New bursary for Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences students, thanks to $250,000 endowed gift in memory of Mdm Chew Teck Neo

15 December 2008

The family of the late Mdm Chew Teck Neo has made a S$250,000 endowed gift to support a bursary in her honour at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).

The gift towards the Chew Teck Neo Bursary will attract a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the Singapore Government. It will support up to six bursaries of S$3,000 annually. All eligible FASS students can apply for the bursary, but preference will be given to those studying Philosophy.

Mrs Anne Chong (nee Pang Guek Cheng), an NUS alumnus and daughter of Mdm Chew Teck Neo, said the gift was a tribute to her mother and the women of her time. Mdm Chew lived through war and occupation years, and this gave her a steely determination to provide for her family and help others in need. The impetus for the gift came from Mrs Chong’s husband, Pius Chong Fah Cheong, also an NUS alumnus.

Mrs Chong remembers her mother to be a resourceful and enterprising woman who was constantly dreaming up ways to earn money. Among other things, she ran a lodging house and a home-based catering business, raised pigs and chickens and ventured into stocks and real estate until she was able to buy a home for each of her seven children. Having experienced hunger and need herself, Mdm Chew tried to give as much as she was able to those who sought her help.

Said Mrs Chong: “My mother was an ordinary, everyday hero, in her own way the pillar and support of all those around her. To celebrate her life is to celebrate the lives of so many women like her to whom we are all indebted.”

The Chew Teck Neo Bursary was made possible by gifts from Mr and Mrs Chong, and Mrs Chong’s brothers, Messrs Pang Boon Hee, Pang Boon Seng and Pang Boon Liang. Both Mr and Mrs Chong studied Philosophy in NUS.