August Fireside Chat with former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi

Former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi on the sensitive topic of ‘Singapore’s Model of Inter-racial and Inter-religious Harmony – New Challenges Within and Without’

Date: Monday, 1 August 2016
Time: 7 pm dinner; 8 pm chat
Venue: The Pyramid Club, 2 Goodwood Hill, Singapore 258897
Cost: $30 for Members; $38 for Guests. Tickets are non-refundable.
RSVP: Peatix only; walk-ins will not be entertained.

We are continuing our very successful Fireside Chat series. Many thanks to those who attended the last AGM and Chat with Dr Johan Saravanamuttu.

We are pleased to announce that Abdullah Tarmugi will be our next Fireside Chatter. In a political career spanning almost 30 years, Mr Tarmugi served in various political offices, including:
· Speaker of Parliament (2002 to 2011),
· Minister for Community Development and Sports (1994 to 2000), and
· Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (1996 to 2002).

Since 2012, Mr Tarmugi has served as a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. He is also part of the 9-member Constitutional Commission formed in February 2016 for the Review of the Elected Presidency.

Due to space constraints, and in order to facilitate frank and candid discussions, the Committee is imposing a limit on the number of participants to 30 persons (Members and Guests).

Members signing up early will pay a token $30, with at most one guest per member at $38. This is non-refundable and will have to be paid even if there is non-attendance for any reason, since no-shows at the last minute still incur catering costs and deprive other Members of a highly-coveted space at these Fireside Chats.

Oxbridge AGM and Fireside Chat on Politics in Malaysia (14 July 2016)

The Society held its election AGM on 14 July 2016 at 2 Goodwood Hill. Immediate Past President Mr Michael Hwang reported that since the last non election AGM on 9 September 2015, the Society has had four Fireside chats with Mr Viswa Sadasivan (Editor in chief of Inconvenient Questions), Prof Kevin Tan (Professor of Constitutional Law, NUS), Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara (Temasek holdings) and Prof Low Teck Seng (CEO, National Research Foundation).

There was also a Freshers Going Up event, a private docent-led tour of the newly opened National Gallery and the much anticipated Oxbridge Annual Dinner at Eden Hall (coinciding with Chinese New Year) which was over-subscribed at 120 diners.

Amendments were passed to the Society’s Constitution to allow for candidates to stand in absentia for office provided a letter of consent was produced by someone present at the AGM. Amendments were also made to the process for nomination of officers of the Society to be submitted no later than two weeks before the meeting and nominations shall not be allowed at the AGM itself. It was clarified that an office bearer shall hold office for two years and elections for the Committee shall be held at every alternate AGM. The post of Immediate Past President was created who would automatically be part of the Committee without the need for election.

The following were elected to the Committee at the AGM:

    Year 2016 – 2018
Name Designation
Dato’ Paul Supramaniam President
Dr Michael Hwang SC Immediate Past President
Dr Melanie Chew Vice President (Oxford)
Mr Toh Han Li Vice President (Cambridge)
Mr Ng Yeau Chong Honorary Secretary
Ms Yu-Ann Wang Honorary Treasurer
Mr Tan Yi-xun Assistant Honorary Secretary
Dr Caitriona Heinl Assistant Honorary Treasurer
Mr Paul Broom Liaison Officer from the British High Commission
Mr James Cheah Member
Ms Rachel Chew Member
Ms Genevieve Ding Member
Ms Purnima Gandhi Member
Mr Tyler Henry Hung Member
Mr Zakir Hussain Member
Mr Lucas Jiang Member
Mr Anupum Khaitan Member
Mr Mark Nelligan Member
Ms Debra Quek Member
Mr Ervin Tan Member
Dr Wu Huijuan Member

