GET INVOLVED
Let's Make A Difference Today
Our Vision
To enhance the profile of Freemasonry by collaborating with educational institutions and social service agencies to assist financially disadvantaged students.
Our Mission
- To provide financial assistance for deserving student's education
- To provide grants for research to Singapore Institutes
- To advance educational research and training
Our History
The MCF initiative was announced by the District Grand Master who is the MCF’s Patron and Founder’s Representative at the Annual Communication Banquet in Dec 2019 in Ipoh, Malaysia.
ABOUT US
Our Work Promise To Uphold The Trust Placed
- The Trustees shall be not less than 6 nor more than 10
- The Patron of the Fund is The District Grand Master of the Eastern Archipelago
help is our main goal!
INSIGHTS AND UPDATES
Our Recent Blog And News
Celebrating Literacy and Community
MCF Dinner 2024: A Resounding Success
Temasek Poly Explores Freemasonry’s Legacy
Interview with MCF Trustee Michael Gray
The Masonic Charitable Fund-Oldham Lodge Bursary: Supporting Underprivileged Scouts at the 25th World Scout Jamboree in South Korea
MEET OUR TEAM
Our Leaders & Board
PATRON
Dato Jeyaraj Ratnaswamy
Dato Jeyaraj Ratnaswamy
Dato’ Jeyaraj is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Institute of Taxation of England and Association of Fraud Examiners. He holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and commenced private practice as a Chartered Accountant in 1986. Prior to that, he served with Messrs. KPMG Peat Marwick for nine years, working in their various offices in the UK, Singapore and Malaysia.
Well skilled and experienced in all areas of auditing, systems development, financial reporting, and advisory on financial, corporate, taxation, management and insolvency matters, he has been engaged in a wide variety of specialist assignments including fraud investigations, internal audits and consulting assignments for both Private and Public companies.
--Dato Jeyaraj Ratnaswamy
The Board Of Trustees
CHAIRMAN
Dr. Brian Shegar
Dr. Brian Shegar
Dr. Shegar has had an extensive career in international banking, focusing on Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. He was CEO of major international banks in the region, including Midland Bank, Nedbank and EmiratesNBD. Upon his retirement from banking in 2018, Dr. Shegar established ME-Asia Consultancy Pte Ltd and was elected President of the UAE Singapore Business Council. His other appointments include Member of the Global Advisory Board of CASS Business School and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Gulf Economics, Trade and Finance.
Dr. Shegar holds a BSc (Hons) in Banking and International Finance and MSc (Finance) from the CASS Business School of City, University of London. He was awarded a Doctorate in Business Administration/DBA from the University of Western Australia Business School.
--Dr. Brian Shegar
TRUSTEE
Michael Gray
Michael Gray
Mike is a Singapore citizen and has held a number of positions in Boards and Voluntary Welfare Organisations since 1985, when he joined the then newly formed Budget & Allocations Committee of the Community Chest. He served on the Board of the National Council of Social Service and its predecessor organisation, the Singapore Council of Social Service, for 18 years with the last four as its Vice President.
He was also Chairman of the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centres for many years and was the founding President of PAVE (Promoting Alternatives to Violence) 21 years ago and is still its President. He currently is a Trustee and Chairman of The Brash Trust and was a Governor of the Singapore International Foundation, and former member of Ang Mo Ko Cheng San, North East and Central Community Development Councils. He was also previously chairman of the Missions to Seafarers.
--Michael Gray
TRUSTEE
Capt. Rajash Singh
Capt. Rajash Singh
Rajash Singh, 51, was born in Singapore and was educated in Sydney, Australia. He then graduated from the Australian Aviation College/ University of South Australia with an Airline Transport Pilots License.
He works as Pilot of an International Airline and was a Flying Instructor on the Boeing 777 and also conducted many courses for the Pilots, Cabin Crew and various other teamwork courses for airline staff. He currently flies as a Captain of the Airbus 380.
--Capt. Rajash Singh
TRUSTEE
Rick Vargo
Rick Vargo
Rick is an experienced senior banking executive with more than thirty-five years’ experience in retail banking, insurance and financial services. He is currently Managing Director and Regional Group Head of Bancassurance at DBS, a position he has held since 2008. Prior to DBS, Rick has held other senior management positions with AIA, AXA, OCBC and John Hancock Financial Services.
Originally from the US, Rick first moved to Singapore in 1991 and has lived in Hong Kong and Indonesia in addition to Singapore, his home since 2008. He is married with two grown children.
Rick is a graduate from the University of Colorado USA with a Bachelor of Science in Finance in 1981 and is a Certified Financial Planner, He has background and experience in fund raising, charitable giving and legacy planning and has been involved on a number of committees and charitable organizations including Beyond Social Services, The Magical Light Foundation and Room to Read organization.
A passionate traveller and genuine ‘foodie’, Rick enjoys many outdoor sports including golf, fishing and long-distance running.
