NorthOneOMICA (P) No 137/11/2008 Vol 3 December 2008

The Alumni Magazine of the United World College of South East Asia

Alumni Profi les

Values in Practice

The Dai Water Festival

Reunions

Class Notes

Alumni servicesEvery student who leaves UWCSEA, re-gardless of how long they were here, is automatically a member of the UWCSEA alumni community. Some of the services that we offer alumni include:

OneºNorthThe Alumni Magazine of the United World College of South East Asia, fi rst published in December 2007, is published twice per year. Please send your contributions and/or suggestions to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg

UWCSEA alumni online communityThe UWCSEA password-protected alumni website located at http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg allows you to maintain your own profi le, search for and contact other regis-tered members, post photos and blogs, stay informed about news and events, etc.

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

Other countries represented: Albania, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, East Timor, Ghana, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mali, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Oman, Panama, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, St. Bartelemy, St. Maarten, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Trinidad and

Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

Friends of UWCSEA online communityA new ‘Friends of UWCSEA’ password-pro-tected website located at http://friends.uwcsea.edu.sg allows parents of former students to stay in touch with each other and with the College.

Reunions and get-togethersA reunion of the 30 year, 20 year and 10 year anniversary classes will be held each year in Singapore. Other class reunions and alumni gatherings take place in various locations throughout the year, planned by both UWCSEA and its alumni. Watch the alumni website for updates and details.

Alumni eBriefThe Alumni eBrief is a newsletter emailed to alumni throughout the year, containing brief news and information to keep you updated and informed.

DuniaThe College newsletter is published six times during the academic year, contain-ing College news and reports of events and activities, including an alumni section.

Career servicesAlumni are welcome to post job openings or your own resumé on the site.

Visits, tours and other requestsWe are always happy to help in any way we can. Send your requests to us at alumni@uwcsea.edu.sg. If you are in Singapore and would like to drop in for a visit or a tour of the campus, we would be more than happy to show you around.

Thanks for keeping in touch!

Alumni servicesHelping you to stay connected to UWCSEA and to each other

Letter from the Head Read about developments at UWCSEA

Note from the Alumni offi ceWelcome to the third issue

Alumni Profi leAki Hoshide (Class of 1987) travels to the International Space Station

GraduationClass of 2008

Alumni Profi leNicolai Foong (Class of 1978), Physician and Elvis impersonator

Reunion 2008!The Classes of 1978, 1988, 1998, 1993 and 1994 celebrate in Singapore

Reunion 2008!Class of 1978

Reunion 2008!Class of 1988

Reunion 2008!Class of 1998

Reunion 2008!Classes of ‘93 and ‘94

Recent Class ReunionClass of 1983 celebrates 25 Year Reunion in London

UWCSEA ProjectsUpdate on Memory of Trees

Values in Practice (ViP)Fiona Ambrosi Watson (Class of 1979) sets up her own NGO

Values in Practice (ViP)Ann Kwan (Class of 2005) uses Davis Grant to open café in Cambodia

TravelFran Mules (Class of 1995) experiences the Dai Water Festival in Jinhong, China

Classnotes

Upcoming Reunions

Editor Brenda Whately

Assistant Editor Prapti Sherchan

Layout Lenca YewPrapti Sherchan

OneºNorth 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 profi le on the UWCSEA alumni website. We welcome your feedback. Send your comments to alumnimaga-zine@uwcsea.edu.sg

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

Cover photo: Akihiko Hoshide (Class of 1987). Photo courtesy of NASA/JAXA

Please send your suggestions for future cover photos to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg

Contents

Printed by Interprint Communications Pte Ltd

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from the Head of CollegeLetter

It was a real pleasure to welcome so many alumni to the reunion held at the College in late August, a signifi cant number returning for the fi rst time since they had left.

For us it was fascinating to hear recollections of what the College was like, particularly from the pioneering group who were at the College in 1971 when it opened as an af-fi liate member of the United World College movement. We were delighted to receive a number of items of memorabilia which included school reports, photographs, school magazines and even the original school sign removed by a certain individual upon graduation in 1978 (see story on page 12). By all accounts the weekend was hugely successful with many old acquaintances renewed and we very much look forward to seeing the classes of 1979, 1989 and 1999 at the College next August.

We continue to develop our outreach programme on a number of fronts, not least the Gap Year programme. It is fl ourishing and this year we have 17 students (perhaps more correctly I should say alumni) volunteers from the class of 2008 working in fi ve locations in South East Asia: Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Thailand; Kep and Phnom Penh, Cambo-dia and Lombok, Indonesia. The students are involved with the teaching of English in diverse areas such as sustainable rural education projects, supplementary education in at-risk communities, youth groups as well as groups of local teachers and university students. In addition they are working as interns with the host NGOs. Next year we will be investigating a further increase in the number of regional placements in South East Asia each lasting up to eight months and by 2010 we aim to have additional Gap Year programmes in Cebu, Philippines; Vientiane, Laos, and Bali and Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The value of ‘Gap Years’ was brought home to us in March when Shirley Tilghman, the President of Princeton, mentioned during a talk to Grade 12 that Princeton would in future be sponsoring 150 prospective students a year to spend time between school and university engaged in such activities.

We are also continuing our drive to reduce the impact of the College upon the envi-ronment. The consumption of water, electricity and paper at the Dover Campus has decreased signifi cantly over the last 12 months and we will continue to fi nd new ways of minimising consumption in these key areas. We are pleased that the design for the East Campus in Tampines should achieve Greenmark Platinum when constructed which is above our original aspirations. A signifi cant factor in achieving this will be the installation of a solar powered air-conditioning system which will provide 50% of our peak requirements and pay for itself within seven to eight years. The panels needed will cover 5,000 sq.m…..fortunately we will have enough roof space. When we start work on refurbishing the facilities at the Dover Campus later this academic year we will be aiming for a minimum of Greenmark Gold Plus.

If, per chance, you are passing through Singapore pleased do drop by the College. We would be very pleased to see you.

Julian Whiteley

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Notefrom the alumni offi ce

It has been a busy term at the College as usual these past few months. There have been class year trips, outdoor expeditions, an art weekend, sport competitions, drama productions, a

Round Square conference, Green Week, UN Evening and UN days. The Grade 11s have been preparing for Project Week and the Grade 12s have been preparing university applications. All this and more, along with classes and course work! I’m sure that it has been a busy few months for most of our alumni as well at your jobs and/or further education programmes. I hope every-one has, or has had (depending on when you read this) a happy, safe and restful holiday break.

We had our fi rst annual Singapore reunion weekend this past August 2008, celebrating the 30, 20 and 10 year anniversary classes. The Classes of 1978, 1988 and 1998 were joined by the Classes of 1993 and 1994 and we had a great turnout including attendees who had travelled to Singapore from 31 other countries around the globe. Some attendees from the 30 year group were able to take advantage of a generous offer by Robert Milton, a member of the Class of 1978 who held a Thirty for the Thirtieth contest in which he provided tickets to Singapore from around the world for 30 alumni from his year group and adjacent year groups to attend the reunion. Photos of the weekend appear on pages 12 through 16. We plan to continue to hold an annual reunion each August in Singapore celebrating classes having their 40, 30, 20 and 10 year anniversaries. Alumni from any class are very welcome to join in and other classes who wish to gather at the same time are welcome also.

The Class of 1983 held a 25 year reunion in the UK in July and there were get-togethers in Hong Kong and Singapore this month, December 2008. The third annual London reunion will be taking place again in late January 2009 and we continue to be happy to support other reunions and get-togethers held by alumni anywhere at any time. Let us know if you are planning one in future.