The AGM was followed by a Fireside chat with Dr Johan Saravanamuttu on the topic entitled “New Politics in a Divided Nation – Quo Vadis Malaysia?”
Dr. Saravanamuttu was formerly professor of political science at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang where he served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences (1994-1996). He was Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, from 2007-2014 and, in 1997, was the Visiting Chair in ASEAN and International Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Malaysia’s Foreign Policy, the First 50 Years: Alignment, Neutralism, Islamism (ISEAS, 2010). Other publications include: The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative Action, Ethnic Inequalities and Social Justice (co-edited with Terence Gomez, NUS Press 2013);March 8: Eclipsing May 13 (with Ooi Kee Beng and Lee Hock Guan, ISEAS, 2008); New Politics in Malaysia (co-edited with Francis Loh, ISEAS, 2003). His latest co-edited book is Coalitions in Collision: Malaysia’s 13 th General Election (SIRD & ISEAS, 2015) and has authored another book, Power Sharing in a Divided Nation: Mediated Communalism and New Politics over Six Decades of Elections in Malaysia (ISEAS- Yusof Ishak Institute, in press, 2016).

Agenda for Oxford and Cambridge Society Annual General Meeting, 2 Goodwood Hill, 14 July 2016, 7PM

PARTICULARS OF MEETING

1. Adopt Amendments to the Society’s Constitution

The Committee proposes the following amendments to Articles 5 and 7 of the Constitution of the Society (with additions in bold underline and deletions struck through).

5 Officers and Committee

5.1 The management of the Society shall be vested in a Committee to be elected from ordinary and life Members at the Annual General Meeting every second year. Standing for office by proxy in absentia would be permitted, provided a letter of consent of from the candidate is produced by someone present at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall consist of the following officers:

The President

The Immediate Past President

The Vice-President for Oxford

The Vice-President for Cambridge

The Honorary Secretary

The Assistant Honorary Secretary

The Honorary Treasurer

The Assistant Honorary Treasurer

The Liaison Officer from the British High Commission

Twelve Fourteen members

The term of office of the Committee shall be two years. All officers, except the Honorary Treasurer, may be re-elected.

*The Immediate Past President shall automatically be part of the Committee without need for election.

5.4 Upon the approval of the Registrar of Societies to the amendment to paragraph 5.1 of the Constitution to enlarge the number of non-office bearing Committee members from 126 to 1412, the Committee may forthwith appoint 26 new members of the Committee as non office-bearing members, such appointment to be effective until the next election of Committee members.

7 Annual General Meetings

The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held by July of each calendar year and other general meetings shall be held at such times as the Committee shall deem necessary. At least two (2) weeks’ notice shall be given of an Annual General (inclusive of weekends and public holidays). Notice of meeting stating the date, time and place of meeting shall be sent by the Secretary to all voting members. The particulars of the agenda shall be posted on the Society’s website four (4) days in advance of the meeting. Any nomination for officers of the Society shall be supported by a nominator and seconder, both of whom must be members of the Society, and shall may be submitted to the Secretary no later than two one weeks before the meeting. Nomination for officers of the Society shall not also be allowed during the Annual General Meeting. One- tenth of the voting membership or thirty (30) voting members present at a General Meeting, whichever is the lesser, shall form a quorum for the Meeting, provided that only one-tenth or more of the voting membership shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of altering, amending or making additions to the existing rules. At every Annual General Meeting a statement of accounts for the past year shall be submitted by the Treasurer. An office bearer shall hold office for the ensuing 2 years and elections for the Committee shall only be held at every alternate Annual General Meeting. Every 2nd year the election of the Committee for the Society for the ensuing 2 years shall take place. In the event of there being no quorum present at a meeting that meeting shall be adjourned a half hour later and should the number then present be insufficient to form a quorum those present shall be considered a quorum but they shall have no power to alter, amend or make additions to any of the existing rules.

2. Adopt the Minutes of the previous AGM convened on 9 September 2015.

3. Confirm and adopt the Secretary’s Report.

4. Confirm and adopt the Treasurer’s Report and the Accounts of the Society as of 31 December 2015.

5. Election of New Committee Members for 2016-2018.

6. Appointment of Honorary Auditors for 2016-2018.

The Documents referred to above have been circulated via email.