Leaving a legacy of giving
Leaving a legacy of givingFour prominent personalities in the community tells us why they desire to make a long-term impact on society by giving back in their own ways.
STORIES OF IMPACT
Dipa Swaminathan on what we can each do for Singapore’s migrant workers
Dipa Swaminathan is a force of nature. At 49, the Harvard-educated lawyer is an assistant general counsel for SingTel and the founder of ItsRainingRaincoats, an organisation created in 2015 to support migrant workers in Singapore and champion their cause. As the recipient of the President’s Award for philanthropy and volunteerism in 2017, Swaminathan knows a thing or two about advocating for a marginalised group—in particular, one that has built our nation from the ground up while bearing the harshest brunt of the fallout from COVID-19.“Migrant workers are not franchised and lack voices in the broader community,” shares Swaminathan. “The avenues available to us are not to them. They are often scared of speaking up for fear of getting their permits cancelled—which can happen within 24 hours.” The vulnerability of their situations are why migrant workers in Singapore are often forced to tolerate poor living conditions—leading to consequences like the one we have seen this year.
The Community Foundation of Singapore: Philanthropy, legacy giving; doing good and how to get involved
Through legacy giving, making a profound lasting change to people’s lives might be easier than you thinkDr Lim Boon Tiong had a long and distinguished career as a doctor, and it shaped his interest in helping the elderly and those suffering from urological conditions. So devoted was he to his causes that he set aside S$24m along with a list of charities he wanted to help. And when Dr Lim passed on, his daughters Sylvia and Ivy Lim had to execute his will.
A Call for Collaborative Giving: Scaling Greater Heights with Seniors
The third Colabs publication explores how we as individuals and as a society can help our senior citizens live more happily in our community, against the backdrop of an aging population. The collective insights of 98 participants identified various issues such as the generational gap and lack of purpose. In collaborative discussions on the way forward, one key point was to involve seniors from the very beginning, to improve their ownership and adoption of the solutions. Read more here.
S’pore couple plan to leave money to charity after their death in new campaign to promote legacy giving
SINGAPORE – It was their son’s degenerative eye disease that set ophthalmologist Dr Audrey Looi and her neurosurgeon husband Dr Ang Beng Ti on the path of philanthropy.The couple were devastated around a decade ago to find out that James, now 19, suffers from Stargardt’s which causes progressive vision loss, when he was in primary school.
Aleta Planet Foundation: Supporting children and elderly in the fight against COVID-19
To help bolster the combined efforts in combating the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic within our community, fast growing fintech company Aleta Planet has donated $100,000 to the Mediacorp Enable Fund, a community fund administered by SG Enable.The proceeds are part of an initial larger commitment of $200,000, and will go towards supporting the elderly who have to work despite their frailties and children with disabilities, as well as those from low income families.
Pragmatic reasons to engage In philanthropy
Educator George Jacobs became involved in philanthropy because he wanted to put his money where his mouth is. As someone who feels strongly about contributing to greater food security in Singapore, the passionate advocate for a vegan lifestyle established the Relaxed Fund to promote horticulture in the little red dot.“My wife and I wanted to encourage people to eat more plant-based foods, as these foods boost human health and address global warming issues. One way to convince people to change their diets is to immerse them in growing greens themselves, so they feel a sense of ownership. Thus, they want the greens to find a good home — in their stomachs,” he says.
The Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Award: Creating opportunities for future generations of musicians
An accomplished violinist, conductor and impresario, Goh Soon Tioe was one of the greatest pioneers of Western classical music in post war Singapore and among the country’s earliest music teachers.A prodigious student of Spanish classical guitarist Andres Segovia, Goh taught a generation of musicians who went on to become established figures in Singapore’s music scene. Some of them include household names such as singer-songwriter Dick Lee, and National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Concert Orchestra Music Director, Lim Soon Lee
Supporting ITE Students through COVID
As many as 80 percent of ITE students come from low-income families and are receiving bursaries from the government. Kintan Teo is one of them. Her family of four survived on just $800 a month before COVID-19 struck. Her mother, the sole breadwinner, was working as a cleaner.When Kintan’s mother lost her job in April, the family had to use whatever meagre savings they had to get by. While Kintan’s mother sold baked and cooked food to generate some income, her earnings were still insufficient to cover their utilities and other bills. Kintan, a Business Studies student at ITE, tried working part-time to supplement the family income but gave it up after a few months. She had to work four to five days a week for up to seven hours daily as a team leader at a chicken wing restaurant.
S’poreans donated $90m in first five months of 2020, equal to whole of last year’s donations
SINGAPORE – Singaporeans have stepped up to help those in need and those most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.From January to May this year, $90 million was donated to the Community Chest, the Community Foundation of Singapore’s Sayang Sayang Fund which was set up in February, and through online donation platform Giving.sg.
