The Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) raised S$1 million in donations, reported the Straits Times (Table tennis gets $1m boost; Tuesday, January 12, 2009).

The Lee Foundation alone accounted for $500,000 of the donations.

The money will be spent on youth development and a retirement fund for national athletes.

Young national athletes will now train and study at the Singapore Sports School which will help the foreign-born players to assimilate into Singapore life. This is a departure from previous STTA practice where the foreign-born players trained separately.

The STTA will also launch a pilot project to teach five and six-year-olds the basics of the sport.