NUS Business School charity run raises over $140,000

SINGAPORE - More than $140,000 was raised for students of Assumption Pathway School (APS) and financially needy undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School's Bizad Charity Run today.

The annual run, which is now into its fifth year, was attended by some 1,300 staff, students and alumni of the NUS Business School, as well as members of the public.

Participants can choose to take part in the 10km Competitive Run or the 5km Fun Run in a hilly route through the university's Kent Ridge campus.

Some familiar faces were there for the run, including Singapore's first Olympic gymnast Ms Lim Heem Wei, Mr Chan Meng Hui, who was the event's oldest runner at 85, and Singapore's "blade runner" Mr Shariff Abdullah.

Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Mrs Josephine Teo, was the guest-of-honour.

Ms Chua Beng Hwee, Chairperson of NUS Bizad Charity Run 2015 and NUS Business School alumna, said that this year's run was aimed at helping underprivileged youths in Singapore achieve success.

"We are thus donating some $40,000 to APS to further encourage APS students to dream big despite the challenges they face," she said.

APS provides an alternative educational track from mainstream secondary schools with a four-year vocational education for students between 13 and 19. Students receive an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Skills Certificate in a particular vocational skill upon completion of the programme.

They may then move on to further education and training with the Assumption Pathway Academy, the ITE or other traineeship programmes in the industry.

"As NUS Business School marks its 50th anniversary, we believe it is fitting to kick off the year's festivities by coming together to pay it forward to the community," Ms Chua added.

seanyap@sph.com.sg