The Silent Foundation donates $2.5m to IPS to promote racial and religious harmony

SINGAPORE – When the 1969 racial riots took place in Malaysia, Mr Teng Ngiek Lian was in Dungun in Terengganu. As a minority Chinese there, he was relieved that there was hardly any trouble in the small town, unlike in Kuala Lumpur. He attributed this to the interaction and good understanding of the people there across races.

Mr Teng, now 72, left Malaysia for Singapore after the race riots. In 2010, he started The Silent Foundation (TSF) to help the “silent sufferers”. This was in line with his professional work as a value fund manager, as he had made money by investing in “overlooked and unloved” stocks. Given his experience with the racial riots, he decided that TSF should promote racial and religious harmony and help the minority.

On Tuesday, TSF pledged $2.5 million to the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) over a period of five years. The contribution will go towards establishing The Silent Foundation-IPS Racial and Religious Harmony Fund, which will support two IPS programmes……