- Close to S$4 million awarded to 1,450 young athletes since 2010, record high of recipients and awards this year
- Sixty scholarship recipients will participate in upcoming SEA Games
- 2015 recipients include outstanding young athletes such as Quah Zheng Wen, Jodie Lai and Martina Veloso
More than $1 million in scholarships were awarded to 373 deserving young athletes at the Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim Scholarship Ceremony. The Guest-of-Honour, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin who is the Minister for Social and Family Development and President of the Singapore National Olympic Council, was among the dignitaries who presented the scholarships to the athletes at the ITE College Central today.
The Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim Scholarship was launched in 2010 when businessman and philanthropist Mr Peter Lim donated $10 million to the Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF) to set up a scholarship.
The aim of the Scholarship is to provide support to outstanding young athletes to facilitate their pursuit in sports excellence, in particular, for those from financially challenged backgrounds. This donation remains the largest individual donation for a sports scholarship in Singapore.
This year, the SOF received 1,170 applications from 51 sports representing 148 schools before the deadline of 30 January 2015 in four categories: Primary ($1,000), Secondary ($2,000), Junior College / Integrated Programme / Tertiary ($3,000), and High Performance under-18 ($5,000). Recipients are required to meet a set of criteria, such as displaying consistent results in relevant sports competitions, to be eligible for the Scholarship.
The Scholarship also supports high performance athletes who are under 18 years of age on a high performance pathway. Forty-eight outstanding young athletes qualified for this year’s High Performance (under-18) category, a two-fold increase from last year’s recipients.
Among the 373 recipients, 60 will be participating in the upcoming SEA Games in Singapore. They include swimmer Quah Zheng Wen who has also clocked an ‘A’ Qualifying time for the 2016 Olympic Games in the men’s 200m butterfly event.
Said Zheng Wen, “I am very pleased to receive the Singapore Olympic Foundation- Peter Lim Scholarship, the support has encouraged me to work harder towards my sporting ambitions. I am also grateful to be recognised among other young athletes who have performed well representing Singapore on the world stage. I hope to do well at the upcoming SEA Games, and look forward to competing among the world’s best swimmers at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
As the nation celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Scholarship also celebrates a five- year milestone since its inauguration in 2010. So far, 1,450 SOF-Peter Lim Scholarships of nearly S$4 million have been awarded.
“Over the last five years, we have awarded 1,450 Singapore Olympic Foundation- Peter Lim Scholarships of nearly S$4 million. We have witnessed recipients make personal breakthroughs, break personal best and national records, and win medals at major Games such as the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Youth Olympic Games, and many other international competitions.
“These achievements are the credit of the many stakeholders who have supported our local athletes over the past decades. These progressive milestones also signify a strong desire and capability among our athletes to thrive in sports. The Singapore Olympic Foundation is very grateful to Mr Peter Lim for his generosity, and we hope we can continue to help our local athletes fulfil their sporting dreams,” said Mr Ng Ser Miang, Chairman of the Singapore Olympic Foundation.
A special theme paying tribute to local sporting talents was also displayed at the Ceremony as sporting champions Ang Peng Siong, K Jayamani and James Wong shared their experiences of trials and tribulations with the recipients and their families.