Singapore Table Tennis Association Gets $500K Sponsorship Boost

The Singapore Table Tennis Association "scored a sponsorship deal and donations" worth $500,000 in total, according to May Chen of the STRAITS TIMES. Singapore-based property investment firm Grace Shine, run by Indonesian tycoon Tahir, pledged $300,000 over three years. Tahir "also roped in two friends" -- Kadin Indonesia VP Radius Wibowo and Art Retreat Founder Cahyadi Kumala, to donate $100,000 each. The money "will go towards the STTA's sports excellence plans" (STRAITS TIMES, 7/29). In Singapore, Gregory Loo reported according to STTA President Lee Bee Wah, the association "had expected to incur" a $600,000 deficit this financial year before the sponsorship deal and donations. Tahir, who stepped down as president of the table tennis association in his native Indonesia, "also accepted an invitation from Lee to become STTA's honorary president." The role will see the 61-year-old "chair STTA's fund-raising committee" (THE NEW PAPER, 7/29).