Lee Foundation
By Peace | May 15, 2008
Today, it was this dream — the dream having a meal with Dick Lee, which led me to the topic of LEE Foundation.
What is Lee Foundation? This is what I found on the net.
Lee Foundation is a charitable foundation in Singapore created to fund programs that promote education and other philanthropic work. It was founded in 1952 by philanthropist and businessman, Lee Kong Chian (Li Guangqian, 1893-1967).
Born in the village of Furong , Fujian Province in 1893, Lee Kong Chian is a firm believer in the value of education. In 1903, he joined his father in Singapore and studied here for a few years before taking up a scholarship to study at Chi Nan School in Nanjing in 1911.
Education
Born in China and came to Singapore in 1903.
Anglo-Tamil School; a
ttended night classes at Yung Cheng School. Later switched to St. Joseph’s School and Tao Nan Chinese School. Won a scholarship to study in Shanghai at age 15. Studied civil engineering at Tangshan Engineering College in north China but returned to Singapore in 1912 due to the political turmoil in China.
Career
1912 - Held positions of primary school teacher at Tao Nan School, later a municipal surveyor. Was also a translator for a local Chinese newspaper.
1929 - Started his own company, Lee Rubber Company.
1952 - Was well known as a philanthropist. Set up the Lee Foundation to help schools and charitable organizations.
1962-65 : Became the first Chancellor, University of Singapore. He was also one of its principal benefactors.
In 1915, Lee Kong Chian joined the China Guohua Company and soon caught the attention of Tan Kah Kee and joined the Tan Kah Kee Rubber Company. By 1931, he ventured out to start his own rubber business. The Lee Rubber Company grew rapidly into a multi-million dollar business and together with the success of his pineapple business, Lee Kong Chian was popularly known as the “Rubber and Pineapple King” and widely recognised as one of the richest men in Southeast Asia . He expanded his business to banking and real estate and by 1962, he became Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC).
Lee Kong Chian poured his wealth into education and other philanthropic work. In 1958, at a time when charity was highly dependent on the rise and fall of business fortunes, the Lee Foundation was established as a philanthropic institution. Many education institutions in Singapore benefited from his generosity. In particular, The Chinese High School, under this chairmanship from 1934 - 1957, was able to refocus its attention on providing quality education, after experiencing many obstacles and repeated threats of closures. Lee Kong Chian did not forget his homeland in his contributions towards education. In 1939, he founded and financed the Guozhuan Primary School in his home villahe of Furong and in 1943, he set up the Guoguang Secondary School .
In 1962, Lee Kong Chian became the first Asian Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore . His work and generous contributions to education and society were recognized when he was conferred an honorary degree in law by the University of Malaya in 1958 and in 1964, the Agong of Malaysia bestowed on him the title Panglime Mangku Negara. An unassuming man who never lost the “popular touch”, Lee Kong Chian remained academically inclined throughout his life, giving night classes while working for the municipality, and also lectured at the Columbia University while stranded in the United States during World War II.
Lee died in 1967 at age 74. He left a major portion of his wealth to the Lee Foundation and continues, to date, to make a difference to education and society.
Between 1952 and 1993 the Foundation donated S$300 million to various causes, regardless of race, language, religion, nationality, and geographical location. Seventy-five percent of that amount went to education. In 2005, the Foundation makes a $30-million gift to the National University of Singapore.
The Art of Writing
Goh Yang Chye asked me to write a passage one day when I went for an interview. From my handwriting, he did an analysis for me. His secretary printed out the analysis. I had a ‘chat’ with Goh Yang Chye, an engineer. He was at the building behind Cathay Cinema, Dhoby Ghaut = 多美歌 there. I kept his personality analysis for me in my wallet for several years, until the year 2000, where I dumped away everything…. but I still have all his memories….
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Anglo-Chinese School (ACS)
By Peace | May 14, 2008
What a beautiful and inspiring picture. This is the homepage of ACS.
The Anglo-Chinese School (ACS); is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore, and Indonesia.
Until 2002, the ACS schools have traditionally been single-gender institutions that admitted only male students. However, with the changing times, four schools - Anglo-Chinese Junior College, ACS (Independent) International Baccalaureate Programme, ACS (International) and STB-ACS (International) Jakarta - have also begun admitting female students.
The school is also affiliated with other Methodist schools in Singapore, including Methodist Girls’ School, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (all-girls institutions), Geylang Methodist Secondary School and Fairfield Methodist Secondary School (co-educational). The name is usually abbreviated as “ACS”, with the junior college as “ACJC”, and its students and alumni referred to as “ACSians” (pronounced ack-sians), or “ACS boys” (and girls, for ACJC, ACS (Independent) IB Programme, ACS (International) and STB-ACS (International) Jakarta).
ACS was also the first school in Singapore to have a flower named after it, the Ascocenda Anglo-Chinese School orchid, a hybrid created by the school to mark its 116th Founder’s Day on 1 March 2002.
What interest me about this school, ACS is the school crest.
The upper part of the crest (composite creature) shows a creature with a lion head, eagle wings and a dragon body with claws, representing the fact that the School was founded when Singapore was a British colony, by the American Methodist Mission, and during the Manchu dynasty in China.
