Statement from PM Lee Hsien Loong on Special Awards for Students and Schools and Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Compositions

Following the ministerial salary adjustments in 2007, I decided to donate the increase in my own salary arising from these adjustments to charity, for a period of five years.

One focus for my donations was education. I set up an endowment fund which now funds four awards recognising the following:

a. Students from Northlight School and Assumption Pathway School who have persevered and done well;

b. Schools which have found effective ways to help Normal course students;

c. Students who have done well both academically and non-academically, and have contributed to the community in enterprising ways;

d.Top students from the Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese) and the Regional Studies Programme

Over the last two years, I put $800,000 into this education endowment fund.  This year, I contributed a further $300,000 to the fund, out of total donations of $1.15 million¹.  I intend to continue building up this fund in the coming years.

This year, I also decided to give $250,000 to the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), and will give the same amount in each of the next two years. This will support a proposed Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Compositions, to be held every three years, starting in November 2011. 

Chinese orchestral music has a large following among Singaporeans. There are many Chinese instrumental groups in the schools, community organisations and grassroots. The SCO is our premier Chinese orchestra.  It has a distinctive orchestral voice, with a blending of musical flavours that reflects the influence of our diverse cultures on one another. I have been privileged to have been the patron of SCO for many years. It has grown and matured, and established a reputation for itself both in Singa pore and internationally. I hope the Competition will stimulate composers to come up with refreshing repertoires, enriched with Nanyang perspectives, which can feature in future SCO concerts and become part of our cultural heritage.

The rest of my donations this year go to a range of community, grassroots, youth, arts and welfare organisations.

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PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
3 SEPTEMBER 2010 

[1] Including damages received from defamation cases.