Total Value of Festive Grant for 2023 Contributed by Lee Foundation and Disbursed to ComCare Recipients

Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the total value of the festive grant for 2023 contributed by the Lee Foundation that will be disbursed to ComCare recipients; (b) what are the qualifying criteria for receiving the grant; (c) how many recipients have benefitted from the grant; and (d) in the last five years, how many of such ad-hoc grants originating from private donors have been disbursed through the Ministry and what is their total value.

Mr Speaker, the Lee Foundation provides a festive grant during Chinese New Year to persons who do not qualify for ComCare but were referred to them by the Social Service Offices (SSOs). In 2023, they disbursed about $82,000 to about 680 of such persons.

The Hong Leong Foundation and Shaw Foundation also disburse CNY festive grants annually to ComCare Long-Term beneficiaries. They averaged about $960,000 per year over the past five years.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Just one supplementary question for the Minister. The Minister shared that the Lee Foundation festive grant – which I came to know about because one of my residents received a letter and he did not know when the grant was going to be disbursed to him. I think I heard the Minister say $82,000 and 680 recipients, and they received it because they applied for ComCare assistance but they did not qualify. So, am I right to say that only 680 people applied for ComCare and all of them got the festive grant?

For 2023, 680 of such persons who did not qualify for ComCare and they were referred to – all of them, yes, the 680.