By Yen Feng

THERE comes a time, says Mr Yeo Keng Joon, when boys must cast aside their shorts for the dignified look of trousers. But when he was growing up in a single-parent home in Malacca during the 1960s, Mr Yeo had little money for vanity.

'I was 13 and the only one in my class still wearing shorts,' recalls the 57-year-old managing partner of Global Biotech, an investment firm and consultancy.'We lived in a small house with little furniture. I never invited my friends over.'

While his shorts caused his cheeks to burn, it also fired his resolve to excel in school. Buoyed by scholarships, cash awards and community grants, he went on to get his Master of Business Administration before rising through the corporate ranks to establish Global Biotech.

Up until he began working on his master's degree in 1982, Mr Yeo's education was funded entirely through his schools' financial aid programmes, the Government, cash awards and contributions from his community, the Hainanese clan association. He did not pay a single cent.

Now, the millionaire alumnus of the National University of Singapore (NUS) is making sure other less fortunate students have access to educational lifelines.

His latest coup: the NUS Business School Alumni Association Bursary Fund, the result of a year's collaboration between him and the university's Development Office.

Mr Yeo's aim is for scholarships and other financial assistance schemes to help level the academic playing field, and give talented but cash-strapped students a chance to excel.

The kitty provides financial relief to undergraduate business school students whose monthly family income is about $1,000. It will provide each student with $2,500 a year - about half the school's annual fees.

In its inaugural year, Mr Yeo and other alumni raised $579,000, half of which came from the Government. Mr Yeo donated $25,000.

The university receives about 600 business undergraduates each year. This year, it has picked 11 for the award, which will be presented at a ceremony next Monday.

Already, Mr Yeo has developed and now co-chairs Startup@Singapore, an annual business plan competition for aspiring student entrepreneurs. In 2000, he set up NUS' Business School Alumni Association to help students glean experience from their seniors.

He said: 'I want university students to be able to focus on their work, and not have to give tuition to earn their degree.'

Mr Yeo's book-smarts gave him a bright future, although his wardrobe was lacking. His drive - or 'desperation', as he calls it - made him hungry to break out of the cycle of poverty. 'I was given a chance. Now, I want to give that chance to others.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Sept 20, 2008.

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