SINGAPORE - Fourteen local chefs whipped up their signature dishes on Sunday (July 7) to raise funds for a new initiative for underprivileged students.
A total of $16,800 was raised through the Chefs For A Cause event, of which $13,440 will go to the School Life Fund @ South East.
The South East Community Development Council (CDC) will administer the fund and match the donation dollar-for-dollar, resulting in a total amount of $26,880.
The remainder of the funds will go to This Life Cambodia, which supports access to secondary school education in Siem Reap.
South East District Mayor Maliki Osman, who is Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, launched the School Life Fund at events venue Huone at Clarke Quay.
He also prepared a fusion dish - chicken rendang with mantou (buns) and acar - with the help of chef Jimmy Chok. It was auctioned off to add to the day's proceeds.
The rest of the money was raised by selling tickets and food coupons. About 230 people attended the event.
The new fund aims to support students in mainstream primary and secondary schools, as well as those in special needs schools, through offering things like school supplies, pocket money and vocational training.
"Every child deserves equal access to a proper education, and I'm grateful to the chefs for lending their support in making this a reality," said Dr Maliki.
Mr Chok said: "As a father myself, the cause behind the School Life Fund resonates deeply with me... We are very happy to have the support of South East CDC, which plays an instrumental role in multiplying the impact of all the chefs' efforts to empower underprivileged children through education support."
Besides Mr Chok, who initiated Chefs For A Cause 10 years ago under non-profit organisation Project Happy Feet, the other chefs who participated in Sunday's event were: Pang Kok Keong (Sugar Daddy Group), Daniel Sia (The White Rabbit), Daniel Tay (Foodgnostic and Old Seng Choong), Ho Chan Fei (One Degree 15), Forest Leong (Sam Leong @ Forest), Louis Tay (Aston Group), Phillip Lee (Indoguna), Xu Tianmu (Project Chef), Anderson Ho (Snorre Food), Robert Chan (Parkroyal on Kitchener Road), Benjamin Tan (The White Rabbit), Ken Zhang (Warehouse Hotel), and Then Chui Foong (Euraco Finefood).
