PM Donates $500k to Fund

This story appeared in The Straits Times on 15 January 2009:

PM donates $500k to fund
By Lee Siew Hua

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong has contributed $500,000 to an endowment fund he set up last year to provide two additional awards for outstanding students.

This latest donation comes from the salary increase of $1.04 million he received last year as a result of the salary adjustments announced in April 2007. He has donated the rest of last year's increase to a range of community, grassroots, arts and welfare organisations.

Mr Lee had forgone pay rise announced in 2007, saying at the time that would be donating the increases to charity for the next five years.

One of the new awards announced on Thursday recognises students 'who have done well both academically and non-academically, and have contributed to the community in enterprising ways, whether they have studied in the Junior Colleges, Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics or universities', Mr Lee said in a statement on Thursday.

One student from each of the four clusters - junior college, ITE, polytechnics, and autonomous universities - will receive $600 for the Lee Hsien Loong Award for Outstanding All-Round Achievement.

The new second award - the Lee Hsien Loong Award for Outstanding Bicultural Students - will recognise top bicultural students who are conversant in Chinese or Malay. They are able to engage China or regional neighbours - and the West.

This $500 award is intended for two top students from the Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese), and one from the Regional Studies Programme.

'Education is the key to success in Singapore. It gives students the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge to create better lives for themselves,' Mr Lee said in his statement.

'I hope that the awards will encourage students to do their best and excel, and help to foster an inclusive education system that nurtures students of all talents and abilities.'

The latest awards are slated to be given out from next year, according to the Ministry of Education. In February last year, Mr Lee set up an endowment fund for two education awards - to recognise students who have persevered and done well, and schools which have found effective ways to help these students.

He had used $300,000 from his 2007 salary increase of about $500,000 for the two awards. The balance of $200,000 from his 2007 pay increase went to a range of community, grassroots, arts and social welfare recipients.

n his statement on Thursday, Mr Lee said that the additional contribution of $500,000 into the endowment fund this year will enable the endowment to generate enough returns to fund all four awards.

'Over the next few years, I intend to make further contributions to build up the endowment,' he added.