[18 January 2008]
SMU grooms young Asian leaders in new programme for overseas exchange and community service

A new Temasek Foundation-SMU Leadership Enrichment and Regional Networking (LEaRN) Programme, established with a S$430,000 funding from Temasek Foundation, will send 80 undergraduates for overseas exchange and community service in Asia

Singapore, 18 January 2008 (Friday) – The Singapore Management University (SMU) has received a funding of S$430,000 from the Temasek Foundation to set up the new Temasek Foundation-SMU Leadership Enrichment and Regional Networking (LEaRN) Programme. Aimed at grooming bright young Asian leaders from around the region through overseas exchange studies and community service exposure, the LEaRN Programme will sponsor 40 SMU undergraduates to go to Asian partner universities for exchange and 40 undergraduates from Asian partner universities to come to SMU for exchange. The S$430,000 contribution will run the LEaRN Programme for one year, with both organisations looking towards continuing this partnership for the longer term for the programme to be sustained.

Outbound SMU undergraduates will spend a semester in an Asian partner university in regional countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. They will each be awarded an overseas exchange scholarship under the LEaRN Programme with a value of up to S$4,250 per student covering their return airfare, accommodation, living expenses and books. One of the key objectives of the LEaRN Programme being character-building through community outreach and giving back to society, the scholars are required to participate in meaningful community projects with community, social and civic organisations in the Asian host country where they are on study exchange.

Inbound undergraduates from Asian partner universities will similarly spend a semester in SMU under the LEaRN Programme where they will each be awarded an overseas exchange scholarship with a value of up to S$6,500 per student. Like the outbound SMU undergraduates, they are also required to immerse themselves in purposeful community service projects approved by SMU. To help the inbound undergraduates adjust to life in Singapore, host families will provide friendship and familial support through cultural immersion, introduction to local festivities and familiarisation with Singapore lifestyles and practices. A comprehensive programme for international students comprising orientation camps, buddy pairing and networking activities helps them integrate into the SMU community and student life.

The twin emphasis on developing an international outlook through overseas studies combined with active community involvement and contribution to social causes will see both outbound and inbound undergraduates complete the ‘Leadership and Team Building' course in SMU – a core university requirement which develops leadership and management skills through group projects that serve a social and community objective. Students on the LEaRN Programme will keep journals to record their day-to-day experiences and reflections as a way to share their overseas achievements with their home communities upon completion of the exchange programme.

Please see Annex for the list of SMU's 31 partner Asian universities.

All full-time undergraduates of Asian nationalities from SMU and its partner Asian universities, who have completed at least one year of university studies, are eligible to apply for the overseas exchange scholarships under the Temasek Foundation-SMU LEaRN Programme. Applicants are required to have good academic and CCA track record. The first batch of scholars under the LEaRN Programme will embark on overseas exchange and community service in August 2008.

“The LEaRN programme will present wonderful opportunities for these Asian students to develop their leadership skills, forge friendships and build ties with each other. Temasek Foundation is pleased to support such a programme which is in tune with our mandate of building bridges among people in Asia and developing people through education,” said Mr Goh Geok Khim, Chairman of Temasek Foundation.

Professor Howard Hunter, President of SMU said: “We are grateful to the Temasek Foundation for their generosity in helping undergraduates broaden their horizons by funding their overseas exchange. This partnership is a major step forward in our mission to groom socially conscious and ethically responsible business leaders from among the young talent pool in the dynamic economies of Asia . Besides academic studies, we will see scholars on the LEaRN Programme immerse themselves in community outreach, putting special focus on the key causes of elderly, children & youth, women, disability groups and the environment. This is consistent with the SMU requirement that every student engages in substantial community service and the University's policy of encouraging students to have overseas experiences.”

The S$430,000 contribution by the Temasek Foundation will be matched dollar for dollar by the Singapore government.

About Overseas Exchange in SMU

The popular University Exchange Programme in SMU allows many undergraduates to spend a semester (of approximately 15 weeks) in one of our 140 foreign partner universities around the world. In SMU, every undergraduate who applies for overseas exchange will usually be successful. Every year, about 300 SMU undergraduates go on overseas exchange. About 30% of each cohort of SMU undergraduates will experience overseas exchange at some point in their university studies. Examples of SMU's partner universities include The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, University of British Columbia in Canada, Bordeaux Business School in France, European Business School in Germany, Lund University in Sweden, Xiamen University in China, Waseda University in Japan and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

In 2007, a total of 67 SMU undergraduates went on overseas exchange to our partner Asian universities and 102 undergraduates from our partner Asian universities came to SMU for exchange. In 2008, another 28 SMU undergraduates are currently on overseas exchange in these Asian universities, and 57 undergraduates arrived in SMU for exchange.

About Community Service in SMU

All SMU undergraduates are required to fulfill 2 weeks (or 80 hours) of community service with a recognized community, social or civic organisation. This can be carried out locally or overseas. Many undergraduates acquired a deep passion and enthusiasm in community outreach that they served beyond the 80 hours requirement. SMU believes that volunteerism and contribution back to communities develop important values of compassion, social consciousness and responsible stewardship which are essential for character-building.

Some examples of overseas community service which SMU undergraduates have carried out include travelling to Johannesburg to build libraries and computer rooms for children; to an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai to maintain the natural habitat for elephants; to Yunnan to impart self-sufficiency skills to needy villagers, and to Nepal to launch a reading programme for children. Expeditions have been made to countries as diverse as Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Khmer Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

About the Temasek Foundation

Temasek Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic organisation anchored in Singapore that seeks to contribute to sustainable growth and a bright future of hope and opportunities for people in Asia. The foundation works with partners to support programmes that develop people through healthcare, education and research, programmes that build bridges between peoples, programmes that build institutions of excellence through good governance and ethics, and programmes that rebuild lives and livelihoods affected by natural disasters.