NUS Medicine receives $6 million gift for Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre
Published: 06 May 2023
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Mr Lin Tah Hwa placing the last two pieces of the puzzle to launch the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre.
The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) was gifted $6 million for the Mind Science Centre, an academic research centre under NUS Medicine, by Mr Lin Tah Hwa.
In recognition of the generous gift, the Centre will be named as the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre, in memory of Mr Lin’s late mother, Madam Yeo Boon Khim.
Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Mr Teo Chee Hean was the Guest-of-Honour at the launch of the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre held at Conrad Centennial Singapore Hotel on Friday evening, 5 May 2023.
Associate Professor John Wong Chee Meng leading Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on a tour of the poster exhibition, that highlights the ongoing work of the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre.
Established in 2016, the Mind Science Centre was set up to lead translational research on mental health and resilience, and build preventive strategies and social interventions that focus on early detection to tackle mental health risk factors in the local community, among various age groups. Its pioneering project was the Jurong Ageing Study (JAS), which looked at ageing within a cohort of elderly participants living in the western region of Singapore.
Findings from this cohort study have been incorporated into the Age Well Everyday Programme and translated into tangible activities and efforts to increase socialisation and delay cognitive deterioration among seniors.
Associate Professor John Wong Chee Meng, Lin Jo Yan and Yeo Boon Khim Professor in Mental Health and Neuroscience at NUS Medicine, from the Department of Psychological Medicine and Director of the newly-named Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre said, “This gift represents the Lin family’s strong belief in our work to improve and ensure the quality of life and life satisfaction of each and every Singaporean till old age. By synergising different knowledge domains and cross-disciplinary collaborations, we hope to find more ways to bolster mental resilience and promote mental well-being and help Singaporeans withstand the multitude of challenges in this fast-paced world.”
Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean of NUS Medicine, endorsed the use of the gift to enhance the Centre’s efforts. “We are deeply grateful to Mr Lin Tah Hwa for his generosity. This gift will support the transformational work being carried out at the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre as it develops innovative strategies to address and boost the mental well-being of Singaporeans. This will be an important pillar for Singapore in the arena of psychological medicine as our country reforms its healthcare system, targeting better population health under its Healthier SG strategy.”
“The naming of the Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre is (my mother’s) humble gift to charity and society. It is in line with the values that she imparted to me – to always remember to help others less fortunate than ourselves, to have a sense of gratitude to the community and country when we have good fortune, and to always know the joy of giving something back to our fellow human beings when the time comes. These are the values my mother taught me during her life, and these are the values I hope, by example, to impart to others now that she is gone,” said Mr Lin.
Apart from the $6 million gift to NUS Medicine, Mr Lin also made another $2 million donation in 2023 to establish the Chan Sek Keong Professorship in Private Law. A personal friend of Mr Lin, Dr Chan Sek Keong was the third Chief Justice of Singapore in 2006. He had an illustrious career as a banking and corporate lawyer, before starting a 26-year-long career in public service until his retirement in 2012. Dr Chan has been serving as the Pro-Chancellor of NUS since 29 April 2015. This new Professorship endowed by Mr Lin aims to help the NUS Faculty of Law attract and retain the finest academics in the field of private law, which includes contract law, equity, property, restitution, torts and trusts.
Apart from these gifts, Mr Lin and his family have also made four other professorship gifts to the National University of Singapore since 2009.
Click here for the press release.