--Rick Vargo
TRUSTEE
Dr. Brian Yeo
Dr. Brian Yeo
Dr. Brian Yeo is a Consultant Psychiatrist in private practice and past Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
He was appointed Special Visitor, Board of Visitors, Mental Capacity Act, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore and was the past Vice Chairman, Board of Visitors, Children and Young Persons Homes, Ministry of Community Development Youth & Sports, Singapore.
Dr. Yeo had served as the Advisor and past Chairman of the Social Work Standing Committee of the Singapore Children's Society and was the Singapore Medical Association representative to the Board of Management, Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association.
--Dr. Brian Yeo
TRUSTEE
Dr. Yip Wing Kong
Dr. Yip Wing Kong
Dr. Yip Wing Kong is a specialist in Oral Maxillofacial Surgery at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He was formerly Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry of the National University of Singapore, Consultant in the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery of the Singapore General Hospital and Visiting Consultant in the Department of Dentistry and the Department of Pathology of the Singapore General Hospital. Since he departed from the University in 1980, Dr. Yip has served as a part-time faculty member and associate staff of the National University of Singapore Dental Faculty and the National University Hospital.
Dr. Yip graduated from the University of Singapore in 1964 with the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery. He received his post-graduate training in Oral Maxillofacial Surgery at the Singapore General and the University of Singapore from 1965 to 1969. In 1969 he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to undergo graduate studies under the world-renowned Distinguished Professor William G Shafer at Indiana University, leading to the Master of Science in Dentistry in Oral Pathology. Dr. Yip was also fortunate to have worked with Professor Newell Johnson as a Research Fellow in Experimental Pathology at the London Hospital Medical College, the University of London, from 1978 to 1979.
Dr. Yip has rendered distinguished service in the academic and professional dental organisations and received many awards for his contributions. He received the Fulbright Scholarship (1960-1971), the University of Singapore Faculty of Dentistry Golden Jubilee Meritorious Award (1979), the Academy of Dentistry International Clifford Loader Award (1990), the Roll of Honour of the Singapore Dental Association (1999), Honorary Member of the Malaysian Dental Association (2001), the Blue Cloud Award of the Korean Section of the Academy of Dentistry International (2002), the FDI Merit Award of the World Dental Federation (2002) and Honorary Member of the Japan Section of the Academy of Dentistry International (2004).
Dr. Yip has served on both the Singapore Dental Board and the Singapore Dental Council of the Ministry of Health for over 32 years. Starting as a Committee Member of the Investigation Committee in 1972-1978, he became the Chairman of the Investigation Committee of the Singapore Dental Board from 1978 to 1998 and the President of the Singapore Dental Council from 2003 to 2009. As Chairman of the Investigation Committee, he was responsible for adjudicating all complaints to the Dental Board. During his tenure as President of the Dental Council, Dr. Yip was accountable for the development and implementation of several landmark projects such as the revision of the Dentists' Act (1990) to the current Dental Registration Act (2008), the introduction of the mandatory Continuing Professional Education Programme (CPE), the Dentist's Pledge, the Dentist's Pledge Affirmation Ceremony, the Singapore Dental Council Ethical Code and Guidelines, the list of Displayable Qualifications, the formation and enactment of the Register of Conditionally Registered Dentists, the Register of Dental Specialists, the Register of Oral Health Therapists, and the negotiation and establishment of the Mutual Recognition Agreement of the Comprehensive Economic Co-operative Agreement (CECA) with India.
He also served as a member of the Singapore Medical Council's Complaints Panel in 2002-2006 and the Singapore Pharmacy Council's Complaints Panel in 2013-2021.
Dr. Yip has held many significant appointments in both local and international dental organizations within the dental profession. He was the Honorary General Secretary of the Malaysian Dental Association (Southern Branch) in 1966-1967 and became the founding Honorary General Secretary of the Singapore Dental Association in 1967-1969 following the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. He remained actively involved within the Association over the years and has held numerous appointments ranging from Editor of the Dental Journal of Singapore and Malaysia (1975-1976) and the Singapore Dental Journal (1976-1977, 1987-1990), Council Member (1987-1991) to Organizing Chairman of many of its scientific committees and dental conventions.
He was also actively engaged in many of the most prestigious international dental organisations in the world, such as the FDI World Dental Federation, the Academy of Dentistry International (ADI), the International College of Dentistry (ICD), and the Pierre Fauchard Academy (PFA). He has been conferred fellowships in these academies to recognise his contributions to dentistry and the dental community. He rose to become the Chairman of the prestigious Congress and Education Committee of the World Dental Federation in 1994-1995 and President of the Academy of Dentistry International in 2004-2005, the first Asian dentist to have reached these distinguish positions.
Dr. Yip truly excelled in the organization of dental meetings and conferences. He has been passionately involved in the organization of innumerable local, regional and international conferences for nearly 40 years. He was Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Asian Pacific Dental Congress held in Singapore in 1979 and Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the highly successful FDI World Dental Congress in 1990. He was involved in practically every Annual World Dental Congress in some capacity since 1987, a spate of over 20 years. As the founding member of the International Dental Exhibition and Meeting (IDEM) in 2000, Dr. Yip was responsible for forming the now hugely successful biennial major international dental meeting in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region.
