NorthOneOVol 5 December 2009

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

Alumni Profi les

Saving lives, homes and habitat

Running for Zimbabwe

Graduation 2009

Reunion 2009

Class Notes

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

Friends of UWCSEA online communityThe ‘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 40, 30, 20 and 10 year an-niversary classes will be held each August in Singapore and other alumni are welcome. 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, and let us advertise your events!

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 fi ve times during the academic year, contain-ing College news and reports of events and activities, as well as a brief alumni section.

Mentor opportunitiesVolunteer to be listed in the mentor sec-tion of the alumni site if you are willing to be contacted by current students or other alumni for information or advice regard-

ing your university or career; or visit the section if you have questions of your own.

Career servicesCheck this section of the site for career opportunities or candidates, or post your own job opening or resumé. You can even set up alerts to be notifi ed of new postings.

Gap Year-type opportunities for alumniCheck the Volunteer page of the website for short to long term volunteer work op-portunities in South East Asia working with organisations supported by UWCSEA.

Old InterscolsOrder your old interscol in soft copy format via the store on the website.

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 anytime.

Please keep in touch!

Number of registered members on the UWCSEA Alumni website (by country of residence)Other countries represented: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Barbados, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil,

Bulgaria, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, East Timor, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mali, Myanmar, Nepal, New

Caledonia, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saint Helena, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, St. Bartelemy, St. Maarten, Sudan, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks

and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

Alumni services

2 Alumni services Helping you to stay connected to UWCSEA and to each other.

4 Letter from the Head Read about UWCSEA today.

5 Note from the Alumni offi ce Welcome to the fi fth issue.

6 Alumni Profi le Keane Ferretti (Class of 1998), Saving lives, homes and habitat.

8 Graduation 2009!

10 Values in Practice (ViP) Kirsten Scott (Class of 2001) Running for Zimbabwe.

12 History Michael Taylor’s Blog (Class of 1980) Riding the monsoon drains in the ‘70s.

13 Reunion 2009! 28-30 August 2009

14 Reunion 2009! Class of 1979

15 Reunion 2009! Class of 1989

16 Reunion 2009! Class of 1999

17 Mini Reunions

18 College Events An overview of recent College activities.

20 Alumni Profi le Ben Van Der Sande (Class of 2008) 2008 grad completes gap year as Government Advisor.

22 Values in Practice (ViP) Jon Cook, Jo Williams, David Armstrong (Class of 2001) and David Cook (Class of 2006) cycle for charity.

24 Alumni Profi le Anita Kapoor, (Class of 1989) Escape to the Exotic!

25 Singapore Food Keith Stagg’s (Class of 1979) Curry Puffs.

26 Former Teacher Profi le John Burgess, Sports Commentator

28 Travel Isabelle Champalbert’s family vacation to meet friend and classmate after more than 20 years.

30 Gap Year Juen Li and Juen Mai Ding, (Class of 2008) Mercy Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

31 Alumni Memorial Jeremy Elias (Class of 1994) 1976-2009

32 Class Notes

35 Upcoming Reunions

Editor Brenda Whately

Assistant Editor and Layout Prapti Sherchan

Layout Lenca Yew

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: Keane Ferretti (in black helmet) at work! Photo credit: Mark Leffi ngwell, The Daily Camera, Boulder, CO

Contents

Printed by Interprint Communications Pte Ltd

MICA (P) 030/11/2009Please send your suggestions for future cover photos to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg

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from the Head of CollegeLetter Kurt Hahn’s infl uence upon education has been quite profound and as we continue in our quest

to develop UWCSEA into a world-class educational institution, it is worth refl ecting upon the extraordinary infl uence his philosophies and practices continue to have upon the College.

As I listened at the beginning of this term to the orientation talks given by the Principals, staff and students to families joining the College community, three words kept cropping up: challenge, opportunity and service.

As has always been the case at UWCSEA, we aim to challenge the students intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually. A key component of this is, of course, the expeditions programme and I was staggered to hear from our Outdoor Education Department that last year they organised 70,000 hours of adventurous activities for our students (to place this fi gure into perspective Out-ward Bound Hong Kong organised 52,000 hours and Outward Bound Singapore 37,000 hours).

Opportunities for participation in activities abound. As well as the multitude of theatrical and musical productions, we have recently increased the number of representative sports teams by over 50% to 180 across the age groups and are enhancing the wider activities programme. We anticipate that this increased involvement on the part of the students will cause standards in sport to rise still further.

