SMU names gallery and scholarships after the Suantio family

Singapore, 8 November 2012 (Thursday) – The Singapore Management University (SMU) has named its gallery and scholarships after the Suantio family, in recognition of a $2.777 million contribution by Dr Della Suantio Lee (張治華医生) and D.S. Lee Foundation. The gift will work out to close to S$ 7 million, including matching grants from the Singapore government.

The Gallery, a 180 square metre space located on Level 1 of the SMU School of Economics and School of Social Sciences Building, will be named “de Suantio Gallery” and its first exhibition will feature the works of well-known Indonesian photographer Indra Leonardi (See Annex 1).

Dr Della Suantio Lee’s gift will go towards the establishing of scholarships, bursaries, fellowships and arts inspiration grants at SMU.

The donation enables the setting up of the de Suantio Scholarships which will be awarded every year to two deserving SMU undergraduates with preference given to Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and Indonesians in any year of study in any degree programme.  Valid for one academic year of study, the bond-free scholarship is worth $10,000 each with special consideration for those with financial need. 

The de Suantio Scholarships are aimed at attracting outstanding Singaporeans and Indonesians to come to SMU and benefit from its holistic education and distinctive pedagogy. 

To help needy students at SMU, there will also be three bursary grants, named after Dr Della Suantio Lee’s late parents – Thio Kok Foe (張國富) and Choo Kim Beng (朱金明). Each grant is valued at $10,000 each year and will be awarded to needy full-time SMU undergrads of any nationality. This will help ensure that no deserving student is denied access to higher education. The bursaries will also provide these students the opportunity to pursue a quality university life at SMU.

Two fellowships, valued at $15,000 each, aims to support research excellence for outstanding young faculty at SMU. These fellowships will also help SMU in its development of new collaborations with industry.

To support student excellence in Arts, the D.S. Lee Foundation Inspiration Grant for the Arts is set up at SMU to nurture artistic talents, particularly in SMU’s performing arts groups. This grant will help to enhance vibrancy in student life and celebrate artistic richness within the SMU campus.

SMU President, Professor Arnoud De Meyer said, “We are deeply honoured to have Dr Della Suantio Lee and D.S. Lee Foundation supporting and believing in the long-term education goals of SMU. Dr Della Suantio Lee’s commitment to education and her passion to help nurture and inspire talented young people to also give back to the community, are all in line with SMU’s emphasis on the importance of good university education and the need to give back to our society. To imbibe this spirit of giving back to society, SMU students are required to complete a minimum of 80 hours of community service. Through this, students can gain new perspectives on humanity, society, education and the environment. This is an essential part of character-building in SMU.

“In this period of economic uncertainty, I feel the need to help people cope with the challenging times, particularly to continue to nurture and groom talented young people for our future. Hence, I decided to make a gift to benefit education at SMU. I value the young university’s broad-based learning approach, particularly its focus on community service and global exposure. My gift will help enhance teaching and learning excellence for the advancement of education at SMU. I hope to lend a hand to outstanding faculty and deserving students to pursue their academic goals,” said Dr Della Suantio Lee, Chairman and Founder, D.S. Lee Foundation.

The naming ceremony was graced by Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Mrs Mary Tan, and attended by some 60 guests, including Dr Della Suantio Lee and her husband, Dr Lee Seng Gee.