The Art of Starting 2014 on a Good Note

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The art of starting 2014 on a good note

Funds raised at the Bank’s annual Lunar New Year dinner will restore sight to over 1,000 beneficiaries

Photo 1: Bank management auctioned off handwritten Chinese calligraphy scrolls to raise funds

From left to right:
Sharon Tan, Head of Marketing, Singapore,
Rajesh Malkani, Head, Private Banking East
Som Subroto, Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Southeast Asia & Head of Consumer Banking, Singapore
Chung Shaw Bee, Regional Head of Wealth Management and Priority & International Banking, Singapore & Southeast Asia
Kavita Bedi, Regional Head of Small and Medium Enterprises Banking, Singapore & Southeast Asia

Photo 2: Special fund-raising performance by selected Bank management and Grasshopper

From left to right:
Elaine Heng, Regional Head of Integrated Distribution, Singapore & Southeast Asia
Dominique Boer, Managing Director, Head of Relationship Management, Southeast Asia

Photo 3: Bank management receive scrolls and oranges from the lions

From left to right:
Rajesh Malkani, Head, Private Banking East,
Chung Shaw Bee, Regional Head of Wealth Management and Priority & International Banking, Singapore & Southeast Asia,
Ray Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore
Som Subroto, Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Southeast Asia & Head of Consumer Banking, Singapore
Elaine Heng, Regional Head of Integrated Distribution, Singapore & Southeast Asia
Steve Bertamini, Group Executive Director and CEO, Consumer Banking

24 Jan 2014, Singapore – The management of Standard Chartered became calligraphy artists for a night at the Bank’s annual dinner for about 800 of its SME, Private Bank and Priority Banking clients to usher in the Lunar New Year.

Under the guidance of a calligraphy master, Som Subroto, Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Singapore & Southeast Asia, and senior executives of the Bank wrote the following Chinese idioms.

• 馬年吉祥 Wishing you an auspicious Year of the Horse
• 一馬當先 Take the lead, being ahead, always on the (fore)front
• 玉堂金馬 Wealth and fortune in the Year of the Horse
• 馬到功成 To be successful in the Year of the Horse
• 馬年大吉 Wishing you great luck in the Year of the Horse

The calligraphy pieces were auctioned off to raise donations for Seeing is Believing, the Bank’s global initiative to tackle avoidable blindness. Donations from clients were matched dollar-for-dollar by Standard Chartered. The funds raised would restore the sight of over 1,000 visually impaired beneficiaries through cataract surgery.

The clients were also treated to a private performance by famous Canto-pop trio, Grasshopper(草蜢). A highlight for the clients was when Elaine Heng, Regional Head of Integrated Distribution, Singapore & Southeast Asia and Dominique Boer, Managing Director, Head of Relationship Management, Southeast Asia, went onstage to sing “Heal the World” together with Grasshopper.

Som Subroto, Regional Head, Consumer Banking, Singapore & Southeast Asia said:
“We are glad for this opportunity to celebrate the Year of the Horse with our clients and to thank them for their partnership and support over the years. In times of celebration, it is only right that we remember those in need. I would like to thank our clients for their generous donations and for playing a part tonight in supporting avoidable-blindness projects globally through Seeing is Believing.”

Seeing is Believing was launched a decade ago and over 41 million people worldwide have been impacted through medical interventions, health education and improved access to eye care in their communities through the initiative.

As part of the global initiative, in December 2013, Standard Chartered contributed over USD5 million through the Seeing is Believing initiative to support the establishment and operation of the children’s eye health system, and to improve education for visually impaired children in Shanxi Province, China. This includes eye screenings at schools in 15 counties from four cities, the building of low vision rehabilitation centres, the promotion of eye health, and the establishment of a high quality child eye care model.

– Ends –

For more information, please contact:

Carol Alisha Chan
Tel: +65 6596 7759
Email: carol-HY.chan@sc.com

Jasmine Zhao
Tel: +65 6596 7756
Email: jasmine.zhao@sc.com

Notes to Editor:

Standard Chartered in Singapore is part of an international banking group with an extensive network of over 1,700 branches and outlets in more than 68 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas.

It is committed to building a sustainable business over the long term and is trusted worldwide for upholding high standards of corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental protection and employee diversity. The Bank’s heritage and values are expressed in its brand promise, ‘Here for good’.

Standard Chartered has a history of more than 150 years in Singapore, opening its first branch here in 1859 and in October 1999 was among the first international banks to receive a Qualifying Full Bank (QFB) licence, an endorsement of the Group’s long-standing commitment to its businesses in the country.

The Bank transferred its Singapore Consumer Banking retail and SME banking business to a locally-incorporated subsidiary, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited, on 7 October 2013.

The Bank in Singapore serves both Consumer and Wholesale Banking customers.

Consumer Banking provides credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, mortgages, deposit taking and wealth management services to individuals and small to medium sized enterprises. Wholesale Banking provides corporate and institutional clients with services in trade finance, cash management, lending, securities services, foreign exchange, debt capital markets and corporate finance.

The Bank employs over 7,600 people in Singapore and has a network of 19 branches, 7 Priority Banking centres and 31 ATMs. Standard Chartered is the only international bank to offer NETS service, giving its customers access to EFTPOS at over 17,000 outlets island wide.

The Bank’s global businesses – Consumer and Wholesale Banking – are managed out of Singapore, as is its global Technology & Operations function.

Seeing is Believing (SiB) is a global initiative to help tackle avoidable blindness, and is a collaboration between Standard Chartered and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). IAPB is the leading umbrella organisation for non-governmental organisations working in the field of eye care. Together with the World Health Organisation, it launched the ‘Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight’, a global campaign to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020. Seeing is Believing is the single largest contributor to the development of Vision 2020 programmes through IAPB.

For more information, please visit: www.seeingisbelieving.org