Service is at the heart of the College ethos and provides not only opportunity but also challenge. For the last two years the College has published an Internal Philanthropy Report. Reading the latest edition over the summer vacation, I was overawed by how selfl essly the students, staff and other members of the College community give of their time and how much they have achieved in just one year: I would urge you to read the report which is available on the College website.

Given the above and the exceptional IB results achieved by the graduating class, the case for expanding the College so that more students can experience and benefi t from a UWCSEA educa-tion is more and more compelling. This year the East Campus Primary School grew to 550 and we envisage that next year it will almost double in size.

During the last six months, a signifi cant amount of work has been undertaken on both the Dover Campus and the East Campus at Tampines.

The redevelopment of the Dover Campus began in earnest during the summer vacation, the most signifi cant project being the construction of the covered bus park at the far end of the Campus near the boarding houses and alumni offi ce. This will double as a play area during the school day. In addition, it will serve as a much needed car park for large events and there will also be an astro turf playing fi eld on the roof. Currently, we anticipate that the project will be completed at the end of February.

The construction of the East campus at Tampines is going extremely well. The main structure of the Infant School is now completed. Meanwhile the rest of the campus is beginning to take shape: most of it is now at the third fl oor level. Pictures of the site are on the College website.

In closing, may I say what a pleasure it was to host the 10, 20, and 30 year Reunions this August: we hope that those who left in 1980, 1985, 1990 and 2000 will make a note of the date for next year’s Reunion at the College.

Julian Whiteley

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Note from the alumni offi ce

Happy Holidays and all the best for 2010! This fi fth issue of the magazine once again features profi les and articles about alumni from across the decades. We hope you enjoy their stories as much as we have. For the fi rst time, we have included a two page feature of some of the multitude of activities that current students have been involved in over the past few months. Things certainly haven’t become any less busy for students over the years as you’ll see! We are also continuing the tradition which began in the last issue, of including a Singapore food recipe. In the last issue it was Aruna Khanzada’s chicken rice. In this issue it is Keith Stagg’s curry puffs. Be sure to give them a try.

We have managed to recruit another great new group of current IB students for our 2009/10 Alumni Council. The Council members volunteer to help out with the planning and preparation for the annual alumni reunion along with various other activities. The last two years’ groups were of great help during Reunion 2008 and Reunion 2009. We are very much looking forward now to Reunion 2010 and hope to see as many alumni as possible from the classes celebrating 10, 20, 25 and 30 year anniversaries.

Last year almost 40 members of the Class of 1978 sponsored a two year IB scholarship in the name of their class to bring a new National Committee (NC) scholar to study at UWCSEA. The student arrived this August 2009 from Kenya, immediately becoming involved in all aspects of College life. Within her fi rst few months she has already won the Prince of Wales Award which recognises the NC scholar from a Commonwealth country who displays the highest combined levels of academics, service, leadership and involvement. Thanks to our Class of 1978 for making her experience and success possible.

We have added more than 300 members to the alumni community since May, including the 2009 graduates and those who left in other years. We invite any of our alumni to drop in to visit us and the College any time, if you have the opportunity to do so. We also hope to see some of you at some of the upcoming alumni get-togethers in Singapore, London, New York and San Francisco in December and January. We will be adding more locations in the new year as well.

Please keep in touch. We can be reached via the alumni website, email, Facebook, Twitter ...

All the best.

BrendaBrenda WhatelyDirector of Alumni Relations

Sean GhaziActor/Singer/DancerClass of 1987

In May 2009 Sean moved from Malaysia to Los Angeles, USA to embark on some exciting new opportunities. In September he was invited to perform at the Hollywood Bowl with Pink Martini, whose track Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love, he had covered in Malay on his debut album, Sean Ghazi - Semalam. Sean performed his US debut in front of 17,000 people.

One°North, Vol 1, December 2007

Akihiko Hoshide AstronautClass of 1987

The signed UWCSEA polo shirt which travelled to the International Space Station with Aki in May 2008, has been hanging outside the Alumni offi ce since its return to Earth. It will soon however be moving to the main Reception area of the Admin-istration Building. Be sure to have a look when next visiting.

