The write stuff

January 2008

Mr Goh Sin Tub and Dr Sylvia Goh in 1988

More than 50 years ago, a young man was awarded a bursary to read English at the then University of Malaya (UM), a predecessor institution of NUS. The award would eventually add a page to literary history – Goh Sin Tub, the recipient, would go on to become one of Singapore’s best-known pioneer writers.

The award would also change his life in a more personal way. Says Dr Sylvia Goh, his widow who is herself an NUS alumna from the medical faculty at UM: “If he hadn’t received the bursary, I wouldn’t have met him and married him.”

The story of Mr Goh, who was also a banker and civil servant, now comes full circle. Dr Goh has made a $150,000 gift in memory of her husband, who died in 2004, to support the Goh Sin Tub Bursary for NUS undergraduates.

The endowed gift will qualify for the existing dollar for dollar matching grant from the Singapore Government. Two awards will be made annually, one each at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Says Dr Goh: “My husband believed in and supported education and he was awarded the Public Service Star in 1988 for his services to education. He was passionate about creative writing, and was always giving talks on creative writing at schools. I hope that this gift will encourage others to give to support education at NUS.”