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Alumni services

Every student who leaves UWCSEA, re-gardless of how long they were here, isautomatically a member of the UWCSEAalumni community. Some of the servicesthat we offer alumni include:

One º NorthThe Alumni Magazine of the United WorldCollege of South East Asia is publishedtwice per year. Please send your contri-butions and/or suggestions toalumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

UWCSEA alumni online communityThe UWCSEA password-protected alumniwebsite allows you to maintain your ownprofile, search for and contact other reg-

istered members, post photos and blogs,stay informed about news and events, etc.

Reunions and get-togethersAn annual reunion of the 30 year, 20 yearand 10 year anniversary classes will beheld each August, beginning August 2008for the classes of 1978, 1988 and 1998.Alumni from other years are welcome toregister as well. Other class reunionstake place in Singapore and elsewherethroughout the year. Let us help to sup-port and advertise your get-together.

Alumni eBriefThe alumni newsletter is emailed everytwo months, containing brief news and

information to keep you updated and in-formed.

Career servicesAlumni are welcome to post job open-ings or your own resumé on the site.

Visits, tours and other requestsWe are always happy to help in any waywe can. Send your requests to us atalumni@uwcsea.edu.sg. If you are inSingapore and would like to drop in fora visit or a tour of the campus, we wouldbe more than happy to show you around.

Please keep in touch!

Number of registered members on the UWCSEA Alumni website (by country of residence)

Other countries represented: Albania, Argentina, Bahrain , Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cayman Islands,

Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, East Timor, Egypt, Hungary, Greece, Guyana, Iceland, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta,

Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, St. Maarten, Syria,

Turkey, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

2 Alumni services

Helping you to stay connected toUWCSEA and to each other.

4 Letter from the Head

Read about UWCSEA's future plans.

5 Note from the Alumni office

Welcome to the new alumni

magazine.

5 Naming of the magazine

5 Values in Practise (ViP)

programmeAn introduction to a newprogramme.

6 Profile

Robert Milton (Class of 1978),business leader.

9 The Alumni website

It’s easy to register!

10 Global Concerns

An update of the ever evolvingGlobal Concerns programme.

12 Profile

Sean Ghazi (Class of 1987),international performer.

14 Sport at UWCSEA

Sport continues to grow at theCollege.

15 Class of 2007 graduation

Photos from this year’s Grade 12graduation.

16 Brief history of UWCSEA

A brief description of some Collegemilestones over the decades.

18 Travel

Tim Goulding (Class of 1987) andhis partner cycle through Asia.

20 UWCSEA Project Week

Project week continues to evolveand grow. An excerpt from thereport of a visit to Bosco Boys’Home by Ruchika Tulshyan,(Class of 2005).

22 Recent class reunions

A few faces from the reunions ofthe classes of 1987, 1989 through1992, 1997 and three UK get-togethers.

24 Class notes

27 Upcoming reunions

EditorBrenda WhatelyDirector of Alumni Relations

Assistant EditorPrapti SherchanAlumni Relations Executive

Design/LayoutLenca YewCommunications Executive

One º North is published by United World College of South East Asia twice per year for alumni,staff and friends of UWCSEA. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited without written consent.Send your address change to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg and/or update your profile on theUWCSEA alumni website. We welcome your feedback. Send your comments toalumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Please send your articles and/or suggestions for articles, as well as your class notes, for the nextedition to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Printed by Interprint Communications Pte Ltd4010 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, Tech Place 1, #03-05, Singapore 569626

Cover photo Tim Goulding not riding his bike in North Yunnan, China!Please send your suggestions for future cover photos to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg

Contents

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I have been at the College for almostthree years now and both professionallyand personally they have been the mostrewarding of my career. It is a fascinat-ing place to be working and I am begin-ning to understand why alumni havesuch a strong affinity for the College asit has a very particular ethos and an ex-traordinary vibrancy, the likes of whichI have not encountered elsewhere.

We have been working to consolidatethe expansion of the College from an 11-18 school to one catering for studentsacross the age range K1-G12. Wereached the target set by the Singaporegovernment of 2,890 at the beginning ofthis academic year, some three yearsahead of schedule, however this has puta strain on the facilities. As a result, andfollowing extensive consultation with theCollege community, we have drawn upa College Master Plan which will guideus as we construct new buildings andrefurbish others. We will begin in 2009by constructing a substantial classroomblock on the site of the hard playing sur-face near to the boarding houses. Oncompletion this will be used as ‘shuttlespace’ so that we can move departmentsout of other buildings whilst they are ei-ther refurbished or new buildings con-structed in their place.

It is our intention to retain something ofthe character and history of the Collegeby keeping the Main Hall (which will berefurbished in June 2008) and the twooriginal buildings either side of theformer air-conditioning fountain, whichwere constructed in 1964. These will berefurbished in phase 3 of the plan. In duecourse, full details of the plans will beposted on the new College website.

At the back of our minds throughout theprocess has been a comment made by

the Head of a school in Thailand who ina former life was a human geographer.On visiting the College he remarkedupon the fact that the campus had thefeeling of a village, by which he meantit had grown organically, the studentsowning the space which was shared byall age groups as they intermingled. Sooften international schools become ster-ile environments, as grand buildings areerected without consideration for thesocial dynamics. This is a trap we wishto avoid.

The demand for places at the College atthe moment is quite extraordinary – wehave approximately 2,000 students reg-istered for entry in August 2008 and evenhave students registered for 2016. Con-sequently, after much deliberation, theBoard of Governors have determined thatwe will establish a second UWCSEAcampus in Singapore to cater for thisdemand. A transition Primary School,K1-G4, for 400 students will open inAugust 2008 in Ang Mo Kio. In 2010 theschool will move to a purpose-built fa-cility and grow into a K1-G12 school ofsome 2,500 students.

We have been painstaking in our plan-ning for this expansion and have beenguided by four principles drawn up bythe Board:• The new College should further the

Mission of the United World Collegemovement,

• The two campus should be legally andfinancially separate (although the newcampus will come under the aegis ofthe Board of Governors of UWCSEA),

• The new College should be financiallyviable under foreseeable circumstancesand,

• The new College should have asimilar ethos and offer the samequality of education.

Julian Whiteley

Whilst the project won’t be without itschallenges, we are confident that we cansatisfy all four criteria and are excitedabout the prospect of being able to providemore students with a UWCSEA education.

A major part of our strategy for the fu-ture is the establishment of Foundation.If we are to maintain our position as aleading educational establishment witha worldwide reputation, it is essential thatwe achieve financial security. Moneyraised through the Foundation will beused to develop the College amenities,create an endowment and fund scholar-ships for students whose parents do nothave the means to send their children toUWCSEA. In addition, some of the fundswill be used to enhance our outreachprogramme including, we hope, estab-lishing schools in undeveloped areas inthe region, where teaching staff and othermembers of the College communitycould spend extended periods working toenrich the education of the local populace.

The presence of students selected by theNational Committees is a defining char-acteristic of the College and enhancesthe educational experience of all our stu-dents. It is, therefore, our intention toextend the scholarship provision. Notonly do we wish to increase the numberof National Committee students, we alsowish to select students for entry intoGrade 8 from some of the manyorganisations with whom we have linksin South East Asia.

In closing, it has been a pleasure to meetso many of you at the various reunionswe have held both in Singapore and over-seas. If you are passing through, pleasedo drop by the College.

from the Head of CollegeLetter

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Values in Practise (ViP) programme

We are about to introduce, on the alumni website, a Values in Practise (ViP)programme, which is meant to commemorate and connect alumni who havecontinued to carry out the values and ideals of the UWC movement in theirlife since leaving UWCSEA.

