Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin's photo showcase raises $600k for charity so far

(From left) Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin with Hope Initiative Alliance's Reverend Ezekiel Tan and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong as they viewed Mr Tan Chuan-Jin's works at Far East Plaza yesterday. The money raised from the photo exhibiti
(From left) Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin with Hope Initiative Alliance's Reverend Ezekiel Tan and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong as they viewed Mr Tan Chuan-Jin's works at Far East Plaza yesterday. The money raised from the photo exhibition will go towards 13 partnering charities, including The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID

Amid the photographs of scenic landscapes lay a serious appeal from Singapore's Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, who launched a fund-raising photo exhibition featuring his works at Far East Plaza yesterday.

Titled Our Place In The World, Mr Tan hopes to use the event, held in partnership with Hope Initiative Alliance, arts@work, Far East Organization and Far East Plaza, to raise money for the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised communities here.

All proceeds - $600,000 has been raised so far - will go towards 13 partnering charities, including The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF), Care Corner Singapore, Centre for Fathering, HealthServe and The Turning Point, among others.

The exhibition will be open to the public from today until Feb 28.

At a separate event, FairPrice announced it had donated $38,000 to aid the beneficiaries of STSPMF.

Mr Tan, whose exhibition showcases images taken during his travels over the last 20 years in countries such as Japan, Bolivia and Spain, said: "I realise just how much we have in common as a human race around the world. We may all have different roots, different journeys, different homes. But we do share a common humanity that ties everyone together. We are different, yet the same."

At the launch, which also served to mark Singapore's bicentennial year - the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles' arrival in Singapore in 1819 - Far East Organization also announced that it will set up the FEO-Grant SG 200 and donate $2 million to it.

SPH Brightcove Video
Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin will be launching a bicentennial photo exhibition, titled Our Place In The World, to raise funds for 13 charities.

Some $500,000 will subsidise the organising of charitable events at Far East Plaza to commemorate the bicentennial. For the remaining $1.5 million, the grant will match up to $100,000 in funds raised for charities and voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs).

Far East Organization executive director Dorothy Chan said: "To achieve a multiplier effect, we are working with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and SG Cares to invite other agencies and organisations to provide some form of matching sum so as to spur the fund-raising efforts of the charities during the bicentennial commemoration."

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who was the guest of honour, noted: "The Government has done more to support social mobility and integration, and build a more inclusive society. But we in the community - businesses, VWOs, private individuals - also have a responsibility to contribute.

"By stepping up to help those around us, we build a kinder, gentler, more gracious Singapore."

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 01, 2019, with the headline Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin's photo showcase raises $600k for charity so far. Subscribe