My Dad would have been 85 this year
And it's been a honour and a privilege to establish a perpetual endowment dedicated to his memory
Thank you for kind attention to my dedication of this endowment to the NUS College of Design and Engineering to my father, John Stewart Lodge: a designer, a professional engineer and a true and dedicated Freemason.
My Dad was a professional engineer who left school at 14 years old to become a joiner and cabinet maker’s apprentice. He studied mathematics and passed one ‘O-level’ in English, and passed the examinations to become a professional structural engineer. A bursary from an endowment like this would have made a huge difference to my Dad, and his ability to continue with his tertiary studies at university.
My Dad was equally at home, designing and building a custom spiral staircase out of hardwood as he was designing a nuclear submarine for Vickers, or a nuclear power station for the UKAEA. My Dad was also a Freemason, as was my grandfather. My daughter and I are carrying on the family tradition.
Freemasonry is built on the principles of brotherly love, relief and truth. Brotherly love is about taking care of each other, our families and our community with love and compassion. Relief is about benevolence and bringing relief to those that are suffering. Acts of benevolence and charity, like this endowment, are part of what we are about. Truth is about being true to ourselves, and investing in our own education, to discover more about ourselves.
During the last five decades since it was founded, Singapore has quietly invested in public housing, with the highest amount of public housing per capita in the entire world. It has created a world-leading retirement investment fund for the public with the CPF, and a world-leading sovereign wealth fund that holds a capital reserve of assets that provides a buffer when pandemics and disasters strike.
A true expression of benevolence and compassion for the community expressed in economic prudence and fortitude. Singapore embodies many of the qualities of Freemasonry that I love. Hopefully creating this endowment goes a small way towards showing that this particular Anglo-Freemason would like to express his brotherly love, appreciation and respect for Singapore, and to honour the memory of my father.