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Our charitable activities fall into two areas: giving money and donating our time, energy and expertise to supporting good causes.
As a firm, we give financial support to a very wide variety of charitable causes. Since 2006, the main recipients have included: the Milk Fund, Pathlight School, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation, We Care Community Service and the Assisi Hospice.
Turning to the time and energy we give to supporting good causes, our people get involved in a wide range of charitable activities - and we strongly encourage and support them in doing so. You can see just a few examples below.
Commercial Litigation partner Francis Xavier wanted to do something to help struggling families hit hard by the recession. So he turned his hobby - playing drums in a rock band - into a fund-raising drive.
Playing gigs at functions, the band makes good money - which, after expenses have been deducted, goes straight to Family Aid Vouchers, a welfare project launched jointly by Francis, the Rotary Family Service Centre (FSC) and the Rotary Club of Pandan Valley.
Over a three month period, families in need receive vouchers worth between $40 and $70, enough to keep them in food essentials such as oil, rice and sugar. And there's good news for rock music lovers in Singapore: Francis is determined not just to continue the good work, but to extend the programme to help more families.
In addition to this musical support for good causes (above), Rajah & Tann partner Francis Xavier is active in a range regional and international charitable projects, which he undertakes under the banner of Rotary.
He is currently involved in a project in Kenya to build clay dams to help people affected by drought due to global warming.
He also won an international award for a project (for tribes) in Chiang Rai. And he established the All One Foundation to provide a home for girls rescued from vice.
Yoke Ping, a partner in our Corporate and Capital Markets practice, and her husband spent almost seven years in Indonesia, working on a variety of community development projects in West Nusa Tenggara. Some of the initiatives included:
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A school sponsorship programme for more than 30 students
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A tuition programme for the Kampong kids, teaching them English and also Maths and Science in Indonesian
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A library/reading programme for neighbourhood kids with English books donated from Singapore and Indonesian books sourced locally
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Health care awareness talks targeting Indonesian housewives
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A computer literacy programme for high school teachers
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Livelihood and job creation programmes
Kala Anandarajah, who heads our Competition practice, set up BikeAid Singapore, which continues to collect funds for charities. She also sits on the National Transplant Ethics Committee Independent Panel formed by the MOH.
Aurill Kam, who heads our Appellate Advocacy practice, sits on the Audit Committee of Dover Park Hospice.
Elaine Tay, a partner in our Insurance practice, helps out with Assisi Hospice's fund raising projects.
Chandra Mohan, a partner in our Commercial litigation practice, sits on the committee on Bursary Fund for needy students from the ACS family of schools.
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