Five groups raise more than $10m for Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund
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SFCCA president Thomas Chua (third from right) presenting a cheque to Education Minister Chan Chun Sing (fourth from left), witnessed by DPM Lawrence Wong (fourth from right). With them are (from left) Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, SCCCI president Kho Choon Keng, SICCI chairman Neil Parekh and Eurasian Association president Sandra Theseira.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
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SINGAPORE – More than $10 million was raised for the Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund, by five community groups representing different races here.
The donation was raised through a ground-up fund-raising drive
The five groups had teamed up for the ground-up initiative, titled “Grateful for the Present, Nurturing the Future”, about a month ago to galvanise Singaporeans and the wider community to donate to the fund, or sign on signature books to show their support.
During a ceremony at the SCCCI building in Hill Street on Friday – on the eve of the 100th anniversary of Mr Lee’s birth – a board showing 218,968 signatures and a cheque for about $10.2 million were presented to Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and Education Minister Chan Chun Sing respectively in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.
The Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund was launched in May
Set up by business leaders, $82.3 million worth of donations had been collected as at May. It is managed by the Ministry of Education under its Education Fund.
Mr Wong said that Mr Lee always made investing in people, especially Singapore’s youth, a top priority.
“The funds will be used for a cause that is very close to Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s heart because he always recognised that Singapore’s resource is our people, and our people are our most critical and precious asset,” he said.
It will go some way to support scholarships, development programmes, and additional support for disadvantaged students at institutes of higher learning, he added.
The centenary of Mr Lee’s birth is also an opportunity to reflect on the values, principles and ideals upon which modern Singapore was built, said Mr Wong.
One of the key values is multiracialism.
Mr Wong said: “Mr Lee and our founding leaders worked hard to build today’s Singapore, where people from different backgrounds, different races not only live side by side harmoniously, but we also actively support one another, and we progress together as one united people.”
It is this same spirit of nation-building that underpins the joint initiative, he added.
The different business chambers, clans and associations representing different races worked with close to 400 organisations from their network of members, schools, trade associations and community partners to rally Singaporeans from all walks of life for the initiative.
Looking ahead, Mr Wong said there is a need to reaffirm the core values which have enabled Singapore to succeed, while navigating external and domestic challenges.
But at the same time, Singapore must also be prepared to change where change is necessary, he said.
“So what should we retain and uphold? And what should we change? These are questions that we are constantly asking ourselves, and we are, in fact, now deliberating over these questions as part of the Forward Singapore exercise,” he said.
“We are engaging Singaporeans widely and reviewing our policies comprehensively. We want to see what new programmes we can put in place, and what we might do differently to refresh our social compact and keep our society cohesive and strong.”
This exercise is not just about what the Government can do, but also about what all Singaporeans can do together, he added.
“Many Singaporeans we engaged aspire to have a society where we all feel a deep sense of kinship and responsibility for one another,” he said.
Business and community groups can play a part in strengthening this sense of solidarity, said Mr Wong, who hopes to see more ground-up initiatives like the Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund and the joint fund-raising initiative.
They can help businesses expand overseas, support the disadvantaged, nurture youth, or strengthen multiracialism, he said.
“So hand in hand, let us chart our way forward and build a better and stronger Singapore for all, for that’s the best way in which we can uphold the legacy of Mr Lee Kuan Yew,” he added.
About 200 guests, including donors and representatives from trade associations, clans, schools and the five groups attended the ceremony, which also served to commemorate the late Mr Lee’s 100th birthday on Sept 16.
They savoured the food that Mr Lee cherished, such as mee siam, satay and rojak, and enjoyed the songs like Que Sera, Sera which he liked.
Speaking at the event, SCCCI president Kho Choon Keng said that Singapore’s high-quality and successful education system is one of Mr Lee’s most enduring legacies.
Besides equipping students with essential lifelong skills like creativity, collaboration and innovation that are critical in this rapidly changing world, values such as respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, and contributing back to the society are also passed down to future generations, he said.
Mr Kho added: “Beyond the ‘hardware’ which are the world-class infrastructure as well as the highly developed and liveable city, it is also important that we nurture the ‘software’ and ‘heart ware’ that make us united, cohesive and distinctive.”
