THE public has raised more than S$100,000 for newly crowned badminton world champion Loh Kean Yew through a donation channel set up by Wei Chan, the managing director of Pine Garden's Cake.

Chan, a longstanding badminton enthusiast, had previously banded together with 4 other business leaders in Singapore to set up a fund of S$50,000 for Loh on Dec 24, 2021, in order to motivate the national shuttler to continue pursuing his sporting dreams. It also came to his attention that Loh did not receive any prize money from his win at the BWF World Championships held in Huelva, Spain last month.

The other 4 business leaders who contributed to the private fund are: Ang Kiam Meng, executive director and group CEO of Jumbo Group; Daryl Neo, co-founder and CEO of DC Frontiers; Dora Hoan, group CEO and co-chairman of Best World International; and Eugene Ang, managing director of JK Technology. They were mentioned in The Business Times article "Smash hits from the court: 6 business leaders serve up lessons from badminton" (Dec 22).

On Jan 2, Chan set up another fund to take in public donations via Ray of Hope, a crowdfunding non-profit organisation and platform. This was after he received queries from members of the public who wanted to find out how they could support Loh in his endeavours.

"I felt compelled to do something to thank (Loh) for what he has achieved for himself and Singapore, and further encourage him towards his badminton hopes and dreams. This arduous journey to the apex is long and most times lonely," Chan wrote in a note on his fundraising campaign page.

His donation campaign has since raised over S$108,000 from the public as at 11 pm on Tuesday (Jan 4), which included a S$50,000 donation from a former national badminton player who wanted to remain anonymous. Together with the initial S$50,000 from the earlier group of 5 business leaders, the total raised for Loh so far is more than S$158,000.

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Members of the public who are interested in contributing to Chan's donation campaign for Loh can visit this page.

For long term support, the public can also make contributions to the Singapore Badminton Association, which has a fundraising page on their website to promote and develop the sport in Singapore.

READ MORE:

• Business leaders raise S$50,000 to support new badminton world champ Loh Kean Yew

• Smash hits from the court: 6 business leaders serve up lessons from badminton

• Badminton champ has new game to master - managing sponsors

• After being crowned badminton's newest world champion, Loh Kean Yew can dream of Olympic glory next