10 March 2021 – With a gift of S$300,000 from the Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud (LBKM), NUS Computing will now be able to award the endowed LBKM Future Economy Scholarship to three top Malay students from any of the five Computing degree programmes, each year.
The scholarship is open to Malay students with outstanding academic records. Applicants must also actively participate in co-curricular activities, and exhibit strong leadership qualities.
In 2017, the LBKM launched the LBKM Future Economy Scholarship with a gift of $45,000. The scholarship was established to encourage Malay undergraduate students to pursue studies in new disciplines such as computer science, information systems and cybersecurity.
The further support from LBKM this year means that three top-performing Malay undergraduates will be awarded the scholarship worth S$5,000, for each academic year. This agreement will be in perpetuity.
“This is particularly significant because we are currently in the midst of a pandemic, and I think we need no convincing that computing has played a major role in helping us function during the pandemic,” said Professor Mohan Kankanhalli, Dean of NUS Computing and Provost’s Chair Professor of Computer Science, at the agreement signing ceremony on Tuesday. “If talented students are unable to study computing, we as a society will be deprived of the inventions and discoveries that they could potentially come up with.”
He also highlighted the importance of having students who come from diverse backgrounds and interests at NUS Computing, as these students have the potential to develop technological solutions that will impact many.
“A lot of the solutions we see today are made for everybody in society. When teams design or innovate, we need to have representation from all sections of the society to consider the design thinking and the diverse needs of the society,” He said. “I am very grateful to LBKM for the strong support in getting talented students from the Malay community into NUS Computing.”
Fauzan Adipratama Bin Yusman, 24, a final-year Computer Engineering student, said he was grateful to have received the financial support from the scholarship.
“I feel fortunate to be able to receive it. I didn’t expect to receive the scholarship and was surprised to be a recipient. I felt my hard work and my efforts have paid off in helping me receive the scholarship,” said Fauzan. He was one of the top three Malay students who received the LBKM Future Economy Scholarship in his second year at NUS Computing.
“We’re both aligned in believing that no potential student should be denied the opportunity to pursue higher education if they can be assisted,” Mr Suhaimi Salleh, President of LBKM, said. “Partnering with NUS, which was ranked fourth in the QS World University Rankings 2021 in Computer Science and Information Systems, is also a privilege and a milestone for LBKM. With this gift, we therefore hope to see an increase in interest among bright students to take up courses in NUS Computing, and apply for the Future Economy Scholarship.”
The Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud (LBKM) or Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday Memorial Scholarship Fund Board, was established in 1965. The organisation supports Malay and Muslim students’ education, both in the secular and religious tracks, and offers support to students from primary to tertiary levels. The organisation donated $300,000 to the NUS School of Computing to fund the LBKM Future Economy Scholarship. For more information on the scholarship, please click here.
