Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund

Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund

The late Mr Jek Yeun Thong left behind a legacy that reminded many Singaporeans of the sacrifices our pioneer political leaders made to build a harmonious multi-cultural society we enjoy today. Whether as an activist, journalist, diplomat or politician, Mr Jek’s life was marked by qualities of humility, sincerity, dignity, honesty, and compassion for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

To cherish the legacy of Mr Jek Yeun Thong, NTU established the Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund at the School of Social Sciences at NTU to honour the late pioneer leader Mr Jek Yeun Thong for his contribution to the disadvantaged and marginalised, with a generous donation from his widow, Madam Huang Kek Chee.

This Fund will enable undergraduates to conduct field research into critical social issues our community faces, and to experience working with the less fortunate through internships with social service organisations in the non-profit sector.  It will also support discourse of critical social issues through public seminars by faculty at NTU.

First Graduation Project funded by Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund

Jessa Gan is the inaugural recipient of the JYT Community Fund award for her graduation project. She will give a brief presentation about her graduation project – basically what got her interested in working on this project pertaining to the Persons with Disabilities community, what the findings from her GP were and takeaways that the community-at-large should know about, etc.

Click here to view the video.

Interested to Apply for Graduation Project to be funded from Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund?

About the Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund

The Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund was established in 2019 through generous donations by family & friends of Jek Yeun Thong. The purpose of the fund is to develop students in community service and engagement.

Eligibility

1. All School of Social Sciences (SSS) NTU Graduation Project (GP) that has a significant component on community development.

   (i)              The GP student/team has to clearly identify the “community” in their proposal.

   A community has the following features: (1) it is a group of people who interact with one another (either face-to-face or online) in Singapore.  (2) The community members typically have shared values, beliefs, concerns or patterns of behavior.  For example, the elderly community, the disabled community, the cultural community, the religious community, etc.

   The community can be emergent or existing.

   (ii)            The GP student/team has to identify and elaborate the problem that the community faces, and propose ways to address the problem so that the community can grow in a holistic manner.

    

2. For Individual Project
   • Applicant must be Singapore Citizen pursuing an undergraduate degree at the School of Social Sciences (SSS) at NTU.
   • The Graduation Project has a significant component on community development.

      

3. For Group Project
   • There must be at least one Singaporean student from the School of Social Sciences (SSS) at NTU.

      

     Application Process

     The application period is from August to first week of November. Look out for the call for application in your inbox in August/early September.

      

     Selection Considerations

     The Selection Committee will prioritize eligible projects based on considerations such as: timeliness and relevance of the topics; diversity of the research projects; projects that will not be feasible without the funding; and communities in need.

      

     Receipt of Fund

     Each project will receive a lump sum grant of $1000.

     Student(s) receiving the fund have to keep all the receipts and also keep a record of expenditures for post-activity review and auditing purposes. These receipts and record of expenditures must be submitted to the UG Office at the end of the project.

      

     Guidelines for Use of Fund

     The fund can be used for fieldwork expenditures (transportation, translation and transcription, interviewee inconvenience fees, administering the survey, etc.)

      

     The fund should not be used for items that are not related to the implementation of the research itself (e.g. GP students or their friends’ food and beverage).

      

      

Interested to Apply for Internship to be funded from Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund?

About the Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund

The Jek Yeun Thong Community Development Fund is donated in 2019 by family & friends of Jek Yeun Thong. The purpose of the fund is to develop students in community service and engagement in Singapore, by supporting Third Year students performing Structured Social Service internships in Community and Non-profit Organisations for ten (10) weeks.

Eligibility

1. SSS Undergraduate Students who are Singapore Citizens are eligible to apply.
2. The internship can be self-sourced or sourced through the Career & Attachment Office (CAO)​​ Portal.
3. The internship must meet the following criteria:
4. The organisation has to be either a member of the National Council of Social Service and Institution​ of a ​​Public Character​ (IPC) (this includes associations, community groups and non-government organisations) or a member of raiSE.                                 ​
5. The internship must be a ten-week, full-time internship.
6. The internship is structured and must be related to their field of study.
7. There must be a reporting supervisor from the internship organisation to whom the student reports.

You can check for the eligibility of the organization online at:

(a)   List of NCSS Members - https://www.ncss.gov.sg/GatewayPages/Social-Service-Organisations/Membership/List-of-NCSS-Members

(b)   Institute of Public Character - https://www.charities.gov.sg/_layouts/MCYSCPSearch/MCYSCPSearchCriteriaPage.aspx

(c)    raiSE Directory - https://www.raise.sg/directory/directories/default.html?pbs=null

Note: Students can only accept one fund (Social Impact Internship Stipend or Jek Yuen Thong’s Community Fund for Internship).

The Selection Committee will prioritize supporting applications from bursary holders, those who are receiving other forms of financial aid, and those who have financial needs due to extenuating circumstances. If selected, financial aid records or other records showing financial need must be provided for verification.

Application Process

The application period is from January to April each year. Students must complete and submit the application form to SSS UG Office at least six weeks before the start of internship. Students will be notified of the application result in end May.

Selection Criteria

Applicants shall be considered based on strong academic results, with priority given to those with financial needs. Applicants who demonstrate a passionate concern for community and humanity will be strongly favoured.

Receiving of Fund

Up to $2000 (based on ten weeks of internship) will be awarded to each selected applicant. The awarded amount will depend on the duration of the internship and the amount of the stipend provided by the internship organization.

We will review the amount to be awarded on a case-by-case basis and inform awarded applicants accordingly. Half of the total amount will be credited to awardees’ GIRO accounts in June. The rest of the amount will be credited to their GIRO accounts upon satisfactory completion of their internship along with the submission of reflections (not more than 500 words) and the supervisor form. The students will have to provide their bank details for the funds to be transferred to their bank accounts.