In this, our third issue of the magazine, we feature alumni from all four decades of the College including Fiona Watson from the Class of 1979 who set up an NGO in Argentina to help allevi-ate the effects of poverty among Buenos Aires’ poor; Nic Foong, Class of 1978, a physician with an interesting hobby; Aki Hoshide from the Class of 1987 who accomplished what many of you may have, at some time in your life dreamed of doing – he travelled to the International Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in May; Fran Mules, Class of of 1995 humerously describing her experience of the water festival in Jinhong and Ann Kwan, Class of 2005, who opened a café in Cambodia in association with the NGO Yodifee. I hope you enjoy their stories.

Please drop in to see us if you are ever in Singapore for a holiday or a stop-over. We’d love to meet you and show you around the College. Our offi ce is located right in the middle of the campus in a stand-alone, albeit ‘temporary’ building near the Main Hall.

Wishing you all the best for 2009!

Brenda WhatelyDirector of Alumni RelationsT +65 6419 9319alumni@uwcsea.edu.sghttp://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg

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 profi le page,

search for and contact other alumni, post photos and notes, stay updated regarding alumni and College news and events, etc. So go ahead and register today!

http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg

Have you registered with the UWCSEA alumni website yet?

If you have registered but have forgotten your password and/or username, simply click on ‘Sign-in’ and leaving the box blank choose ‘Click here to reset password’.

UWCSEA uniform polo shirt which

travelled with Aki Hoshide to the

International Space Station in May

2008 along with a certifi cate of

authenticity.

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UWCSEA 1985-1987ALUMNI PROFILE

Aki achieves his dreamBorn in Japan, Aki lived in the US for

four years before returning to his place of birth. In 1985 he moved to Singapore to accept a scholarship to the IB programme at UWCSEA. It was while he was in High School that Japan selected its fi rst three astronauts and Aki started thinking about his dream of space travel as a real possi-bility and became intent on pursuing his desire to enter the space programme. He accepted the scholarship to UWCSEA he says, mainly to brush up on his English, become familiar with different cultures and people and experience different ways of thinking, all in order to prepare himself to work in an international environment. He took maths and science and eventually engineering to help him reach his ultimate goal. It wasn’t all work though. He remem-bers his days at UWCSEA as ‘a lot of fun and a great experience.’

Aki began his path to Japan’s space pro-gramme by joining what is now called the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), after completing a degree in Me-chanical Engineering at Keio University. He then went on to complete a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering. He was selected to join the International Space Station (ISS) Astronaut Training programme in 1999 and was certifi ed as an astronaut in 2001. Along with his extensive training he sup-ported the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese Kibo lab and the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). In 2004 Aki was certifi ed as a Soyuz-TMA fl ight engineer and began astronaut candidate training at the NASA Johnson Space Center to become a mission specialist. He gradu-ated in 2006 and in March 2007 he was assigned to the crew of the NASA space shuttle mission designated as STS-124 which fl ew to the ISS in May 2008.

NASA and JAXA are among 15 partners in the ISS programme which also includes Russia, Canada, and several European countries, all working together. Each coun-

Akihiko Hoshide

Astronaut Aki Hoshide dreamed of travelling into

space from the time he was about four years of age. His imagination was fi red with

a visit to the NASA Kennedy Space Centre and National

Space Museum with his par-ents when he was living in the

United States at that time.

Thirty-fi ve years later, his dream came true in May 2008 when he traveled to the Inter-national Space Station (ISS) as

one of seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

try is an equal partner although the USA and Russia are currently the only two with the capability to deliver astronauts to the ISS via the Shuttle and the Soyuz rocket.

When asked how he personally justifi ed the amount of money being spent on the space programme around the world Aki said that he sees it as a wise and valuable investment. “The return is enormous in terms of scientifi c discovery and coopera-tion among different countries.”

The primary objective of the STS-124 mis-sion was to deliver and install the Japanese ‘Kibo’ (meaning ‘hope’) laboratory to the ISS, as well as to deliver a US crew member to replace another who was due to return.

When asked how it felt to be selected to the space shuttle mission and know that he would fi nally be realising his dream and heading into space he said “I was very happy but at the same time I felt the responsibility as well. A lot of people in Japan and the US had been working on the Japanese lab for a long time.”

Aki’s responsibility on the mission was to manage everything related to Kibo and to operate the Space Station robotic arm to install the module to the Space Station. Although the Japanese lab, logistics mod-ule and robotic arm have been in service and scientific experiments conducted since August there is one further space shuttle mission scheduled for next Spring, to complete Kibo. JAXA will also be send-ing Japanese astronauts to the ISS for long duration missions and next September the

By Brenda Whately

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HTV is scheduled to begin carrying cargo to the ISS. Aki is hoping to be involved in all of these activities while he waits his chance to fl y again. He would like to stay for a longer duration next time. He says, “Fourteen days was not enough!”

During launch of Discovery Aki says he found that he wasn’t nervous, partly per-haps because his friends were sitting next to him. “The ride was incredible. After eight and a half minutes, the main engine stopped and at that instant we experienced micro-gravity. Things began fl oating up and although it was diffi cult to get used to for the fi rst hours and days, once I did it was really fun. I could push myself off the wall and I’d be fl ying! On the fi rst day in orbit we were very busy getting out of our suits, removing the seats and basically changing a rocket ship into a space ship so

it wasn’t until the following day that I had a good look back at Earth. It was awesome. I felt the energy coming from it. I saw the sun refl ecting on the ocean. I could see the deserts, mountains, forests - it was incredible.”

Seeing the ISS for the fi rst time was another extraordinary experience which he says gave him goosebumps. “With your fi rst look at the ISS you see how big it is and you know that it was human beings who put it together - 15 different countries working together. It made me proud to be a part of it.”

The overall experience he says was every-thing that he expected and much more. What is his next goal? To go up again. And next time he hopes to stay longer and do some space walks which he didn’t get to

do this time. Although he doesn’t feel that a trip to Mars will take place soon enough for him, he hopes that a trip to the Moon may be within his reach. In the meantime he will continue to work, train and look forward to another mission.

Aki carried one of our UWCSEA uniform polo shirts into space with him, signed by a member of each of the community groups of the College: students, parents, teachers, staff, governors and, of course, alumni for whom Aki added his own signature. We hope to see Aki visit the College to talk about his experience at some point in the not too distant future.

Please send your profi le suggestions for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Photos courtesy of NASA and JAXA

Clockwise from top left: Aki in Kibo’s Pressurized Module; STS-124 crew; ISS from Space. Clockwise from bottom left: Day 2 on Discovery; Aki exercises on the Cycle Ergometer in the Destiny lab on ISS; STS-124 crew after landing.

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GRADUATION

On the 24th of May 2008, three hundred and twelve students became alumni of UWCSEA as the College celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2008. Gradu-ates were welcomed to the ceremony by the UWCSEA Lion Dance Troupe consisting of students from all schools within the College; Junior, Middle and High School. The guest speaker was Me-lissa Kwee, an alumna of UWCSEA who subsequently graduated from Harvard and returned to Singapore where she has received many honours for her work with young people. Melissa is currently Chairman of the Halogen Foundation.

After the ceremony and reception under the Tent, more than 800 alumni and guests moved on to enjoy the gradua-tion dinner and dance at the Shangri-La Hotel. Congratulations to all of our new alumni!

2008Graduation

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Photo credits: Romke Hoogwaerts, Vincent V. and Davy Yew.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

UWCSEA 1971 - 1978

My family was originally from Ipoh, West Malaysia where my grandfather

emigrated from China as a young man in search of work, ultimately becoming a wealthy tin miner with 10 children. One of those children, my father, went to London UK to study medicine and that is where I was born. We lived in Kuala Lumpur from the time I was fi ve until eleven at which point my father accepted the position of Head of Surgery at the medical school in Singapore.

