[16 January 2004]
Visa International Presents S$100,000 Education Gift to Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University (SMU) celebrated its Fourth Patron’s Day today, an event held in honour of SMU’s Patron, HE S.R. Nathan, President of Singapore. A major highlight of the day was the receipt of a generous gift of S$100,000 from Visa International Asia Pacific, the leading payment brand globally and in the region.

The company presented the gift to President S.R. Nathan and the gift will go towards the School of Accountancy’s Financial Scholarship Fund to support students requiring financial assistance.

Associate Prof. Pang Yang Hoong, Dean, School of Accountancy, said, “All the staff and faculty of the Accountancy school are very encouraged by Visa’s generous gesture of support and endorsement. It is a privilege to receive their scholarship awards and I am sure it will go a long way to encourage and help our students do even better in their coursework.”

Visa Asia Pacific President and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Keeley said, “Visa is very happy to support the Singapore Management University and assist its students in accomplishing their tertiary education. SMU is a young institution but we believe it has a great exciting future.”

“Visa has had its roots in Singapore for more than 20 years, with close to 300 local and foreign talents working with us in our regional head office here. We at Visa are strongly committed to Singapore and in contributing to its growth. By supporting SMU and its students, we hope to play our part in nurturing young local talents who represent the bright future of this nation, Mr. Keeley added.”

The Financial Scholarship Fund will provide financial support to help cover the daily expenses of the students throughout the duration of their study. Applicants will have to undergo a stringent selection process, and be expected to maintain reasonable results throughout their degree programme. The scholarship fund does not cover fees as there are already other financial schemes for this.

Another highlight of this year’s Patron’s Day was the news that 23 of the 62 students who just graduated in December have already been given job offers. All were on accelerated programmes and have secured attractive employment packages with leading local and global corporations such as JPMorganChase, ABN AMRO, DBS, UOB, OCBC, KPMG, Shell Eastern Petroleum, Citibank, PricewaterhouseCoopers and L’Oréal. Another 9 students, who will graduate only in May this year, have also received job offers. [The first 16 students who graduated in August 2003 have all secured employment.]