If you are running or participating in a global concerns type of programmeor social service work that you would like to share with other alumni, pleasesend us the details and we will be very happy to profile it in the ViP group onthe website. It would no doubt be interesting for alumni to see what kindsof volunteer work other alumni are devoting their time to, or allow themthe opportunity to become involved themselves. Perhaps someone wouldlike to set up another branch of your project in a different location, helpyou out in some other way, or simply get information from you about settingup a similar type of project that they have been thinking about.

We are interested in the ways in which our alumni are making a differenceto the lives of others. We know that a great number of you are involved inwork of this type and we’d like to hear about it and let others know about itas well.

Please let us know if we can add your 'values in practise' details. Send a noteto alumni@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Naming of the magazine contest

The winning suggestion for the name ofthe alumni magazine was submitted bymember of staff, Dave Shepherd. One ºNorth is a name meant to represent andevoke memories of Singapore. Locatedapproximatelyone degree northof the equator, itis a place whereall alumni havelived for varyinglengths of time,at least during theyears in whichthey attendedUWCSEA.

There were many interesting suggestionsput forward and thanks to all who took thetime to submit a potential name.

Dave has chosen Tabitha as the globalconcern to which we will donate $50 fortwo piglets to be purchased for a family inCambodia.

Thanks again for all submissions.

Note

I have been at UWCSEA in my alumni role for just over a year now and I have found it tobe an extremely dynamic and rewarding one. I am constantly inspired by the amazingpeople who the college is proud to claim as its alumni, and glad to see that so many haveremained connected to the college and to each other over the years.

The alumni office expanded in July to welcome Prapti Sherchan, an alumna of WaterfordKamhlaba, UWCSA. She and I have been fortunate to meet a few of you during your visitsto the college and at the various reunions that have been held in Singapore over the year.We look forward to meeting more of you in the coming year.

There were some interesting alumni gatherings held in Singapore over the past few months.In this issue you can read about Tim Goulding’s account of his trip through Asia to theclass of 1987’s reunion, by bicycle! In addition to get-togethers held in Singapore, thereare events elsewhere throughout the year that we are happy to keep updated on thealumni site. If you are organising one, or would like to post photos of one you’ve been to,let us know.

The response to the launch of the new alumni website this year has been tremendous. We have just under 3,000 registeredmembers at the time of writing, and the online community continues to grow by 40 to 50 registrations per week. We hope youwill continue to use this resource to stay connected to your former classmates and to the college.

This is the first edition of the alumni magazine which will be published twice per year. We have printed it on 100% recycled,environmentally-friendly paper in keeping with the college’s environmental conservation philosophy. We invite your com-ments as well as your submissions and suggestions for the next issue. Please send them to us at alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

We are always happy to hear from you. Please keep in touch!

Brenda WhatelyDirector of Alumni Relationsbrenda@uwcsea.edu.sg

from the alumni office

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UWCSEA alumnus, Robert Miltonreceived, in 1998, the prestigious ‘Top40 under 40’ award which recognises

those who have achieved significantlevels of success in leadership and

innovation before age 40. His leader-ship qualities were evident during hishigh school years when he was classpresident and editor of the UWCSEA

yearbook, ‘Interscol.’ Robert is marriedto another former student of the

College, and they have two children.He continues to live the UWC values,giving back in many ways, including

supporting Dreams Take Flight, whicheach year provides hundreds of

physically, mentally and sociallychallenged children with a day to

remember at Walt Disney World orDisneyland.

After contacting Robert through his AirCanada office, I managed to meet up

with him recently while he wastravelling through Singapore, and heagreed to write the following article

about his life and career since arrivingin Singapore as a high school student

in the late ‘70s.

Brenda Whately

s I look back on my time atUWCSEA, I only recall positive

thoughts. Recollections of brown uni-forms for the boys, turquoise for the girls,of hot days with afternoon thunder-storms, the boarding houses, roti at theHDB across Dover Road, and “the foun-tain” around which we would congre-gate each day.

UWCSEA, for me, and I suspect most ofus, was a special place, at a special time.It was about friends, friends whom to-day remain my closest. It was also aboutour education, which, though we mightnot have known it at the time, was lock-ing into place a cornerstone in the foun-dation of our lives.

It was also about Singapore in the sev-enties. Knowing her in the early years ofindependence, and looking at her todayis a story of success in which I find greatsatisfaction. I remember Singapore when!

In the ‘70’s, Singapore still featuredKampongs, small villages featuring struc-tures with corrugated iron roofs and plas-tic tarps for walls. In those days, Hol-land Village even featured shops madeof these materials. In my eyes, HollandVillage symbolizes how far Singapore hascome, today featuring underground park-

ing and Starbuck’s. Thirty years later,Singapore is as modern and efficient acity as exists anywhere.

In retrospect, we were fortunate to livewithin the protection of Lee Kuan Yew’svision. At the time, not only did posses-sion of drugs carry a death penalty, buteven long hair wasn’t permitted. Today,even if unknowingly, I am sure that thosegrowing up in Singapore still benefit fromits approach.

For me, however, growing up inSingapore was mostly about spendingtime at Paya Lebar Airport (no Changi inthose days!), feeding my insatiable ap-petite for commercial aviation. Frighten-ingly frequently, I would hop on the #95SBS bus on Holland Road and set out onthe almost one hour ride to the airport.Showing my student ID card, the costwas a whole 10 cents. The mission wassolely to watch airplanes take-off andland, and in those days, there weren’tmany flights. Invariably, the trip to theairport would involve meeting up with afellow UWCSEA’er, Doug Green, withwhom I’d watch airplanes for hours, of-ten gazing into the skies well into thenight. In fact, we were so obsessed thatwe could identify any approaching air-craft, even at night, just by the locationof their landing lights. We were hope-less! Even in those days though, we werecommitted to futures in aviation. Dougwanted to be a pilot and I wanted to runan airline.

Regularly in recent years I’ve spoken touniversity classes, often to groups of bud-ding MBA’s. The question I am askedmore than any other is about success.My answer is that in my years in busi-

Chairman, President and CEO of a national airline

UWCSEA 1976-1978

A

ALUMNI PROFILE

Robert Milton

Robert at UWCSEA, 1977

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ness, I have always found those who aremost successful, are the ones who arethe most passionate about what they do.All too often, students are drawn intodriving towards a career in the arena ofthe moment, whether it is consulting,computers or banking. In my experiencethose that never deviate from what theylove to do are those that excel and feelmost fulfilled. There was no doubt aboutwhat Doug or I would be doing. We weregoing to be around airplanes, whetherwe were handling bags, checking-in pas-sengers, piloting or running the company.

Without a doubt, UWCSEA put all of uswho went there at an advantage whenwe applied to university. We were differ-ent. We had the benefit of a UWCSEAeducation and the experience of havinglived in Singapore, a land far away fromthe leading universities of Europe andNorth America. This, unquestionably, re-mains an advantage today.

In my case, I applied to universities hop-ing to get into two in particular. One wasthe University of Chicago, not becauseMilton Friedman had just won the NobelPrize in Economics, and Georgia Tech,not because of its reputation as a solidengineering school with a history of turn-ing out aerospace industry leaders, butbecause they were located in Chicagoand Atlanta, which had the world’s twobusiest airports! Happily I got into both,but in one of those life altering events,the admissions office at the Universityof Chicago sent my letter of acceptanceto Singapore via surface mail. As a re-sult, I received it long after I had startedat Georgia Tech, and my life proceededdown a track dictated in large measureby a geographically and postal rate-chal-lenged administrator in the University ofChicago’s Admissions Office.

This track saw me hook up after univer-sity with another ex-UWCSEA’er, MarioRosario, with whom I started a small air-line which transported cargo, financedby $15,000 my father had given me as a

graduation gift to buy a car. You learn alot as you travel down life’s highway, andthis entrepreneurial endeavour taught mea business lesson that I will never forget,and that is to never go into business ifyou aren’t properly capitalized. Marioand I slogged away for five years, and toour great satisfaction, in 1988, sold offthe company’s operations, by then fea-turing a fleet of twenty-five aircraft, tothe regional division of a large U.S. pas-senger airline.

