Hotel 81 founder donates S$2m to SMU to set up bursary for needy students

The founder of the Hotel 81 chain has made an endowed contribution of S$2 million to set up a new bursary for needy students at the Singapore Management University (SMU) — the single largest bursary gift to SMU from an individual donor to date.

Called the Hotel 81-Choo Chong Ngen Bursary, it was given out to the inaugural batch of 24 recipients at an appreciation ceremony held at SMU on Wednesday (Aug 26).

Mr Choo Chong Ngen, who is Hotel 81’s founder and executive chairman, said in a statement: “Through this bursary, I hope that motivated and deserving students are able to realise their aspirations and potential through a university education without the burden of financial obstacles. With the education they will receive, I hope the bursary recipients will go on to become responsible citizens and contribute back to society.”

Matched dollar for dollar by the Government, the total sum of S$4 million will support 24 bond-free bursaries of S$5,000 each annually. The bursary is open to all full-time SMU undergraduates who are Singaporeans and enrolled in any discipline at SMU. Each bursary is for one academic year of the recipient’s studies.

SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said: “We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Mr Choo for setting up the bursary, which will help us ensure that no deserving student misses out on the opportunity of an SMU education because of financial need.”