One°North, Vol 3, December 2008

Hawk OstbyAcademy Award-Nomi-nated Screenwriter Class of 1985

Since co-writing Iron Man which was #1 at the box offi ce over opening weekend in 2008, Hawk and his writing partner recently co-wrote a Sci-Fi Western called Cowboys & Aliens for Dreamworks and Imagine Entertainment, now in the pro-duction stages and set for release in 2011. They are currently working on adapting popular Japanese anime, Akira, into a live-action feature fi lm. One°North, Vol 2, June 2008

MAGAZINE PROFILE UPDATES

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Keane Ferretti spends his working day responding to calls for help. He is a paramedic and fi refi ghter

in Colorado, USA.

Before returning to the United States 10 years ago, Keane spent six years at UWCSEA as a boarder, from 1992 until his graduation from the IB programme in 1998. He came to Singapore from New York City because he says that back then New York wasn’t as clean or as safe as it has become since and there was very little for him to do outside of school. His father, at that time, was doing a lot of travelling back and forth to Bali Indonesia on business and heard about UWCSEA from a friend whose son was a student. He began to explore the idea of Keane coming to Singapore to attend UWCSEA, and although Keane’s mother was not happy about him leaving, after thoroughly looking into the opportunity she eventually agreed to let him go. So in August 1992 Keane travelled to Singapore to take up a place in the junior house boarding residence and says now, “It was an awesome experience.”

His father stayed in the region while Keane was at the College, starting up a company in Bali providing furniture for the hotel industry. When Keane graduated, his father closed the business and moved to Europe where he has

remained since. His father has remarried and Keane has a seven year old brother in Spain of whom he is very proud.

After graduating from UWCSEA, Keane attended the University of Colorado at Boulder to pursue a degree in Economics, but he says, “After a year or so I took a hard look at myself and what I was doing and decided that it was the wrong path, so I took a break from studying, or so I thought.” Keane achieved his EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) designation, something that he says he had always wanted to do, especially after working a couple of summers as a lifeguard during university, and he immediately began to work on ambulance duty. He says that he loved that so much, he went on to get his Firefighter certification and then joined the fi re department, fi rst as a volunteer and then as a career fi refi ghter. Since then he has received his Paramedic certifi cation along with what he calls a whole laundry list of other certifi cations. Keane says that he fi nds himself constantly in classes, not just to keep up the certifi cations he already has but to gain fresh knowledge and skills, like new practices in pre-hospital care. He says, “Coming on 10 years later, I am still on that break. I guess when I look back, the gap year that some people take after high school would have benefi ted me!”

Keane’s years at UWCSEA coincided with what he calls, “that infl uential and critical time in any person’s life in forming who they are as a person.” He doesn’t feel that his experience at UWCSEA necessarily influenced what he went on to do in terms of career choice, but he does think that it may have infl uenced some of the choices he has made in that career. For instance every year he chooses to serve as a Family Escort at the National Fallen Firefighters’ Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, Maryland where the more than 100 fi refi ghters killed in the line of duty in the United States each year are honoured. Families and coworkers come to celebrate the life of the fallen one and to connect with others who have gone through the same traumatic experience.

In addition to awareness and fundraising work, the volunteers’ role is to assist the families through the experience in any way possible, listening to their stories and putting ‘service above self.’ The needs of the beareaved families come fi rst over that weekend. Keane says, “My background at UWCSEA has helped me to interact with people from varying backgrounds and cultural differences.” One year the family he serves may be from a small town in the USA while another year it may be a family from across the world.

ALUMNI PROFILE

Saving lives, homes and habitatBy Brenda Whately

Keane FerrettiUWCSEA 1992-1998

He doesn’t feel that his experience at UWCSEA necessarily infl uenced what he went on to do in terms of career choice, but he does

think that it may have infl uenced some of the choices he has made in

that career.

Photo by Chris Rodgers

There is no such thing as a typical day for Keane, which he says is what he thinks keeps him and so many others doing the job. “We have regular duties such as chores, training, public education at the schools and such, but the rest can be variable depending on the calls. The majority of our work is responding to medical calls and car crashes, and I am the Paramedic on my engine so I get to keep myself busy.” Keane says he fi nds his work extremely rewarding and says he sometimes thinks, “They pay me to do this?” He says that although he has the great fortune of being paid to do this work, there are many people who do it for years as volunteers and continue to love it as well. One example of why he fi nds the work rewarding would have to be the 3,500 acre wildfi re on the border of a city and the community around it which was being fanned by 60 mile per hour winds. Keane says his captain, who has been on the job for 28 years, said that it was the worst conditions he had ever been in for a wildfi re, and Keane says, “Somehow in our district, we did not lose even one house.”