I then spent a few years applying what Ihad learned doing consulting work forvarious small airlines and British Aero-space.

In 1992, I got the opportunity all thatpent-up energy and enthusiasm for com-mercial aviation was waiting for. I wasasked to move to Montreal, Canada toconsult for a fairly recently privatized,but already in dire financial condition,Air Canada.

At the same time as this great break ma-terialized, I also cemented the most spe-cial relationship I will ever have with anex-UWCSEA’er, when I married LizanneLietzan (1982). In the “small world” wayour Singapore lives evolved, Lizanne’s fa-ther had worked with Mario’s father at alarge insurance company. I met her manyyears after our UWCSEA schooling,when Lizanne and her mom came to visitMario (and by default, me, in Atlanta).Back in our days at UWCSEA, it justwouldn’t have been cool for a 5th yearguy to be going out with a 1st year girl,but by 1992, that four year age differ-

ence seemed just fine. True to form, thebride and groom’s parties, as well as theguest list, were over-weighted by formerUWCSEA types. My best man was Mario,with Doug and John Shang in support.

For most of us, despite having madeplenty of friends in our post UWCSEAyears, how the UWCSEA “gang” seemsto stick together never ceases to amazeme. Being together in Singapore unques-tionably created a unique bond, and Ihave always been intrigued to hear newsof former UWCSEA’ers through our here-to-fore informal network, especially thenews of so many UWCSEA marriages.When one considers the strong responseof teenagers over thirty years ago, totoday’s alumni office enlistment drive, itspeaks volumes about the UWCSEA ex-perience. So many of us, despite distanceand time, have stayed so remarkablyclose, and so it is fascinating to thinkabout how today’s students will stayunited tomorrow, with the alumni office,the internet and the knowledge that theyare part of such a special existence.

So back in 1992, with my new wife, I

“ I have always foundthose who are most suc-cessful, are the ones whoare the most passionateabout what they do.”

“When one considers thestrong response of teenag-ers over thirty years ago, totoday’s alumni office enlist-ment drive, it speaks vol-umes about the UWCSEA

experience.”

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embarked on my Air Canada career withgusto. Using every ounce of that avia-tion “junk” that filled my head, “knowl-edge” people had laughed at over somany years, I helped push Air Canadaforward through one difficult challengeafter another.

I rose through the ranks quickly, startingas a consultant, becoming the head ofaircraft scheduling a year later, a VicePresident at 33, and President and CEOat 39. These were fast moving times, butnothing in my life compared to the twogreatest thrills that have occurred in mylife, the arrival of our children: Emily whowas born in 1996, and Nicholas in 1999.Children are unquestionably the mostwonderful thing that can happen in one’slife. Number two isn’t even close. Oops,have to be careful, getting married is way

ALUMNI PROFILE

up there, but number three isn’t even onthe map by comparison!

All these years later, I realize Doug’s ideaof a dream was probably better thanmine. Today, to my great pride, he hasfulfilled his dream and is a Captain forBritish Airways. In my case, I have alsofulfilled my life’s dream, which may morelikely have been a nightmare, having hadthe “pleasure” of being at the helm ofone of the world’s largest and great air-lines through what has unquestionablybeen the most turbulent period in theairline industry’s history.

Looking back, the story includes justabout everything imaginable from a busi-ness standpoint. Just two weeks after be-coming CEO, we were subjected to a

hostile take-over attempt at the hands ofAmerican Airlines. Then we dealt withan unplanned merger with CanadianAirlines (Canada’s second largest carrierat the time) which resulted from the take-over attempt, 9/11, SARS (Air Canadawas the world’s only airline that was bothhit with the closure of its airspace after9/11, and SARS at home), and finally in2003, a restructuring.

As wild as the journey has been though,I would not have traded it for anything.Today, I am Chairman and CEO of ACEAviation, a holding company whichowns varying degrees of other publiccompanies of which I am also Chairman,including a strong Air Canada, Jazz, aregional carrier which is Canada’s sec-ond largest airline, and Aeroplan, theworld’s first publicly traded frequent flyerprogramme.

The experience I’ve had, perhaps culmi-nating in 2006 when I was asked to beChairman of IATA, the world airline body,casts me back to those days at Paya Lebarwhen people wondered what would everbecome of the airplane “nut.” I am sothankful for the opportunity I’ve beengiven and for having been able to dowhat I had always wanted to.

After eight years at the helm of AirCanada and being one of the industry’slongest serving CEO’s, I have recently an-nounced that I’ll be retiring from my ACErelated roles in the coming year. As a re-sult, our family has set up home in Sur-rey, U.K., where we look forward to giv-ing our children a great education, anopportunity that was afforded to me byUWCSEA and its staff, to whom I willforever be grateful.

Simply go to http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg and click ‘Register’to become a member. Registering with the alumni website

allows you to maintain your own profile page, search for andcontact other alumni, post photos and notes, stay updatedregarding UWCSEA alumni and college events, etc. So go

ahead and register today!

http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg

Have you registered with the UWCSEA alumni website?

Please send your profile suggestions for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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Non-MembersUWCSEA alumni whom the alumni team hascontact information for, but who have notyet registered with the website. You maycontact us, if you would like us to helpyou reconnect with them.

Registered MembersUWCSEA alumni who have alreadyregistered as members of the UWCSEAalumni website. Members are able tosearch for and send messages to othermembers. Below is how the search resultwould appear:

THE ALUMNI WEBSITE

Lost MembersA subset of the non-member list. We haveno contact information for these alumni.If you are in touch with any of the lostmembers, do send us their contact via thelost member link by clicking on the

envelope icon next tothe name of the personor on the words “Do youhave information on“Jane”? , if they appear.

Alumni Website Glossary

Class Year“Class Year” is defined as the year thatyou would have completed the final yearof high school (year 7, grade 12, IB2),whether you were in UWCSEA at that timeor not. This helps us to link alumni whoattended classes together, regardless ofwhen they each arrived and left.

Regional GroupsGroups UWCSEA alumni according to thecity or country where they are currentlylocated. If your city or country is not listed,you are welcome to send us a note. Wewill add it to the list!

Teaching Staff GroupAll UWCSEA teaching staff fall under thisgroup. It is sub-divided into Current andFormer Teaching Staff.

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• The UCOV Global Concerns Group ispresently sponsoring the building of anew school for a Vietnamesecommunity in Cambodia.

• The Tabitha GC Group has sponsoreda micro-credit scheme in Cambodiawhich has positively impacted the livesof over 56,000 people.

• Every year trips from UWCSEA go toTabitha, Cambodia to build houses.On average Global Concerns and theUWCSEA community build fortyhouses per year. This means that sinceUWCSEA began we have built over200 houses.

• Global Concerns has sponsoredreforestation projects in Kenya,Ethiopia, Nepal, Singapore and NewZealand.

• After the devastation of the tsunami aUWCSEA initiative sponsored thebuilding of three pre-schools in SriLanka, as well as SMP 4, a Junior HighSchool in Banda Aceh and a clinic/community centre in India.

lobal Concerns (GC) continueto go from strength to strength

with an increase in the diversity,number, scope and achievements ofthe GC projects. This strength lies in thestudent ownership of the projects. They areestablished, managed and run by studentswith teachers acting as staff coordinators.The increase in the number of projectsfrom four in 1994 to 36 at the time of writ-ing reflects two of the cornerstones of GC.Firstly GC allows UWCSEA students toturn their ideas into action - what we term“walking the walk” - and secondly it re-flects the fact that GC has successfully cre-ated a structure which encourages studentinitiative and leadership. This reflects thebelief that when empowered UWCSEAstudents will react to help those in needand put the UWC and IB mission state-ments into practice.

