John-Son Oei will receive the Dedication Award at the fifth annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award in Louisville on September 23.

When social entrepreneur John-Son Oei started Epic Homes, he made us proud of how his one noble idea could go miles in building sustainable homes for those in need of suitable shelter.

It only increases our level of faith and belief in this young leader as John-Son Oei becomes the only Malaysian to receive the Dedication award at the fifth annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian awards.

Previously, social worker Mastura Rashid, founder of social enterprise The Nasi Lemak Project, was honoured with the Spirituality award in 2014 at the second annual awards gala.

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Photo courtesy of Epic Homes

John-Son Oei is the co-founder and CEO of Epic Collective, a multiple award-winning social enterprise with a vision to create a cooperative world with ‘response-able’ people driven by a heart of service.

A non-profit initiative, Epic Homes, is a flagship programme that aims to build relationships between the urban and rural divide through the activity of building homes for the underprivileged Malaysian communities in as fast as three days.

So far the company has built more than 100 homes while working with over 5000 volunteers from more than 50 countries and over 40 renowned organisations including multinational companies like Prudential, GE, Energizer, Nestle and Tetrapak. Epic’s work has also gone international with infrastructure projects starting in Cambodia.

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Photo courtesy of Epic Homes

“When you build a home together with other human beings, you share moments and memories together. That’s when humanity shines through,” he quoted in an interview with Malaysia Tatler

The visionary who has always been involved in the social development scene has also been bestowed with the title of a promising young leader at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2016. 

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Photo courtesy of Muhammad Ali Centre

The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian awards, an initiative by the Muhammad Ali Centre founded by the legendary professional boxer, honours individuals around the world who have made significant contributions toward the attainment of peace, social justice, or other positive actions pertaining to human or social capital.

The awards recognise seasoned humanitarians as well as six people, 30 years or younger, who are honoured for their work in fields that resonate with each of Muhammad’s six core principles – confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality.

Along with John-Son, Gavin Armstrong and Hannah Taylor from Canada, Mohammed Ashour from Texas, Iseult Ward from Ireland and Anoop Jain from California will receive recognition for their work in health care, agriculture, sanitation, shelter and others at the awards ceremony.

The fifth annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian awards, presented by Brown-Forman, will be hosted by professional ring announcer Michael Buffer and will be held on September 23 in Louisville, KY at the Marriott Louisville Downtown.

This event is also the premier annual fundraiser for the Muhammad Ali Centre. Tickets to the awards can be purchased through the Ali Centre’s website.

For more information, visit http://alicenter.org/awards/.

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