We are 40 years old

Established in 1967, the Trust has grown from strength to strength helping thousands of children and young adults meet their aspirations through the gift of education. Many recipients have recounted how the bursaries and other financial assistance like loans they received helped them at a critical juncture of their lives. Without the timely help, they would have missed out on the opportunity to pursue higher levels of education. The Trust continues to encourage all recipients to play their part in contributing to the community when they are able to and we are pleased that many do contribute their time and effort to community work including those who have returned to serve the Trust on the Management Council.

The financial resources the Trust has garnered and the support which the Trust has provided to the many individuals over the years would not have been possible without the efforts of the strong leadership the Trust has enjoyed. The Trust has indeed been privileged to have Indian community leaders step forward to lead in helping deserving Indian students. For the past twenty five years, the Trust has been presided over by one of the most prominent members of the Singapore Indian community, Mr S Chandra Das. As President of the Trust, Mr. Chandra Das has been a tower of strength and a source of inspiration and guidance to successive management teams that led the Trust. Mr. Chandra Das has stepped down from his role as President of the Trust in 2007 but his contributions will forever remain etched in the institutional memory of the Trust.

Taking over from Mr. Chandra Das is Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is our privilege and honour to have Dr Balaji at the helm. We extend our warm welcome to Dr Balaji and look forward to benefitting from his leadership and guidance to expand the resources of the Trust and widen the scope of our services.

As we move forward the Trust is more than ever aware of the inextricable link between our economy, quality of life and education. We realize that the vitality of our community depends on the acquisition of new knowledge. New demands and challenges have placed an unprecedented focus on the need for a highly educated community not only in the traditional fields like law, engineering, social sciences and medicine but also in a wide range of other fields that have emerged. We must provide opportunities for our children to compete in all fields. Areas like computer games development, film arts, theatre arts, graphics, sports management. media communications and the like. The Trust has already begun providing support for students keen to acquire qualifications in these life style subjects.

The Trust is equally aware that our youths must also understand how competitive the global economy is. They must develop the confidence and the competence to succeed in the real world. It is with this in mind that we have created ConneXus, the forum where youth will receive mentorship, be inspired by role models, and most importantly develop contacts and benefit from a structured networking arrangement. This initiative has already given a meaningful platform to our youths to prepare them with “life” skills for the challenges they will face when they enter the workforce.

Looking ahead the challenges of fund raising and providing new initiatives to stay relevant to the changing education landscape will continue to be the main drivers of resource planning at SIET. The Trust is also dependent on a committed pool of volunteers for the vision and expertise they provide for the planning and management of SIET. We acknowledge with thanks all those who have volunteered their time to manage the affairs of SIET.

SIET indeed continues to be committed to providing financial assistance to the needy and deserving for the betterment of the lives of the younger members of our community so that they will be valuable members of the larger Singapore community.

V P Jothi

Chairman