Vision, passion and compassion: Honouring the legacies of Lee Kong Chian & Tan Chin Tuan

-Lo Tien Yin

NUS HAS BENEFITED greatly from the generosity and vision of the late Tan Sri Dr Lee Kong Chian and Tan Sri Dr Tan Chin Tuan. Support from these two renowned philanthropists has played a significant role in advancing the quality of education and research at NUS.

The University paid tribute to the two benefactors in a dedication ceremony at the University Hall (29 May), with the unveiling of two foundation stones by NUS Chancellor and Singapore ’s President, Mr S R Nathan.

TRIBUTE TO TWO: From left: President Shih Choon Fong, Dr  Lee Seng Gee, President S R Nathan and Dr Tan Kheng Lian at the unveiling of the foundation stones.

NUS President Professor Shih Choon Fong said at the ceremony: “Both Lee Kong Chian and Tan Chin Tuan had an extraordinary talent for business that touched the lives of ordinary people. They were highly successful entrepreneurs. More than creators of wealth, they saw a larger purpose to life – that of giving back to society and helping the less fortunate. Because of their vision, passion and compassion, they left legacies of priceless value to future generations.”

Dr Lee set up the Lee Foundation in 1952 for “the advancement of education, medicine and cultural activities”. In 1976, Dr Tan established the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation to, among other things, “support educational, medical and voluntary organisations committed to the good of human and social well-being”.

DEDICATION: A koi was released each by Dr Lee Seng Gee of the Lee Foundation and Dr Tan Kheng Lian of the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation.

Both the Foundations are special benefactors of NUS. The Lee Foundation gave $30 million and the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation, $29 million, with both gifts attracting dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government. “Truly, they are friends of education who have helped shape the future by giving back to society, particularly through their transformative gifts towards higher education,” added Professor Shih.

Part of their recent gifts has gone towards establishing Centennial Professorships for the appointment of top global talents, both homegrown and foreign-sourced. Professor Artur Ekert, Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics, University of Cambridge was appointed the Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor. Professor Subra Suresh, Ford Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was appointed the Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor.

GALLERY: VIPs and guests viewing the portraits of NUS Chancellors through the ages.

Besides the unveiling of the foundation stones, other highlights of the evening included a viewing of the portraits of NUS Chancellors among which is a portrait of Dr Lee Kong Chian, the first Asian Chancellor of NUS. Dr Lee Seng Gee of the Lee Foundation and Dr Tan Kheng Lian of the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation also released a koi each into a pond at the courtyard of University Hall. The release is a symbol of prosperity, longevity and friendship.

Later in the evening, the two Centennial Professors gave a short lecture on their research interests. Professor Suresh, through video-conferencing, delivered a lecture on nanotechnology and its applications at the intersections of engineering, life sciences and medicine with an emphasis on several human diseases. Professor Ekert, in his lecture, discussed quantum science, with a focus on quantum cryptography and quantum compilation. The field is a cross-disciplinary one which brings together theoretical and experimental quantum physics, mathematics, logic, computer science and information theory.