A gift inspired by the next generation
Yap Wee Kwong, who studied Accountancy at NTU, was the first in his family to graduate from university in 1996. Nearly three decades later, he was inspired by his daughter to establish a bursary for financially needy NTU undergraduates.
When Nanyang Business School (NBS) alumnus Yap Wee Kwong was a student at NTU, campus life was simpler. Opportunities were fewer, and financial support was not as visible or accessible as it is today.
“During my time, I hardly heard of scholarships offered by NTU to its students,” recalled Wee Kwong.
Yap Wee Kwong as a student at NTU. (Photo: Yap Wee Kwong)
His father was a bus driver and his mother, a homemaker. Like many first-generation university students, Wee Kwong relied on a student loan, which was supplemented by giving tuition throughout his undergraduate days, to earn his degree in Accountancy. He had a clear goal in mind: “My family background wasn’t that strong. What I wanted to do was to graduate so I could work and earn money.”
When the past meets the future
Wee Kwong earned another degree from NTU in 2005, when he graduated with a Master of Science in Knowledge Management from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.
Two decades later, after enjoying what he describes as a “smooth-sailing” career as an accountant, he again returned to his alma mater. This time, it was to accompany his daughter Lynnette, who enrolled in NTU’s Asian School of the Environment (ASE) as an undergraduate in 2025.
He was immediately struck by how much the NTU campus had changed. “There are so many more amenities such as supermarkets and fast-food outlets.”
But NTU’s transformation runs far deeper than bricks and mortar. Wee Kwong’s daughter, a recipient of the Nanyang Global Scholarship who is also enrolled in the CN Yang Scholars Programme, studies Environmental Sciences with a second major in Data Analytics — one of many current academic pairings that did not exist during his NTU days.
Yap Wee Kwong (right) with his wife, Chan Seow Wai, and their daughter, Lynnette Yap. (Photo: Yap Wee Kwong)
Through the CN Yang Scholars Programme, she can access research opportunities and participate in overseas learning expeditions to Australia and Indonesia.
“Nowadays students can pursue second majors or even double degrees,” Wee Kwong said. “They benefit from a broader and deeper education at NTU.”
Amid these changes, some connections from his NTU days have endured. Wee Kwong is still in touch with his former Accountancy lecturer, Associate Professor Patricia Tan Mui Siang, who has been teaching at NTU for some 30 years. “I tap her brain for my daughter,” he said with a laugh.
Paying it forward
Wee Kwong’s giving began modestly, with intermittent contributions to the University over the years. In 2022, at a good friend’s suggestion, he pledged S$40,000 to support financially disadvantaged students at NBS.
But it was his daughter’s journey at NTU and the many opportunities she had access to that inspired him and his wife, fellow NBS alumna Chan Seow Wai, to do more.
“We feel blessed and grateful, so we decided to contribute back,” he said.
In June 2025, he and his wife pledged S$150,000 to establish the Yap Wee Kwong & Family Gratitude Bursary. The bursary supports financially needy undergraduates, with preference given to ASE students.
For Wee Kwong, the bursary is not about rewarding top grades. “It’s to help students who have the ability to succeed at university, but may be held back by financial challenges,” he said.
He hopes the impact of his gift will be apparent when the beneficiaries pay it forward.
“When bursary recipients are in a position to give, I hope they will continue the cycle,” he said. “If we can contribute, we should try to do so as much as we can.”
In many ways, his story reflects a quiet but powerful shift – from striving for opportunity to creating it for others.
And for Wee Kwong, it all began with the next generation.
