Donors and Bursary Recipients
We thank our donors for their generous support towards our efforts in nurturing the next generation of leaders, innovators and change-makers from Raffles Hall.
Message from donors
Raffles Prize and Phoenix Prize 2024
Congratulations to this year's respective winners of the Raffles Prize, Phoenix Prize, and Master's Prize: Cheng Wentuo, Lau Kai Chong and Kho Zhe Ming.
I had four wonderful years in RH - my entire time studying law at NUS - and my memories in RH remain much cherished memories even now some two decades on. Some of my most vivid memories would no doubt sound familiar to even the newest of RH residents today - joining the RH Musical as a freshman, walking to Fong Seng on many a post-midnight jaunt for supper, feeling the adrenalin rush whilst playing in the IHG and conducting non-stop fund raising activities for the many committees we were involved in.
It is sometimes said that that being a hostelite means sacrificing your studies. My experience suggests it is possible to do the exact converse. Your fellow Rafflesians can be the most important pillar of support in your academic journey. That was certainly my experience: my fellow law students were critical to my law school journey - they studied with me, explained complex legal concepts to me, and even shared notes and exam tips (as I did with them). So in many ways, my law school journey was enhanced as a result of being at RH. Yes, being in hall means you develop other interests, but it is very much possible to have your cake and eat it. The diversity of perspectives you get from living with prospective engineers, businessmen, computer scientists, social workers, lawyers, doctors and entertainers, and the friendships you develop with all of them, are lifelong. You end up being family to each other, and I promise you, if your experience is like mine, they end up being lifelong friends.
It is precisely because of these wonderful experiences that I touched base with Master Stella a few years back to ask how I can meaningfully give back in my own little way. Conceptualising and devising these awards are but a small gesture to an institution that has given me so much over the years. RH is a community, and being part of such a community makes you quickly come to the realisation that no one makes it on their own and that our successes are often a function of those around us and the opportunities and support they have afforded us. Recognizing this, we all have a responsibility to give back and look out for one another. It is, in many ways, the social compact of what being in a community is all about - an acknowledgment that the ladder of success is steadier when we are all helping each other up one step at a time. I would ask all of you to remember this as well even as you navigate the many academic and professional opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Each of you have done very well for yourselves and all of you, individually and collectively, represent the next chapter of the RH story. Given your potential, I have no doubt that the next chapter will be even more inspirational and exciting than it has ever been.
Mr Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir
Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court
NUS Law, Class of 2005