In the past few months a number of corporations, philanthropic organisations, families and individuals have generously supported numerous scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students in SMU. On 15 October 2007, Ng Ka Wai, a member of the School of Information Systems (SIS) Advisory Board donated S$50,000 to establish the Ng Kai Wa Scholarships for full-time SIS undergraduates who demonstrate financial need.

Mr Robert Yap, Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Shared Services Center (DFS) Venture sharing his views on how SMU had impressed DFS with its pedagogy and quality of students

The gift from KhattarWong–one of Singapore’s largest premier law firms–a S$325,000 donation on 13 September 2007 shows the strength of industry support for SMU’s Law School. During the next five years several law students will directly benefit from the KhattarWong Scholarship, the KhattarWong Prize and KhattarWong Solicitors’ Regional Training Programme. To further support students in the School of Law, LexisNexis–a leading information provider of legal, business and news materials–has established an annual scholarship and prize to motivate SMU’s exceptional student talent. The scholarship will provide support for tuition fees and expenses for a law undergraduate, while the LexisNexis Prize will be awarded to the Best Year 2 Law Research Paper.

In memory of the late Mr Sunil Sreenivasan, a prominent former senior banker with Citigroup and former member of the SMU Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2003, family and friends raised S$133,000 to establish an endowed contribution at SMU. Through a 1:1 matching from the Singapore Government, the S$266,000 endowment is the base for The Sunil Screenivasan Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a full-time SMU undergraduate of any nationality in any degree programme.

CPA Australia, the Australian professional accounting body, announced on 25 September 2007 that they will sponsor the CPA Programme for the top Bachelor of Accountancy graduate and top Master of Professional Accounting graduate from SMU. Both students will enjoy full sponsorship of the course fees for their CPA Programme upon graduation from SMU. CPA Australia has also established the annual CPA Australia Outstanding Second Year Bachelor of Accountancy Award–for excellence in coursework.

To express the University’s appreciation to the scholarship donors of the past year, SMU hosted an afternoon tea reception on Friday, 2 November. The event was attended by more than 22 donors, the scholars who have benefitted from the scholarships, deans, faculty and staff.

The Dean of Students, Associate Professor Low Aik Meng gave the welcome address and thanked the donors for their tremendous support. The assistance provided by our donors reaches many SMU students, and enables them to enjoy a well-rounded university experience without financial burden. Student speakers at the event included final year accountancy student, Chen Linrong, recipient of three scholarships–the DFS-SMU Accountancy Scholarship, Goh Foundation Scholarship and Deloitte & Touche International Exchange Scholarship. “What the scholarships have given me, and I believe to all fellow scholars, is a source of motivation and inspiration,” she said. She also spoke on the opportunities scholarships give beneficiaries to push themselves towards the next achievement and to reach for big milestones.

Guest speaker, Mr Robert Yap, Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Shared Services Center, Trading Division & Information Technology Division of DFS Venture Singapore (Pte) Ltd, shared how SMU had impressed DFS with its pedagogy and the quality of its students. DFS is a sponsor of both the DFS-SMU Accountancy Scholarship and DFS Scholarship that supports students from the School of Information Systems. The programme also included a duet performance by SMU students Li Yan and Qian Xiao Le.

The scholarship donors’ reception provided an opportunity for SMU donors to build closer ties with their scholars.