SINGAPORE - This year has been a tough one for polytechnic student Loh Miao Xin, 18, and her brother, Khim San, 13.
Their mother, a single parent, lost her job at a Thai food hawker stall during the circuit breaker period.
For the past year, Miao Xin and her brother, who is a Secondary 1 student in Ping Yi Secondary School, have been beneficiaries of The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF).
The fund was started in 2000 as a community project to provide pocket money to children from low-income families.
Since its inception, STSPMF has disbursed more than $80 million to help over 180,000 cases of children and youth in need.
For Miao Xin, the money helps to pay for her travel expenses. She usually takes more than an hour to travel from her home in Bedok to Singapore Polytechnic, where she is a first-year student in the common engineering programme.
Another beneficiary is nine-year-old S. Mugunthesh, a Primary 3 pupil in Tampines Primary School.
A bright pupil with good grades, he admitted that home-based learning during the pandemic was challenging as it was difficult to communicate with his teachers via Zoom.
He uses the money from STSPMF for his tuition fees, school necessities and his very own "emergency fund". He often dips into this "fund" on his own accord to help his parents "and anybody in need".
On Tuesday (Dec 8), Mugunthesh and the Loh siblings were presented with otter plushies and Christmas gift hampers by Mr Lee Richards, general manager of Orchard Hotel Singapore.
The event marked the launch of a staycation package called "Otter Family Christmas Adventure" by Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR). It features newly decorated family-themed rooms, Christmas goodies and otter plushies.
For every staycation package purchased this Christmas, $20 will go towards the STSPMF. After Christmas, the contribution will be $10 for each package sold.
Mr Richards, who is also MHR's vice-president of South-east Asia operations, said the otter theme was chosen as the animal is family-oriented. "This year, everybody wants family around them," he added.
Ms Tan Bee Heong, general manager of the STSPMF, said: "We are glad to celebrate Christmas this year with a very meaningful initiative as more funds are needed for our students from low-income families."
