The quiet walkway by the science labs at the Year 1-4 campus of RI was abuzz with conversation and the soft clicks of phone cameras as members of Old Rafflesians’ Association (ORA) got together for the 92nd Annual General Meeting (AGM). The cool, quiet evening and great dinner spread provided an intimate ambience that allowed alumni to catch up and make new connections.
A scrumptious dinner before the meeting started proper allowed members to catch up with each other.
At about 7.45pm, everyone was ushered into Lecture Theatre 3 for the AGM to commence. This year’s AGM was filled with a few surprises for the alumni who turned up for the meeting.
After Chairman Andrew Chua’s welcome and a review of the minutes of last year’s EGM and financial report, the evening progressed to the exciting portion of counting the nominations of new and renewed members and discussing the new direction for the next two-year term!
A large round of applause followed Chairman Mr Andrew Chua's welcome speech.
Honorary Secretary Monica Tung took over the floor to read through the nominations submitted, naming the primary and secondary nominators for each nominee. There was a total of eleven nominations submitted; one nomination per candidate. This year, there were four new committee members, the youngest three coming from the Class of RJC’00.
From L to R:
(Seated) Dr Trina Kok (new), Ms Melissa Ong (new), Dr Ho Wen Qi (new), Ms Elena Chua, Ms Monica Tung, Ms Cheong Yoke Keng.
(Standing) Mr Dennis Foo, Mr Lee Wai Pong, PRI Mr Chan Poh Meng, Chairman Mr Andrew Chua, Mr Hoo Chuan Yang, Mr Poa Kheng Sin.
After a round of applause for the new executive members, the floor was open to any ORA members who had questions. Past Chairman Dr Lim Ee Koon enquired on the possibility to increase the number of networking events, noting that there were only two in 2015. Chairman Mr Andrew Chua acknowledged the need to increase such networking opportunities and revealed plans to improve networking opportunities through creating industry-specific networks and events.
Chairman continued to share that the new committee will be finalizing plans to improve membership and engagement over the next few months and advised members to look forward to more updates on the websites and through newsletters.
The next item on the agenda was to pass a change in the constitution. Chairman wanted to change the minimum percentage of attendance for each committee member to ensure that the attendance requirement would not be a hindrance to a capable member to step up in responsibilities to the top two positions in the committee. However, the number of members in attendance was 40% short of the minimum required to pass a change in constitution. Therefore the ORA committee will be finding another opportunity to approve the change in constitution.
The AGM ended at around 8.30pm on a note of positive anticipation.