1. Fireside Chat – Fri 27 Oct 2006 – Ngiam Tong Dow
2. Membership Matters
3. Visit of Master of Balliol – Mon 11 Dec 2006 – Mr Andrew Graham
1. FIRESIDE CHAT – FRI 27 OCT 2006 – NGIAM TONG DOW
Speaker: Mr Ngiam Tong Dow
Chairman: Prof Lim Chong Yah
Topic: The Role of Singapore Elites in the 21st Century
Date: Friday 27 Oct 2006
Cost: $30 per person (payable by cheque or cash at the event)
Capacity: 20 seats (For Members only)
Venue: Graciously hosted by Dr Melanie Chew (a former Vice-President
for Oxford), at her home, No. 6B Cluny Park, Singapore 259615
Programme:
6:30 p.m: Drinks & Light Dinner
8:00 p.m: Fireside Chat
10:00 p.m. Coffee
Members may register by emailing to the Honorary Treasurer Lai Hock
Meng at laihmeng@… by 12 noon Saturday 21st Oct 2006,
stating your name, college, year of matriculation and contact phone
number. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Members with confirmed seats who later find themselves unable to
attend are kindly requested to cancel promptly so that their seats
may be released for allocation to others on the waitlist.
Biodata of Mr. Ngiam Tong Dow:
Mr Ngiam entered the Singapore Administration Service in 1959 and
served for 40 years before retiring in 1999.
During his long and distinguished career in the Singapore civil
service, Mr Ngiam served at the apex of the civil service in the
Ministries of Finance, Trade and Industry, Communications and
National Development and as Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s
Office.
Mr. Ngiam has also served as chairman of key statutory boards and
government-linked companies including the Economic Development
Board, the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing Development
Board, DBS Bank and Sheng-Li Holding Co Pte Ltd. In 2003, he was
made chairman of the HDB Corporation Pte Ltd (now named Surbana
Corporation Pte Ltd).
Mr. Ngiam was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in
1971, Meritorious Service Medal in 1978, a Long Service Award in
1995 and the Distinguished Service Order in 1999.
Background of the Fireside Chat:
Started in the late 1980s, the Fireside Chat is now back again after
a long hiatus, once again graciously hosted by Melanie at her lovely
home at Cluny Park in accordance with tradition.
The Fireside Chat is a salon for the debate of topics of serious and
national interest, in an atmosphere of intimacy, confidentiality,
intellectual equality and mutual respect. The proceedings follow the
Chatham House Rule which states (as refined in 2002): “When a
meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule,
participants are free to use the information received, but neither
the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any
other participant, may be revealed.”
2. MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
A new set of forms is now accessible via the society’s homepage at
www.oxbridgesg.org. All recipients of this circular are kindly
requested to complete and submit the appropriate form to the
Secretary.
To access a form, click on the relevant hyperlink and save the file
as a Word document.
Once downloaded into your computer, you may open the document, use
Word to complete all the fields in the form and then email the
completed form to the Secretary from the same email address that you
have indicated on the form. (Please remember to type your name in
the Signature field).
If you prefer to print out the document and complete it by hand, you
may submit your completed form by ordinary mail to the Secretary.
Ordinary Members in arrears of the annual subscription of S$30/- due
for 2006 only are kindly advised make their cheque payments to the
Treasurer.
Ordinary Members in substantial arrears of annual subscriptions may
submit new Membership Application Forms to the Secretary together
with their cheque payments for $30/- by way of application fee which
will entitle them to membership until the end of the calendar year.
All Life and Ordinary Members are encouraged to submit a Membership
Update Form, especially if they have been members for more than 2
years.
All Non-Members who are subscribed to the email circulation list are
kindly requested to submit a Request For Subscription Form.
3. VISIT OF MASTER OF BALLIOL – Monday 11 Dec 2006
The Master of Balliol College, Oxford will be visiting Singapore and
wishes to host Balliol alumni to a reception on Monday 11th December.
Balliol alumni are kindly requested to send their contact details,
year of matriculation and subject of study to Balliol alumnus, Mr
Arjuna Mahendran via email to arjuna.mahendran@… or
by telephone 62126727 (office).
Andrew Graham, Master of Balliol College, Oxford graduated from
Oxford University in 1964 and was a Tutorial Fellow at Balliol
College from 1969-97. He served as economic adviser to the Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Wilson and later to the
Leader of the Labour Party, John Smith. He founded the Oxford
Internet Institute in 2001 and has been a Board Member of Channel 4
Television and a Trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. He is
currently a member of the Scott Trust which owns The Guardian and
The Observer.
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Newsletter Issued on 18th October 2006 by Jacqueline Chong, Honorary
Secretary, The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Singapore.