GC projects are now organised into fourcategories: Children, Empowerment, En-vironment and Education/Health. A list ofall the projects is viewable on the Collegewebsite. While some of our older projectsremain, including: CWIN (Child Workersin Nepal); Himalayan (formerly ACAP andsubject to reinventing itself because of theMaoist insurgency in Nepal); Tabitha,Cambodia; PAW (Promoting Animal Wel-fare, still run by Karen Niedermeyer); andLamdon in Ladakh, India, exciting newprojects have emerged. These include:Catalyst, an awareness group which aimsto “smash moral apathy!”; Bombay StreetKids; Bali Barong, which promotes sustain-able organic farming; and Jakarta StreetKids, which establishes small income gen-erating projects and provides employmentfor orphanages, to name a few. GC projectshave also become the major destinationfor Project Week students.

Diversity alone is nothing without achieve-ments and GC is proud that it enables ourstudents to significantly improve the lives

GFrom Strength

of others. This is not charity but carefullyconsidered aid which will help to posi-tively impact the life chances of recipients.Some of the major recent achievementsare:

• The Lavalla Global Concerns grouphas purchased a four wheel drive truckto transport the physicallyhandicapped pupils to and from theLavalla School in Cambodia.

• Global Concerns sponsored theLamdon GC group’s purchase of a fourwheel drive ambulance for theLamdon Society in Ladakh, India.

• Global Concerns has sponsored thebuilding of four schools: two in Nepal,one in Swaziland and one in Aceh.

• The PAL (Promoting Asian Literacy)Global Concerns group has sponsoredthe building of a boarding school inrural Sabah.

• Global Concerns sponsored thenutrition programme for an entireschool in Darjeeling for a year.

GLOBAL CONCERNS

Anthony SkillicornHead of Global Concerns

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to Strength

• The Bali Barong GC group has spon-sored the purchase of land for theestablishment of an organic farm in Bali.

• The Jakarta Streetkids GC Groupsponsored sustainable incomegenerating projects by firstly financinga callshop which generated bothincome and employment and later ageneral dealer’s shop which is doing thesame.

• Emergency Aid: Global Concerns hascollected, packed and sent containersof goods to East Timor, Sri Lanka,Swaziland and Aceh to helpcommunities there.

Global Concerns ensures that UWCSEA re-cycles all the computers it replaces duringupgrading by distributing them to needygroups in Aceh, Batam and Singapore.

In March 2005 UWCSEA staff cycled toPhuket to raise funds to establish The Tsu-nami Education Fund which now supports

the education of 254 orphaned pupils inBanda Aceh. The progress of each orphanis monitored and they have a S$20 permonth allowance.

The scope of what Global Concernsachieves has come full circle. UWCSEAnow enjoys having UWCSEA scholarshiprecipients from areas and organisations wegot to know as GC projects. Narun, fromthe Centre for Children’s Happiness inPhnom Penh was a ragpicker from a gar-bage dump who showed great potentialand was given a three year scholarship.Rossa and Lydia, also on three year schol-arships, are from Aceh, Indonesia and se-cured the scholarships through the gener-osity of firms who supported our TsunamiRelief Appeal. Father Jo from the HumanDevelopment Foundation, Bangkok, sentus Ged who was able to spend four yearsat the College. To build on this UWCSEAis putting four to five scholarships in placefor students who come from GC projectsor similar circumstances in developingcountries.

Global Concerns has come a long way. Ithas developed and become more sophis-ticated, but it has never lost the essence ofits appeal which is its ability to allowUWCSEA students to turn their ideals intoaction.

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ean Ghazi has performed on film,stage and television, in London’s West

End, Europe and Asia. He has receivednumerous artistic awards and hasrecently released his debut album, SeanGhazi Semalam.

Sean’s interest in performing began atthe age of five when he was talentspotted and hired to do a Vicks Vaporubcommercial! His interest grew into apassion at UWCSEA where he boardedfrom Grade 8 through Grade 12,graduating in 1987. Throughout his highschool years he became involved in everytheatrical production possible. Heremembers them as “five great yearswhere I finally felt that I was allowedthe freedom to be myself. It wasrefreshing and liberating to be allowed,or better yet, encouraged, to exploreand discover myself artistically,academically and even as an athlete. I’dcertainly not be doing what I am todayif it weren’t for UWCSEA. I really believeI went to the best school in the world.”

ACTOR/SINGER/DANCERUWCSEA 1982 - 1987

He was encouraged to pursue the artsby many of his teachers who recognisedhis extraordinary potential. One of thesewas Steve Kay who Sean says was notonly his gymnastics coach, but a mentorand unofficial life coach as well, whoencouraged his involvement in thetheatre. Kathleen Watson was another.Ray Thomas, a drama teacher who Seanis still in contact with, came to Londonto see him perform a principal role inMiss Saigon in the West End. This was,Sean says, a proud moment for themboth! Susi Teo, Malay teacher, had theforesight to insist that he would need touse the Malay language in his career, andhow right she was, as Sean has justreleased his first Malay album and hasrecently played the leading role in anepic Malay musical.

In July 2007 Sean returned to the Collegeto join some of his former classmatesand friends at his 20 year class reunion.One of those he reconnected with at thereunion was Hiromi Ha, an artist who hesays had never ceased to amaze him intheir IB art classes. He notes that hewishes he had had the presence of mindto buy some of her pieces back then! Hesays, “Working alongside Hiromi mademe realise that we were capable ofproducing work that could possibly beworld class in standard.”

After leaving UWCSEA, Sean spent sometime at Emerson College in Boston foracting and then trained further in Londonat Laine Theatre Arts. He remembers histraining as not unlike being in the army!It involved intensive physical trainingincluding all forms of dance, supportedwith singing and acting, each day endingwith the participants practically crawlinghome battered and bruised after 14gruelling hours.

After leaving Laine, Sean got a workingholiday visa for the UK and auditionedin London’s West End until he was offereda part. He puts his success in getting intothe West End down to a mixture of fate,determination and some serious planning.

In 1992 he began a two and a half yearstint there in the musical Miss Saigon.Sean became the first Malaysian tofeature in roles on both the internationalstage and screen. He went on to performtheatre, music, film and television inthree different languages.

In 1995, with a well thought-out plan ofhow he would get through to the finals,he entered and won a nationallytelevised competition in Singapore calledThe Fame Awards, similar to the Idolshows which came later. He turned downthe contract that came with the win, andreturned to his acting career, performingfurther musicals on stage in Europe andLondon including Rent and The King andI. He also performed on television inMalaysia.

In 1999 Sean played the role of the younglover, Balat, in the movie Anna and theKing alongside Jodie Foster and Chow Yun

S

ALUMNI PROFILE

SeanGhazi

In July 2007 Sean returnedto the college to join some

of his former classmatesand friends at his 20 year

class reunion.

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The body of work thathe is currently amassingat home he says is justas important to him as

his international credits.Sean’s album cover

Fat. When he went to Hollywood for thepremiere of the movie, he was coachedon the do’s and don’ts of the red carpetby a good friend from his UWCSEA days,Kevin Stea. Kevin, another UWCSEAalumnus, is now a successful actor whohas performed in a number of Hollywoodfilms.

Following his success in the film, Seanwas offered the same role, named LunTha, on stage at the London Palladium,in the sumptuous 2000 revival of The Kingand I, starring Elaine Paige andHollywood actor Jason Scott Lee – anexperience that brought him to the worldfamous Abbey Road Studios for therecording of the cast album.

At the end of the contract, Sean cameback to Malaysia in July 2001, for abreak. The terrorist attacks ofSeptember 11, 2001 coming shortlythereafter had a major impact on thetheatre with bookings down and showscancelled. Sean felt that it was the righttime to stay in Kuala Lumpur for a whileto be with his family, and although hedidn’t plan on it being for an extendedperiod of time, he is still there. He isenjoying the bold and different workbeing done in the arts scene in Asia andthe important work that he is doing withhis own cultural heritage. The body ofwork that he is currently amassing at

home he says is just as important to himas his international credits.

