Ray of Hope is raising $5,060 ($460 x 11 months) for the education fees of Mr Ong’s eldest child so that he can continue schooling. Fees will be paid to the school directly. In spite of his tight financial situation, Mr Ong is committed to making co-payment as well.

Mr Ong is a single father to two sons, aged 14 and 7. A loving father who wants the best for his children, Mr Ong made the tough decision in 2007 to move the family to Singapore for better education prospects. Mr Ong’s relationship with the children’s mother has been distant and she has no intentions of returning to Singapore to care for the children. While both his children are Indonesian citizens at birth, they have been brought up in Singapore and have attended school here since young. 

As his children do not qualify for most government assistance due to their foreigner status, Mr Ong’s income from his role as a Community Manager is insufficient to make ends meet. Mr Ong is struggling with his oldest son’s education arrears  As a foreign student, Tim’s  monthly school fees of $860 are unaffordable to the single father. Without citizenship, the accumulation of outstanding school fees places Tim at risk of expulsion from the school system. Returning to their home country may not be viable as caregiving arrangements and adapting to a new schooling system, taught in a different language, might prove to be quite a challenge.

Mr Ong hopes that his children can continue schooling while he works on strengthening his finances. The resilient father is determined to work hard towards a promotion and salary increment in hopes of having a greater chance of getting his son’s citizenship approved. 

Your donation will allow Tim to stay in school, keep the family together and allow them to weather these difficult times while giving Mr Ong more bandwidth to resolve underlying problems with the help of other social service organisations as they work towards a more hopeful future.