DBS Donates $S100,000 And HK$600,000 As Seed Money For Medical Research on SARS In Singapore And Hong Kong

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DBS Staff Donations Initiated In Both Countries

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DBS Will Additionally Match Staff Contributions Up To S$100,000 And HK$200,000

Singapore, April 25, 2003 - DBS announced today that it will donate S$100,000 to the Singapore SARS Clinical Consortium (SSCC) to help kick-start some of its programmes for treatment and research on SARS. The Consortium is set up by the Ministry of Health and is made up of representatives from the local universities, hospitals and the medical research institutes.

"We would like to thank DBS for making this great gesture. There is so much to do and in so little time. We have managed to mobilise the entire medical and scientific community to come up with answers so that we can diagnose cases earlier and develop effective treatment strategies," said Professor John Wong, chairman of the newly set up Singapore SARS Clinical Consortium.

Professor Wong, who is also the Vice President (Research / Life Sciences) at National University of Singapore, leads a consortium comprising medical and research professionals from the Ministry of Health, the Health Sciences Authority, the National Environment Agency, Singapore Health Services institutions such as the Singapore General Hospital and the National Cancer Centre, the National Healthcare Group institutions such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Communicable Disease Centre, and National University Hospital, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research institutes such as the Genome Institute of Singapore and Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology, the DSO National Laboratories, the Defence Medical Research Institute, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratories, and Johns Hopkins Singapore. The consortium is working closely with the World Health Organisation and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Singapore SARS Clinical Consortium aims to:

• develop and implement a rapid and accurate diagnostic test
• develop testing sites across the country
• identify risk factors for the development of the disease
• develop better treatment strategies
• understand the societyss response to the disease

Separately in Hong Kong, DBS also donated a total of HK$600,000 to the Departments of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong specifically earmarked for research on SARS.

Jackson Tai, DBS' Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said: "There are two fronts to the battle against SARS. The first is to prevent the spread of the disease and the other, finding an urgent treatment or vaccine against the virus. We believe a breakthrough will come from medical research. DBS is pleased to help fund the acceleration of this effort.

"The DBS contribution is seed money to kick-start the consortium task force'ss research. We will be rallying our 9,000-strong staff in Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as our corporate partners to do their part by raising additional funds to support the research efforts both here and in Hong Kong," said Mr Tai.

The Bank will additionally donate up to S$100,000 and HK$200,000 to match the amount raised by staff. This will potentially bring the total contributions to the SSCC and Hong Kong medical research close to S$300,000 and HK$1 million respectively.

Besides the monetary donations, DBS has already launched several initiatives in the fight against SARS:

In Singapore

Opening up its e-banking channels on 23 April to its huge customer base in Singapore to donate to The Courage Fund, which was set up to help the needy families affected by SARS.

Set up a dedicated hotline at 6222 2222 since 9 April for the patients and healthcare professionals working at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Communicable Disease Centre and Singapore General Hospital to help them make payments to third parties locally over the phone. DBS will waive all late payment fees and charges for these groups of people affected by the SARS crisis.

In Hong Kong

Set up a dedicated "DBS Help Line" and "DBS Mortgage Customer Help Line" for customers of Dao Heng Bank, Overseas Trust Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank who are directly or indirectly affected by SARS.

Provide Vitamin C tablets for customers in all branches of Dao Heng Bank, Overseas Trust Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank on April 25.

Distribute "Hygiene & Health Packs" to customers in selected branches of Dao Heng Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank located in commercial areas on April 29.