The spirit lives on


Engineer Lim Chong Tee had always been big on giving the less fortunate a leg up.

So when his favourite non-profit organisation Beyond Social Services was yesterday given a cheque of $1,000 on his behalf, he felt "really heartened".

"As an individual, one can only do so much through volunteering. I'm glad that with the money, Beyond Social Services is able to care for the less privileged in Singapore and help create a more inclusive community," said Mr Lim, 24, who has come up with sustainable systems to solve water scarcity and improve access to safe drinking water for the poor in the region.

Mr Lim and 15 others were featured in Spirit of 16, TNP's National Day supplement this year which celebrated, in partnership with the Tote Board, the Singapore spirit of giving back to the community.

These everyday heroes also nominated their favourite charity for a donation.

Yesterday, the 16 charities and non-profit organisations received a cheque for $1,000 each at News Centre from Mr Yong Fook Chyi, director (corporate services) of Tote Board.

Mr Desmond Lim, 40, a hit-and-run survivor who was left by the roadside in Thailand for more than six hours, said: "I hope everyone can pitch in to donate blood because every little bit helps."

He had named Bloodbank@HSA as his charity and collecting on its behalf was the deputy secretary general of Singapore Red Cross, Mr Steven Choo.

Also collecting a cheque was principal of St Andrew's Junior School, Mrs Wong Bin Eng, who said they were "very proud of Max" - national school swimmer Maximillian Ang.

Max had named the school's building fund as his favourite charity.

"Once a Saint, always a Saint, I say. We wish him all the best at the 2020 Olympics," she said.

Also proud of "selfless children" was Ms Hazel Foo, a programme manager with the Paediatric Nephrology Division of National University Hospital (NUH).

She was receiving the cheque on behalf of Project Dreamcatchers, a teens chronic illness peer support group, made up of a group of adolescents.

"We are very proud of Diksha and Satya (Anand). Despite what they themselves are going through, they always put other kidney sufferers before themselves," she said of the siblings who had nominated the group.

They lead an active life and even swam to raise money for Shaw-NKF-NUH Children's Kidney Centre, despite suffering from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease that scars and hardens blood vessels within the kidneys.

SPECIAL: The New Paper's National Day supplement featuring (from far left) Mr Lim Chong Tee, Mr Desmond Lim and swimmer Maximillian Ang.