The productions that Sean has mostenjoyed being involved in have tendedto be the most multicultural – a legacyof the UWCSEA environment, he feels.The ones involving the most diversegroup of nationalities are the ones whichend up being the projects with the mostdepth to them, he says, and the best interms of quality and standard.

Sean has taken part in a number ofcharity performances, trying to do atleast one per year. He sang on the 4th ofNovember this year, at Voices forHospices 2007, an event to raise fundsfor palliative services in Malaysia. Othermajor charity fundraisers that he hasbeen involved in have included tsunamirelief in Malaysia, support for a homefor abused young girls and the buildingof an orphanage. He attributes his desireto help the less fortunate to the earlyintroduction to this sort of experienceat UWCSEA where he spent time with theaged at St Joseph’s home and taughtmusic and arts to a group of mentallychallenged children in the community.

In November of 2006 Sean released hisdebut album called Sean GhaziSemalam, recorded in Sydney, Australia.The title song Semalam, was written by

Sean in collaboration with Izlyn Ramli,and means Yesterday. In the albumbooklet Sean says that “by looking backwe find the way forward.” The albumwas released to critical acclaim and ledthe AIM (Anugerah Industri Muzik -Malaysian Music Industry) awards witheight nominations in five categories. Itwon two awards including Best New Artiste2007.

Sean has recently finished a two weekrun of the epic production P. Ramlee –The Musical in which he plays the titlerole. The musical was performed atMalaysia’s National Theatre, IstanaBudaya, to sold-out audiences.

When he is not performing Sean is aregular guy who likes to spend time withhis family, with whom he remains veryclose. They include his parents, twobrothers and a new niece named Sophia.He also likes to exercise, read and watchmovies, and he’d like to participate inmore outdoor activities like the waterskiing, diving and rock climbing he hastoyed with in the past but has never hadenough time to commit to! Perhaps hewill be able to pursue some of these nowthat his schedule has lightened up alittle, and before it becomes intenselybusy once again.

Brenda Whately

Please send your profile suggestions for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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South East Asian StudentActivities Conference -SEASAC

SEASAC was established in 1995 and hasprovided many of our students, past andpresent, with opportunities to participatein sport within South East Asia. I am surethat many students will have fondmemories of these tournaments. Theconference has expanded over the past twoyears to increase the level of competitionand as a result has welcomed Alice SmithInternational School and GardenInternational School from Kuala Lumpuralong with Hong Kong Canadian School, tocreate an eleven team sports conference.

UWCSEA has had much success at SEASACtournaments over the years and 2006-2007was no exception. The College won eightcompetitions and finished runners up inthree, proving to be a very successfulsporting season with many students winningAll Star Awards along the way.

The College will be hosting the annualTouch tournament this year which will beheld between 1-3 February 2008. Afterwinning this tournament for the past threeyears since its introduction into theconference, we are hoping for furthersuccess this year.

For the SEASAC sporting calendar pleasecontact feliciauwc@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Gavin DinsdaleHead, Physical Education

Athletics Conference ofSingapore InternationalSchools – ACSIS

2006-2007 was the inaugural year for theAthletics Conference of SingaporeInternational Schools. The need fordeveloping a sports conference inSingapore had been growing, following thesuccess of SEASAC. Five schools developedthe goals and objectives for the newconference with the aim of creating qualitysporting opportunities for our students.United World College of South East Asia,Singapore American School, Tanglin TrustSchool, Overseas Family School andAustralian International School form thisnew conference.

The inaugural year provided very goodcompetition for our senior teams and theevents proved to be excellent preparationfor our SEASAC events. The five-year planis to introduce the competition into all ofour age groups and the expansion began in2007-2008 with the introduction of theUnder 14 age group.

The five conference schools have beenworking closely together to develop linkswith our sports programmes for the benefitof our students and the future looks verybright for ACSIS.

For the ACSIS sporting calendar pleasecontact feliciauwc@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Sport at UWCSEA has continued to

grow over the years. Last year saw

over 100 teams participate in 930

fixtures with, on occasion, over 50

fixtures per week. The teams

participated in 70 sports

tournaments and leagues within

Singapore, and 11 events overseas.

SEASAC is still going strong and a

new sports conference, ACSIS was

introduced last year.

SPORT AT UWCSEA

Sport Conferences, Old and New

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On 25 May 2007 we were very proud tohave almost 300 students graduate fromthe college. Our graduates came fromover 50 nationalities but shared manymore similarities and commonexperiences than differences. The Chairof the College Board, Professor KishoreMahbubani, addressed the graduates,speaking of the uniqueness andsignificance of the education thatstudents receive at UWCSEA.

The graduation ceremony was followedby a short reception in the tent plaza,which was decorated with the flags ofthe countries represented by ourgraduates, and a graduation dinner atthe Shangri La Hotel.

Congratulations to all our graduates andwe wish you all success in your futureventures!

2007Class of

Graduation

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UWCSEA

1970s1970s1970s1970s1970sThe college opened in 1971 as an asso-ciate member of the United World Col-lege movement named the Singapore In-ternational School. It took over the siteand buildings of St John’s School. In 1975it became a full member of the UWCmovement and the name was changedto United World College of South EastAsia.

Beluntu, the outdoor education facilityin Malaysia was opened in the mid-70sand the humanities building on campuswas completed.

1980s1980s1980s1980s1980sThe last A-level exams were written in1980, replaced by the International Bac-calaureate (IB). 1981 saw the tenth an-niversary of the Festival of the Arts. Theoutdoor education centre, Beluntu, wasclosed mid-decade and the new sciencebuilding was opened in 1984. New uni-forms were designed by the studentsthemselves in 1988.

through

UWCSEA HISTORY PAGE

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2000s2000s2000s2000s2000sThe gap year programme was begun in2004. Also that year a new olympic-sizedpool with covered viewing stands re-placed the existing pool in the same lo-cation. The old boarding houses along themain drive were taken down. Around thesame time the new Andrew Bennett The-atre, exam hall and music departmentwere opened under the astroturf just pastthe small hall. As of 2007 the UWCmovement has 12 Colleges and UWCSEAhas announced the opening of a secondcampus in the East end of Singapore.

1990s1990s1990s1990s1990sThe news sports hall and performing artsstudios were opened in 1992. In the mid-90s the air-con fountain pool wasdrained and raised and by 1997 the newtent roof had been completed over whatis now called the ‘Tent Plaza.’ The Col-lege expanded in 1997 and 1998 to in-clude the full range of years from K1 toIB. The new elementary and administra-

tion block, the Roy Bennett Theatreand the new senior house boardingfacility were opened in 1998 andMahindra House , the junior board-ing facility, was opened the follow-ing year.

We would be interested in receiving information and/or copies of old photosabout college events and the campus. Please send us the details and help usbuild our history!

the years

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he 2007 UWCSEA 20 year reunionemail arrived in my (Australian) in-

box. There was no longer any reason toput off the long trip my partner,Stephanie, and I had been dreamingabout. That night we had a quickdiscussion and planned our one yearcycling adventure through Asia, with theUWCSEA reunion the half way point. Wewould quit our jobs. Somebody wouldpay us big bucks when we got back! Andthe kids? We don’t have any!

Steph and I both love bikes. Bikes arecheap and easy on the environment.They are great for traveling because youcan go where, and when you want. Bikesallow you to travel slowly, taking in thesights and connecting with people. Theyare also challenging, and after a hardday’s riding there is nothing better thana huge meal and a deep sleep.

Steph has a little 18 inch wheel bike,and I have a mountain bike. Our luggageconsists of four waterproof bags and twohandlebar bags. I carry most of theluggage because I am the faster riderand Steph wants to slow me down.

