Lee Kuan Yew’s bilingualism fund is rolling in cash.  But why is it only for the Chinese?  Today:

The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism has swelled to S$113 million in pledges, as the Government yesterday appointed a 16-member board, chaired by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, to administer it.

The board will spearhead initiatives to support the teaching and learning of English and Mother Tongue languages, especially at the pre-school level.

It comprises community representatives, academics, experienced practitioners, media representatives and public service officers – including Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education) Sim Ann, who heads the Government’s bicultural taskforce, Director-General of Education Ho Peng, Nanyang Technological University Emeritus Professor Eddie Kuo and MediaCorp CEO Shaun Seow.

To date, the fund has received S$113 million in pledges – including S$50 million from the Government’s matching grant -since its announcement in November last year at the launch of Mr Lee’s book, My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey.

Among the individual donors are Mr Lee (S$12 million), businessmen Mr Robert Ng and Mr Li Ka Shing (S$5 million each), as well as Mr Robert Kuok ($3 million) and Mr Ong Beng Seng (S$2 million). Some of the corporations that have donated to the fund include DBS Bank and Singapore Airlines (S$500,000 each), as well as SingTel (S$250,000). …

Ms Sim said that the bicultural taskforce, which aims to engage the Chinese community in nurturing the next generation of bicultural talent and community leaders, plans to submit suggestions gathered from its outreach activities, particularly those related to bilingual learning among preschoolers, to the fund for evaluation and financial support.