Minister Desmond Lee, palm oil giant launch Musim Mas BlueStar* Fund

This will provide grants to non-profit organisations that deliver mental health support for young people.

Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee has joined local philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust (TMT) and Singapore-based palm oil giant Musim Mas Holdings in launching a million-dollar fund, according to an announcement at the at the 12th Global Youth Leaders Summit

The initiative, called the Musim Mas BlueStar* Fund, will see TMT provide grants to non-profit organisations that deliver innovative mental health programmes and services for school-going children and youths.

The fund is provided for through a $1m cash donation by Musim Mas Holdings as part of its multi-million-dollar care fund, Project Onward. Musim Mas Holdings’ CFO and executive director Alvin Lim said the donation will help inspire and empower these non-profit organisations in their work towards supporting the youths.

“On top of supporting research, public education initiatives and intervention, a portion of the Musim Mas BlueStar* Fund will be set aside for peer-initiated programmes that youths can tap on,” added Martin Tan, Executive Director of TMT.

HappYouth by FutuReady’s Character and Leadership Academy (CLA) is the first recipient from the Musim Mas BlueStar* Fund. CLA is one of the pioneering youth development agencies who develop and conduct youth suicide prevention work in Asia since 2014, training more than 10,000 HappYouth ambassadors globally and helps young people understand and manage stress and depression,

The summit, which took the theme of “MAD@Crisis: Making A Difference In Times of Crisis Regardless of Race, Language, Religion or Nationality”, was held on a virtual platform for the first time in the event’s history.