TAKING HEART

Singapore’s local banks ring in the Year of the Dragon in style

Published Wed, Feb 21, 2024 · 05:16 PM

DBS

DBS chairman Peter Seah (centre) and CEO Piyush Gupta (in yellow shirt) with the bank’s senior management. PHOTO: DBS

DBS hosted more than 600 corporate clients at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel on Feb 14, the first of a two-day Spring Festival celebration to usher in the Year of the Dragon.

Clients were treated to a buffet, with ingredients sourced from Edible Garden City. Supported by DBS Foundation, the social enterprise champions the grow-your-own-food movement in Singapore and cities around the world, to improve food sustainability and resilience.

OCBC

Some 1,000 businesses from Singapore and the region joined OCBC in its celebration of the Year of the Dragon on Monday (Feb 19) and Tuesday at the Raffles Hotel.

This year’s theme was “Embracing connections, empowering growth”. The Peranakan clothing and decorations symbolise a distinct cultural fusion, a blend influenced by cross-border interactions and regional trade networks. The culture is also one which values close-knit relationships and community ties.

UOB

Winning bidders Karsono Kwee (extreme left) and Neo Kah Kiat (extreme right) alongside Frederick Chin, UOB’s head of group wholesale banking and markets (centre); Eric Lian, UOB’s head of group commercial banking (second from right); and Kelvin Lim, executive chairman and group MD at LHN Group (second from left), at a fundraising gala on Feb 13. PHOTO: UOB

UOB and its commercial banking clients raised more than S$2.2 million for charity, as part of the bank’s annual Chinese New Year celebrations. As part of the fundraising efforts, about 40 clients took part in an art workshop on Jan 30.

These art pieces were auctioned off at a fundraising gala on Feb 13. The winning bidders were Neo Kah Kiat, chairman and CEO of Neo Group, and Karsono Kwee, executive chairman of Eurokars Group, whose bid amounts were S$188,000 and S$128,000, respectively.