Referring back to his days as a boarder at UWCSEA, Keane says he loved the experience, and in his job now he gets to somewhat relive it. “As a fi refi ghter we do 48 hour shifts where we live, sleep, eat and play video games at the

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

fi rehouse when we are not busy training, running calls or performing our other services.”

In his spare time Keane currently trains in Krav Maga, the Israeli Martial Art/Self Defense system, working towards becoming an instructor. He also played rugby for 16 years until about a year ago when he decided that due to some signifi cant ankle injuries it was probably time to stop.

Keane returned to Singapore in August 2008 to attend the Class of 1998 ten year reunion. He says, “It was really good to see the campus again, but to be honest, between the guard house and the ‘tables’ I got lost.” He enjoyed seeing so many old friends and classmates again and says, “The Facebook chatter before

the reunion reminded me of watching previews to a movie – you had an idea what you would see but you were still surprised when you actually saw it.” He combined his trip to the reunion with a visit with family and friends in Singapore and Bali including two cousins who now attend UWCSEA. Three months after returning home, in December 2008, Keane got married.

He is hoping to make the trip to Southeast Asia again with more time to spare. Perhaps he will make it back for his twenty year reunion if not before, because as he says, “it would be an excuse to travel and see friends once again in Singapore as well as in some of their own interesting locations.”

Keane is a member of the UWCSEA alumni site and is happy to be contacted by anyone wanting to be in touch.

He says that although he has the great fortune of being paid to do this work, there are many people who do it for

years as volunteers and continue to love it as

well.

Left: Keane at work; Right: Keane at The National Fallen Firefi ghters’ Memorial Weekend

Keane Ferretti,Interscol 97/98

Photo by Chris Rodgers

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GRADUATION

2009!Graduation

Saturday 23 May was a very special day for the College - an evening when 293 Grade 12 students, having completed three exhausting weeks of IB Examinations, graduated from UWCSEA. This year was the most culturally diverse class to graduate with fi fty nationalities represented.

We were highly honoured to have Dr Tan as our guest speaker for the evening. It is impossible to put into a few short words what this amazing man has achieved. Paralysed from the waist down through polio at the age of two, Dr Tan went on to achieve a First Class Honours degree in Physiology, was both a Harvard University Full-bright Scholar and Oxford University’s Raffl es Scholar and also trained at the world renowned Mayo Clinic in the USA. An accomplished sportsman, Dr Tan is an Asian-Pacific Games triple gold medallist, has competed in many international tournaments including the 1988 Seoul Paralym-pics, the World Games as well as the Commonwealth Games and holds six marathon world records. Since 1987 he has skydived, water-skied, sailed and even climbed a 14-storey building to raise money “to further goodness and to help people.”

It was with great sadness that we dis-covered that Dr Tan was diagnosed with Leukemia just before graduation but despite this, he was determined to honour his commitment to speak at graduation and our graduates who could not have had a better role mod-el, accorded him a standing ovation.

We hope that our Class of 2009 had a wonderful graduation celebration. Welcome to our newest members of the UWCSEA alumni community!

Di SmartPrincipalSenior School

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Photos by Dav Rue Media and Interscol

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VALUES IN PRACTICE

Kirsten ScottUWCSEA 1999 - 2001

It was Kurt Hahn’s vision that UWC graduates return to and put their new-

found skills and knowledge to work in their countries and communities of origin. Today, many of us ask ourselves how to comply with this vision in an age of globalisation where living, studying and working in different countries has become an accessible and tempting opportunity for many UWC graduates. But globalisation also means that there is no longer necessarily a contradiction between living abroad and contributing at home.