In his capacity as the Vice-Chairman of the World Dental Education Society (Singapore), Dr. Yip Was also actively involved in organizing regional dental conferences in over 15 countries throughout Asia, ranging from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, India, Nepal, Fiji, Dubai to as far away as Mongolia. A high point of these regional conferences was the transfer of dental knowledge and techniques and the setting up of 4 well stocked dental libraries within the national universities of some of these developing countries.
Dr. Yip is happily married to Helene and has two loving sons, David and Alexander.
--Dr. Yip Wing Kong
BDS (Singapore)
MSD (Indiana)
FAMS (Oral Maxillofacial Surgery)
FAAOP (USA)
TRUSTEE
Stéphane Benoist
Stéphane Benoist
Stéphane Benoist is a French national, born and raised in Paris. Stéphane served with the Louis Dreyfus Group, first at the HQ in Paris then in Singapore from 1991 to 1994. What was meant to be a short-term assignment in the city-state turned into a long-term passion for Asia. For the next three years Stéphane was employed as Finance Director of a public works company, which was engaged in a number of prestigious real estate projects in Singapore.
In 1997 Stéphane established his first consulting firm providing business advisory, management consulting and corporate support services to companies wanting to start and develop their activities in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Stéphane aided companies and organizations in the fields of finance, taxation and financial control. During those years Stéphane served on boards of private companies and charities, often as company secretary. His firm grew into a reputable and profitable company and was acquired in 2013 by Altios International. Stéphane remained as CEO for South East Asia until 2019.
In his pursuit to gain experience and continued growth, and to give back, Stéphane is building a portfolio career, which comprises of consulting on corporate governance, and is involved in personal projects such as business-angeling. He is a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors.
His interest in sustainability and climate governance as a global and pressing need has brought him to engage with INSEAD's Corporate Governance Centre as Director-in-Residence to offer support to the Centre in its pursuit of making a distinctive contribution to the knowledge and practice of corporate governance in the field of sustainability.
Always eager to learn and to grow, he cofounded the first APM Club (Association Progrès du Management) in Singapore. After becoming a father in 2014, he consummated his interest in education and business with the launch of the first and only bilingual French-English Montessori center in Singapore.
A wine amateur, Stéphane is currently heading the prestigious Commanderie de Bordeaux in Singapore.
Stephane first graduated from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne with a Master’s in Finance, continued to earn a pre-doctorate Master’s in Advanced Business Practice from the University of South Australia then completed IDP-C from INSEAD. Stéphane is a Permanent Resident in Singapore where he lives with his wife Andreza and son Matthias.
--Stéphane Benoist
TRUSTEE & SECRETARY
SK Yeo
Yeo Soon Keong
Yeo Soon Keong graduated from the University of Nottingham in 1989 and was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales a year later in 1990 as a member of Grays Inn. He was subsequently admitted to the rolls of Advocates and Solicitors in Singapore.
Soon Keong holds a Masters Degree in International Business in addition to his LL.B, and lectures in the areas of Investment and Commercial Law as an associate lecturer with SIM University and RMIT University.
Soon Keong’s main area of practice is in private client work which includes representing families in their commercial and corporate interest, real estate investments and succession planning. His involvement spans across various jurisdictions and includes assisting client in the mergers, acquisition, divestment and governance.
--Yeo Soon Keong
TREASURER
Chay Yiowmin
Chay Yiowmin 蔡耀铭
Chay Yiowmin is currently the chief executive officer of Chay Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd., a boutique corporate advisory firm. Mr. Chay is also the lead independent and non-executive director of UMS Holdings Ltd. and Metech International Limited, and a non-executive director of 8I Holdings Limited. Between 2013 and 2015, Mr. Chay was the lead independent and non-executive director of Advance SCT Limited. Mr. Chay was also a non-executive director of Libra Group Limited from 2019 to 2020.
Since graduating in 1998, Mr. Chay has accumulated many years of public accounting experience in Singapore and the United Kingdom with a number of reputable international accounting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte and Touche LLP, Moore Stephens LLP and BDO LLP, the latter of which he was the advisory partner heading the Corporate Finance Practice from 2012 to 2019. Prior to joining BDO LLP, Mr. Chay was an assurance partner from 2010 to 2012, specialising in financial services and shipping.
Mr. Chay holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hons) and a Master of Business from Nanyang Technological University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Birmingham. Mr. Chay is also a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA Singapore) of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and a Chartered Valuer and Appraiser (CVA) of the Institute of Valuers and Appraisers of Singapore (IVAS).
Mr. Chay currently sits on the Singapore steering committee of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), and the Standards and Technical Committee of IVAS, the latter of which Mr. Chay is also a programme instructor. Mr. Chay is also an active Grassroots Leader, serving as a treasurer with the Kebun Baru and Sengkang South Citizens Consultative Committees, and an auditor with the Thomson Hills Neighbourhood Committee. Mr. Chay is also a member of the Kebun Baru Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles. Mr. Chay was awarded the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Medal) (PBM) by the President of the Republic of Singapore on 9 August 2016.
--Chay Yiowmin 蔡耀铭