United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council
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President
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(Vacant) |
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Vice President (The South & Greater London)
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Bryan Toh |
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Vice President (Midlands, The North & Scotland)
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Teresa Liew |
| Website | http://www.ukssc.org |
The United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council (or The UKSSC) is a student body which represents the interests of Singaporean students in universities within the United Kingdom. It continually strives to connect Singaporean students studying in the UK (The South, Greater London, Midlands, the North and Scotland) through promoting participation in events across institutions, alumni groups and other affiliated organisations, serving as a resource or support for Singaporean students in universities which may not have an established Singapore Society, as well as initiating platforms for networking so as to contribute to a more vibrant scene amongst the Singaporean student community in the United Kingdom.[1]
The current acting Presidents of The UKSSC are Mr Bryan Toh and Ms Teresa Liew.[2]
Contents
Background
The UKSSC was formed in August 1998, after the idea of an umbrella organisation for Singaporean Student Associations was first mooted by Jayson Goh. This was followed by the first Annual General Meeting of The UKSSC in the same year, which was chaired by Thomas Wee. Since then, The UKSSC has undergone a number of structural changes to meet the needs of the increasing number of Singaporean students in the UK. As of 2012, The UKSSC represents 45 official Partner Societies.[3]
Objectives
The constitutional aim of The UKSSC is to create a bona fide Singaporean student community across the UK. The UKSSC intends to practically achieve this by:[4]
1. Connecting Singaporean student societies (SingSocs), alumni groups and other related organisations across the United Kingdom 2. Promoting inter-collegiate active participation in events organised by and for the overseas Singaporean community 3. Serving as the first point of contact for external agencies and organisations reaching out to Singaporean students in the UK 4. Supporting SingSocs across UK through
(i) facilitating information flow, i.e. through offering resource personnel (as a human signpost to seek the relevant persons/agencies), sponsorship[5] contacts and latest updates of concern with regards to the community; (ii) filling in the “gaps” by organising programmes or events that do not duplicate the existing work of SingSocs.
Structure
The UKSSC operates in conjunction with existing organisations and societies that already represent the interests of Singaporean university students in the UK. Such organisations may formally request to become a Partner Society of The UKSSC. All Singaporean-student Societies, college alumni and discipline-related Societies are eligible to become a Partner Society of The UKSSC. Structurally, these Partner Societies are further allocated into 5 geographical categories (The South, Greater London, Midlands, The North, Scotland) or classified as an Affiliated Student Organisation (ASO).
The UKSSC is governed by an Executive Committee, which consists of eleven positions and is elected by representatives of the Partner Societies at the Annual General Meeting[6] (normally held in November). Each appointment is held until a new committee is elected at the subsequent Annual General Meeting. Any Singaporean student pursuing a degree in a British university is eligible to stand for election, with the exception of students who are in the final year of their course at the time of the elections.
The Executive Committee takes its general direction from the President, with the assistance of two Vice-Presidents, a General Secretary and a General Treasurer. The remaining six positions are filled by Regional Directors (RDs) for each of the 5 geographical divisions of The UKSSC and the ASOs, which are overseen by one of the two Vice-Presidents. Although most university student unions in the UK usually have paid, sabbatical officers, all positions within the committee are held on an unpaid voluntary basis.
Fundamentally, the relationship between the Executive Committee and the Partner Societies of The UKSSC forms the bedrock of its operations. While the Executive Committee facilitates the work of The UKSSC through its initiatives and in organising events, it does so in constant communication with the Partner Societies. The Executive Committee possesses no legislative authority over the Partner Societies of The UKSSC but works hand in hand with the Partner Societies.
History
The UKSSC was established under the auspices of Contact Singapore, the Government agency responsible for promoting Singapore as a place for work and career development. In its early years, The UKSSC served as an information dissemination mechanism for Contact Singapore, but it gradually evolved into a more independent body, concerning itself with raising the profile of Singaporean students, both in the UK and in Singapore. However, because of a lack of resources and difficulties in co-ordination, The UKSSC could only serve to facilitate and publicise the activities of individual, local Singaporean Student Associations, such as the annual Nottingham Games. It could not organise any activities of its own.
It was generally felt that The UKSSC needed to do more to engage students if it did not want to forced out into the periphery. However, one of the major challenges it faced was that The UKSSC's agenda was often at odds with that of the local societies that it represented. For example, student leaders would often not publicise UKSSC events or updates to their members, so as to prevent having competing interests with their own events. While student gatherings, parties and dinners were generally well-publicised and well-attended, UKSSC found it difficult to get its own plans off the ground because of a lack of support.
In 2006, the Government of Singapore formed a new Overseas Singaporean Unit with the intention of engaging its growing international community. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans were studying or working outside the country, and it became imperative for the Government to woo them back to Singapore. One of the main groups of people who fell under the spotlight was overseas-based students, particularly those based in top universities in the United Kingdom and United States of America. The founding of the Overseas Singaporean Unit coincided with several high-profile visits to the London by top Government officials and civil servants, including Chiang Chie Foo, the Permanent Secretary for the Prime Minister's Office, and Wong Kan Seng, the Deputy Prime Minister, who hosted a dinner reception for more than 300 Singaporeans at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Knightsbridge.