My brother and I began attending UWCSEA which was then called Singapore Interna-tional School (SIS) in 1971. There were a lot of British and European students and I loved learning about the different cultures and languages, especially with the girls! I studied German for one year (mainly be-cause I had a crush on a German girl) and French for fi ve years. Knowing French really helped me to pick up Spanish easily when I fi nally moved to California where I now speak Spanish every day because half of my medical practice consists of Latino women.

School back then was quite strict - for instance, we weren’t allowed to grow our hair past our collar and over our ears. There was however a lot of opportunity for fun (and mischief)! The extracurricu-lar activities were extensive, and I actu-ally started playing tennis then which I have since developed into a life-long hobby. When we didn’t have activities we tended to hang around socialising.

We grew up exploring the different cul-tures and backgrounds of all the different students that we were friends with. Even now in the US, whenever I have a European patient, I bust out in my rusty German or semi-fl uent French and immediately man-age to break the ice with them. It was all from those after-school days hanging out with all the different nationalities that made UWCSEA such a unique experience growing up in Singapore.

I graduated in 1978 and embarked on an overland trip with four other students and a teacher, Mr. Dilley (Biology teacher). The other students who came along were Gior-gio Conti (Italian), Monica Lugato (Italian),

Paul Cummings (Australian) and a Norwe-gian student named Hans. I met up with Paul Cummings again at the alumni reunion this past August. It was really wonderful to see him again since I have lost touch with all the others completely. The overland trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and would not be easily repeated these days with the war currently raging against al Qaida in the Afghan Pakistan border. We went through Malaysia, took a ship to India, then through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France, and fi nally to England, arriving at UWC of the Atlantic in Wales. Out of the six of us only four made it to the fi nal destination. Hans came down ill from the food we ate along the way and ended up in a hospital in Rome before fl ying back to Norway. Paul also became sick from the food and had to fl y home from Rome as well. Our used Land Rover kept breaking down along the way and it was a miracle that we actually made it.

I left the UK to enter Stanford University to study pre-med. I always knew I wanted to become a doctor, probably to follow in my dad’s footsteps, and I actually thought that I too would become a surgeon. I stud-ied very hard at Stanford, took my MCAT’s at the end of my Freshman year, majored in Economics to broaden my education, and left in 1981 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics to attend medical school at the University of Chicago.

During medical school, I realised that the only specialty that dealt with normal,

Nicolai Foong

Nic Foong is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist in California who

does Elvis impersonations on the side. I met Nic at Reunion

2008 and asked if he would write us a profi le of what his

life was like at UWCSEA in the early ‘70s and how he became a doctor cum Elvis imperson-

ator. He kindly agreed and here is his story.

Brenda

Running a Medical Practice, Providing Free Medical Services and Having Fun!

Photo from Interscol 1978

Nic, performing at Reunion 2008

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happy, healthy patients was Obstetrics. The patients are always excited, happy and going through a natural process of life that is rewarding to both the patient and the doctor. I changed my mind. Two years of cold winters in Chicago was enough for me. They had devastated my golf and tennis games, so I applied to transfer back to sunny California, graduated from UCLA medical school, and have lived in southern California since. I was accepted into the prestigious OBGYN residency program at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where movie stars and Hollywood people go to have their babies, and I graduated there as chief resident in 1989.

I built up a private practice very quickly in the Asian community as I speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay and Indonesian, and af-ter 10 years I bought out another practice in a predominantly white community which I built up as well. I currently see approxi-mately 50 patients every day, deliver 40 to 50 babies a month, and perform two to three surgeries per week. I have also been the pro bono medical director of the Los Angeles Chinatown Free Clinic since 1989. We do general checkups, cancer screening and free prenatal care for the indigent population, mostly poor, new Asian immigrants. I am also involved with

a missionary group of doctors that go to impoverished parts of the world to lecture and teach at local hospitals once a year for the past seven years. We have been to Xin-jiang and Yunnan provinces, China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Peru and Chile. We try to bring new medical technologies and techniques and donate used equipment and money. As you can see, I still have not lost my passion for travel, especially to remote parts of the world.

“You only live once but if you live it right, once is

enough.“

And for additional fun, relaxation and recreation, along with my weekly golf and tennis games, and skiing during the winter, I perform Elvis impersonations. One Halloween about 10 years ago, I was in a costume shop looking for a costume for a party, found an Elvis costume, participated in some Karaoke singing at the party, and that’s pretty much how it got started. Later on I hooked up with a golfi ng friend of mine who was a part-time DJ, and he started getting me gigs at weddings, corporate functions, singing contests, etc. Now I do at least two to three gigs a month and get paid for them!

Please send your profi le suggestions for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Nicolai and Julie Foong (right) with Patrick Widjaja and Tina (left) at Reunion 2008

I married late after living the bachelor party life for a long time. I met a wonder-ful woman Julie, purely by chance in Las Vegas. Even though she is 16 years younger than me, she understands and relates to me and we connect together well. She has given me two wonderful sons, Ethan and Geoffrey, ages fi ve and two. I have the best time hanging out with them and teaching them the things that I enjoy. In fact, my oldest son has actually performed with me at the hospital Christmas party, singing Elvis next to me, all dressed up in a leather jacket, sun glasses and hair all gelled up.

I feel I’ve pretty much achieved what I set out to do when I left UWCSEA to conquer the world, and things have turned out all right. As I said in the Interscol, “You only live once, but if you live it right, once is enough”. My fi nal goal is to see my two boys grow up to be productive citizens, and maybe give me some grandchildren, and my life will be complete.

Nic Foong

Nic may be contacted through the alumni website.

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As the formal proceedings drew to a successful close, many of us still had 30 years to catch up on and everyone headed to the Quay, now the hub of nightlife in Singapore. The aim was not so much to party on into the night but to give more time for those exchanges; back-dropped appropriately by a city with which we all felt familiar but yet had changed so much.

The night set the trend for many more meetings, formal and informal, across the island. There was so much to say and so much to hear. The gathering of the class of ‘78 the next night galvanised the rekindling of the friendships. The quiet and unequivocal generosity of Robert Milton in funding more than 30 airline tickets to ensure the success of the reunion and the deep feelings for members of the group who were no longer there were acknowledged and then there was the fi nal return, after 30 years, of the massive school sign that had adorned the front gates until graduation in 1978 when our classmate Dale Fisher removed it, rolled it up and took it home.

And of course, Elvis was re-incarnated in the form of Nicolai Foong. Elvis is alive and well, or Nic was very, very good …

O n the 22nd of August, a 30 year round trip around life and across

the world reached a culmination, in the form of a reunion weekend in Singa-pore. The fi rst class to have travelled from Years One to Seven fi nally came together again from all four corners of the globe.

The gatherings started almost immediately after people landed. The Tanglin Club was a launching point for many as it had been in the past. But what no one could have antici-pated was the reaction and feeling when we all turned up for pre-dinner drinks on Friday evening and fi nally ended our journeys.

We were awash with faces, changed and weathered with age but as the memory banks burst open, a smile, a gesture and a word were enough to spark recognition. The chatter and the conversation were incessant. It was easy to forget that the class years of ’88, ’98, ’93 and ’94 were there as well but the night proceeded beyond everyone’s expectations. It went all too quickly and as speeches and dinner progressed, the din of the conversations continued. The class of ‘78 then proceeded to commandeer the dance fl oor and brought back the disco ‘error’ in no uncertain terms!

