TO MEET the surge in requests for assistance by low-income Chinese workers and families hit by the recession, the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) is projecting a $4 million deficit for this year.

This is the second straight year the self-help group will be in the red. And it will dig into past surpluses and investment income to finance the deficit, CDAC chairman Lim Swee Say said on Monday afternoon.

Mr Lim, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, was speaking to reporters after the group's annual general meeting. He said the CDAC expects to help at least 64,000 Chinese Singaporeans and permanent residents this year, up from 55,000 in 2008.

It has now set aside a budget of $23.2 million - a $3.2 million increase from last year - for schemes to subsidise tuition for the children of needy families and help retrenched workers upgrade their skills and find new jobs.

He said the CDAC board of trustees, led by United Overseas Bank chairman Wee Cho Yaw, supported the budget increase on the grounds that 'what we are going through is an exceptional time and we should not hold back our support for members who approach us'.

However, the self-help group will be streamlining its programmes from next year to allocate costs more effectively.

CDAC funds come from the contributions of working Chinese Singaporeans and permanent residents, who give between 50 cents and $1 a month, as well as from the Government.

It also has an endowment fund, built up through donations from the community. The fund's investments have generated an average annual return of 5 per cent.

The CDAC on Monday also announced the appointment of a new acting executive director to succeed Member of Parliament Sam Tan.

Mr Tan will soon assume his new appointments as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

Mr Goh Chim Khim, CDAC's deputy executive director, will replace Mr Tan from July 1 until a new head is found.