SINGAPORE, April 26 — Temasek Foundation has launched bond-free scholarships to help students from lower-income backgrounds at institutes of higher learning, regardless of their age.
In all, 39 students per year or nearly 200 students over five years will benefit from the scholarships, receiving between S$3,000 and S$5,000 a year for living expenses, depending on their level of studies. Another S$2,000 will be shared among each recipient’s family members.
Temasek Foundation, the charitable arm of state investor Temasek Holdings, said in a press statement on Tuesday (April 25) that it has committed more than S$4 million over five years to the scholarships.
The scholarships have been named in honour of three late renowned unionists who championed life-long learning and worked to advance the cause of lower-income workers: G Muthukumarasamy, Nachiappan RK Sinniah and Nithiah Nandan Arumugam.
Applications for the Temasek Foundation scholarships will be opened yearly to eligible students starting this year. Mid-course application may be made.
Temasek Foundation said that the complementary family recognition award of S$2,000 is a first and was introduced in recognition of the significant role of family members or others in contributing to a recipient’s life journey.
The funds may also help to alleviate financial difficulties for lower-income families if potential or current breadwinners decide to pursue further studies, it added.
Mr Lim Hock Chuan, head of programmes at Temasek Foundation, said that those who come from lower-income backgrounds may face more hurdles in furthering their education and skills upgrading due to financial pressures.
“These scholarships aim to give them an extra boost in their educational journey to help them realise their full potential,” he said.
“We hope to inspire students of all ages to follow in the footsteps of unionists G Muthukumarasamy, RKS Nachiappan, and Nithiah Nandan Arumugam, who recognised the value of education and promoted lifelong learning.”
Who are the scholarships named after?
G Muthukumarasamy was general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers from 2002 until 2019.
The unionist, who went by the name Kumar, made it his lifelong goal to fight for the interests of low-income workers to ensure they could progress further in their careers, Temasek Foundation said.
His “life-long ambition” was to convert daily-rated workers, a form of casual employment, to monthly wage schemes.
This was fulfilled in 2021 when the remaining daily-rated workers in the union he had led were converted to monthly wage schemes.
Nachiappan RK Sinniah became a deputy general secretary of the Public Utilities Board (PUB) Staff Union in 1989.
By bringing together daily-rated and monthly-rated workers under one union, the unionist, known as Nachi, paved the way for fostering good industrial relations in the energy and power sector, Temasek Foundation said.
Nachi’s efforts also laid the cornerstone for tripartism, it added.
Nithiah Nandan Arumugam dedicated his life to helping more than 2,000 low-wage workers improve their lives, the foundation said.
In 1988, Nithi started his union career with the PUB Daily-Rated Employees’ Union and rose to the position of general secretary.
Towards the end of his life, as he fought renal cancer, Nithi signed collective agreements in order to protect the interests of workers in the Singapore Power Group and generation companies. — TODAY
