LOCATION Eden Hall

SPEAKER British High Commissioner, Paul Madden

EVENT Chevening Award evening

DATE 03/08/2009

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Haji Alami Musa, President of MUIS, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Eden Hall, it is a great pleasure to have you with us.

2009 is a year of Education Anniversaries. This is a milestone year for the Chevening Scholarship scheme, which turns 25. The Chevening Scholarships are, as most of you probably know, named after Chevening House in Kent, the official country residence of the Foreign Secretary. Since 1984 scholars from all over the world have been able to study in the UK under the Chevening scheme, including well over 1,000 in 2008. In recent years a second scheme has been added, the Chevening Fellowships, which provides three months specialist courses in the UK for key professionals. We are delighted to welcome four more Chevening Scholars today, as well as two more Chevening Fellows.

It is also worth mentioning that another scholarship scheme is 50 years old this year, the Commonwealth Scholarships. We have some very notable Commonwealth Scholars here in Singapore, including both the Speaker of Parliament Mr Abdullah Tarmugi and the Attorney General Professor Water Woon. We hope to be able to mark the Commonwealth milestone in an appropriate way later in the year. And continuing the education anniversaries, my old University Cambridge, which was attended by half the Singapore Cabinet, is 800 years old this year. I have and will be involved in a number of events this year to commemorate this.

Here in Singapore our Chevening Alumni have a long list of achievements in a wide variety of fields. I'd just like to mention one individual today, Dr William Tan, who was our guest of honour for this event in 2007. William's feats are extraordinary by any standards, medical doctor and neuroscientist, paralympian and record-breaking wheelchair marathoner, and multi-million dollar charity fundraiser. Sadly as you may have seen in the newspapers he has been diagnosed with leukemia. I am sure that you will join me is wishing him a full recovery.

My friends in academia tell me that in the face of the current global economic situation, there are more applicants for university places than ever before. We all want to see a speedy economic recovery. But we are conscious that no future can be prosperous unless it is environmentally sustainable. The UK has recently announced a number of measures on Renewable Energy and on CO2 emission reductions that will help us contribute to a low carbon, high growth recovery.

So I think it is fitting that our first new Chevening Scholar Chan Cheong Shuen will be studying for a MSc in Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh. Cheong Shuen currently heads a team that is responsible for the drafting and implementation of a Carbon Management Scheme for the Land Transport Authority. This is a new area for the LTA, but one in which it could eventually become a role model for other countries. Cheong Shuen hopes to gain experience by studying the UK's initiatives on climate change.

Our second Scholar Benedict Ho will be studying for a MSc in Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics. Benedict has had profound hearing loss since he was young and this has inspired him to work with the socially disadvantaged. As a Senior Executive at the National Council of Social Services, Benedict is currently working on social service planning for disabled children. He has previously pioneered new approaches to rehabilitation for disabled young offenders.

Our third scholar Irwan Hadi bin Mohd Shuhaimy will be studying for a Master of Laws in Culture and Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Irwad Hadi is currently an executive in the Office of Mufti of Singapore at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). A graduate of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Irwan Hadi helps to provide detailed and thorough fatwa research for the Mufti. This requires very detailed knowledge of both Islamic law and recent social developments. He is keen to broaden his research knowledge even further in the UK.

Finally Lionel Leo will be studying for a Masters in Civil Law at the University of Oxford. Lionel has been working for the Supreme Court of Singapore since 2007. He also teaches part-time at both the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law and the Singapore Management University School of Law covering topics such as the law of evidence and legal writing and research with his students. He sees the study of English law as key to his future career, both for his plans to work in legal practice and in academia.

I should also mention our two Chevening Fellows who completed their courses earlier this year. Suresh of the National Environment Agency completed a Chevening Fellowship titled 'The Economics of Climate Change' at the University of Cambridge. Yoganathan of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports completed a Chevening Fellowship titled 'Government Relations with NGOs and Civil Society' at the University of Glasgow.

I would like to thank my colleague Paul Broom, at the High Commission for leading on the Chevening Scholarship programme, and to the British Council who administer the programme for the Foreign Office. I should also pay a warm tribute to Eunice Crook, Director of the British Council in Singapore, who is leaving this country next week for a new posting, at the end of her three year tour.

This year it also gives me great pleasure to announce that my good friend Ambassador Ong Keng Yong has joined us as our guest of honour. Ambassador Ong is the Director of the Institute of Policy Studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is concurrently Ambassador-At-Large in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Iran. He was Secretary-General of ASEAN from 2003 to 2008.

His diplomatic career included serving as Singapore's Ambassador to India and Nepal and spells in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and the USA. He worked for Goh Chok Tong when he was Singapore's Prime Minister and has held many other appointments in government and at the People’s Association.

In 2008 we were fortunate to have Ambassador Ong in the UK as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus in the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. There he joined the small army of Singaporean students in UK Universities, more than 3,000 of them.

I am delighted to invite Ambassador Ong to come forward to say a few words and to present the certificates to the Scholars and Fellows.

Notes for Editors

Click here to view the Chevening Award photos 

Back to newsroom

Back to top