Our 30 Year Reunion By George Fong UWCSEA 1971-1978

The last formal event was a gathering at the school. Many of us were either awe struck or dumb struck by the changes. The school must now be at least twice as big. But still the Main Hall, the fountain (albeit in a very different and very dry form), the original classroom blocks and the Small Hall were still there. With those navigation points set, all fell into place.The formal events may have ended at that point, but the contact, the meetings, the conversations kept going. Even now, three months out, the conversations rage on electronically. A 30 year journey may have ended, but the friendships have been permanently rekindled. May all years graduating out of UWCSEA be so fortunate.

The first annual College-led reunion to celebrate the 30, 20 and 10 year

anniversary classes took place in Singapore over the weekend of 22 - 24 August 2008. The Classes of 1978, 1988 and 1998 were joined by the Classes of 1993 and 1994 and the event drew over 285 alumni and guests from 32 countries around the world.

On Friday evening all classes gathered for a cocktail reception and reunion dinner party at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The venue was decorated with an Asian theme and the dinner included a wide array of Asian and Western food. Music was provided by a UWCSEA Jazz trio (Ken Yoneda on sax, Kyle Astill on bass, and Wiraaj Agnihotri on guitar) during cocktails and a DJ playing music from

the 70s, 80s and 90s during and after dinner.

The current Head of College, Mr Julian Whiteley opened the evening and Mr Anthony Skillicorn was the guest speaker. The party lasted until late but didn’t end when the ballroom closed as many moved on to various clubs and other locations around Singapore.

Class-specifi c events were held on Saturday. The Class of 1978 met at the Singapore Cricket Club for dinner, further reacquaintance and entertainment provided by various members of the Class. The Class of 1988 met up at East Coast Park for a seafood lunch, and dinner at the Hollandse Club. The Class of 1998 got together at IndoChine in Clarke Quay before heading off to other venues and the Classes

of 1993 and 1994 began their evening at Oosh in Dempsey Road. The delayed National Day fi reworks added a nice touch!

Sunday saw most alumni and their guests coming back to the College for a campus tour, barbecue luncheon and a chance to say their farewells. UWCSEA’s student lion dance troupe opened the event and several current students manned GC stalls to display their projects and interact with the alumni.

Overall, by all accounts the weekend was a great success, thanks to all the alumni who were able to come back and celebrate with their former classmates and friends.

We hope to see you all in another 10 years!

George Fong is an IT Consultant, running his own company, Lateral Plains, specialising in server hosting and online services, and is a member of a number of volunteer organisations. George is married with two teenaged sons.

Reunion 2008!

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RECENT REUNIONS

Class of1978

Photo credits: Davy Yew and Class of 1978 attendees.

My friends from the Singapore days were written into the book of my life indelibly back in the ‘70s. The reunion has been a reacquaint-ing with that chapter and in so do-ing, the writing of a new chapter.

Lesley Anton

How easily we slipped back into old friendships after 30 years. It is a

real testament to a unique bond we all formed during our school years. I will

treasure the memories of the weekend.

Katie Warner

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Despite torrential rains during much of Saturday, a hardy group of us managed to have a most enjoyable lunch at the East Coast Park. The Chilli Crab was certainly worth it! Later that day, most of us reconvened and were joined by others at the Hollandse Club for a Indonesian Rijstafel buffet dinner and ten pin bowling. The latter was very popular with the children (and most of the adults as well!) Although the venues were great, it was those present who made this a very memorable weekend and one that will be remembered for quite some time to come!

Peter Van Veen

Class of1988RECENT REUNIONS

Photo creditsDavy Yew, Romeo (Aswin) Ruanglertbutr

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Class of1998RECENT REUNIONS

Photo creditsDavy Yew, Ashwin Mohan Ram and Kyra Chamberlain

What a fantastic turnout! It was great to see so many familiar faces – everyone was just as we all remembered, just now that little older and wiser – although Friday and Satur-day proved we all still think we are teenagers! Seeing UWCSEA and how it has developed over the last 10 years was brilliant. I know we all have fond memories of our time there and can see that it will be the same for countless more now and in the future. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend and hope to see you all again in the future!

Kyra Chamberlain

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RECENT REUNIONS

Classes of‘93/94Meeting everyone again on Friday at the reunion dinner was just super. We continued our weekend of endless fun and catching up with old friends starting at Oosh on Dempsey Road. The alleged ‘quiet’ night turned wild early with the drinks fl owing, the chatter buzzing and the laughter contagious. The Class of ‘93 headed for Clarke Quay and the class of ‘94 decided on another venue. After many hours of fun a few managed to make it home just as the sun was coming up after a pitstop for some local cuisine at the nearest hawker centre. On Sunday afternoon we were back on campus.

Katie Elcombe

Photo credits: Davy Yew, Katie Elcombe, Mel Snaddon and Ayako Kameda

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RECENT REUNIONS

Class of 1983 25 Year Reunion

Photo credits: Irene Tschan, Petra Van Boetzelaer, Eric Von der Luehe

Some members of the Class of 1983 celebrated their 25 year anniversary reunion this past summer, 25 - 27 July 2008, in London, UK.

The event was organised by Lewis Marks along with Lance Campling and was reportedly a great weekend of fun and reminiscence.

40 Trees for 40 YearsFrankie Meehan

Your memories of trees are starting to trickle in. Artist Lucy Davis (1988)

fondly recollects the magnifi cent raintrees on the main drive which served as “a frame for some of the most vivid, poetic and forgiving encounters of my seven years”. Coincidentally, Lucy is herself working on a project that explores the idea that wooden furniture is inscribed with memo-ries of the trees and environment in which it originated.

Sarah Johnston (née Waddell, 1983) re-calls a rambutan tree near Dover Road where she risked life and limb to reach the world’s most succulent fruit, leaning out over a brimming monsoon drain. Steve Kay (ex-teacher, now at Tanglin Trust) has similar memories of a “queen mango” tree overlooking the Ayer Rajah fi eld where he

once got stranded and had to be rescued with a ladder.

David Britt (1977) stayed up a tree - volun-tarily - for 36 hours, raising funds for social service. Which tree, David, and how did you do it? Still waiting to hear from you!

Sadly, many of these trees have disap-peared. Jonathan Hemsley (1999) is re-membered for his brave efforts to save a palm tree in the area between the English and Maths blocks; he spent a series of lunchtimes hugging the tree but today

only a slight mound remains. When I pointed this out to my “40 Trees” students recently, they rushed over to embrace the tree ghost!

The “40 Trees” group spend most of their time identifying and recording data about notable trees. There is, for example, a little-known cacao tree, complete with pods; a Malay Apple that produces beauti-ful pink fl owers; a knobbly fruited Great Morinda; various rambutans, mangosteens and breadfruits; a cluster of rubber trees; numerous strangling fi gs; a handful of Af-rican Tulip trees; and of course the ubiqui-tous raintrees covered in “dragon’s teeth” and bird’s nest or staghorn ferns. If any of these trigger memories for you, please write to me at fme@uwcsea.edu.sg

An update to ‘Memories of Trees’ which ap-peared in the June 2008 issue of OneºNorth. Frankie Meehan is a Middle School tutor heading this environmental social service.

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VALUES IN PRACTICE

I think I am one of the lucky people who arrived in Singapore back in

1968 when the country was at its best and fast on its way towards even better days. I was seven years old and for the next ten years I worked my way through primary school and on to my ‘O’ levels at UWCSEA.

I loved the jungle, the Chinese travel-ing theatres, chili crab, the islands on Sundays, the Chinese graveyards, the pools, the clubs, the curries, polo and the wonderful, busy social life that sur-rounded my family. But most of all I adored UWCSEA. Not just for its diversity but also for the values it taught us. For just like Singapore itself, UWCSEA was a comfortable backdrop in a fast changing world where we grew up to respect different cultures and reli-gions and where we were shown how to open our heart, our eyes and our minds to the plight of others.