The lower part of the ACS Crest (crest panel) comprises a panel of blue and another of gold, representing the heavens and the earth, superimposed on which are the letters ACS in red, signifying life bridging earth and heaven.
The school motto, “The Best Is Yet To Be” (crest Motto), which was later introduced by the late Mr T W Hinch (Principal, 1929-1947), was incorporated into the crest in 1959.
The ACS Crest is shaped as a shield to uphold knightly values such as chivalry, honour, valour, loyalty and manliness. The letters ‘ACS’, besides being the initials of the school’s name, also spell Academic achievements, Christian Character, and Sportsmanship and Service beyond self.
The crest was designed in 1930 by the late Dr Yap Pheng Geck who was then a member of the staff.
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
We begin 2008 very smoothly and orderly on 2nd January at 7.30 am when the entire school of about 2850 students were gathered at the Parade Ground for our first assembly in the school. The devotion, taken by the Principal, was based on Genesis Chapters 1&2 and staff and students were encouraged to play their roles in sustaining planet earth, a creation which God brought about in 6 days of hard work and at the end of His creation, he surmised that it was very good. The need to balance hard work with rest and recreation was also highlighted emulating God’s declaration of the Sabbath rest at the end of His creation.
At 1.00 pm, the entire school filed into the Dr Tan Sri Tan Chin Tuan Auditorium where the first Chapel service was conducted. A review of our accomplishments in 2007 was shared and the Action Plan for 2008 unfold. The school also adopted the theme for 2008, “grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men”, based on Luke 2:52. This theme allows us to focus on our emphasis in providing a holistic education for all our charges and to enable us to fulfill the mission of being a “world class institution in nurturing the holistic development of our students”.
Luke 2:52 enables us to have a glimpse that our Lord Jesus Christ developed holistically in four different domains. Applications were drawn from the need to ‘grow in wisdom’ and students were made to realize the importance of academic work and to set personal targets and goals for their academic achievements, besides applying knowledge and principles gained from their education in their daily life. The need to ‘grow in stature’ was equally emphasized and the importance of physical training, health and life-style was elaborated. Students were encouraged to set personal targets for body weight, physical achievements, and accomplishments in Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) and to use their stature to honour God. The importance of PE lessons and active participation in CCAs cannot be over emphasized as ways to nurture the ‘growth in stature’.
Vertical relationship with God was impressed upon the school as a matter of utmost importance as we seek to ‘grow in favour with God’. Staff and students were made to realize that whilst physical training is of value, training in Godliness is even more important. As such, we must always remember to please God rather than man and to set example for others in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. ACSians must learn to use their spiritual relationship to appropriate God’s resources and to reach out to others for Him. Daily devotions, Chapel services and Christian education in the school will help them nurture this important aspect of their life.
Lastly, when our vertical relationship with God is right, our horizontal relationship will naturally fall in place. We will then ‘grow in favour with man’. All present were reminded to establish healthy social interactions and to seize opportunities to relate well with others. We need to choose our friends wisely and develop habits and attitude that are winsome. We should make our aim to employ the God-given personality to make friends and influence others positively for Christ. The importance of Pastoral Care and Career Guidance (PCCG) and other programmes in the school e.g. Community Involvement Programme (CIP) to support these dimensions of growth was reiterated. Come Saturday, 1st March 2008, the school will celebrate 122nd Founder’s Day and have an official opening of our extended campus by our Guest-of-Honour, Dr Tony Tan, former DPM and Minister for Education, who has been instrumental in initiating the Independent Schools movement. On this special occasion, we will be launching our publication commemorating 20 years as an independent school entitled “On His Wings … soaring”. We would like to cordially invite all of you to join us in this momentous occasion.
In view of the above, the school will continue its journey towards excellence keeping holistic development in mind as we pursue academic excellence, character development, service excellence and CCA accomplishments. We will always remind ourselves to strive to be better, believing that the BEST IS YET TO BE.
DR ONG TECK CHIN Principal/CEO
I am who I am today because I follow and followed my heart. Which School to go? Neighbourhood school was never considered ‘good school’. Reputable schools were far from my house, and my father was always worried about my safety. He believed that if you are good, any school is equally good. After my GCE ‘O’ Level, I was again required to choose school. Polytechnic or University? It was said that a degree is better, and so I chose to go Junior College and then the University.
My friends and I went around schools as well as polytechnics. We went to Hwa Chong Junior College, National Junior College and Ngee An Polytechnics. I was offered Anglo-Chinese Junior College, but on the first day, I asked for a transfer. I did not like the kind of ‘atmosphere’ there. I felt so lost. My mother and I went to Jurong Junior College. There, the Principal talked to me. The lady principal, I forgot her name(I think is Mrs Koh), and her words stayed in my brain… I never regret at all the schools which I had gone to. Education does not end after you leave school. Education is for life.
Our Father who loves you, gives you new life. I feel so fortunate, so happy, even though I have no diamond. I only want my parents, my father and my mother and my family, my children and my husband, and my brothers and sisters, their family, to have eternal life, happy and healthy body.
We have been inspired by the words in the report for the independent school which states “The Wisdom that is being brought to bear on our mission is the belief in an eternal Almighty God who created and cares for the world and its people. We believe that the best Foundation for a fruitful and satisfying life in society is a right relationship that is exemplified by the life, atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.“
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