SINGAPORE - More than $5 million has been disbursed by The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund in the first nine months of this year.

This is an appreciable rise from last year, when $2.9 million was disbursed in the entire year by the fund, which gives an allowance to children from low-income families.

This was announced at the fund's annual appreciation day on Thursday (Sept 28) by Mr Warren Fernandez, who is the chairman of the fund. The event was held at the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) News Centre's auditorium in Toa Payoh.

Mr Fernandez is also the editor-in-chief of SPH's English, Malay and Tamil Media group and editor of The Straits Times.

To date, the fund has helped a total of 150,693 beneficiaries and disbursed $55.3 million over the past 16 years.

In addition, the fund has started partnering more than 200 mainstream schools in disbursing school pocket money to needy students this year, and has already disbursed close to $4 million through the schools.

The remaining money was disbursed through about 71 social service agencies.

Mr Mohamed Abdul Jaleel, founder and chief executive officer of Mini Environment Service Group, also presented Mr Fernandez with a cheque for a $500,000 donation.

Mr Jaleel has donated about $2.5 million to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund since 2010.

A new logo for the fund, featuring a cleaner look and a bigger heart, was also launched at the event.