NEWSLETTER 061018

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.