Transnational networks, of which UWC is one, allow us to bridge geographi-cal distances, connecting, say, medical students in London and Bulawayo, or a UWC graduate running a marathon in the UK and tuberculosis (TB) patients in Zimbabwe.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Kirsten at-tended UWCSEA from 1999 to 2001. Since graduating from UWCSEA in 2001, she has been living and study-

ing in the UK, fi rst in Edinburgh and currently in London where she has just completed a medical degree at King’s College. Most of Kirsten’s immediate family has by now taken the decision to leave Zimbabwe, but Kirsten continues to feel attachment and concern for her home country and its people. And there is much to be concerned about: the news coming of out Zimbabwe has been more than bleak, but while the world’s attention is easily captured by statistics of infl ation and economic meltdown, it took a cholera outbreak in late 2008 to alert the international community to the dire state of Zimbabwe’s public health system. Figures for prevalence of HIV/AIDS and TB, rising maternal mortality and a plummeting life expectancy paint a pathological picture of a country at the brink of collapse - but mask the many personal stories of patients, families, doctors, nurses and social workers who make up the defi ant fabric of Zimba-bwe’s civil society. Kirsten’s work links into this web of individuals who, both in Zimbabwe and abroad, will not shrug their shoulders and resign themselves to the destitution that the statistics seem to lay out for them.

Kirsten is a trustee and founding member of Zimbabwe Health Training Support (ZHTS), a UK-based group of diaspora health professionals who are committed to supporting health care provision and training in Zimbabwe. Affi liated with ZHTS is “Project Zimbabwe”, which

Kirsten, together with a group of fellow students at King’s College, founded in 2007. It aims to establish links with students from all health care disciplines in Zimbabwe and to encourage and facilitate collaboration in learning and research between students in Zimba-bwe and the UK. Medical students in Zimbabwe often lack basic textbooks and, with the support of Virgin Airways, Project Zimbabwe has sent almost 1,000 books to university libraries in Bulawayo and Harare over the past two years. Project Zimbabwe has also set up a “buddy system” between medical students from the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo and those from Kings College. The con-tact between the students sparked the initiative “Medyouth” in which medical students from both universities take part in facilitating sexual and reproductive health education sessions in schools around Bulawayo.

andRunning f or UWCSEA grad Kirsten Scott

runs a marathona medical charity

Kirsten’s work links into this web of individuals who, both in Zimbabwe

and abroad, will not shrug their shoulders

and resign themselves to the destitution that the

statistics seem to lay out for them.

By Karoline PoppUWCSEA 1999-2002

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Transnational networks, of which UWC is one, allow us to bridge geo-

graphical distances, connecting, say, medi-cal students in London

and Bulawayo, or a UWC graduate running a marathon in the UK and tuberculosis (TB) patients in Zimbabwe.

Karoline Popp (Ger-man; Class of 2002) and Kirsten played the oboe and the flute in Symphonic Band and various music ensem-bles while at UWCSEA and have kept in touch since. After her studies in the UK and gap years

spent in Ghana, Spain, Switzerland and Ecuador, Karoline is currently working at the International Organization for Migra-tion in Geneva, Switzerland.

Zimbabwe

While chairing meetings and organising fi lm evenings and concerts to broaden Project Zimbabwe’s support and fi nance base keep Kirsten on her toes, her latest fundraising stunt had her literally run-ning - a 42 km marathon in the South of France that raised £4,800 - also thanks to the contributions of many of Kirsten’s UWC friends. The funds were destined to support the TB program at Muram-binda hospital in the Buhera district,

Far left: Collecting books at King’s College; Above left/below left: Beaujolais Marathon; Above right: Kirsten with nurses and TB Staff, Murambinda Hospital

about four hours drive from the capital Harare, which cares for HIV patients and those with TB. Kirsten herself visits Zimbabwe on a regular basis and spent part of a medical elective in 2006 at Mu-rambinda hospital, where she learned from and assisted the local doctors, and helped organise a workshop on TB for the hospital’s nurses. “I feel like my trip qualifi ed as a life changing experience,” she says. “I realised that I have a passion

for medicine, people and Zimbabwe, my home country. I hope to return there one day in the future when I have a few more qualifi cations. Perhaps I will even return to the dusty beauty of Muram-binda hospital.”

If you would like to know more about Project Zimbabwe and/or support Kirsten’s efforts financially or other-wise, please get in touch with Kirsten at kirsten@zhts.org.uk and/or have a look at the ZHTS website: www.zhts.org.uk .

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Michael Taylor (Mick) arrived at UWCSEA in 1975, a 14 year old in

Year 3 (which is now known as Grade 8) and spent fi ve very happy years here. It wasn’t easy at fi rst. He hadn’t been away from home before and says that he found it hard to adjust at fi rst, but after making some new friends, he soon began to enjoy it. He has a lot of happy memories of his exploits as a young boarding student in the amazing years of the late 1970s which he began to share on the alumni site in December 2006 and has continued to add to since.