We have ridden through Thailand, Laos,Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia, witha train into Singapore for the reunion,and then a plane from Singapore toYunnan, China. It is now October andwe will ride out of China, through Laos,

Tim Goulding • Class of 1987

Bicyclingt

and back into Thailand to catch ourDecember flight home. It took us over8,000 kilometres to make the UWCSEAreunion, and by the time we stoppedaling, the odometer should read over13,000 kilometres.

T

TRAVELThe 2007 UWCSEA

20 year reunion emailarrived in my

(Australian) in-box. There was no

longer any reason toput off the long trip

my partner,Stephanie, and I had

been dreaming about.

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The trip has been very simple but veryrewarding. Steph loved it and has saidthat every day in Asia she sees the tenmost amazing things she has ever seen.

Thailand was a gentle introduction tobike touring in Asia. Rural Thai roadswere quiet and the drivers courteous,though we had a few run-ins with snakescrawling out of rice fields! Laos wasbrilliant. There were so few vehiclesthat sometimes we felt like we hadprivate bike roads. The onlydisconcerting matter was the number ofmen with machine guns appearing on thesides of quiet roads.

“Bikes allow you totravel slowly, taking

in the sights andconnecting with

people.”

Riding from Laos into Vietnam was likewaking from a relaxed dream to discoveryou are at an all-night dance party. Wesaw some beautiful beaches, but theroads were busy and drivers’ air hornsannoying. Cambodia is beautiful, thoughwe were startled by the poverty andnumber of people with physicaldisabilities. The roads were passable,but basic rules like driving on the correctside of the road seemed optional.

Malaysia was like coming home: theBritish colonial influence was veryfamiliar and we met quite a few localbike riders. We were nearly ex-cyclistsas we rode down the west coast butwhen we turned inland it was muchcalmer.

We caught a train down from Malaysiainto Singapore to make it in time forthe reunion. It was a wonderful event,but also very ‘surreal’ (the adjectivemost used by attendees). I was honouredto be presented an engraved waterbottle to celebrate our bike ride:‘8000km to 20 years’.

We are now in Yunnan, China and can’tbelieve we are in a land of 1.3 billionpeople because it is so peaceful. I lovethe mountains and wild rivers.

Steph and I are discussing a tandem forour next trip. There is talk of a 2012 re-union in Mexico, so by then we might beready for an Alaska to Mexico jaunt.Anyone want to join us?

“It took us over8,000 kilometres tomake the UWCSEAreunion, and by the

time we stoppedaling, the

odometer shouldread over 13,000

kilometres.”

through Asia

Please send your travel article suggestions for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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UWCSEA has been running its uniqueProject Week program for more than 20years. Many alumni will agree it was oneof the highlights of their time at the Col-lege. Amazingly Project Week has con-tinued to run annually despite challengessuch as Bird Flu, SARS, political unrestand terrorist attacks and it still providesthe ideal opportunity for students to takethemselves out of their comfort zonewhilst meeting UWC ideals.

Is Project Week better than ever? Cer-tainly the Project Week 2008 studentswill be better prepared than those of the80’s and 90’s. Grade 11 students havethe benefit of First Aid training and 24hour medical and travel support servicesfrom International SOS as well as a longhistory of successful projects from whichthey can gain inspiration. Looking backover past editions of Mengembara andFootprints it’s clear that Project Week hasevolved. Today students are expected tofocus on achieving specific IB creative,action and service goals over four fulldays and they must travel in groups ofthree to five for safety reasons. Studentsare encouraged to travel beyond theirhome country expanding their horizons,travel experiences and interactions withdifferent cultures. Project Week has beenperceived by some to be an extendedholiday but has increasingly become thesought after opportunity to complete ex-citing, worthwhile CAS projects withmany students then choosing to stay be-yond the compulsory four days for arange of different reasons.

The vast majority of trips have takenplace outside Singapore and each yearthe most popular destination changes.For example in 2005 it was Thailand withmany elephant mahout and kickboxingcourses; in 2006 Cambodia was the des-tination of choice and Vietnam was thepopular option for the 2007 cohort. Dur-ing the last ten years students have vis-ited an incredible selection of projectsin Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, China,Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Ma-laysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines,Sabah, S.Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

The students have taught, trekked,painted and played; built, cooked,cleaned, nursed and trained. They’vehelped with invaluable conservationprojects working with tigers in India,pandas in China and orangutans inSumatra. They’ve climbed the highestpeaks in South East Asia, walked theGreat Wall of China and followed jungletrails in Malaysia. They’ve taken care oflepers, orphans, street kids as well asphysically and mentally disabled peoplein cities and towns throughout South EastAsia.

Project Week has evolved thanks to sug-gestions made by current students as wellas alumni and as the following quotehighlights, it is a truly valuable experi-ence. Long may it continue!

Kate Lewis

Project Week –

better than ever?

“The opportunity provided tostudents at UWCSEA during

Project Week is unique. Therecognition of our maturity and

trust in our ability to actindependently provides us withmany of life’s essential lessons

which puts us at a greatadvantage over our peers whenwe advance to university andbeyond. The ability to plan,

budget and maintainrelationships, that can be

tenuous at times while in aforeign country above all is

tremendous fun and anexperience that will be with us

for a lifetime.”

Nalin, Ben, Girish & Faisel, 2007

PROJECT WEEK

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I never expected my life to change insuch a significant way when I boardedthe flight from Singapore to Bangalore,India. At that time the trip was moreabout personal independence and a wayto relieve the stress that had built up overthe term. Before I left, whenever peoplehad told me about the importance ofProject Week in their lives, I dismissedit. Now I truly understand that ProjectWeek is an experience that completelytransforms your perception of people andplaces, confronting you with challengesthat you have never encountered before.

We walked into BOSCO Boys’ Home,astonished to see the extreme poverty onthe streets outside the home, a far cryfrom the chic shopping and fine restau-rants of Bangalore. Receiving a verywarm welcome from the coordinator,Father Varghese, we were escorted to therailway where a volunteer made her dailyrounds to talk to the children who hadrun away from home to seek shelter bythe side of the railway tracks. We metthe different, colourful people who makeup this scene: coolies, prostitutes, drinksellers, fruit vendors. What never ceasesto amaze me is how each and every per-son we met greeted us with a smile. Liv-ing a life that had robbed them of theirchildhood, they felt no malice towardssomeone like me, walking around withan expensive camera and backpack.

The next day we visited the different cen-tres of BOSCO. Each of the members in

my group found at least one person thatthey returned to visit each day. For me itwas Rajesh, a fourteen year old boy withshining, brown eyes and unlimited con-cern. He never failed to ask me if I hadeaten, whether I was comfortable or ifhe could bring me anything. To me thisboy represented the hero of this particu-lar world. He had run away from home,lived on the streets and realised how fu-tile life there would be for someone ofhis potential. After staying at BOSCO, hebecame aware of how important educa-tion and training were. He made it outof the harsh streets while many of hisfriends were going through the dailystruggle of living on the roadside or bythe railway.

An excerpt from Ruchika Tulshyan’s Project Week article, Footprints, 2005.

BOSCO Boys’ Home

Every day we visited BOSCO we weremore reluctant to leave than the day be-fore, even though we had a minor role –to just talk and play with the children.Seeing the delight on their faces wasenough to draw us back day after day.

In retrospect, going to BOSCO was oneof the most joyous yet painful momentsin my life. Over time I have come torealise that without this wonderful ex-perience in Project Week I would neverhave known the joy of spending timewith these intelligent, funny and beauti-ful children.

Ruchika’s thoughts, 2007:

Over two years have passed since myweek in Bangalore, yet the memoriesremain as fresh as ever. Project Weekholds infinite life lessons for those whoare willing to learn; lessons about appre-ciating what we have and learning thatthere is a world much larger thanUWCSEA where not everyone is as for-tunate as us. Looking back, this one weekgave me the opportunity to self-evaluatein a way that can only be compared tomy last two years at university. It is onething to spend time with like-minded in-dividuals as I do whilst studying in Lon-don, but real growth often comes fromlearning from those who are literally aworld apart. If I close my eyes and re-flect long enough, I can almost be trans-ported back to BOSCO, immersing my-self in the daily activities of survival thatthese children so courageously undertake.

