SINGAPORE – Ms Chua Jia En tore a ligament in her leg during a floorball competition in August 2024 and her immediate concern was about the financial impact of her injury on her family.
“It was a very emotional period for me because I had just got physically injured, but I still had to worry about money,” Ms Chua, 22, said. “I don’t have insurance, so my family was very stressed about the surgery costs.”
The third-year Singapore Management University (SMU) business student, who comes from a single-parent household, relies on a combination of her father’s savings and financial assistance from her university and the government to support herself.
In the end, her surgery and rehabilitation were subsidised by MediFund, a financial assistance scheme that helps needy Singapore citizens who cannot pay their medical bills.
Her school fees for the academic year were covered by her government-funded Higher Education Bursary, which she has received since entering university, and the SMU Bursary Fund, which she was awarded for the 2024/2025 academic year.
Every year since 2020, the SMU community comes together for students like Ms Chua through the Smoo Challenge, a virtual race named after the university’s lion mascot that raises funds for the SMU Bursary Fund.
Ms Chua said: “Because my bursaries cover my school fees, it meant that I didn’t have to worry about my school fees when I got injured. (The bursaries) have been a big pillar of support for me.”