Mick lives in Canberra, Australia and works for Informatica as a Development Architect,developing identity resolution software He and his wife celebrated their 20th anniversary last year and they have three children.

Copied below (with his permission) is a blog entry from Mick’s personal profile page, about surfing the monsoon drains at UWCSEA in the 1970s.

Monsoon DrainsReminiscing is described as to recollect, to recall past experiences and to share these recollections. So you have been warned!

In the Middle School Boarding House for Boys, known whilst I was at UWCSEA as Kerr House, Smith House and Clementson House, there was a photo hanging in the foyer, near the Matrons’ offi ce. It showed a monsoon drain during a tropical rainstorm. The drain was overfl owing with water and the water was fl owing fast. In this picture are about half a dozen heads. The bodies are underwater.

I will describe some of the events before and after this photo and I will

even name some names. The guilty (or unjustly accused) can lodge a complaint or contact me to correct my version of events if they like.

Monsoon drain riding (we never had a name for it) was a craze for a while. I know we didn’t invent it but my friends and I were partly responsible for starting the craze.

It was 1976 or 1977 and a group of us were playing football when it started to rain. Actually, it was probably already raining before we started - we never let that stop us. It became harder and harder to play as the fi eld was covered in water, the puddles were several inches deep (not metric - this was the 1970s) and the ball would travel a few inches before stopping dead. That rainy season was extremely wet, even for Singapore, and the rain would keep going for several hours which made for very full monsoon drains and several hours of raging, fast moving water.

Somehow one of us ended up in the drain and shot away for a few seconds before getting out a hundred yards away. I tried it and discovered that it was easy to get out if you rolled out, and soon the drain was full of boys. To one side of a long stretch of drain, which runs alongside the main playing fi elds a bit further down, is a hillside or slope. A line of other boys stood on the top of this slope waiting for us to get out of the drain and run back past them.

Then they would select a target and rugby-tackle their victim. As there was at least six inches of water to fall onto, no one minded. Anyone who did mind, ran back on the other side of the drain. I managed to dodge my tackler by stopping suddenly and he went aquaplaning in front of me (remember that, Steve?). Needless to say, that trick only worked once, and he got me the next time.

So one thing had led to another and for a while after that fi rst day we were to be found whenever it rained, flying down the drain, rolling out

and running back to the start for more. You had to run to keep up with someone in the drain and if a football went into the drain it required a fast run to get it back before it got away, because the water fl owed so swiftly.

Further along, near the main playing fi eld, there was a concrete bridge over the drain. Actually it was a slab of concrete laid over the drain and when the drain was full the water was over the top of it. One day we ended up at this bridge and “Young” Jenks used his shoe to feel where the slab was and kept on going under the slab and out the other side. Mark and Peter were one year apart. Peter was the younger one and he became “Jenks”. This places this story in 1976 or 1977 when I was in fourth year and 15 years old.

Needless to say going under the bridge became the thing to do - and it became the thing that ended “drain riding”. One of the Junior boarders from Lim House tried it and unfortunately for him, ended up jammed against the concrete slab. Fortunately for him, although his legs were under water, his arms and head were above water. He was stuck tight and it took several fi fth years to get him out. He was alright, and a night in the school sanitarium and some bruised ribs were his reward. However after that, drain riding was banned.

Stay tuned for more of Mick’s blogs in future issues of One°North.

HISTORY

Michael Taylor’s Blog onsoon Drain Riding

UWCSEA 1975 -1980

M

Photo from the 1975/76 Interscol

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REUNION 2009

Reunion 2009!

The Classes of 1979, 1989 and 1999 came together for their 30, 20 and 10 year anniversary reunions over a weekend in August. Alumni came from 26 countries

across the world, to reunite, reminisce, share their memories of time spent at UWCSEA, renew friendships and make new ones.

The offi cial kick-off to Reunion weekend took place in the form of a cocktail reception and Asian-themed dinner party at the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Orchard Road. The class of ’79 had held an ice-breaker the night before, so many of them had a head-start. Well over 200 people spent Friday evening becoming reacquainted with the other members of their year group. The evening began with a performance by a UWCSEA jazz trio, followed by a lion dance and then a brief and wonderfully heart-warming speech by television host and member of the Class of 1989, Anita Kapoor. (Visit http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg/?Speech09 to read Anita Kapoor’s reunion dinner speech.) After dinner a few, including Anita, took over the dance fl oor while others preferred to continue talking and catching up with each other. At the end of the evening, many were unwilling to say good night and moved on to other venues until the early hours of Saturday morning.

