Campus Watch (Giving to NUS)
tribute to Mrs Lee Kuan Yew
Giving to the Future of Education
NUS Mourns the Passing of
A passionate advocate of higher education gives back to NUS Former Chairman of the CPF Board (1961 to 1963), Mr Lim Joo Hock, is a passionate advocate of higher education who recently established an endowed fund of S$250,000 at NUS for student bursaries, and regularly donates to the University through the Annual Giving programme which partially funds student bursaries. In 2008, Mr Lim donated S$250,000 to support a scholarship at the NUS School of Computing, in honour of his father Mr Lim Hong Chin, whose hard work was to change his son’s life.
14
Mr Lim Joo Hock (left), with two of his classmates, at his graduation from the University of Malaya.
Mr and Mrs Lim Joo Hock, at Mr Lim’s graduation.
The 88-year-old NUS alumnus, who attended Raffles College (RC), Arts ’46, and the University of Malaya (UM), Arts ’52, both predecessor institutions of NUS, knows only too well the difference that financial aid can make to a student’s life. He says: “My father was not financially well off when he sent me to Raffles College in 1939 as a private student. If I had a bursary then, it would have been a huge load off his shoulders.” Despite his limited education, Mr Lim’s father had the vision to send his son to an English-medium school. The younger Mr Lim moved from a small-town school in Negri Sembilan to Raffles College, where he received RC Scholarship in 1941. In 1952, he attended UM on a government scholarship. “My university education set the groundwork for my career in the Civil Service, after which I went to London to
Mrs Lee Kuan Yew
complete my legal education,” he shares. Mr Lim subsequently set up his own law practice in 1976, after retiring in 1972. He adds: “I believe a university education is crucial to move up the social and economic ladder.” “Electronic computing has greatly changed the way we work and conduct business,” explains Mr Lim, on his choice to donate to the NUS School of Computing. “I hope this Scholarship will encourage more bright young minds to enter this field and develop applications that benefit humanity.” Almost 60 years after Mr Lim’s days at UM, two NUS students have come to be the beneficiaries of his desire to pay it forward. Chen Xi and Chang Yi Ting, both first-year students at the School of Computing, are recipients of the Lim Hong Chin Memorial Scholarship for the Academic Year 2010/2011. Chen Xi, who plans to specialise in games design, enthuses: “I am honoured and grateful to receive the Scholarship. It motivates students like me to do well.” Yi Ting adds: “The Scholarship has been really helpful in relieving my parents of a financial burden. Those who give to scholarships are really thoughtful. If I were financially able, I would set up my own scholarship as well.”
For information on how to make a gift to NUS, please contact Ho Yuen Kwan at (+65) 6516 5755 or email askdvo@nus.edu.sg
AlumNUS | January - March 2011
MDM KWA GEOK CHOO: Wife of Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and one of the founders of the Lee & Lee law firm.
It was with great sadness that NUS received the news of the passing of its alumna Madam Kwa Geok Choo, wife of Singapore's founding father and first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on 2 October 2010. Mrs Lee was highly respected as the self-effacing but decidedly influential pillar of strength behind Mr Lee's success as a legendary political figure. She was also a devoted mother to her two sons and a daughter, all of whom are leading illustrious careers of significant impact to Singapore. Most notably, her eldest son, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, is the present Prime Minister of Singapore. Mrs Lee Kuan Yew was an esteemed lawyer and a brilliant student. She enrolled in Raffles College, a predecessor institution of NUS, in 1940 and resumed her studies there in 1946 after the end of World War II. In 1947, she graduated from Raffles College with a Diploma in Arts leading to a Queen's Scholarship to study law at Cambridge University where she became the first woman in Malaya to achieve the top position in Part II of the Law Tripos. She founded the Lee & Lee law firm with Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his brother Mr Lee Kim Yew in 1955. The firm supported a scholarship to students in the NUS Faculty of Law which Mrs Lee lent her name to. The Kwa Geok Choo Scholarship was established in Academic Year 1993/1994 through a pledge of $18,000 per year over 12 years.
Story and photo are from Latest@NUS at http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/ headlines/1010/passing_04Oct10.php.
15