SPH and SPH Foundation award scholarships to 29 recipients

DURING his internship at The New Paper this year, Wong Yang saw firsthand how the Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted the lives of various groups of people - ranging from migrant workers to retrenched workers - and was determined to "do justice to the stories" they were telling him.

"The experience has made me believe, more than ever, in the potential for journalism to drive social change," he said.

The 21-year-old is one of two recipients of the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) journalism scholarship this year.

He will begin his undergraduate studies in comparative literature and social anthropology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland this September, although his classes may be held online due to the novel coronavirus situation.

On Monday, SPH and SPH Foundation presented a total of 29 scholarships in a virtual awards ceremony.

Osmond Chia, 24, received the mid-term journalism scholarship. He is pursuing a degree in communication studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

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At the ceremony, which was live-streamed on YouTube, SPH chairman Lee Boon Yang spoke of how Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of journalism.

"The media provides credible news and information to the community... More people are turning to trusted media sources for reliable information to cope with the uncertainties brought on by the coronavirus," Mr Lee said.

Meanwhile, 14 scholarships were presented to children of SPH staff and newspaper vendors, to support their studies at the junior college, polytechnic and university levels.

The bond-free Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarship was awarded to 13 students from modest family backgrounds, to help them further their degree programmes in languages, linguistics and the humanities at local universities.

Media and property group SPH publishes The Business Times.