It has been 35 years since I left yet it has always remained deep in my heart and in many ways I think a lot of us must have become what it was all about.

So here I am today, via France and a degree in journalism and onto my fi rst real job working with refugees at the Paris offi ce of an international organisa-tion. Then came a transfer to Geneva,

followed by my marriage to an Italian and the births of my four children - all while following my husband’s job from Senegal back to Switzerland and on to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In Senegal I volunteered for two years with the most energetic and loving Fran-ciscan Nuns who ran the only orphanage in the country. I worked with the chil-dren fi rst and then eventually moved on to fundraising for a much needed genera-tor. I succeeded in leaving the orphanage securely connected to running fridges and lights just three weeks before I left the country. I was heartbroken for all the simple but very special people that had marked our lives; for all the smiles that lit their faces regardless of tomorrow’s fate. But I knew then and there that I was truly hooked by the charity bug and knew that that was where I was going.

I arrived in Argentina in 2003, just two years after the major crisis that left the country in ruins and millions deep below the poverty line.

It took only a few days to notice the children begging at the traffi c lights and entire cartonero* families pulling their heavy makeshift carts through the streets

of the Northern suburbs where we set up home.

It was somehow an image I had naively not expected of Argentina. I had read about the “Paris” of Latin America, the Tango shows, Maradona and the fi ne wines. But I had not read that almost half the country had been plunged into poverty.

I suppose a lot of people come to the country and see only the good side to life here, but I saw only the hungry children and so I quickly started work-ing at the food bank and then joined a group of people that went out at night to feed the hungry. We boiled eggs by the hundreds, bought bread and crates of bananas and milk to serve the cartonero families that patiently stood in line on street corners.

That was the beginning of my “love af-fair” with Argentina’s poor for one thing led to another and I ended up traveling deep into the slums to see what was re-ally there - overcrowded homes made of scraps of plastic, metal and wood on bare fl oors without heating or running water and a strong stench of fi lth and garbage fi lling the air around us.

But probably the most shocking aspect of all was the teeth. Black stubs in the mouths of twenty year old women, abscesses infecting the swollen faces of the youngest of children. I am no dentist, in fact like most, I despise going to the dentist (apologies to any dentist reading this) but I just knew something had to be done. So after months of investigating and meetings with the local authorities I set up dental hygiene sessions with a few volunteers and we moved from slum to slum teaching children about oral care and distributing toothbrushes and toothpaste. Most children had never seen a toothbrush.

But it was still not enough, and over the following months the idea to set

Slum area where new community centre is being built.

Fiona Ambrosi Watson sets up her own NGO UWSEA 1972-1977

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up a legal charity to receive funds and open a free dental clinic to treat children coming from the slums, began to grow. Health care and dental care are free in Argentina, but poverty stricken areas have access only to rundown, under-funded clinics where dentists practice extractions only. To pay a private dentist for a fi lling costs 40 pesos in the cheap-est of clinics. Many of the families we work with are living with as little as 300 pesos per month so you can imagine that dental care is not a priority given their everyday struggles.

So there I was, a foreigner in a coun-try, with very little Spanish, struggling with lawyers, slow administration and accountants. In March 2005 the NGO Todos Juntos was born and a year later, in October 2006, our fi rst free dental clinic, Sonrisa I, opened its doors. Equipped with entirely new materials and supplies funded by the NGO, slum children could fi nally have access to the care they deserved.

By December of the following year we opened the second clinic, Sonrisa II, and today we are happy to announce that in view of the never ending waiting list we are working on Sonrisa III!

In just two years we will have treated over 1,000 children and saved more than 5,000 teeth from extraction, and I must say I feel very happy to have been a part of it. All the healthy smiles tell their own story.

The charity has been registered in the UK since July 2006 and a Trust has been formed to help with the fundraising. It has been a long road to get to where we are today and we are still the only free dental clinics situated in the slums of Buenos Aires.

Throughout the year we also distribute blankets, clothes and shoes, medicines, milk, toys, school supplies and much more. We are in the process of building a small community centre for children in the heart of a new slum.

A lot of the children we work with make a living scavenging off the city rubbish dump. I thought I had seen misery, but the times I have been to the dump have shattered my heart. No child, no human being, should ever have to rummage for food through mountains of nauseating garbage.

I could write so much more but I am limited by space and so I end this little resume of my life since UWCSEA - 30 years all summed up into two pages. Every time I visit the clinics and see the

bright smiles I know this is probably the best I could have done with what I was given. Fiona Watson

To fi nd out more about Fiona’s NGO please visit www.foundationtodosjuntos.org and/or www.todosjuntos.org.uk

Fiona may be reached through the UWCSEA alumni site.

*A term used to describe men, women and (very often) children who scour the city everyday look-ing for cardboard and other items that can be recycled for cash at factories.

Dental hygiene sessions at Sonrisa.

Please send your ViP suggestions for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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VALUES IN PRACTICE

To live, love, laugh and learn:Ann Kwan graduated from UWCSEA in 2005 and is currently a senior in Wheaton College in Massachusetts, USA majoring in Economics and International Relations. Ann received a Katheryn Davis 100 Projects for Peace grant of USD10,000 to open a café for the NGO YODIFEE in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and spent three months there over the summer of 2008 putting it in place. Following is her account of the project:

When I began working with Lavalla School and consequently Yodifee in Grade 9, never did I imagine that it would grow into some-thing as big as this!

I began this project with the long-term goal of giving young people with disabilities in Cambodia a new avenue through which to realise self-empowerment. My immediate goals were to work with the NGO YODIFEE to set up a handicrafts shop through which these same people could increase revenue and thus self-worth and self-suffi ciency by selling their own carefully made handi-crafts.

Almost immediately upon arrival onsite, the project evolved to encompass another goal of the NGO, and one that increased the likelihood of shop sustainability. This goal was to set up a training centre for the students of the NGO to learn new skills and methods of working in customer ser-vice – i.e. restaurants, sales departments, small shops, etc. I decided to also take advantage of the booming tourist industry, and augmented the shop plan to include an all-day-breakfast café called Yodicafé. Through our central location near one of the main NGO drags and right behind a mid-range hotel street, the students had many opportunities to practice their Eng-lish and their new skills. It was incredibly satisfying to see them develop confi dence over the weeks in their communication skills, serving skills, and in their owner-ship of the store. Additionally pleasing was

to receive offers from convenience store chains to hire them upon completion of their training.

Joining me on this project was Jessica Wagner, another UWCSEA alumna from the Class of 2006. Together we led a team of young physically disabled people in setting up a shop. Something new for all of us in-volved! Memories of the renovation process provoke all sorts of emotions. In a sense it was the best time of the project as I truly bonded with my team, and learnt that most of the stereotypical limitations of disabled people are false. I’m not claiming that

Ann handing over the keys of the shop to the Director of Yodifee while others from Yodifee and the Chair of the National Committee for the Physically Disabled look on.

they can do everything that a fully able bodied person can do, but each of them had adapted so well to their disability that I never thought of helping them physically. As a team we painted all the walls of the house, cleaned off years of dirt from the windows, polished the mirrors and tiled fl oors, and spent a lot of time together as a family. It was wonderful, the staff fully accepted Jess and I into their fam-ily, teaching us Khmer words as we taught them English.

