When Sylvia Low received the Edusave Merit Bursary and the Edusave Good Progress Award in January, she did not consider keeping the bursary and award money for herself.
Instead, the Secondary 1 student from Pasir Ris Secondary School used the $400 to buy face masks for some 1,500 children from low-income families.
The 13-year-old said she decided to donate the masks when she realised that some families could not purchase daily essential items for themselves.
“I felt like this was what I should do. I didn’t feel like everybody needed to know,” said Sylvia, who did it without the knowledge of her teachers and peers.
At her father’s suggestion, Sylvia sought the help of Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, the Mayor of South East District, who linked her up with families in the area whose children needed the masks.
The South East Community Development Council – which Dr Maliki helms – identified these families with the help of community partners such as CDAC@Bedok, My First Skool@18 Marine Terrace and WeCare@MarineParade.
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Source: The Straits Times, 6 July 2020