At a luncheon hosted by Singapore Institute of Building (SIBL) and Building Estate Management Alumni (BEMA), the President of BEMA and Adjunct Professor at NUS CDE, Dr Teo Ho Pin, announced that both the SIBL and BEMA have jointly raised an endowed gift of S$155,500 to the Department of the Built Environment at NUS College of Design and Engineering (NUS CDE). This gift will provide scholarships to deserving students in the Bachelor of Engineering (Infrastructure and Project Management) programme.
Professor Michael Chew receiving the cheque from SIBL and BEMA.
“The Department is very grateful to the fund-raiser champion Dr Teo Ho Pin and Dr Sussie Ketit for establishing the endowed SIBL-BEMA Scholarship for the B.Eng (IPM) undergraduates. I am deeply touched by the donors who have generously given to the fund despite the challenges they have personally faced over the last two years due to the pandemic. The donors’ philanthropic spirit has kindled the importance of humility, compassion and empathy to others,” said an emotional Professor Michael Chew when he was receiving the cheque on behalf of NUS CDE. Prof Chew is the Head of the Department of the Built Environment (DBE).
SIBL started in 1981 as a professional institute in Singapore for professionals in building development, construction and maintenance, while BEMA was formed in July 1993, where Dr Teo Ho Pin has been the President since 1999, to foster closer ties for its members; the DBE and its alumni. SIBL President Dr Sussie Ketit shared a time as a young undergraduate when she was left with just $7 in her pocket till graduation. It taught her to treasure every cent, hence her passion for helping students facing financial difficulties.
The SIBL-BEMA scholarship is open to full-time first-year undergraduate students in the B.Eng (IPM) programme. At least one scholarship will be awarded each Academic Year, with a quantum of up to $10,000.