The idea of Confluence was first mooted by UKSSC leaders Moses Lin and Benjamin Lee, together with students Benjamin C.K. Tee and Jennifer Wang across the pond in the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, incorporating an all-day career networking fair with a dialogue session involving top Government officials, aimed at addressing the issues and concerns faced by overseas-based Singaporeans. After more than four months of planning and preparation, Confluence 2006 was held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore, on 19 August 2006. The Minister for Defence, Teo Chee Hean, and two other Members of Parliament were engaged in more than two hours of formal dialogue with more than 900 students. The event was given tremendous publicity in both the print and televised media, and Moses Lin and his committee were given notable mention during a televised National Day speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. For Confluence 2006, the students came together independently, and were not supported by any corporate or Government organisations. Initially faced with the task of raising S$50,000 in order to fund the event, the students sacrificed their summer holidays and worked tenaciously to raise funds, eventually raising in excess of S$80,000.
A second event, Confluence 2007, was held the following year at the Shangri-la Hotel, with Dr Ng Eng Hen, the Minister for Manpower, as the keynote speaker. A feature of Confluence 2007 was that there were 4 dialogue sessions instead of just one, with the highlight being the session with Dr Ng. The other 3 forums were industry-specific career information sessions featuring distinguished panelists from the Banking & Finance, Maritime and Technology industries respectively. Confluence 2007 attracted more than 1,300 guests and raised more than $120,000 in revenues, mostly from the rental of booth space at the career fair that was held concurrently with the event. Corporate partners included Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Capitaland, Accenture and the Singapore Public Service Division. The event once again received widespread media coverage.
In 2008, the Confluence event was discontinued due to leadership changes within the UKSSC and the Confluence executive committees. On the 19th of July 2008, the Student Network Forum was successfully held at the Orchard Hotel for all prospective students studying in the United Kingdom, with a social entrepreneurship theme. The keynote speaker for the event was Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Community Development,Youth and Sports.
In recent years, The Student Network Forum was re-branded "Singaporeans in Conversation" (SGin(C)). The inaugural SGin(C) was held in 2010 with the guest speaker being then Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. SGin(C) 2011 was held at the Civil Service College with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean as the keynote speaker. The event was met with great success with over 200 participants and was featured on many media outlets including Channel News Asia.[7] Building on the success of previous events, SGin(C) 2012[8] featured a revamped format, with a town hall style discussion which provided a more intimate setting. This was held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens Function Hall with the keynote speaker as Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.
The UKSSC Executive Committee
The 17th Executive Committee of the United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council was formed in 2014. The committee comprises the following officers:[9]
President
(Vacant)
Vice-President (The South and Greater London)
Bryan Toh (University of Exeter)
Vice-President (Midlands, The North and Scotland)
Teresa Liew (University of Sheffield)
General Secretary
Edric Chia (University of Nottingham)
General Treasurer
Sia Zong Ye (University College London)
Sponsorship Director
Shaun Ng (University of Cambridge)
Regional Director (The South)
Jowena Tan (University of Exeter)
Regional Director (Greater London)
Ang Junhung (King's College London)
Regional Director (Midlands)
Chin Cher Lin (University of Nottingham)
Regional Director (The North)
Nur Hisyam (University of York)
Regional Director (Scotland)
Leonard Lee (University of Glasgow)
Regional Director (Affiliated Student Organisations)
Gary Chew (University College London)
Member, Advisory Panel
Zhu Daoyuan (London School of Economics)
Member, Advisory Panel
Jonathan Neo (University of York)
Member, Advisory Panel
Issac Lee (Oxford University)
Former Presidents[10]
1. Mr Thomas Wee [1998 - 1999]
2. Mr Ling Ming Koon [1999 - 2000]
3. Mr Desmond Tay [2000 - 2001]
4. Mr Adrian Chang [2001 - 2002]
5. Miss Wong Wan Yi [2002 - 2003]
6. Miss Geraldine Goh [2003 - 2004]
7. Mr Chew Shouzi [2004 - 2005]
8. Mr Moses Weiwen Lin [2005 - 2006]
9. Mr Benjamin Lee [2006-2007]
10. Mr David Liew [2007-2008]
11. Mr Nicholas Foo [2008-2009]
12. Mr Ng Shi Yang [2009-2010]
13. Mr Michael Cheong [2010-2011]
14. Ms Geneve Yeo [2011-2012]
15. Ms Grace Fong[2012-2013]
16. Mr Zhu Daoyuan [2013-2014]
References
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/about-us/who-we-are/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/about-us/presidents-message/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/singsocs/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The-UKSSC-Constitution.pdf
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/sponsors/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/ukssc-agm-2012/
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8vjjB_cMk
- ↑ http://sginc.ukssc.org/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/about-us/current-executive-committee/
- ↑ http://www.ukssc.org/about-us/past-executive-committees/
