A sketch of the classroom model built from Singaporean 50-cent coins

A group of overseas Vietnamese students in Singapore on Monday kicks off a project to raise funds for a kindergarten in the central province of Quang Nam.

When complete, the model will contain a total of 5,137 coins, or some US$9,900, said student Nguyen Tan Thai Hung who helped come up with the idea.

Hung said they chose the 50-cent coin for its ability to endure pressure amongst five Singaporean types of coins, adding that donors can get change on site.

The act of placing the coins on the model is intended to symbolize laying real bricks to build a classroom, according to students from the Vietnamese Students’ Subcommittee at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The model, displayed at NUS’s Central Library until Thursday, is expected to be entered in Singapore’s national book of records. Previously, a group of students from NUS had set a national record for building a model from 3,600 coins.

Visitors are also invited to help pin some 6,000 paper cranes onto two pictures drawn by the students.

Student Bich Hong said the model and pictures will be auctioned off upon completion.

“In the worst case where no one bids due to the current economic crisis, we will dismantle the model, and exchange the coins for paper money,” Hong added.

The project, say the students, is a contribution to NUS students’ overseas community service Vietnam Jump, which plans to send some 15 students back to Quang Nam Province to build a music room and a medical room for a local kindergarten this May.

Reported by Thuc Minh