About 1,500 households in the South East District that have been hard hit by the Covid-19 situation will benefit from a donation of $350,000 by non-profit organisation Business China, and an additional $50,000 from South East Community Development Council (CDC).

Four anonymous donors - from Business China's network of prominent business leaders and companies with family and business operations in Singapore - felt a strong connection to the local community, and came forward with the cash donation of $350,000 to help.

The funds will be disbursed to South East CDC, which will set up a Covid-19 grant and top it up.

South East CDC oversees around half a million residents in Marine Parade GRC, East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC, Mountbatten SMC and MacPherson SMC.

The grant aims to support 1,000 to 1,500 households that do not qualify for government schemes, as well as to help those who may require other forms of assistance on top of aid they have received.

Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, who is Mayor of South East District, told reporters in a virtual briefing yesterday that the grant will go to residents in "special circumstances", including those who may have fallen through the cracks.

For instance, some middle-income earners may be "asset rich" and live in properties with an annual value of more than $21,000, which could disqualify them from certain schemes, but they may have had a loss in income or been retrenched.

Other residents who receive assistance but also need non-financial aid, such as vouchers for groceries, will also be taken into consideration.

Local advisers and grassroots leaders will have flexibility in disbursing the funds to residents, who will be identified through various touchpoints, such as social service offices and virtual Meet-the-People Sessions.

"This will enable them to tailor the kind of assistance provided to each household based on their respective needs," Dr Maliki said.

MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling, who is chief executive of Business China, said the South East District has about 500,000 residents, many of whom live in about 7,000 rental units.

"Business China is glad to have rallied our network of prominent Chinese business leaders with strong connections to Singapore to contribute to South East CDC's effort in supporting residents and families who were profoundly impacted by the pandemic," she said.

She added that the contribution demonstrated their solidarity with Singapore amid the pandemic.