The 66th Annual Meeting of Australian Alumni Singapore was successfully held virtually via zoom, the second time in AAS’ 66 years history. Mr Shaun Mcewan, the Presiding Officer for the AGM called the meeting to order at 7.16 pm with a quorum of 30 voting members.
His Excellency, The Hon Mr. Will Hodgman, High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore, delivered his Welcome Address as the Guest-of-Honour. In his Speech, Will shared that he is delighted and honoured to be invited to be AAS Patron. He shared that he has received a very warm welcome since arriving in Singapore two months ago with part of his family. He looks forward to meeting everyone over the next three years and hope to be able to strengthen the relationship between Australia and Singapore, which is an important partner to broaden Australia’s reach in the region.
The President- Joseph Kwok, shared the Annual Report which summarized some of the significant developments and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to be of service to AAS and announced that he will be stepping down as AAS President but will continue to contribute to AAS in other ways. He also wishes Paul Ho well, who served as AAS Secretary and will also be stepping down from AAS Management Committee after the 66th AGM.
He conveyed sincere thanks to the following who contributed to AAS’ success:
Term Sponsors: James Cook University (Platinum), Lendlease (Gold) and Trust Capital (Silver)
University Partners: James Cook University (Platinum) and The University of Queensland (Silver)
Wine Sponsor: Wolf Blass by Treasury Wine Estates
Joseph was also very grateful for the support that Australian High Commission in Singapore has given to AAS over the years. H.E. Bruce Gosper was incredibly supportive since the start of his term and together with his capable team, played an important role in helping AAS carry out our missions and objectives. He is hopeful that the new Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, H.E. Will Hodgman, will continue to be supportive and AAS looks forward to working with him and his team.
Joseph also went on to sincerely thank all the Council of Advisors, which comprises of highly regarded and successful Australian alumni for their support towards AAS. He shared that in addition to giving invaluable advice, many of AAS Council of Advisors have also generously donated significant amount to AAS CSR initiatives in 2020. AAS embarked on a few CSR initiatives by raising S$16,864 to help with the Australia Bush Fire in Jan 2020. This was followed by a Kopi for Front Line Worker Campaign in Feb 2020 to provide coffee to healthcare workings in NUS Hospital and Singapore General Hospital.
Chris Cheah, Chairman of AAS Council of Advisors thanked Joseph for having done a great job as AAS President for the past 3 years and will continue to support the upcoming AAS President moving forward.
The Presiding Officer presented the 65th AGM Minutes which was circulated prior to the meeting and thereafter, tabled the following motion: “That the Minutes for the 65th AGM be accepted and received.”
Proposer: Rajaneesh Kurup | Seconder: Dipanti Das ; and the Motion was carried unopposed.
Next to be invited by Shaun to speak was AAS Treasurer- Clarence Lee, who presented the highlights of the AAS 2020 audited profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
The Presiding Officer then tabled the following motion: “That the Audited Accounts for the financial year ended 31st December 2020 be and are hereby approved and adopted.”
Proposer: Rajaneesh Kurup | Seconder: Clarence Lee; and the Motion was carried unopposed.
Thereafter, the following Committee Members were each invited to share:
- Chair of Events – Dipanti Das : Total 9 Events successfully organised in 2020.
2. Chair of Membership – Rajaneesh Kurup: The total membership number grew by 1.35%, from 811 to 822
There being no other matters, the meeting was declared closed at 8.06 pm with a vote of thanks to the 35 person in attendance.
Please click on the links below to access the 66th AAS AGM’s Minutes and Zoom Recording :