Things in Phnom Penh turned out to be more expensive than I had thought. So in the end I picked up a job teaching English at the local Pannasastra University to offset some extra costs that were not budgeted for. Additionally, we had to learn to bargain in Khmer, which was actually a lot of fun. As someone who is obviously a foreigner, it is easy to get charged a higher price. But as someone who can pass as a Cambodian after a bit of sun, and speak a bit of Khmer, I think I managed to get prices that were close to local.

Despite the many hiccups and obstacles along the way, we opened on schedule, two

Staff member making her fi rst pancake ever!

Ann Kwan UWCSEA 1997-2005 a summer of possibilities

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weeks after acquiring the lease. Jess and I were frazzled, but so excited. We spent the night before preparing refreshments for the opening, and our oven was being very temperamental all night. But in any case, we were fortunate to have the Director of the National Committee for the Physically Disabled come as our guest of honour. That day was both the happiest and strangest moment of my summer. On one hand I was extremely thrilled to be able to hand over Yodicafé as a ready product to the NGO, but at the same time I was rather melancholic in knowing that the active participation on my side was just about over. Business in the shop varied daily. On some days we would get a van full of tour-

“...they have skills that are always

marketable, smiles that are always

approachable, and a great willingness to live, love, laugh

and learn.“

Top - Ann (left) and Jess (right) after shopping trip to buy supplies; Left - Sign on back of tuk tuk advertising the Yodifee Café ; Right - Yodicafé staff

Photos by Jessica Wagner and Khem Vannara

ists, and the staff would be frazzled. But on other days we wouldn’t have customers, so we used those days to work on English, to create more handicrafts, and to catch up on rest. The staff impressed me with their dedication, waking up each day at 5am to prepare the kitchen, and not going to bed until they had fi nished preparing the baked goods for the next day.

Physically walking away from the shop on my last day in Phnom Penh was even harder. I was leaving behind a family built upon mutual respect, trust and love, and polished with hard work, easy camaraderie and laughter. But what made it easier was knowing that this project is an ongoing

endeavour. Only when all of us stop trying to make it succeed, will it fail. My part in this project has evolved to being an external sponsor. My younger brother Christopher Kwan has set up a Global Concerns group in UWCSEA called Yodifee GC, and has been selling handicrafts made by the students in Yodifee. They are also working on fi nding sponsors for new equipment, wheelchairs and other necessities for the shop and school. Although the project is still reliant on outside help to succeed, the most important thing is that the students now believe they can do it, and I know they will fi ght to make their lives what they can be. I expect that in a year or two, some of them will be working for local convenience stores, supermarkets or other restaurants. They all now know that they don’t need charity to feed themselves, that they have skills that are always marketable, smiles that are always approachable, and a great willingness to live, love, laugh and learn.

I’d like to thank the Katheryn Wasserman Foundation for making this project possible, Jessica Wagner for putting up with me and keeping me sane as it happened, my family for believing I could do it, and UWCSEA for supporting my endeavour in so many ways.

Ann Kwan

For information on the 100 Projects for Peace programme, please visit www.kwd100projectsforpeace.org

Ann, Interscol 2005

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TRAVEL

He looked me straight in the eye and shot me point blank in the head.

In the face of such a calculated and merci-less attack I was reduced to spluttering after him in soggy outrage, pathetically waving my puny 80 cent plastic pistol at his rap-idly disappearing back. On refl ection, the pistol was a bad choice: next to his pricey supersoaker (the watergun equivalent of an AK47) it was laughable – like trying to hold up a bank with a nail fi le.

The balloons should’ve been hint enough that the people of Jinhong were serious about water combat. Leaving our room to go to breakfast in the morning I’d almost tripped over a bucket of rubber water bombs that the hotel had thoughtfully provided each of its guests. In the lobby, the carpets had been cleared away and in their place a small army of plastic buckets had appeared. In fact, there was no short-age of omens that morning that we were in for a very damp experience.

The fi rst sign of trouble came in the middle of breakfast. I had just stuffed half a crois-sant into my mouth when a water balloon, carefully pitched by a grinning 12-year old, landed smack in the middle of the table soaking my omelette and my friend Nathan who was about to tuck into his French toast. As far as Jinhong was con-cerned, the New Year’s Day celebrations had offi cially begun.

By 9.30 am it was all out war as the streets fi lled with revellers gleefully blasting each other with water bazookas or running around with plastic pails pitching H2O at

Fran Mules (UWCSEA Class of 1995) recently spent a year in Yunnan Prov-ince, Southwest China on the Australian Government’s Youth Ambassadors for Development programme. She worked for a local NGO, Center for Community Development Studies, which conducts action research into such issues as sustainable land use, local governance and income security in Southwest China. During her time there Fran was fortunate to travel to a number of fascinating places including Jinhong, Xishuanbana, home of the Dai people who celebrate their New Year every April with the ‘Water Splashing Festival” or “Festival of the Bathing Buddha.” Here Fran recalls her wettest day of 2008.

anyone they could chase down. Across the road from our café a group of local residents had gathered on the rooftop of their apartment with assorted weaponry and were busy strategically planning aerial attacks on hapless pedestrians below.

As the celebrations ramped up the streets became increasingly colourful, crowded and wet. Throngs of merrymakers were joined by parades of ladies dressed to the nines in fi ne, brightly coloured silks, ac-companied by bands of musicians clang-ing symbols and blowing horns. Mobs of pistol-toting children scampered among the crowd like monkeys, giggling as they blasted water at each other and passing adults. Water fi lled trucks, crammed with laughing locals cruised like mobile pool parties up and down the narrow streets as the occupants slung water at passers-by.

Joining the revelry on the main boule-vard into town we were soon completely soaked. My bespectacled American friend Ben turned out to be a walking water mag-net. Not only was he clearly a foreigner but at 6”3 was a good foot taller than most of Jinhong’s population. Wherever he went he was mobbed by laughing locals intent on showering him with New Year’s blessings. They rained them down on his head, squirted them up his nose, fl ushed them through his ears, and soaked every inch of his skin with them. If the human body is normally 60 percent water I believe Ben was pushing 95 after an hour on the streets.

But if Ben was the soggiest person in town, the police were the driest. Glaring warningly as they directed the mobs in impeccably pressed (extraordinarily dry)

Water Wars

Fran second from right.

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uniforms, no one dared lift a pistol, bucket or balloon in their direction. Ben, who by this stage was fed up with being water logged, ingenuously persuaded a bemused offi cer to pose with us for a photo in order to claim a fi ve minute reprieve from water torture.

Other than hanging out with the police there were few other ways of avoiding a soaking although plenty of people tried; vainly wielding umbrellas, wrapping them-selves in ridiculously ineffective raincoats, or wandering around with buckets on their head - clearly oblivious to the risk of walk-ing into a lamppost or fellow pedestrian. The only safe ones were the very old (who were too fragile to withstand a good soak-ing) and the very young whose mothers held them in front like a shield as they progressed down the slick pavements.

By the afternoon, I was the wettest I had ever been. Even scuba diving was a drier activity than celebrating the Dai New Year. I had water sloshing around in my head and my hands had turned into granny hands with the kind of skin you only get if you’ve made it to 90 or accidentally fall asleep in the bath for three hours. With my hair plastered unappealingly to my head, clammy clothes sticking to my skin and shivering from mild hypothermia (despite the tropical climate) I increasingly resembled a rat that has miraculously sur-vived being fl ushed through a stormwater drain.

I had been blessed in every which way possible: from gentle sprinklings of good

luck from old ladies to point-blank salvos from pre-pubescent imps. There had been drive-by moped shootings, balcony snipers and water fi ghts in civic fountains. And I had been victim to every conceivable wet-ting technique from quick bucket dumps on the head to the slow neck-pours down the back. I’d even had some cheeky trick-sters stealing water from my own bucket to throw at me!

