SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer commended founder and executive chairman of Hotel 81 chain, Choo Chong Ngen, on his donation to a bursary for SMU. Prof De Meyer mentioned that Mr Choo's daughter Carolyn was an alumnus of SMU, and had encouraged her father to help needy students. He added in his speech that Mr Choo, “having not had the opportunity of a formal education when he was young… aspires to create a level playing field for the financially disadvantaged students”.