Temasek Foundation (TF), a non-profit organisation under the philanthropic arm of the Singapore state sovereign fund Temasek Holdings, has launched bond-free scholarships in honour of three late unionists, known as the TF-Union Scholarships.

These scholarships pay tribute to the advocacy of G Muthukumarasamy, Nachiappan RK Sinniah, and Nithiah Nandan s/o Arumugam, who dedicated themselves to the welfare of daily-rated and lower-income workers.

Speaking at the inaugural TF-Union Scholarship award ceremony on Wednesday (Nov. 1), guest-of-honour Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam shared that the three unionists were strong advocates of education and lifelong learning.

"Today, we want to honour the 3 union leaders in a very Singaporean way — by setting up scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds," he said.

Over S$4 million to be committed over a five-year period

Temasek Foundation will allocate over S$4 million in grants over a five-year period to fund these scholarships.

Each year, around 39 students from various Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), including the six local universities, five polytechnics, and the Institutes of Technical Education, will be recipients of the TF-Union Scholarship.

The scholarship, depending on the level of study, covers living expenses ranging from S$3,000 to S$5,000 for each awardee.

It also includes a S$2,000 family recognition award to be shared among the recipient's family or household members.

This award acknowledges the crucial role of family members in the recipients' lives and helps alleviate the financial burdens they may face when potential breadwinners go on to pursue further education.

38 recipients from diverse academic backgrounds

The TF-Union Scholarships are open to students of all ages, including mature students, and are awarded to individuals from lower-income backgrounds who have demonstrated academic excellence.

At the award ceremony, Shanmugam presented the certificates of scholarship to 38 recipients this year.

These recipients represented diverse academic backgrounds, including fields such as accounting, medicine, and culinary studies.

Shanmugam offered words of encouragement to the scholarship recipients, urging them to develop their potential and chart their own paths.

He also emphasised the importance of giving back to society, following the Singaporean ethos.

He said:

"We recognise that education, you doing well in school is a primary thing, but we also expect you to spend whatever bit of time you can, coming back and helping the community in some ways, so that you understand the lives of others too, and pay it forward. I hope that the 38 scholars today and the successive generations of scholars will be working in that direction, I will ask NTUC and Temasek to help in this, talk to you all, send you to different places to understand, do a little bit of community work. That’s the Singapore way, it’s what the three union leaders believed and dedicated themselves to."

Recipients share their gratitude

The recipients expressed their gratitude for the scholarships.

Speaking to Mothership, one recipient, Laila Mishazira binte Muhammad Jufri, said that the scholarship "is a really generous and heartwarming thing to do for local Singaporeans, especially students who are going to contribute eventually in the future."

The mass communications student from Republic Polytechnic said that it allows her to focus on school and “not worry too much about school fees being paid”.

The award was "more than enough" to cover her school fees, weekly allowances and transportation costs, she said.

"Seeing [my family] being proud of me is also a good motivation to continue working hard and achieving even greater heights," she said.

Another recipient, Shaun Shankar, shared that the scholarship will mark a hallmark moment in recognising his efforts made in the past two years since he started his undergraduate studies at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

He has been taking on internships to help support his family with more income after his father closed down his business due to Covid-19 and his mother became the sole breadwinner of the family.

The finance major is also currently undergoing a work-study programme with Standard Chartered.

With the scholarship, Shandar shared that it will give him the flexibility and the time to focus on academics.

Background on the three unionists

The three unionists the scholarships are named after are well-known union leaders who strove to improve the welfare and career prospects of low-income, daily-rated workers, Shanmugam shared.

Nachiappan RK Sinniah and Nithiah Nandan s/o Arumugam served as former General Secretaries of the Union of Power and Gas (UPAGE).

Nachiappan united daily-rated and monthly-rated workers under one union, working toward tripartism and positive industrial relations in the energy and power sector.

Nithiah, who had worked as a daily-rated worker for two decades, turned down promotions to advocate for training and skills upgrading among his co-workers.

G Muthukumarasamy was the former General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Daily Rated Workers (AUPDRW).

He played a pivotal role in securing better salaries and incentives for daily-rated workers, such as cleaners and gravediggers, and opened up opportunities for the workers to upskill themselves.

Top photos by Mothership