Ruchika - centre.

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Sue Grossey organised a mini-reunion inMarch, in the UK, for the Europeancontingent of the class of 1984. ASingaporean feast was served includingchicken rice and Tiger beer. Stay tunedfor news of future gatherings.

Philip Bampfylde’s group, mainlygrads of ’86-’88, got together for amini-reunion in London at the end ofAugust. Anyone is welcome and he’dbe happy to hear from you if youwish to join the next one.

An alumni get-together was held inLondon in February, coinciding witha visit there by the Head andAssistant Head, with approximately200 alumni in attendance. It will betaking place again in February 2008.Register now!

RECENT REUNIONS

^^

^

The Class of 1987 held their 20 year reunion in Singapore in July, organisedby Francesca Kirkham Taylor and attended by over 55 alumni from all over.Some came earlier in the week but all spent a packed weekend together,culminating in a luncheon barbecue on campus.

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The classes of 1989 to 1992 held a reunion in Singapore in August, organised by Melissa EvansBrown, which included dinner at an Orchard area hotel and a luncheon barbecue on campus.

A get-together was held in Melbourne inNovember, but no photos were available atthe time of printing.

The class of 1997 held a weekendgathering in Singapore in October tocelebrate their 10 year reunion. Itwas organised by Debbie WongGrignani and Nena Ganesan, andincluded dinners on campus as wellas Sentosa.

Photos by dav rue Marketing

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1974Sally Cutler (Mellick), after 20 years inEngland now lives in beautiful Brisbane,Australia, where she says that she and hersons are close to her parents and sister andthey do not have to wear shoes! Sally worksin the Supreme Court Library but hopes toone day be able to devote all her work timeto translating Buddhist texts and taking fre-quent “research” trips to Sri Lanka.

Wai Wai Than-Shannon (Than) has beenliving in Derby, UK since 1988. She hastwo young sons, 13 and 11. Wai Wai saysshe has been a ‘lady of leisure’ courtesy ofher husband since 1994 when the firstbaby was born!!! Wai Wai keeps in touchwith Karen (Faber), Sonia Profeta, Pam(Higgin), Nathalie (Watson) and MartineRoyal, meeting up in London, Amsterdamor Milan from time to time. She also at-tended the alumni reception in London inFebruary 2007 and met up with ColinSidwell, Simon Hooker and Jenny (Ferrie).

Wai Wai with her 2 boys

1975Dean Ridings and his wife Kellie now livein Tallahassee, Florida. Dean is the Presi-dent and CEO of Florida Press Association.

Dean and Kellie in Ireland

1976Sue Thompson (Holden) after 15 yearsworking for a pharmaceutical company inMelbourne and U.K now works for twoswim schools. One specializes in watersafe programs for three month olds to pre-schoolers, and she runs intensive short pro-grams for primary school children with the

other school. Sue is a mum to two won-derful boys Alex, 10 and Chris, 8.

1977Lynette Meyer is now living in Perth, Aus-tralia where she has mostly been since1992. She completed post graduate stud-ies in HR and Business Law and is plan-ning to do a Masters in OrganisationTheory. Lynette has worked in a numberof Risk Management roles and currentlyworks as a Health Safety and Environmentmanager in the oil and gas industry. Lynettemet her husband Christopher Lyons inPerth and they were married in 1999. Theyhave what she describes as a tremendouslyeasy going life style in Perth. Lynette saysshe walks to work, plays (bad) golf and isfinally learning how to play the piano!

1978Dale Fisher is an infectious disease spe-cialist at the National University ofSingapore (NUS) and National UniversityHospital (NUH). He is married and hasthree girls at UWCSEA.

1980Sheila M. Sofian is a tenured AssociateProfessor in the John C. Hench Division ofAnimation and Digital Art, School of Cin-ematic Arts, Univer-sity of Southern Cali-fornia. Sheila hascompleted six inde-pendent animatedfilms which are a hy-brid of animationand documentary.She is currentlyworking on a one-hour documentary,“Truth Has Fallen”, about people wrong-fully convicted of murder. Sheila currentlyresides in Pasadena, California with threecats and her loving husband, David Fain.

1981Shawkat Toorawa and his family live inIthaca, New York, where he is AssociateProfessor of Arabic Literature at CornellUniversity (http://www.arts.cornell.edu/nes/faculty/toorawa.html). Starting this yearthey are faculty-family-in-residence atMews, one of the Cornell residence halls.Shawkat moved back to the US (where hedid all his degrees at the University ofPennsylvania) after stints as a businessmanin Kuala Lumpur (1991-92), as a lecturerat the University of Mauritius (1993-99),and as a post doc at Harvard (1999-2000).Last year the family spent his sabbatical in

New Delhi and Oxford. His children in-clude Maryam, 13, a middle-schooler, en-tering high school next year, and Asiya, 10,in her last year of elementary school. Hiswife, Parvine, teaches crafts and cookingto students of all ages.

Clockwise from right: Asiya, Parvine,Maryam, Shawkat on a hazy FebruaryAgra Morning.

Ruby Ormerod (Huizen) owns a publish-ing company, Caboodle Publishing, andteaches creative writing. She has two teen-age children and is currently living in Suf-folk, UK.

1982Hartmut Rastalsky is a German Lecturerat the University of Michigan; He has beenliving in the US since 1982.

William Andrew Cutts has been living inDarien, Connecticut, USA for the past fiveyears with his wife, Clodagh and their threechildren, Maeve, 11, Liam, 9 and Rory, 6.They thoroughly enjoy America but missEurope and some aspects of Asia whichthey get back to every couple of years. Theylook forward to meeting up with any UWCalumni who may be in the vicinity of theBig Apple. They hope to return to the UKin the next few years.

Linda Bell (Waddell) works two days aweek as a wildlife TV producer for TigressProductions in London, the rest being amum of two lovely children, Emily, 4 andThomas, 1.5. Linda is currently producinga film for the BBC and PBS about a moun-tain gorilla in Rwanda.

Enrique Bustamante, after leavingUWCSEA, returned to Mexico and at-tended university in Mexico City. Aftergetting married in 1989, he moved to NewYork City where he has been since, work-ing in the investment banking industry withfocus in Latin America. Enrique has beenmarried for 18 years and has two girls,Madeline, 12, and Sabrina, 10. He stillplays rugby once in a while, and also rideshorses (a sport that he says his kids forcedhim into).

CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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Kok Cheong Hong graduated as a chemi-cal engineer from the University of NotreDame, Indiana. KC is the managing direc-tor, ASEAN, of Genesys Telecommunica-tions Laboratories Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore.He is currently based in Singapore and fre-quently travels to most of the ASEAN coun-tries. KC is married with three sons and is

currently living in Klang. His hobbies aregolf and reading.

1983Chandra Widjaja is currently managingClub 21 Jakarta, the regional office for ahigh end fashion retailer from Singapore.She has two children, Emilio, 14 and Jes-sica, 12.

Lewis Marks has spent the past 20 yearssince university in the oil industry, travel-ing around the world. He has recentlystarted his own company. He lives with hispartner Laura and their recently adopteddaughter Leila. They all love to travel andeat spicy Asian food!

Melanie Dempster (Jaques) after return-ing home to Melbourne, Australia, headedoff in 1982 to New Zealand, and now 25years later she is still there and loving it!Melanie has been married to Andrew for19 years and they have three children, twogirls and one boy– Nicole 17, Kelly, 13and James 9. Andrew and Melanie ownan electrical contracting business.

1984Naresh Daryanani graduated with a B.Scin Business Administration. He lives in St.Maarten, Netherlands Antilles and runs anoffice supply business.

