Indonesian tycoon makes $30m donation to NUS AsiaOne Sunday, Jan 01, 2012
SINGAPORE - A wealthy Indonesian businessman and philanthropist has made a $30 million gift to the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSoM). With a matching grant made by the government, the gift is expected to amount to an estimated $75 million, NUS said on its website. The donor is Dr Tahir, a 1976 graduate of Nanyang University, which later merged with the University of Singapore to form NUS. The NUS alumnus - who is the founder and executive chairman of the Indonesian conglomerate Mayapada Group - has made previous gifts to NUS but none as large as this recent one. Over the period between 2006 and 2010, Dr Tahir gave a total of $3 million to set up scholarships and bursaries at NUS Business School and University Town. His gift this round will help to advance medical education and research in YLLSoM, NUS President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan said on the varsity's website. When interviewed by The Straits Times (ST), Dr Tahir, 59, was hesitant to talk about the $30 million pledge he had made but instead discussed his philosophy of philanthropy. He mentioned investor George Soros, an example of what he called "corporate raiders" - those who "take countries down and leave their people without jobs, then become philanthropic". "Would you call him a good man?" Dr Tahir asked in the ST interview. Dr Tahir said he would rather be a Bill Gates than a George Soros. "It's not about how many cars you have, how rich you are. That's disgusting," he was quoted as saying in ST. This incisive quote, incidentally, became the headline of ST's story about him. Dr Tahir said education was one of the most important causes one could support, and he hoped his actions would inspire other alumni and friends to do likewise. Prof Tan said on the NUS website, "As an alumni donor of the University, Dr Tahir inspires us with his passionate belief in the University's ability to influence the future and positively impact the lives around us." [email protected] http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BN ... 19334.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
