Education Minister raises $100,000 for charity through his singing talents

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung raised a hefty $100,000 through his singing talents for an elderly care facility in his Sembawang GRC ward on Sunday (Dec 29).

Mr Ong was the guest of honour at a fund-raising lunch organised by charity organisation Blossom Seeds, which aimed to raise $400,000 to renovate its Canberra Street elderly care centre to include facilities designed to benefit senior citizens, such as a gym, therapy rooms and food preparation areas.

About 1,000 individuals were present at the lunch and Blossom Seeds raised more than  $300,000 during the event.

About a third of this was raised thanks to Mr Ong, who sang three songs on stage that raised $100,000 sponsored by the Sheng Siong supermarket chain.

Blossom Seeds chief executive Ong Siew Chin said the event helped raise the highest amount of donations the organisation had ever received in all of its fundraising efforts thus far.

She told the national broadsheet: “The money raised will be used to improve the quality of our programmes, such as having strength training to prevent physical frailty and also to provide training rooms for volunteers.”