AN@S Education Awards Ceremony 2022

Saturday, 2nd July – Nineteen students from the Singapore Arab Peranakan community received the Arab Network @ Singapore (AN@S) Education Awards at their 2022 ceremony, held recently at the Malay Heritage Centre. 

The annual education awards ceremony, now in its eighth year, has been graced by AN@S’ patron, Mr Mohamed Alhabshee, Singapore’s First Gentleman (spouse of the existing President of the Republic of Singapore, Madam Halimah Yacob). A total sum of $23,000 was raised through AN@S fund raising efforts, sponsorship from corporate entities, foundations and members of the community. 

Recipients of the awards went through a rigorous selection process, including documentation vetting, assessment of write-ups, and an intensive panel interview (conducted by senior level officers and professionals in the education and corporate sectors). Consistent with AN@S’ values that educational achievements are indivisible from community involvement and contributions, the recipients were assessed for their existing educational achievements, their plans to academically develop even further, their existing community contributions, and their plans to expand their community outreach and impact.

There were 4 categories of education awards:

• AN@S Education Bursary – AEB: Students from low-income families 

• AN@S Continuous Development Fund Award – ACDF: Long-term assistance to deserved students from financially challenged families

• AN@S Scholastic Performance Awards – ASPA: High achieving students who attain commendable academic results as well as in their CCA 

• AN@S Scholastic Excellence Awards – ASEA: High achieving students who attain excellent academic results in their CCA, as well as in leadership roles 

Regardless of categories, all recipients have demonstrated commitment to doing community work.

Most of these recipients are studying at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS), National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) as well as at various local Polytechnics. A sizeable number of current and past recipients are doing their undergraduate and postgraduate studies at tertiary institutes outside Singapore, including Imperial College (London), Kings College (UoL), Queen Mary College (UoL), University of North Carolina (US), Al-Azhar University (Egypt), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and many others.

In addition to the financial support, each award recipient has been put on an intensive and integrated 2 year (or more) academic, professional and community development plan, driven by the Alattas Group. This signature program helps students diagnose their needs, and helps them plan, design and drive their academic and professional development. Key to this development is character building and community engagement.

The award ceremony was attended by senior diplomats from Qatar, Jordan, Malaysia, Brunei, and by members of the local community, by committed donors to AN@S, and by family members of the award recipients. Since our inception in 2010, AN@S has been disbursing bursaries annually to students from lower income families of Arab background through a local scholarship body, Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud (LBKM). AN@S took on the disbursement from 2018, through the AN@S Education Awards Programme. To date, a total of $220,000 has been distributed by AN@S to students in the community, either as scholastic awards or as bursaries.

You may watch the unedited recordings of the speeches from award recipients, who are currently not in Singapore below:

Abdullah Bahashwan, who has applied for Primary Care Paramedic Diploma at NYP, was not able to attend due to work commitments but he did send us the following video expressing his views on the importance of family legacy:

Photos from the award ceremony can be viewed here: