Thirteen university students walked into UOB Plaza in Jakarta on July 16, 2026, and left with something most scholarships don't hand out: a guaranteed seat inside a company, not just a bank transfer.

That's the pitch behind the SingCham Uplifting Scholarship 2026, now in its second year. Last year it funded 8 students. This year it jumped to 13 and every single one gets paired with an internship at a Singaporean company already doing business in Indonesia.

At a glance:

• 13 scholarship recipients in 2026, up from 8 in 2025
• 6 sponsor companies offering internships
• 9 partner universities across Jabodetabek and Bandung
• 20 years of SingCham operating in Indonesia, marked in 2026

The program is run by the Singapore Chamber of Commerce Indonesia (SingCham), managed on the ground by I-SMART and Kinobi, and backed by the Singapore Global Network (SGN). It targets undergraduates in their third or fourth year  students close enough to graduation that an internship actually matters. Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Kwok Fook Seng, showed up in person to hand out the awards.

What is the SingCha Uplifting Scholarship?

It's a joint financial-aid-plus-internship program for Indonesian undergraduates, created by SingCham to prepare students for work before they've even graduated. Recipients get tuition support and a placement at one of six sponsor companies: UOB Indonesia, Titan Corporation, Tuah & Suparto Advocates & Solicitors, APRW, Withers, and Coromandel Productions. The internships run alongside mentorship from working professionals at those firms, not just a certificate at the end.

This year also marks an expansion. Previously limited to Jabodetabek campuses, the scholarship now reaches universities in Bandung Raya too  including Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Universitas Padjadjaran (Unpad), Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), and Politeknik Negeri Bandung (POLBAN), alongside Jakarta-based schools like BINUS University, i3L, IPMI International Business School, UPN Veteran Jakarta, and UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

"Beyond financial support, this scholarship also equips recipients with internship opportunities and direct mentorship from business practitioners... this experience gives them direct exposure to industry, and helps build the skills, confidence, and insight they'll need once they start working," said Shoeb Kagda, Chairman of SingCham Indonesia.

Who gets picked, and why?
Here's the part that's easy to miss: this isn't primarily a grades competition. Kinobi, which manages the selection process, said applications this year showed a sharp rise in quality and diversity. Candidates are scored on leadership potential and problem-solving just as heavily as academic transcripts, with a case-study essay on real business challenges as part of the process.

Kinobi CEO Hafiz Kasman put it directly: technical skill alone isn't enough anymore. Future professionals also need cross-cultural collaboration experience and adaptability to compete globally  which is exactly why the program leans so hard on international sponsor companies rather than local scholarships alone.

UOB Indonesia, one of the six sponsors, framed its involvement around ASEAN competitiveness. Luke Ariefiandi, the bank's Head of Strategic Communications and Brand, said developing future-ready talent is essential to building a stronger, more competitive Indonesia  and that the goal is giving students global perspective to compete within the ASEAN economy specifically.