Feeling that I had received enough bless-ings to last a lifetime I retreated to the in-ner sanctum of our second-fl oor breakfast café, which, while rather damp, was still the driest place in town. Wrapped in a soggy towel, I whiled away the rest of the afternoon in a lounge chair with a book

and hot cup of tea while the battle raged on outside.

As quickly as the war had started, so it ended. At fi ve o’clock quiet descended and by six, the streets were miraculously both empty and dry, as if nothing had hap-pened. The Water Splashing festival was over for another year. Soggy but cheerful we dripped our way back to the hotel feel-ing truly blessed that we had been able to take part in this extraordinary, exuberant celebration.

Fran Mules may be reached via the alumni website.

Photo credits: Fran Mules and Sheng Ye

Please send your travel article suggestions for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

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CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

1973Monica Williams (Cater) I live on a small holding in the Stafford-shire Moorlands, England. I don’t have any domestic animals at the moment, just fi sh in the pond and wild animals that visit us regularly! There are just a few vegetables which have done well in spite of the inclement weather this year. I have been married to my husband Peter for 30 years. We have four children, three sons aged 29, 27, 24 and a daughter aged 26. I am on a career break from teaching for the moment in order to do some travelling with my husband, who is semi-retired.

Monica with family (right) and as a teen (left)

1978 Amanda Gudgeon

I am married to Warren with one child, Justin (10) and currently liv-ing at the ‘best beach’ i n New Zea l and . Mount Maunganui has been home to our fam-ily for nearly 10 years now - it is paradise

with wonderful surf and weather all the year round. As a family, we enjoy coaching and supporting our son’s sports - basket-ball, soccer, sailing and snowboarding. We have a 36 foot yacht “Kintyre” (dingy “Hullof”) that we enjoy especially when the fi shing is good! I hold a Boatmaster and Coastal Yachtmasters Certifi cate. War-ren is the Skipper and I am the Captain. I originally trained as an Occupational Therapist but moved pretty quickly into the private sector and out of white hospi-tal uniforms! For the last 10 years I have been juggling motherhood with work as a systems/process auditor in the health and safety arena. I recently moved into compli-ance management and am working for a national disabled body on public access issues for the disabled community.

Anne (Amy) HerbertI am currently faculty in Organization and Management and Quality Director at Helsinki School of Economics (HSE). In

my personal time I love hiking and enjoy-ing nature and Finland is a great place to live for that!

1979 Guy Rittger I spent the last of my fi ve years in Singa-pore at UWCSEA, 1975/76 - the richest in terms of personal growth. Since graduat-ing in 1977 from the International School Bangkok, I have lived in the United States, earning a BA in Religious Studies, an MA in English, and started an MBA programme in October 2008. I have worked for the last fi ve years as an Internet marketing pro-gramme manager for HP but my true pas-sion remains sailing. I was on the UWCSEA sailing team, while also racing GP14, Lark and 505 dinghies at Red House SC, Changi SC and RSYC. I mostly sail in San Francisco now, on a variety of boats. My wife, Cindy, and I live in sleepy Sonoma, 40 miles north of San Francisco, tending our two pit bulls, cycling, cooking, and drinking wines from around the world.

Racing on the Melges 24 “Flygfi sk” (USA 525) at the Spring One-Design Regatta, in San Francisco Bay, April 2008. From right (bow to stern): Guy Rittger, Fran Kassberg, Andrew Whittome (not visible – Tom Kassberg, owner/driver).

1980 Daniel Jeyatheva

After UWCSEA, I completed my BA degree at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (1983), following which I did my medical training at the University of London (1988). I am married to Lucy, and have two chil-

dren - Alex,12 and Olivia, 8 going on 18! I have been living in the sunny seaside resort of Bournemouth since 1992, working as a General Practitioner in a friendly fi ve-partner practice, serving 8,000 patients. I keep out of mischief by cycling and also playing the organ/piano at church.

Laurence Kung I was at UWCSEA for fi rst and second form and then left for the Philippines. Af-ter graduating from high school from the American School in Manila, Philippines, I attended the University of San Francisco. Since then I have worked at the Bank of America, Charles Schwab, MCI and now the EDS. I live in McKinney, Dallas, Texas with my wife Debbie and children Kyle and Danielle.

1981

Gregory Nicholson with wife May, eldest son - Fred, 8 (left) and youngest son - Tom, 5 (right)

1982 Jeffrey Wallis I lived in Singapore from early 1976 to late 1978 and attended UWCSEA from 1977-78. Year 3 was a great experience for a small town Canadian boy. Perhaps I was a bit too rebellious for many of the teachers but this spark also gave me the confi dence to explore!

I received a BA Honours in Economics at the University of Toronto and after a stint in International Trade with the Canadian Government, I volunteered with Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO). I worked with ActionAid in Uganda (1992 - 1996) where I helped set up community based programs in rural villages. During this period, I met Jo, and what is often the way, I followed her back to England where we live now. We have two children - Anna (11) and Jacob (9) and live in Lewes, East Sussex. I am a researcher at the Centre for Research in Innovation Management and I specialise in innovation and technology management.

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CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Alas, despite 30 years elapsing I can still picture playing ice hockey with Dov and Zaggy at 6:30 in the morning before the ice melted and then taking Bus 165 back from Jurong.

1983Debbie Miller I live in Sydney right now and have three kids aged 14, 11 and 10 and they are the best! I love the beach (as do the kids - no choice), socialising, trying to keep fi t and exercise (very challenging), cooking for my friends, going to AFL matches (and

sometimes ARL). I’m doing a post graduate degree in chiropractic at the moment and I love getting “smarter” but struggle with the study commitment!

1984 Anette Martinsen I am living in Cyprus with my husband and three kids, Tomas, Tristan and Jade. We have been here for 13 years and plan to stay until the kids have fi nished school. I have kept myself busy working as a DJ for British Forces Broadcasting Services, reading the news on Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CYBC TV). But now I organ-ise the Mind, Body and Spirit Exhibitions in Cyprus which we hold twice a year. I also work as an Emotional Freedom Technique Therapist, Rapid Eye Movement Therapist and also do Shamanic Soul Retrievals. I have just published my own cookery book “A Recipe for Health.” It is a Vegan cookbook for health, for people suffering with food intolerances, allergies and strict diets. All the recipes are dairy, egg, sugar, wheat and meat free and they don’t taste like cardboard! I have also just produced, with my son Tomas, “A Recipe for Health” cooking programme on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/AnetteMartinsen

Xiaoshu Meng I studied Politics at Edinburgh University in Scotland, worked as a journalist for a while in the UK, China and Hong Kong (during the 1997 handover) and then came back to the UK in 1999. I worked for the charitable arm of the UN Refugee Agency in London for three years. I am living in London currently teaching English to mi-grants and refugees in inner city London. I love teaching though the associated admin is a bit of a headache.

1985 Kimiko FujiokaI have been surviving in Tokyo with my sweet son named Tiger, and husband, Ichiro. I established my own publication company “MightyBook” in 2004 with a focus on children’s picture books. It is not a profitable job but I enjoy it and am proud to publish high qual-ity books for kids. If you have any idea for children’s books in future, please let me know.

1986 Choon Ming Shim I left UWCSEA to do my A-Levels in Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey in UK.

Thereafter I graduated from the University of Buckingham, UK with a Law degree. I started my career in the stockbroking business (www.jupiteronline.com.my) and have been at it ever since. I am married to my beautiful Anitha for 16 years with two children - Matthew, 14, already 6 foot tall

and playing tennis competitively, and Nat-alie, 10, a horseback riding enthusiast.

