新加坡努力打造东南亚“首善之都”

以下为海峡时报英文报道原文：

More Philanthropic Foundations being Set up in Singapore

Trend reflects a greater interest among the rich in giving, govt efforts to develop sector

More philanthropic foundations, often set up by wealthy families, have been registered as charities here amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Office of the Commissioner of Charities told The Straits Times it has granted charity status to 12 groups that engage in grant-making since the start of the year. This is up from eight last year and three in 2019, the commissioner, Mr Desmond Chin, added. The trend reflects a greater interest in philanthropy among those with deep pockets as well as efforts by various government agencies to promote and develop the philanthropic sector, said those interviewed.

Among the new foundations registered as charities, this year are the Fu Foundation, the Hinrich Foundation and the Quantedge Advancement Initiative.

Mr Fuganto Widjaja, executive director of Golden Energy and Resources – a Singapore-based company – is one of the directors of the Fu Foundation. He is the grandson of Indonesian billionaire Eka Tjipta Widjaja. The late billionaire founded the Sinar Mas Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia.

The Hinrich Foundation, a philanthropic organisation advancing global trade, was founded by Mr Merle Hinrich. Mr Hinrich, who is born in the United States, founded Global Sources, a trade facilitation firm.

The Quantedge Advancement Initiative, which was registered as a charity in February, is involved in climate change action and health and development efforts in vulnerable communities, particularly in South-East Asia. One of the first grants it made was to donate vaccines to lower-in-come Asian countries through Gavi, the vaccine alliance.

The Quantedge Advancement Initiative is affiliated to the Quantedge Foundation, which was set up by senior staff of investment management firm Quantedge Capital. The foundation’s director, Mr Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin, said its core focus is to improve social mobility here.

Mr Laurence Lien, chairman of the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), noted that more foreigners have set up foundations in Singapore this year. He said: ‘This is not surprising as Singapore has grown as a wealth management hub, with a large growth in the number of family offices here. “

As some of the principals (of the family offices) emigrate and base themselves, partially or fully, out of Singapore, a few would naturally desire to establish their philanthropic vehicles here too.”

The APC is a platform for Asian philanthropists to collaborate and address social problems. Mr Lien is also the chairman of the Lien Foundation, which was founded by his grandfather, the late Overseas Union Bank founder Lien Ying Chow.

To promote philanthropy. the Commissioner of Charities said his office subjects grantmakers to a lighter-touch regime, where certain regulatory requirements are relaxed or waived under the Grantmaker Scheme.

A spokesman for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said there has been growing interest in philanthropy from single family offices based in Singapore during the Covid- 19 pandemic, given the greater awareness of the needs of the less privileged.

A single family office is an entity that manages the assets of one wealthy family. To identify ways to boost interest and growth in the philanthropic ecosystem here, the MAS started the Philanthropy Workgroup in March.

Meanwhile, the International Organisations Programme Office at the Economic Development Board is working with other government agencies and philanthropic partners to strengthen philanthropic capabilities here.

This is done, for example, by building the talent pool of Singapore-based professionals to manage philanthropic activities, and facilitating philanthropic partnerships from Singapore that grow domestic and regional giving.

Mr Lien welcomed the setting up of new foundations, but he noted that many current ones do not have professional staff to develop impactful grant-making programmes, among other aims. He said: “The green shoots, though, are that the younger successful business people and the younger generation in wealthy families are increasingly socially conscious. They desire to give more, do it better, but also act differently.”

Moh Family Sets up New Foundation to Continue Legacy of Late Tycoon, Wife

The Moh Family Foundation continues the legacy of the late furniture tycoon Laurence Moh. Registered as a charity here in September, it was set up by his son Michael and daughter-in-law Peggy.

“My father-in-law was a big believer in giving back to the community,” said Mrs Peggy Moh, who is chief executive of the foundation.

Mr Laurence Moh was the founder of Universal Furniture. When he sold the company in 1989, it was described as one of the world’s largest producers of wood furniture, with annual sales of about US$530 million. The late tycoon was born in China, but he later became a Singaporean and made Singapore his home, Mrs Moh told The Straits Times. Mr Laurence Moh and his wife Celiaset up the Moh Foundation in 2002 in the United States, as his business was predominantly there.

The Moh Foundation supported education, social services, health and other causes, largely in the US and China. For their 40th wedding anniversary in 1999, Mrs Celia Moh did not want diamonds or pearls but asked her husband to “do something good for society” instead.

Mr Moh donated $2 million to Singapore Management University to endow the Celia Moh Professorial Chair, which recognizes the outstanding work of a female faculty member at the university, Mr Laurence Moh and his wife Celia have since died.

Last year, Mr Michael Moh – the younger of two sons and chairman of Shanghai Weijia Furniture and his family moved from China to Singapore to come home for good”. He and his wife have five children, aged between 1 and 23.

The couple decided to start a new foundation in Singapore to continue the philanthropic work of Mr Moh’s late parents, and thus the MohFamily Foundation was set up. The foundation seeks to understand the needs onthe ground and is keen to help build capacity in the social service sector, among other things. It also collaborates with charities to support programmes that help children with different needs.

Mrs Peggy Moh, who trained as a certified public accountant, declined to say how much her family has donated to start the Moh Family Foundation but said it has three staff, including herself.

“We are not the type of foundation where we set aside a certain amount of money to give each year and that’s it. We are more cause-driven,” she said. The causes include helping children with low vision and those from poor families to maximise their potential Given that she is a mother herself, she said helping children is something close to her heart.

“It’s not about giving money away to make me feel good. But it’s whether the money makes an impact or makes someone’s life better.”Mrs Moh is also a member of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, a platform for Asian philanthropists to collaborate and address social problems. She said she appreciates the learning and comradeship.

“For all of us, there’s always something that someone did for you that made a big difference,” she said. “So that is what we want to do – to give vulnerable people the support they need.”