Philanthropy is becoming more meaningful, and more philanthropists are beginning to think of how they can change the world.
Mr Gerard Ee, former Board Director, SymAsia Foundation; and social services champion in Singapore
Stories from Our Donors
Qiming Foundation
The philanthropy journey of Qiming Foundation founder, Lionel, started in earnest more than 10 years ago, when he became president of the Beijing Lions Clubs in 2008. Over the years, Lionel grew in his conviction that philanthropy reflected one’s values and enabled one to discover deeper meaning in life.
Hence he decided to work with SymAsia Foundation to instil more structure and strategy into the family’s philanthropy journey. Based on in-depth interviews with the family, the Credit Suisse Philanthropy Advisory team supported Lionel in developing a philanthropy framework for Qiming Foundation, set up on the SymAsia platform.
At the same time, Lionel’s passion for sport was growing. As an avid marathoner, he had completed multiple world marathons, including the 777 World Marathon Challenge, which is a grueling race comprising 7 marathons in 7 continents within 7 days. Most recently, he also took part in Relay Majulah 2019 – Singapore’s first-ever 2,000 km relay run by 200 runners across the nation in 200 hours – in an effort to raise funds for the President’s Challenge and its 67 supported charities, and to commemorate the Singapore Bicentennial.
Inspired by Lionel’s twin passions of philanthropy and sport, the SymAsia team decided to reach out to SportCares to co-develop a sport-based program that would transform the lives of youths at risk. What resulted was a pilot program that would provide structured early intervention for youths at risk to develop positive character attributes and support their meaningful engagement with mainstream community. SportCares is the charitable arm of Sport Singapore (SportSG).
The SportCares-Qiming Foundation Multi-Sports Program (MSP) was launched on 6 September in collaboration with the Triathlon Association of Singapore (TAS). Under the MSP, coaches will engage at-risk youths through running, swimming and cycling, but at the same time partner with social workers, psychologists and counsellors to provide holistic care for the vulnerable youths. Many of these youths face parental neglect, poor academic attainment and self-efficacy, and problem behaviors including truancy, underage smoking, etc.
Besides providing philanthropic support to enable the program to take off, Lionel intends to also participate actively in the MSP by training with the youths and sharing with them how he overcame challenges in his own life, including the mental perseverance he needed to build to successfully complete the 777 World Marathon Challenge. He also hopes to provide platforms for the youth to share their stories, thereby empowering them.
Lionel is looking forward to this 2-year pilot becoming a viable model that would uplift youths at risk. In the longer run, with know-how accumulated in the first two years of the program, SportCares aims to introduce the MSP to the wider community of 145,000 vulnerable youths in Singapore through its community network. This would contribute towards Qiming Foundation’s vision of leveraging sport as a transformative force to build people up to face life’s challenges and gain courage to pursue their dreams.
No other cause has brought our Donors together like the current COVID-19 crisis.
As the pandemic wreaks havoc all over the globe – not just on our collective physical, mental and financial health, but also disrupting care services to vulnerable populations in our midst – philanthropists the world over have stepped in to fill some of the gaps.
At SymAsia Foundation, about one-third of our Donors have responded in diverse ways to the many challenges brought to the fore by the novel coronavirus outbreak, ranging from urgent food aid for impoverished families in Sri Lanka to research into how to make N95 masks less painful for nurses tending to patients. Over the past few months, the SymAsia team has helped our Donors provide philanthropic funding across three key areas to assist in COVID-19 efforts in the APAC region:
- Emergency relief: Moved by the courage of frontline health workers and the plight of marginalized communities (such as migrant workers in Singapore who were affected due to the spike in number of cases in foreign-worker dormitories), Donors gave generously through medical and food supplies to keep them going strong. This included a “Buka Puasa” campaign to ensure that Muslim healthcare professionals and vulnerable families are still able to observe Ramadan appropriately during this challenging season.
- Caring for vulnerable communities: Social-distancing measures and the stress on our economies meant that some vulnerable populations might fall through the cracks. Donors contributed towards financial aid for students whose families were affected, provided thermometers for isolated elderly so they could monitor their health, and established telehealth services for migrant workers. They also supported social enterprises and ensured essential care services could continue at charities despite the disruptions in fundraising and volunteer activities.
- Long-term protection: Besides supporting tests into how to make protective face masks less painful for frontline health workers, our Donors are also contributing towards vaccine development to protect us against the virus.
Some Donors approached the SymAsia team with clear instructions on who they wished to help; others have asked us how they could best contribute at this time to reduce social inequalities and build collective resilience.
But ALL were united in being a part of the solution during this time of global need.
To our Donors: Thank you for letting us partner with you in your fight against COVID-19!
Mingxin Foundation’s vision is that future generations would continue to explore and appreciate the forest trees and native plants that we see in Singapore today. Set up under SymAsia in 2016, the family foundation supports and advocates for the conservation of native flora of Southeast Asia, especially trees and plants on forested ridges of the Malay Peninsula.
Understanding the foundation’s mission, the SymAsia team sourced for opportunities that would align with the family’s philanthropic goals. This led to Mingxin Foundation committing to fund the development of a nature garden and trail ridge under an extension program for the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Opened to the public in October 2019, The Mingxin Foundation Rambler’s Ridge recreates cliff-edge habitats and provides a vantage point to view critically endangered flora species that once flourished in the area.
At the heart of Mingxin Foundation is the family’s inter-generational connection through joint decision-making and engagement in philanthropy. Explaining why the family chose to focus on flora conservation, a second-generation family member said: “A polar bear on shrinking ice, or wild pandas being critically endangered create a compelling image that change must happen. Plants represent the home of many animals; though perhaps out of plain sight, many species of plants disappear more quietly.”
In recognition of Mingxin Foundation’s support, the Singapore Botanic Gardens dedicated a Heritage Tree to the family at its 160th anniversary celebration in January 2019.
Mr. Choo Chong Ngen, founder of the Worldwide Hotels-Choo Chong Ngen Foundation under SymAsia, recognizes the importance of education as a social leveller in Singapore: “I have always believed in the importance of having a good education. Growing up, I did not have the privilege of furthering my education due to financial difficulties, but it is clear that education can bring great transformative impact to individuals and society.”
Mr. Choo’s philanthropic passion towards the education sector is evident. The founder and executive chairman of Singapore’s largest homegrown tourist class hotel group, Worldwide Hotels, Mr. Choo has generously supported financially needy students pursuing tertiary and technical education in Singapore over the past eight years.
He has donated more than SGD 10 million in bursaries to the four local universities and five local polytechnics. In addition, to celebrate the launch of Worldwide Hotels last October in conjunction with the Group’s 25th anniversary, the Foundation donated SGD 2 million to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Education Fund and SGD 50,000 to the Chong Pang CCC Community Development and Welfare Fund to help low-income families.
The Business Times featured the donation on 2 November 2018. A Lianhe Zaobao article on 19 December 2018 lauded the Foundation’s donation to the ITE Financial Assistance Scheme, which has benefitted a total of 4,300 ITE students. Mr. Choo’s gift will benefit 30 more students yearly.
