Temasek sets up $150m fund for skills training, scholarships in Stem fields

(Photo credit: Lianhe Zaobao)

Source: The Straits Times

State investor Temasek will set up a $150 million fund for skills training and talent development in Singapore.

To sustain efforts over the long term, $6 million – 4 per cent of the $150 million – will be distributed annually, over about 25 years.

Singapore’s investment company, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024, said that the gift – called T-Spring – aims to build a workforce that will enable businesses to meet the needs of a changing marketplace.

The fund will be used primarily to set up scholarships for those from low-income families to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate studies, and to reskill workers at risk of being displaced by technological advancement.

It will also fund programmes that boost the employability of seniors and persons with disabilities or special needs.

Temasek will prioritise scholarship applicants for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) studies, and from low-income backgrounds. It is targeting student intake in the academic year 2025/2026 for its first batch of scholarship recipients.

Temasek announced this on June 25, the date of its incorporation and its designated annual Community Day, when employees give back to the community.

More than 500 employees from Temasek and its ecosystem entities volunteered for activities such as refreshing the homes of seniors and painting botany-themed murals at the void deck of an HDB rental block in Clementi.

To drive innovation in Singapore, Temasek will launch a fellowship programme to attract global industry experts to help small and medium-sized enterprises here in fields such as artificial intelligence and sustainable solutions.

A community of Temasek Fellows will be established to facilitate the exchange of know-how.

Since 2003, Temasek has been setting aside a portion of its net positive returns above its risk-adjusted cost of capital for community gifts to achieve its objectives of connecting people, uplifting communities, protecting the planet and advancing capabilities.

For Temasek’s 40th anniversary in 2014, it set up a $40 million Temasek Emergency Preparedness fund to help Singaporeans prepare for and deal with difficult situations, including environmental crises such as haze, or trauma from accidents.

Temasek chief executive Dilhan Pillay noted that the amount given out every year for T-Spring will be adjusted as needed, depending on each programme’s requirements.

Explaining the scholarships’ focus on Stem, he said: “We are in a digital world as far as we see in the future.”

He added that the scholarships will prioritise students from low-income backgrounds.

“What we want to make sure (of) is that people from less-advantaged families have the opportunity of learning the same things as people from advantaged families.”

Temasek chairman Lim Boon Heng said it invests to earn sustainable returns, and works to take care of its stakeholders.

“Among the stakeholders we have would be the community at large, so we should also play our part to see how we can uplift the lives of people.”

More details about the scholarships, fellowship programme and upskilling initiatives will be released later.

For Temasek staff’s community project of painting an HDB void deck, non-profit arts company Temenggong Artists-In-Residence worked with students from special education schools, who contributed their drawings for the murals.

Josie Nicholas, a Primary 4 pupil in Pathlight School, said that aside from helping with the painting, she offered words of encouragement to volunteers who were hard at work.

The 11-year-old, who wants to be an artist when she grows up, said the activity allowed her to use her imagination.

(Photo credit: Lianhe Zaobao)

Madam Tiong Siew Tin, who lives alone in her one-room flat in Chin Swee Road, was pleased with the home refresh carried out by volunteers.

“I am very happy and grateful. They cleaned all the walls and floor till they are very clean, especially the window – it is gleaming,” she said in Mandarin.

“Over time, our things start cluttering up our homes. But we can’t reach the higher places and carry heavier things,” said the 68-year-old, whose back pain makes it difficult for her to stand for long periods. It feels different when I come in now. I feel more at ease and lighter in my house.”