Saturday saw each of the three classes celebrating in their own way with their own class group. Jonathan Yelland and Melanie Andersen organised an evening at the Singapore Cricket Club where the group mingled over dinner, toasted and remembered absent and departed classmates and laughed over a slide show of old photos donated by members of the group around the world. The Class of 1989, thanks to Ainsley Dallimore and Anita Kapoor, met up for drinks before moving on for a Chinese dinner downtown at Jing. Members of the Class of 1999, some of whom got together for a football game on campus Saturday afternon, mingled over drinks at the Singapore Cricket Club that evening thanks to Smriti Gupta and Paul Foster, before they also moved on to other venues.

On Sunday all three classes came back to UWCSEA for a luncheon barbecue and tours of the College provided by members of the UWCSEA Alumni Council of current Grade 12 students. The weekend broke up with many leaving for home while others moved on to visit friends or carry on with a vacation, and some of the Class of ’79 gathered for yet another evening of dinner, dancing and conversation.

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend; we hope you had a great weekend!

28-30 August 2009

Top from left: Reunion poster; Barbecue at UWCSEA; Friday night at the Hyatt; Reunion guest book; Welcome lion dance; After-dinner party; UWCSEA Jazz trio (Ken Yoshida, Kyle Astill and George Ames); Speaker, Anita Kapoor; Photo dsiplay; DJ Avi at the BBQ; Reunion dinner.

Photos by Dav Rue Media and reunion attendees

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1979

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Just another goodbye, just another kiss, just another hug.

It all had to come to an end with tears and fears of never meeting again.

But I am sure after such an awesome rekindling of friendships we will indeed

meet again.Some day! Some way

Lah!Donna Bremner Peters

A website of photos and snippets about the Class of 1979 created by Kenneth Nesarajah and his wife Kelly, with contributions from other members of the year group can be viewed at

http://uwcseaclassof79.com/

“Once back, I found myself thinking So many friends, so little time. And I too found myself hanging out with many of you I didn’t know before, and wishing I’d got to know you properly

back then. I too was amazed at how easily we slotted back into each others’ company as if it had been only months apart, not 30 years. I hate cliches but I wouldn’t have missed it for the

world.”Doug Green

“It was my fi rst time back in Singapore since ‘77, and the fi rst time seeing any of the attendees since then. I am incredibly

happy to have been able to attend, and sad that it is now over. I will be making the effort to stay in touch with the old friends that I reconnected with, along with the new ones I made over

the too short time spent with them.” Gary Holt

Visit the Class of 1979 blog: http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg/members/blogs.

asp?id=16360 to read Donna’s full poem written for the Class of 1979 as well as Jonathan Yelland’s

account of the reunion weekend.

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“The Class of ’89 had a great time rekindling old friendships, catching up with old teachers and making

some new friends among old class mates. We partied well into the nights and had fun remembering old times.

Conversations through face book have been going on since the reunion and we are already planning our next

get together.”Ainsley Dallimore

“Thinking back on those years at UWCSEA still gives me a warm feeling and fond memories. So yes, it was worth traveling 10,000 miles... What a fantastic evening did we have at the Hyatt Hotel! Didn’t we ‘89ers party our heads

off? Not to mention the fantastic speech given by Anita Ka-poor. Dancing to YMCA (which was meant for the ’79 year) to drinking vodka red bulls in the wee hours. We all came with open minds, open hearts and left with our hearts full

of love. Twenty-three years ago I said good bye to Singapore and my friends. In August I came back. Like most of us said, we are not going to wait another 10 years. So yes, plans are being made to meet again. For those who couldn’t be there this year, you have been dearly missed. So my friends I will

not say goodbye, only…… see you soon.”

Esther Floridia-van de Ven

We went to re-live the good times. All this happened and more! Not only did we reconnect with loved

ones, we created brand new bonds with those that left before us and that came after us. And we all came away with connections that were stronger than ever and friendships that we plan to keep for a lifetime!