Susan Grossey is now living in Cambridge,England with her husband Paul whom shemet on her first day at university! Sue runsher own small business providing anti-money laundering training and advice toprofessional firms. She loves running herown business where she is the one to makeall the decisions and all the mistakes, andfinds it very satisfying when she managesto win some work, complete it and getpaid, all by herself!

Sue Grossey and AJ in Heathrow

1985Maria Tyrrell lives inAuckland, NewZealand and is a di-rector of a market re-search company. Shegot married in Febru-ary 2007 and had herfirst son, Heath, inMay. Maria and herfamily enjoy allthings Kiwi includ-ing going to thebeach, swimming, boating, camping andgenerally having a relaxing life.

1987Akihiko Hoshide is an astronaut with JAXA,(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), anda member of the shuttle mission crewscheduled to fly to the International SpaceStation in April 2008.

1993Tristan Henderson and his wife recentlymoved back to the UK after spending fouryears in New Hampshire, USA. He is a lec-turer in computer science at the Univer-sity of St Andrews in Scotland. Any UWCfriends who are passing through Scotlandare welcome to get in touch with Tristan.His website is http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~tristan/

Caroline Raivio (Harrison) and Jani Raiviowere married on 11 June 2005 and arecurrently living in London. Their son Lucaswas born February 2007.

1994Sarah-Jane Roper (Scott) was married toMichael Roper on Saturday 26 May, 2007in Saddleworth nearManchester, UK. Sa-rah-Jane and Michaelmet in 1995 whilstthey were studying fortheir degrees in man-agement and chemicalsciences at the Univer-sity of Manchester(then UMIST) and be-gan dating in early1997. Since leaving university, Sarah-Janehas qualified as a chartered accountant andnow works in internal audit.

Tara Cooke (Moody) is a lawyer turnedpilates instructor. She is currently based inSingapore, and she owns and managesUPLIFT which offers bespoke Pilatesprogrammes for individuals and duets. Herwebsite is www.upliftpilates.com and hercontact details are +65 90225520,scoop@upliftpiltates.com

Sebastien Brack has recently been ap-pointed communication co-ordinator ofthe International Committee of the RedCross' regional delegation for West Africa,and is based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

1995Mia Davidson now lives in MelbourneAustralia. She studied law and psychologyat university and is now working as aproject coordinator at a nationwide char-ity that works for a better life for peopleaffected bymental illness.Mia marriedher partner offour years,Fergus, on 3N o v e m b e r2007. Mia and Fergus live with their twosmall dogs.

1997Birgit Holland (Buhrfeindt) studied nurs-ing and worked as a staff nurse in NewZealand and Singapore. She is now finish-ing her MSc in Public Health and HealthPromotion and looking for work in thatfield. Birgit married Richard Holland inFebruary 2004 and they currently live inthe UK. She has recently taken up gardening.

Richard Holland is married to Birgit, cur-rently lives in the UK and has kept up hissinging. Richard has been the electedalumni representative on the UWCSEABoard of Governors since 2005.

CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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Birgit and Richard Holland’s weddingincluding some UWCSEA friends.

1998Ramona Walewangko attended the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia,USA. She graduated in 2002 with a Bach-elor of Arts in PPE (Philosophy, PoliticalScience, and Economics) and minored inInternational Relations and Psychology.She spent the next two years working fornon-profit organisations and volunteering.In 2004 she attended Pace UniversitySchool of Law. Ramona recently graduatedand received her Juris Doctor with Certifi-cate of Concentration in International Law.Ramona has accepted a position at StanleyJ. Ellenberg & Associates in Philadelphia,PA. It’s a small law firm that handles im-migration law, medical malpractice, con-sumers’ rights litigation, personal injury,and international trade, among otherthings.

1999Louise Logan (McClements) got marriedon 11 April 2007 at Drumtochty Castle inScotland, just 10 miles away from herhome town. Her maid of honour was EevaBernardo (1999) and her other best friendTara Hirebet (1999), flew all the way fromSingapore to be at the wedding! She is mar-ried to an American and is now currentlyliving in San Francisco. Louise has justbeen granted a green card!

Louise’s wedding photo with EevaBernardo and others

Larissa Carter went back to the UK in 1999after leaving UWCSEA to study classicalcivilisation at Warwick University. She thenwent on to the University of Nottinghamto do a masters’ degree in international

management. Larissa is cur-rently living and working inLondon as a CSR consultanton a number of projects forclients such as ExxonMobil,Aegis, Richemont and GEMoney. In her spare time,Larissa dances with Layalibelly dance troupe. Whenshe is not busy with work or belly danc-ing, she helps to promote an urban musiccollective called The Reluctants!

2000Momoko Nomura is currently living withrefugees from Burma and working as ahuman rights policy advocate in a non-governmental organisation based on theThai-Burma border.

2002Donna Duke graduated from Leeds Uni-versity in 2005 and immediately went intofull time glamour modeling which pro-vided her with an opportunity to presentlive on a British cable television show.Donna is also very involved in the prop-erty market and is slowly increasing herproperty portfolio. She and her fiancé arecurrently planning their wedding day for17 August 2008. She is now based in Lon-don.

Carina Bayerdoerffer is living in Rösrath,Germany. She has completed her Diplomaof Economics, Management and CulturalSciences.

2004Najada Kumbuli is studying economicsand political science at Macalester Col-lege. At the moment she is in Barcelonadoing a semester abroad with a businessand culture programme. After graduatingfrom UWCSEA, Najada led the pioneerthird year option project in Kenya, (KigamaVillage and Cambodia, (Phnom Penh).During her years at Macalester she hasbeen involved in student government, vari-ous international organisations as well asbeing the main facilitator of the UWC ShortCourse 2006 in Kotor, Montenegro. Thispast summer Najada taught in a summerschool in Boston.

2006Michelle Cheong is currently pursuingaBachelor of Arts degree at the Universityof British Columbia. Michelle is majoringin human geography and will be applyingfor her double major in english literatureat the end of this school year. Everyday,Michelle gets a beautiful view of the sea

and is also surrounded by mountains onone side and natural forest on the other.She is still keeping active by playing soc-cer, American football and basketball inthe University leagues in and around cam-pus. If anyone is ever nearby, Michellewould love to hear from them!

2007Dana Miller was a member of the teamthat represented Singapore in the WorldSchools Debating Championship held inKorea in July 2007. Singapore emergedsecond in the championship bested onlyby Scotland.

CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for the next edition of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Alumni connectionJennifer Ferrie (1976) was contactedby Paul Stoker (1975) through theUWCSEA alumni site and they metup at Jennifer’s home in Washington,England in September when he wasvisiting the UK with his motorcycle.

Paul and Jennifer with Jennifer’sparrot, Coco looking at the veryfirst EMPHASIS magazine of 1971and year book trying to findcontacts.

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Please plan to join your former classmates and friends in Singapore inAugust 2008 to revisit and reconnect.

The classes of 1978, 1988 and 1998 are invited to celebrate their 30year, 20 year and 10 year reunions respectively in Singapore on the

weekend of 22- 24 August 2008.

Any other alumni who wish to join the reunion are welcome as well.

Check the alumni website and contact the alumni office or theindividual class organisers for more details.

Class of 1983- 25 year Reunion July 2008

The Class of 1983 will be celebrating their25th anniversary in London, 25-27 July 2008.

Class of 1993/1994 Reunion August 2008

Reunite with your old classmates from theClasses of 1993 and 1994 in Singapore, 22-24 August 2008.

Second annual London alumniget together February 2008

Join UWCSEA Head and Assistant Head atthe Oriental Club in London on 14 February2008 and take this opportunity to meet upand mingle with other alumni and formerstaff.

To sign up for any of the aboveevents, please register online at

http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg/eventsor email

alumni@uwcsea.edu.sg(Please indicate event in subject line)

First Annual Reunion of the30 year, 20 year and 10 year

anniversary classes

UPCOMING REUNIONS

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