The NTUC-U Care Fund and Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) are working to raise $250,000 worth of funds to help lower-income union members and their families.
The fundraising will be done through the inaugural Non-Fungible Token (NFT) charity auction event Blockchain for Good.
The amount raised will go towards supporting various assistance programmes, including helping families defray their cost of living and their children’s school expenses, as well as caring for the elderly.
The auction will take place over a week in Singapore from 4 October 2021 to 10 October 2021.
NFTs are digital assets that represent digital or real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online.
NFTs have seen a rise in popularity in recent times, dominated by the arts and collectables segments, with sales of these assets rising to more than US$2 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
One of the auction NFTs titled 'Protectors of the Soul' contributed by Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Hamlatul Arsy Mulia, daughter of HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah
NTUC Assistant Director-General Zainal Sapari said: “We are happy to collaborate with industry associations such as BAS as part of our fundraising efforts this year to help our lower-income members and their families, who may need an additional boost to tide through these difficult times.
“It is our first time doing an NFT charity auction, and I hope this new and unique initiative will pique the interest of corporates and individuals to come on board through similar means for us to make it a sustainable fundraising effort for a worthy cause.”
Mr Zainal is also the NTUC Care and Share Department director, which oversees the NTUC-U Care Fund.
Key collaborators supporting the event include Singapore Airlines, KrisShop, Amazon Web Services Inc., Drew & Napier, Aleta Planet, Nexia TS, Ode to Art, Coinhako and RegTank.
The event will also see contributions and support from Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, and NFT influencers such as Mai Fujimoto and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Hamlatul Arsy Mulia, daughter of Brunei’s HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah.
BAS Co-Chair Chia Hock Lai said: “This charity event is an exciting moment for the Republic. We are honoured to leverage our expertise and network to contribute to such a noble cause. The possibilities that blockchain technology provides us seems limitless, and we are fully behind utilising blockchain and NFTs to support Singapore’s first NFT charity auction.”
Members of the public interested in contributing their NFTs for the auction or supporting the event can do so through an NFT platform hosted by BAS at www.singaporenft.org.
