Hindu tertiary students get bursaries totalling $271,500

About 150 Hindu students from tertiary institutions received bursaries worth $271,500 yesterday from the investments of a pioneer generation philanthropist.

Mr Sivadas Sankaran, who died in 2009, bequeathed a significant portfolio of stocks and shares to the Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) and asked it to use all of the portfolio's income to help Hindu children with their education.

Mr Sivadas was born in 1914 in Kerala, India, and immigrated to Singapore in 1937. He worked as a teacher, then became a journalist for The Straits Times, and later a successful investor.

The twice-yearly Sivadas-HEB Bursary Awards have been providing bursaries and grants to students from Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs), polytechnics and universities since 2011.

As of last year, it has helped more than 1,030 students and disbursed $1.76 million.

ITE students get $1,000, polytechnic students get $1,250, while those in public universities get $1,500.Those in private universities get a subsidy of up to half of their tuition fees, capped at $6,000 a year.

Siblings Livanesh Ramu, 18, from ITE College Central, and Dhashaine Ramu, 21, from Temasek Polytechnic, who are both second-year students, were among the 156 bursary recipients.

Ms Dhashaine said: "We are happy to receive the bursary together because it is a burden off our parents' shoulders."

This is her second time getting the award. Their father, 47, works as a Federal Express courier, while their mother, 45, is a housewife.

Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai presented the bursaries at a ceremony at the PGP Wedding Hall in Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on June 25, 2017, with the headline Hindu tertiary students get bursaries totalling $271,500. Subscribe