Tycoon Oei Hong Leong bbought one million American International Group (AIG) shares on Tuesday when the stock was in freefall and many investors were bailing out of the giant insurer.

He told The Straits Times that he will donate the shares, which have already shot up in value, to LKY School to mark Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's 85th birthday, which fell on Tuesday.

Mr Oei bought in on the upswing and landed his parcel for US$1.80. By the close of trading they were more than double that - US$3.75. He had looked hard at the unfolding AIG crisis and calculated that the firm was just too big and important to be allowed to fail.

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