1988 Patricia YeohAfter a career with ExxonMobil, Gemini

Personnel Services and Arthur Andersen Business Consulting in Malaysia, I started my own outsourcing ser-vices consulting prac-tice, PM Resources Sdn Bhd in 1998 as

Managing Director of the company. We celebrated our 10th year anniversary this year and we specialise in human resource management, accounting services, payroll administration, expense claims manage-ment, credit control management and other administrative support services. We also run a variety of Mandarin for Business programmes. In 1999, I was awarded the inaugural Young Distinguished Alumni Award from my alma mater, University of New England, Australia for outstanding business and career achievements since graduation.

1990Shayne JackmanIn addition to her daughter India Belle, Shayne now has a son, Jade River McIntyre Jackman, born October 2008.

1993 Carolyn Flegg After fi nishing IB, I returned to Australia and ended up at the Australian National University completing a Bachelor of Asian Studies (Indonesian) in Canberra. I was a recruitment consultant for a few years before joining the Commonwealth public service and I am presently working in the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist fi nancing arena. I live with my “muso” partner of five years in Sydney. I found going to UWCSEA to be a life changing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the reunion in August!Johnny and Carolyn on her

fi rst surfi ng lesson at Bondi Beach

A Recipe For HealthAnette Martinsen

A kb k f h l h

Left - Taken in Singapore. June 1978. From left: Elias, Dov, Mark and myself.

Right - A recent photo of me and the kids - Anna

and Jacob

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CLASS NOTES

Please send us your news for future issues of OneºNorth, to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg.

Roshni Lakhiani fi nished her BSc in Eco-nomics from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She is now married, with three kids and cur-rently works with her husband pro-ducing movies and TV series in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Roshni with her family

After leaving UWCSEA, Andreas Nurman rejoined his family in Sydney, Australia

and has lived in various locations in Europe, USA and Middle East. André complet-ed his Master of Arts in Human Resources Man-

agement in 2000 from Hawaii Pacifi c Uni-versity and started his hotel career with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Pentagon City, Virginia. He then transferred to Wash-ington DC, Doha and New Orleans. He has since worked with Shangri-la, Raffl es and rejoined Ritz-Carlton in Sanya, China

as Director of Restaurants in 2007. He says that UWCSEA was an incredible and unforgettable experience that taught him the importance of cultural diversity.

1995 Leslie Tay I left UWCSEA in 1993 right after GCSEs and went on to serve National Service in Singapore for two years. I moved to the UK for the best part of 12 years where I com-pleted my basic medical and postgraduate degrees and worked in Leicester for over four years. I have just returned to Singapore to be with my family and am working as a Cardiologist at the National Heart Centre. My wife, Frynn and I met in the UK during our A-levels and we now have two gor-geous boys, Sebas-tian and Oliver.

Leslie with family

1998 Vincent BosIn 1996, Vincent Bos returned to the Neth-erlands to study Electrical Engineering and obtained a Bachelor in Commercial

Technology. Since 2004 he has been work-ing as product manager for Bosch Security Systems. Besides his work, he likes to travel around the world (mainly Asia), do sports (snowboarding, mountain biking, gym), listen to music (dance, pop, rock), and on the weekends go out for din-ner or drinks and meet with friends.Vincent during his vacation at Folga, a mountain peak

in the Algarve, South Portugal.

2002 Anisha Chandra is living in San Francisco, CA, while working towards a master’s de-gree at University of California, Berkeley and a medical degree at University of Cali-fornia, San Francisco. She graduated with a BA from Swarthmore College, Pennsylva-nia in 2006. Between college and medical school, Anisha worked as a biologist for the National Institutes of Health in Wash-ington, DC, where she ran into Christoph Nguyen (2002). More recently, Anisha was able to catch up with Stefan DeSmit (2002) while he was visiting the States.

Ivy Lee will be leaving UWCSEA December 2008 a f ter 37 years . Aside from a two year break, she has taught at UWCSEA since 1971, the longest serving teacher. Her name back then was Miss Tan Chor Yen. She arrived as a young teacher of Home Economics fresh out of college and has taken on various additional roles for various periods of time over the years including that of Non Resident Assistant in the Junior Boarding House, Assistant House Mistress, Head of Home Economics, and coordinator of catering and uniform services. Ivy says that throughout her years at UWCSEA she has always enjoyed the work, the students and the ethos of the College.

Ivy has seen a lot of change, experienced many interesting events and met a lot of interesting visitors over the years. She has touched the lives of many students and staff and her life has been touched by them. The College has grown from the much smaller size that it was when she joined, to the much larger one that it is today. She has witnessed the addition of a Primary and Junior School to what started out a Middle and High School and she has seen a

lot of students come and go. She has overseen the growth in variety and quality of the food in the canteen over the years and has coordinated changes in the uniform made mainly at the request of the students. Ivy helped to organise the first UN Night when another teacher, Elizabeth Bourne, came up with the idea in the mid-70s. The event began that fi rst year with six or seven stalls and she has been involved with it and has seen it grow in the years since. Ivy has been a valuable and much loved member of the College community and will be missed.

All of you who know Ivy or remember her from your days at the College I am certain join us in wishing her all the best as she moves on.

Ivy would love to hear f rom anyone who would like to contact her. She can be reached at paulivy1@singnet.com.sg

Brenda Whately

Mary Toh

Mary leaves UWCSEA December 2008. Since joining the College in July 1971, Mary has been a valued and highly respected member of our College communi ty. Such are the contributions

that Mary has made as Senior Secretary in the Examinations Office that it becomes almost impossible to single out individual achievements. Nevertheless, all who have met Mary have recognised her outstanding administrative efficiency and her caring approach to all that she does. Indeed ‘caring’ is a word that is very dear to Mary’s heart – she cares about the students, she cares about the College and she cares about doing her work with the utmost skill. And whilst she worked extremely hard in making sense of the often chaotic and highly pressured world of (I)GCSE and IB examination systems, she was able to do this with a wonderful self-effacing charm.

Mary i s mak ing p l an s t o f i l l he r retirement years with exotic trips and visits to her children – keeping busy is just something that she will always do.

Di Smart

Staff Notes

Ivy Lee

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UPCOMING REUNIONS

Third Annual London Alumni Get-together30 January 2009

Join us at the Cumberland Hotel in London UK and take this opportunity to meet up and mingle with other alumni and former staff. Details and registration online.

The classes of 1979, 1989 and 1999 are invited to celebrate in Singapore in 2009. Any other alumni or class years who wish to join the reunion

are welcome as well.

Check the alumni website at http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg for more details, to view the updated attendee list and/or to register. You may also

contact the alumni offi ce (reunion@uwcsea.edu.sg) or the individual class organisers. We hope to see you next August!

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

http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg/eventsFor reunion enquiries:

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

Reunion 2009!Second Annual Reunion of the

30 year, 20 year and 10 year classes.28 - 30 August 2009

Annual Reunion dates for future years are listed on the alumni site

or check with the alumni offi ce for the date of your 10, 20 or 30 year

class reunion.

Reunion 2010, Singapore27 – 29 August 2010

The classes of 1980, 1990 and 2000 are invited to celebrate at Reunion 2010 in Singapore along with any other alumni or class years who would like to join in. Details and registration online.

Above: Tutor Group photos for 6/7 FSh (1979), 6/7 PC (1989) and 12KMo (1999)

We are happy to help support other reunions and get-togethers anywhere, any-time. Let us know if you are planning one.

Printed on 100% recycled paper.

United World College of South East Asia 1207 Dover Road Singapore 139654alumni@uwcsea.edu.sghttp://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sgwww.uwcsea.edu.sg

United World College of South East Asia

UWCSEA