Aspiring athletes in Singapore now have a new source of funding. The Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF) has received a S$10 million donation from private investor Peter Lim.
This is the largest donation to the sports sector from a single donor.
The donation was announced alongside the Foundation’s new board, which will oversee fundraising and management.
The S$10 million donation means the SOF has surpassed its expectations of raising between S$5 million and S$10 million within three months of its launch.
The SOF’s funding for athletes is separate from that of the Singapore Sports Council.
Peter Lim’s donation will go towards setting up a scholarship for athletes.
The scholarship will dispense the funds gradually over 10 years.
Besides winning medals, athletes must demonstrate they are talented, committed and studying while training for their sport.
No particular sports have been earmarked for this scholarship.
The SOF hopes Mr Lim’s donation will kick-start community-based support for talented athletes.
Mr Lim hopes his donation will inspire more to contribute to Singapore sports.
He said: “Actually I was looking around….for the academically inclined, they won’t have a problem looking for money. But for sports, I feel that there is a problem. Historically, we never really focused and put a lot of money into sports. So that was my main motivation.”
The SOF hopes to raise more money over the next few months, part of which will be used for the Youth Olympic Games this year.