Alumni Happenings | Giving
Building blocks
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ant to help someone? Help educate them, says Mr Kong Mun Kwong, who has set up the Kong Mun Kwong Scholarship at NUS’ School of Design and Environment (SDE). Mr Kong, who is, among other things, the Chairman of Seacare Holdings Pte Ltd and Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises, has received many awards including the Singapore Meritorious Service Award (PJG) and the Public Service Star (BAR) (BBML). “In this world, everything can change suddenly,” he says, “but no one can take your education away from you. If you have a good foundation in learning, you can survive anywhere. And a well-educated person can benefit many others in a community, far beyond himself.” As a child, Mr Kong lived with his parents and three siblings in a one-room apartment in Chinatown. Having moved to Singapore from Hong Kong after losing everything before WWII, they had to share a kitchen and bathroom with 12 other families. Times were hard but what they received in abundance were family values. “We benefitted greatly from our parents’ teachings,” he recalls. An avid community volunteer for over 35 years, Mr Kong has made giving back his goal. Among his many community projects are the Yellow Ribbon Project and the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which he helped conceptualise and develop. In 2011, he was awarded the Singapore Volunteer of the Year Ms Dong Wenjuan (right), inaugural recipient of the Kong Mun Kwong Scholarship
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AlumNUS
Award by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) for his lifelong commitment to giving back. Mr Kong, who was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2011, established the Kong Mun Kwong Medal at NUS in 2004 for parttime programmes of BSc (Building) and BSc (Construction Management). When those programmes ceased to be offered, he established the scholarship, which was awarded this year. Mr Kong says that the scholarship in his name at SDE is one way of projecting the giving spirit beyond his lifetime. “Hopefully, this scholarship will perpetuate the same spirit of giving in the recipients.” This wish has already taken root. Inaugural scholarship recipient Ms Dong Wenjuan is a keen student volunteer at NUS. “There’s no better feeling than knowing you have helped someone!” she says.
A Level Playing Field
From left: Mr Stanley Tan, Chairman of the NVPC; Mr Kong Mun Kwong; and Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Social and Family Development, and Senior Minister of State for Defence
A fairer start for all was the impetus behind the Yik Luen and Wei Han Bursary, established by Mr Hoong Yik Luen (Engineering ’90) and Ms Chung Wei Han (Law ’91).
In the interests of all Mr Kong’s passion for volunteerism started at the University of Singapore where he received the Loke Hong Kee Scholarship, the Lee Foundation Gold Medal and the Hume Industries Gold Medal. As a student leader, he played a key role in encouraging the creation of the university’s new degree courses in Building and Estate Management,
enabling his cohort and generations after them to graduate with a degree instead of a professional diploma. “As an active student leader during the 1960s, I learnt that the advancement of one’s own interest cannot be exclusive of the interests of others,” he recalls. Mr Kong is also eager to see more alumni stepping
forward. “Through its pool of experience, knowledge and resources, our alumni are in the best position to do more than just provide money and scholarships,” he says. “More interaction among established alumni and undergraduates can be promoted to develop a greater sharing of thoughts, experiences and bonding between generations.”
What inspired you to make this gift to NUS? We have always believed in Illustration: Getty Images
Having established a Medal and a Scholarship, Mr Kong Mun Kwong (Architecture and Building ’71) talks about education as the ultimate gift.
We would like to build up an endowment that will help pay the school fees of 10 undergraduates every year. Mr Hoong Yik Luen and Ms Chung Wei Han
giving back to the community – the only question was identifying the objective and form of giving. Our parents were educators and made us aware from a young age that not only is education the most powerful personal enabler, it is the ultimate social equaliser – which ensures a healthy meritocracy. As a result, we decided to
begin by giving to educational causes. On a personal note, both of us benefitted from student grants, scholarships and bursaries during our time at NUS. It was therefore easy for us to decide to help those who need a quality tertiary education. In addition, Yik Luen has had firsthand experience with endowment funds at some of the top US colleges. This made us realise how important it is for a great learning institution to establish a virtuous cycle of giving by the alumni body to a university’s endowment. This enables a university to undertake research and projects that propel it to world-class standards and also to provide bursaries and scholarships, thereby attracting the best students (regardless of financial background). These students will, in turn, give back to the university as alumni. We hope that NUS can be the first university in this part of the world to adopt and promote such a virtuous cycle. Why did you choose to support bursaries, and what are your hopes for the recipients?
We believe in meritocracy. Students with financial difficulties are disadvantaged vis-à-vis those who are financially worry-free as they may have to work and study at the same time, whereas their classmates can devote all their time and energy to their studies. We hope to help level the playing field for financially-strapped students by taking away the burden of their school fees. We would like to build up an endowment that will help pay the school fees of 10 undergraduates every year. Our only message for the recipients: “Don’t forget to give back one day when you can afford to!” What role did NUS play in your lives?
We have fond memories of NUS. We made many good friends with whom we still keep in touch. Apart from a quality tertiary education, NUS gives
For information on making a gift to NUS, contact us at 1800-DEVELOP (1800-338-3567) or email askdvo@ nus.edu.sg. If you have a story to share, please contact us at whatsyourstory@ nus.edu.sg.
Mr Hoong Yik Luen and Ms Chung Wei Han
one a network of friends that is very much a cross-section of Singaporean society. Many of our friends from NUS moved on to become leading researchers, academics, lawyers, financiers, doctors, businesspeople, senior civil servants, politicians, playwrights and accomplished individuals in their respective fields of endeavour. We are glad to be part of this network and to help power Singapore’s development. The Yik Luen and Wei Han Bursary will benefit students at the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Law.
Four times the benefits Mr Hoong and Ms Chung are eager to share how donors can maximise their gift: “We have found a great way of ‘stretching’ the money we are donating – by taking advantage of the ‘dollar-for-dollar matching’ scheme offered by the Singapore government for charitable donations to qualified charitable organisations.” Under this programme, donors can potentially quadruple the impact
of every “net-oftax dollar” given. “Our gift to NUS is made through our endowment account at the Community Foundation of Singapore,” they explain. “With careful tax planning, we hope this will allow us to accumulate greater financial resources over time to give to others. We hope more working professionals will realise that this is a way for them to start accumulating financial resources for charitable causes.” Jan–Mar 2013
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