Doing Good
Education, as reflected aptly on UNESCO’s website, “is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.”
Once considered a serial school dropout, Mr Harold Lee, Founder and Managing Director of XDel Singapore, knows what it was like to be denied of an opportunity to learn. He was expelled from 2 secondary schools and was school-less for a while because of his lacklustre track records.
Fortunately for Harold, his young life had a turning point when he crossed path with Mr Bhajan Singh, then principal of Si Ling Secondary School. Mr Singh took up that public responsibility to give back Harold his human right and do a public good by accepting him into the school.
Setting Harold up for success came naturally for Mr Singh as he has an unshakeable belief that everyone, in life, is entitled to a second chance, and that every student could learn and achieve, provided he or she is given the optimal support and a conducive teaching and learning environment.
That unwavering faith that his principal had in him, helped Harold believed that he could overcome any obstacles and succeed in life. Fast forward to 30 years after he graduated, Harold has built and grown a multi award winning local courier delivery business that specialises in express document delivery.
One Good Turn Deserves Another
As fate would have it, after more than 3 decades, Harold had the opportunity to emulate what Mr Singh did for him – giving others a chance at education, through XDel Singapore.
Though retired, Mr Singh being an educationist at heart, was always championing the cause of “every child, regardless of gender, race, nationality, and/or family background, deserves a chance to learn and be in school.”
In 2015, he learnt the plight that many new South Asian young immigrants to Singapore, could not get a place in local schools and their parents were not able to afford the fees of international schools.
He set out to start a school to help these youths continue learning while keeping the fees affordable. The Lotus Bridge International School finally came to fruition in June of 2019, with the objective to provide quality education nurturing students from all walks of life.
Running a school without government aid, requires a hefty budget and sustaining the school was going to be an uphill task because a lot of the students come from low-income family (parents working at Mustafa Centre, working 12hrs shifts daily), and are paying subsidized fees.
To support the good cause, XDel Singapore became a corporate patron to the Lotus Bridge International School. Through XDel’s donation and sponsorship, the school was able to create a more conducive learning environment with better school equipment and also gave more students an opportunity to education here in Singapore.
Due to the repercussion of Covid-19 situation in 2020, there were many students who cannot pay for their school fees. Despite that, no one was asked to leave, and the school’s first cohort of Year 10 students even achieved 100% pass in International General Certificate of Secondary Education (O’Levels).
Support A Good Cause
Lotus Bridge International School is hoping to set up small branches in different parts of Singapore, to provide budget international education, to less well-off deserving students.
Besides financial donations, the School also welcomes donations of computers or other items which can be useful for students.
To make a contribution, call 9062 4902 or email to learn@lotusbridge.edu.sg .