Puan Dr Tsao Sui Lan Memorial Endowment Fund Official Launch Dinner
21 May ( To’ Puan Dr Tsao Sui Lan Memorial Endowment Fund Official Launch Dinner) Speeh by Organising Chairman Dato Sri Sean Wong.
OPENING ADDRESS BY ORGANISING CHAIRMAN DATO SRI SEAN WONG
Good evening. My wife and I are indeed honoured to have been given this opportunity to chair this meaningful event, to launch an endowment fund in honour of To’ Puan Dr. Tsao Sui Lan. She is an outstanding role model for all of us……talented, beautiful, passionate, fun and caring……an amazing woman that we all respect and love.
We are so grateful to Sian Chay Medical Institution for initiating the To’ Puan Dr. Tsao Sui Lan Memorial Endowment Fund. The presence of our Guest-of-honour President Halimah Yacob for this launch ceremony has given us tremendous encouragement and has certainly inspired us to further promote the spirit of philanthropy and volunteerism.
Our friendship with Dato’ Seri Dr. Toh Soon Huat, JP, BBM, PVPA, Chairman of Sian Chay Medical Institution and Dr. Benjie Ng, started in 2015 when I was President of JCI Mandarin Singapore. It was then that I told Dr Benjie I wanted to do something different. With the kind support of Dr Toh, we collaborated and the Inaugural Healing Arts Charity Gala Concert 2015 was a great success. We empowered disabled individuals and raised a total of $212,000 for charity. Part of this amount was used to set up a Sian Chay TCM clinic at Jalan Kayu, which was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2015.
One of the auction items I had was a beautiful finger painting donated by To’ Puan Dr Tsao. During the auction, our Patron Dato Seri Dr Derek Goh BBM was the successful bidder at $11,000 but he graciously donated the painting back immediately so it may be auctioned again. My partner and I loved the painting so much, so we bidded and won at $10,000. That was a total of $21,000 raised from this one painting. Everyone loved her painting, so after discussing with my partner, we decided to donate it to Sian Chay to be put up permanently at the Jalan Kayu clinic. So if you visit this clinic, you can still see this amazing piece of work by To’ Puan Dr Tsao. One painting, yet it inspires so many to give.
This clinic has now served thousands of patients, providing free medical consultation and low cost medication to the elderly and needy families in Singapore. Today, with the launch of the Memorial Endowment Fund, we are able to impact the lives of many others, individuals who have fallen out of the social safety net but require support and help from the community.
We are indeed fortunate to have the kind support of Dato’ Dr. Tan who has generously donated the priceless private art collection of To’ Puan Dr. Tsao and a donation of $2 mil to launch this Memorial Endowment Fund. Dato Dr Tan is a true philanthropist who is such an inspiration to all of us. I remember vividly how he personally supported my Inaugural Healing Arts Charity Gala Concert in 2015 with a $10,000 donation but insisted that he wanted to remain anonymous. It was then that I started to understand what philanthropy really means. He wanted nothing in return, not even a mention of his name. But in the end, I convinced him that I had to acknowledge him so that it will inspire others to give.
I will continue to work closely with Sian Chay Medical Institution to grow the Memorial Endowment Fund, year after year. The Miss World Singapore “Beauty With A Purpose” Charity Banquet will be held in September this year and all proceeds will be donated to Sian Chay Medical Institution for the Memorial Endowment Fund. We look forward to many exciting fundraising projects ahead.
Once again, we wish to express our sincerest appreciation to all our guests for your strong support and presence at the launch ceremony tonight. Let us come together and build a better Singapore by helping those in need.
Thank you.