A series of transformative gifts with wide impact
Philanthropic support plays a vital role in student success. Long-standing supporters of the university include UOB and the Wee Foundation. Student and alumni beneficiaries share how they have charted their paths over the years.
Text: Christine Teh
Over the years, UOB and the Wee Foundation, alongside the bank’s founder, the late Dr Wee Cho Yaw, have championed education at NTU Singapore. Their philanthropic contributions have been instrumental in advancing education and research, providing financial support to students in need, and nurturing future leaders.
Among the initiatives are the Wee Cho Yaw Future Leaders Award, the Wee Foundation Bursary Fund, and the Wee Cho Yaw Master of Science (Finance) Scholarship Fund at the Nanyang Business School. Complementing these are the United Overseas Bank Gold Medals and Book Prizes, introduced to recognise and encourage outstanding graduates in each cohort to reach their fullest potential.
The impact of supporting undergraduate education is far-reaching. Two beneficiaries share how their lives have been transformed for the better.
 | "The Wee Cho Yaw Future Leaders Award eased a huge weight off my shoulders. I could focus on discovering my passion instead of worrying about my finances. I was able to immerse myself in hackathons and engineering projects, clinching first runner-up spot at an Alibaba Cloud hackathon. An overseas exchange in Switzerland further broadened my horizons.” Poon Wei Kang, NTU’s College of Computing and Data Science Class of 2025 graduate, is currently a software engineer at PayPal. |
 | “When my brother and I were attending university at the same time, the financial burden on my family was significant. Receiving the Wee Foundation Bursary allowed me to reduce my part-time work commitments and take part in more school activities. These activities not only enriched my academic life but also contributed to my personal growth.” Colleen Soh, NTU’s School of Humanities Class of 2025 graduate, works at MapleBear Singapore as a preschool teacher. |
Greater support for student development
Continuing this legacy of support, the two organisations pledged a combined S$110 million to NTU Singapore in support of innovation, entrepreneurship and education in April 2025. To begin with, the University plans to launch three educational initiatives in Academic Year 2026 that will open new opportunities for undergraduate students.
The gift will go towards providing financial support to undergraduates in need through the NTU Opportunity Grant, as well as supporting the launch of Uplift@NTU, a community-based programme where NTU students mentor and tutor disadvantaged children and youth, nurturing in them a strong sense of giving back to the community.
In addition, the gift will fund a venture creation programme that empowers students to turn ideas into impact, tackling real-world challenges in areas such as artificial intelligence and sustainability.
A snapshot of the initial educational initiatives
As an extension of this support to promote venture creation among NTU alumni, students, and faculty and staff, the UOB Innovation Hub was launched last month – a space designed to house and incubate more than 90 venture teams and start-ups over the next five years while strengthening Singapore’s entrepreneurial pipeline.
Students such as the founders of PeatGuard are among the first group of student venture teams under the new NTU Venture Creation Programme to be incubated at the UOB Innovation Hub.
Louise Goh, a year-two engineering student, said: “Our project, PeatGuard, has recently been awarded the top pitching prize. With seed funding of S$15,000, we are going to develop a data-driven environmental restoration platform that uses satellite imagery and ground sensors to guide communities in restoring degraded peatlands. We are excited to see how our platform can help farmers in the region restore their farmlands.”
NTU students conceptualised PeatGuard as a digital tool to guide communities in restoring degraded peatlands.
An AI tool, MiniClue, developed by NTU students, enables users to read and interact with documents directly on their own devices without uploading sensitive data to the cloud.
