Nipsea Group CEO Wee Siew Kim Photo: Courtesy of Nippon Paint China

Five years after Nippon Paint China launched its corporate social responsibility project "Color, Way of Love," initiated in 2009, this program has expanded greatly, not just in raw numbers but also in the varied number of volunteers from different professions it is drawing.

As the part of Nipsea social care program, Nipsea's "Color, Way of Love" has already reached out and repainted over 180 schools, built 35 schools and created 135 art classrooms. Nipsea is the parent company of Nippon Paint China.

"We believe by going to remote parts of China and providing students there with a nice environment, hopefully we will give them a new outlook on life," said Wee Siew Kim, the CEO of Nipsea Group, during a recent interview in Beijing.

As a major participant and supporter of all the CSR programs of the group, Wee took the five-year anniversary of the program as a chance to share his ideas about the true meaning of CSR to him and his company.

Reviewing Nipsea's work on CSR is like reviewing the history of the company. The CSR programs are as old as the business. At the same time, the programs evolve based on what the customers want.

In the age of teamwork, great accomplishments cannot stem from single hands. Wee understands this well. This was why for the "Color, Way of Love" program the company embraces the participation of partners. The fact is that after five years of operation, the program has become so mature that other businesses have taken it as a good platform for offering help and joined them.

Wee stressed that they want to reach out to all the relevant stakeholders, dealers, employees and partners. "After all, we cannot do all things ourselves," he said. "The value in what we are doing sometimes can be seen in the partners who come to do it with us."

This idea has even been embodied in their slogan, "One Plus Three." Literally, one is Nipsea Group and the other three are the third parties such as their dealers and suppliers. "Meanwhile, our management staff in local areas will continue to contact local schools that received our helps to make sure there is a continued effort."

Interestingly, some of their partners such as Boeing and Canon that are actively joining the "Color, Way of Love" program are not even in the painting business. "We work together because they believe what we are doing is meaningful," Wee said.

Some businesses judge the value of CSR against the possibility for generating profits, but  Wee has different thought about it. "CSR is a key part of business that must help business," he said, speaking frankly. Meanwhile, Wee also stressed that projects' outcomes cannot be judged simply by statistics."There is also a soft or emotional aspect as well."

He gave as an example the Colorful Dream program, which seeks out very poor families that cannot upkeep their own rooms. Nipsea and CSR partners give them new paint and furniture so that their children may have a better environment for their childhood.

"Hopefully over the years, these children could grow up and become successful people and that is the real test of the success of the programs," Wee said.

As the "Color, Way of Love" program grows, Nipsea has more and more partners. That makes Nipsea's expectations for the program pure and simple, which is to keep true to the values they need to promote with CSR. "The immediate benefits of the program would be for teachers and students to have a much better environment, new classrooms and new equipment," he said.