Medtech firm Neoasia sets up bursaries to empower the next generation through education.

Neoasia, a leading distributor of medical aesthetics technologies in Asia, is in the business of helping people look good, feel good, and become better versions of themselves. Staying true to their values, Neoasia’s latest charitable endeavour is to empower the next generation through education.

In line with its core corporate value and steadfast commitment to enabling growth within the company, Neoasia offers internships to full-time undergraduates from NUS. Neoasia’s internships groom future talents by allowing them to experience real-work situations. The robust exchange of ideas with the interns also allows the Neoasia team to learn and grow at the same time, enriching the company’s own home-grown talents.

Now this Singaporean firm wants to go a step further – establishing bursaries for students from NUS’ University Scholars Programme (USP), the NUS Business School and the Faculty of Science.

“Since its founding in 1995, Neoasia has always been passionate about education. With the bursaries, Neoasia hopes to give back to the community and help our younger generation to realise their potential. These schools offer programmes that most of our interns are studying. This is our way of giving back,” said Mr Chen Heng Hui, Chief Executive Officer of Neoasia, who is an NUS USP alumnus.

Neoasia hopes that the bursaries will uplift and transform the lives of bursary recipients, as well as inspire them to pay it forward in the future.

“In the future, we hope that the bursary recipients will share the same giving spirit as our team at Neoasia, and pay it forward by mentoring the younger generation or making their own contributions to help financially needy students,” shared fellow NUS alumna, Ms Maybelline Ang, Director of Human Resources & Administration at Neoasia.

Philanthropy is very much a part of Neoasia’s DNA. The company has been nurturing a culture of giving for years — an altruistic ambition to “give meaning and purpose” to the business and its people.

In recent times, the team has rallied behind a myriad of worthy causes, such as donating to a non-profit organisation for children with mental disabilities, and a fund for healthcare workers affected by the pandemic. Every Christmas, the company adopts a charity to spread festive joy. They have granted the wishes of children living in a home and bought luggage for seniors moving into a bigger facility.

In the collaborative environment at Neoasia, employees get a say in which beneficiary to support. The idea to set up bursaries at NUS came from Ms Germaine Teo, an assistant manager at Neoasia’s Regulatory Affairs department.

An NUS Pharmacy graduate, Ms Teo said: “During my NUS days, it was apparent that not all students have sufficient financial resources. Hopefully, by providing monetary help to these financially needy students, it can relieve some of their burdens so they can focus on their studies and enjoy their university experience.” 

Coming together as a team to volunteer time or make a monetary contribution fosters a sense of solidarity and community. Citing a gift matching programme by Neoasia, Ms Teo shared: “Last Christmas, monetary gifts from employees were matched dollar for dollar by Neoasia and were used to purchase hampers for low-income families. Such initiatives are important as employees feel included in the charity event, which helps to promote the culture of giving within the whole organisation.”

As Neoasia goes from strength to strength, so will its acts of generosity.

“Neoasia started contributing in small ways at the start when resources were limited. Over the years, as our business grew, we became more ambitious with our giving initiatives to do more for the community. We hope to do more in the years to come when we have the resources to do so,” concluded Mr Chen.