Joint SPH Media and SPH Foundation Scholarship Awards Ceremony – Cultivating and growing talents for our newsroom
To produce quality journalism, SPH Media continues to attract talents through the award of scholarships and internships for local undergraduates. This year, the following scholarships are being awarded at the Joint SPH Media and SPH Foundation Scholarship Awards Ceremony on 25 August 2022.
- 12 SPH Media Journalism Scholarships
- 14 SPH Media Scholarships for Children of Employees
- 12 SPH Foundation’s Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarships
To train our journalists and help them hone their digital skills, SPH Media also ties up with international media training institutions through the SPH Media Academy to offer programmes and fellowships to our journalists. The SPH Media Academy has signed an agreement with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, and for the first time, two fellowships are being awarded to our journalists from The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao this year.
SCHOLARSHIPS
1) SPH Media Journalism Scholarships (Undergraduate)
Since 1987, undergraduates from all fields of study (except medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, architecture, or law) in both local and overseas universities can apply for the SPH Media Journalism Scholarship. The scholars will be given internship opportunities to our newsrooms where they will be able to work and learn from experienced journalists and editors. The award covers tuition and other compulsory university fees. The scholars will be provided monthly allowances and a one time grant for university-related expenses. The bond period, which ranges from 3 to 6 years, depends on the university that the scholars have enrolled in, their course of study and the duration of study.
This year, SPH Media received 126 applications for the SPH Media Journalism Scholarship, which is triple the number in 2021 (of 44). 12 scholarships are being awarded under this category.
2) Scholarships for Children of Serving Employees
The Scholarships for Children of Serving Employees acknowledge the contributions of our staff who are instrumental to SPH Media’s progress, and their children's hard work. 14 Scholarships for Children of Serving Employees are being awarded this year.
3) Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarships
The scholarship award, which is funded by the SPH Foundation, was set up in January 2003 under the suggestion of the late Mr Lim Kim San. Mr Lim was Singapore's first minister for finance who served as the executive chairman of Singapore Press Holdings between 1988 and 2002, and remained as the company's senior advisor till December 2005.
The scholarship is for students to study full-time languages, linguistics and humanities degree courses at a local university. Applicants should have outstanding academic and co-curricular activities records and a monthly household income of $5,000 or less. Scholarship holders will have their course fees, including for tuition and examinations, fully paid. They will also be given a yearly living allowance and a book allowance. The scholarship is bond-free and tenable for the minimum time that the awardee needs to complete his studies to earn his degree, including the honours degree, but not exceeding four years.
12 Lim Kim San Memorial Scholarships are being awarded this year.
JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP
Since its launch in February this year, SPH Media Academy has been training journalists and helping them hone their digital skills by offering a variety of courses.
On 15 March 2022, the Academy formalised an agreement with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University to provide fellowships to SPH Media journalists. For the first time, two SPH Media journalists are being awarded fellowships which will start on 3 October 2022 and 2 January 2023 respectively.
These fellowships, which are for three months each, provide an opportunity for the journalists to develop their leadership capabilities and network. They get to take a break from the pressure of daily reporting to develop their understanding of the media industry, improve their knowledge and focus on an in-depth project. They will be undertaking this fellowship with a diverse pool of individuals from around the world, including journalists, editors, broadcasters, in a cutting-edge institution that is shaping key media debates. Fellows will attend scheduled seminars where they would have the opportunity to converse with international experts at Global Journalism Seminars, participate in reading groups to discuss research papers with researchers, host guests of their choice and present at an internal seminar.
Quotes:
“The SPH Media Academy is pleased to have two colleagues, Tham Yuen-C from The Straits Times and Ng Soon Kiat from Lianhe Zaobao attend the Journalist Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute in Oxford this year. The fellowship is one of the world’s leading programmes for practising senior journalists to take some time away from the daily pressures of deadlines to explore journalism in depth. It provides them with the opportunity to work on a project that is meaningful to them, and relevant to the newsrooms they represent and the wider media industry in which they work. They will be able to undertake research on a topic of their choice, interact at seminars, networking events and discussions, and share ideas and experiences with peers from newsrooms around the world. The fellowships are in keeping with our commitment to develop our newsroom leaders and provide them with the thinking and skills necessary for an industry that is constantly changing.”
Mr Paul Jacob, Dean, SPH Media Academy
“We look forward to welcoming SPH Media’s journalists and editors as participants in our ongoing journalist and leadership development programmes, built around the Reuters Institute’s commitment to exploring the future of journalism worldwide and helping journalists in different countries think about how their work is changing.”
Mr Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Attachment:
Annex - Scholarship Recipients
