination to help the poor build a better life has been a
motivational aspect in my life and has encouraged me to do so too. Despite all the
issues he faced as he was building up the business, like criticism from the public and
government officials, he did not give up in his pursuit in helping the poor. He even
started off by giving money from his own pocket even if It meant that he wouldn’t
earn a lot back. This left a deep impact on my life as I normally wouldn’t go out my
way to help others that are in trouble but Yunus did so without a second thought
and this mentality is something that everyone should have in their life in order to
make this world a better place. I will apply this mindset in my daily life and help the
needy in any way that I can.

11. INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION(LEONARD)
• I find that Muhammad Yunus is extremely outgoing in his efforts to help the poor.
His actions are very inspiring to me as one who help out with the community by
giving back through visiting old folk’s homes and kindergartens. I have learnt from
Muhammad Yunus that one should give back wherever and whenever they can. I
have also learnt from him that every little bit goes a long way be it lending money
to the poor and his generous actions have certainly helped those in poverty. He
offered help to the poor even though he was at a risk of not having his money
returned yet he had faith in the people and lent many people small amounts which
eventually added up to great amounts. My greatest getaway from his is the fact that
he receives when he gives. I am certainly inspired to give back to the community
more often and even despite my actions seeming small, every little effort will go a
long way.

12. INDIVIDUAL
REFLECTION(SUDARSHAN)
• From Muhammad Yunus, I can learn many values such as kindness, equality and
responsibility. He has taught me that people should not be separated by their
wealth like rich and poor people, but must be treated fairly and equally.
Furthermore he has taught me that a small act of kindness can make a huge
difference as all it takes is for one person to do something and everyone else will
follow along and show their kindness. Changes can continually be made and the
poor people can benefit drastically. I liked that Muhammad Yunus decided to help
the poor when she really needed which inspired me to help others who need it
more than me. I have learnt that helping must come from the bottom of our heart
and not just do for the sake of it, we have to do it willingly. Helping others is
important as everyone must be treated equall

13. INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION(PING HUI)
• Muhammad Yunus dedication in helping the poor greatly influenced me. He
teaches me to be selfless by being a person that is able to contribute his own
time and effort to helps others in need. Muhammad Yunus once said this
“Young people have to know about it. They should learn that there are two
kinds of businesses in the world. One is a business which makes money, and
the other solves the problems of the world. It’s an academic exercise and
what they do with that in real life will depend on them, what kind of life they
would like to choose.” For me, I will be the one who solve the problems of
the world. It is definitely more meaningful than earning money and spend it
all on myself. This is what I learnt from him, the joy of helping others in need.
The path of helping people in need is definitely what I will aim to achieve for
in my future.

14. CONCLUSION
• Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank
• Which helps the poor start mini businesses of their own by providing microfinance
and “micro loans”
• Inspired a lot of people to help out the poor and eradicate poverty
• Focused on lending to women and helping them
• Most of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from
poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families.