Empowering the future: LBKM sponsors expansion of Future Economy Scholarship for NUS Computing undergraduates
The Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud (LBKM)— or Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday Memorial Scholarship Fund Board— has contributed a generous endowment gift of $300,000 towards the Future Economy Scholarship. The gift will further support and empower Malay undergraduates from the NUS School of Computing who have distinguished themselves academically.
First established in 2017 with a gift of $45,000, the Scholarship has been awarded to nine undergraduates who have each received $5,000, thus far.
The additional $300,000 will allow three top-performing undergraduates to benefit from the scholarship each year in perpetuity. It will open up even more avenues to encourage local students to explore emerging future-ready disciplines, and to groom them to be captains of industry in deep technology sectors such as cybersecurity, information systems, and computer science.
Besides an outstanding academic record, potential recipients also need to have an exemplary co-curricular activities record and display strong leadership qualities.
The gift, which coincides with LBKM’s 55th anniversary, bears testament to the organisation’s illustrious, long-standing history of philanthropy towards education. It is aligned with LBKM’s strategic direction to extend its scholarship and bursary reach, collaborate with reputable institutional partners, and encourage growth in new disciplines that will enable Singapore’s talents to be better prepared for the future.
“A partnership with NUS is more than just strategic,” Mr Suhaimi Salleh, President of LBKM, said at the cheque presentation ceremony. “We share the same goal in wanting to nurture our bright young minds so that they can become leaders of their chosen fields, and for them to contribute back to the community and country.”
“We are both aligned in believing that no potential student should be denied the opportunity to pursue higher education,” he elaborated, stressing the importance of resource pooling from both NUS and LBKM to maximise the reach and scope of such resources.
Concurring on the productivity of the collaboration with LBKM in benefitting promising students, Professor Mohan Kankanhalli, Dean of NUS Computing and Provost’s Chair Professor of Computer Science, said, “With the rising interest in the undergraduate programmes at NUS Computing every year, the Future Economy Scholarship will go a long way towards enabling exceptional students to excel and achieve their fullest potential. We are very grateful to LBKM for their continued partnership in helping shape the future of the students, industry and society.”
One student who has benefitted from the Scholarship, 24-year-old Fauzan Adipratama Bin Yusman, was present at the ceremony. Fauzan, who is in his final year in the Computer Engineering course and was awarded the Scholarship in 2019, expressed gratitude for the financial support he received, which allowed him to pursue his studies with peace of mind.
“With the Scholarship, my parents did not have to worry about the cost of my studies. Instead, they were able to focus on my younger sibling who has learning difficulties and needs special care.”
With LBKM’s additional gift, the expanded Scholarship is set to support even more students like Fauzan and nurture them into leaders of tomorrow.