Tina Kapur

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“The Class of ‘99 reunion has been a long awaited event that I’ve been

anticipating since I knew it was going to happen. Once it hit, the experience surpassed all expectations. It made me realise that even after 10 years since

our high school graduation, everyone’s still got that same charm and the

connection with them was still solid. It was really cool to see also our old

teachers, boarding house matrons and housemasters and see what they and our classmates have been up to since we last saw them in 1999. The whole experience made it seem like it was

just yesterday and I just hope it doesn’t take another 10 years to reunite

everyone like this. “Mikey Moran

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“10 years after graduation, 80 alumni from the Class of 99 would get together for a 3 day catch up! It was amazing to see old friends, those who have been in contact ever since

school days and others lost along the way. It was great to reminisce, see familiar faces, hear new stories and just celebrate how far we have all come so many years after what

UWCSEA was preparing us for... life.”

Paul Foster

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Class of 1979 London reunion

Yu Li Toh organised a Class of 1979 lunch gathering in London in September and many members of the year group turned up for the event, making it, they said, a wonderful luncheon get-together with excellent company. The attendees were: Doug Green, Karin Brown, Rosnah Manjaji, Tracy Morgan, Grace Yeoh, Kling Chong, Fiona Kellaway, Nicola Wilton, Felicia Chan and of course, Yu Li Toh.

Class of 1984 Berkshire reunionVeronica Jones (Mulligan) organised a reunion of the Class of 1984 in Berkshire, UK on 11 July 2009. It was attended by 15 alumni from the class group who gathered for a meal at a local curry house and spent a few hours getting reacquainted, recalling old memories and making news ones. The attendees included Veronica Mulligan, Paul Taylor, Lis Dalgaard, Leandra Perrotta, Michele Lockett, Julie Edhouse, Alex Galvin, Robert Bentley, Lesley White, Sandra Fayle, Hema Ramachandran, Stephanie Dudley-Evans, Tim Foulkes, Samantha Wade and Susan Grossey.

Los Angeles Mini-ReunionIn July a small group of alumni got together in Los Angeles, US at the home of one of the members of the group. Bob Salem, Kim Nielsen, Nur Alwi, Evie Moeljadi, and Sheila Sofi an each contributed Singaporean food and Tiger beer for the event! Sheila says, “It was amazing to see each other again after 30 years! Three of us even shared a room together in Maley house - and now we meet up in Southern California!”

Auckland New Zealand UWCSEA alumni reunion

Catriona Hitchman (MacLean) (Class of 1985), invited alumni of any year group to a get-together in New Zealand, 17 October. Attendees included Linda Teagle, Aria Soedjanto, Careena Lawler (Oehlers), Catherine Spence, Mandy Gudgeon, Elissa Fisher (Miller), Brent Pilcher, Sarah Wilshaw-Sparkes (Wilshaw), Maria Tyrrell and Catriona who says, “It was quite an amazing thing, how we could put a bunch of virtual strangers into a room together, whose only connection was UWCSEA and Singapore, and listen and laugh to the stories and shared memories from those different years. I was a little apprehensive at the start, having never been a part of a multi-year event and I wasn’t sure how everyone would interact with each other. I woke up the next morning however with a very raspy throat from talking and laughing too much. It was an awesome experience for me personally to re-connect with people from my own year, plus meet and really enjoy the company of people from other years! I believe the general consensus was that we should do this again!”

MINI REUNIONS

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COLLEGE EVENTS

Students at the East Campus enthusiastically celebrated reading during Book Week throughout the last week of

Term 2, enjoying themed days such as Mother Tongue Monday

and Poem-in-Your-Pocket Wednesday. Students welcomed visiting authors, illustrators, and storytellers and composed their

own works.

Children in both campuses embraced

their creativity this May during the Junior School Arts Festival. Multiple workshops culminated

with dramatic performances and art

exhibitions.

Project Week 2009 was an immense

success. Organised and led by the 11th

graders, groups went everywhere from

Vietnam to Cambodia, doing everything from teaching to building

houses.

Asian Languages and Culture Day is a favorite

with the Grade 6-11 students of UWCSEA, who can demonstrate

their knowledge of Asian languages and culture

through brief performances, accompanied by samples of

Asian cuisine.

Healthy Lifestyle Week at Dover Campus

this September promoted a holistic view of well-being through days with

themes such as “Exercise - Get

Pumped” and “Be Social - Live Your Life.”

A Kaleidoscope

Sport at UWCSEA continues to grow with more than

180 teams. At the SEASAC football tournament

in Jakarta this season championship victories

were achieved by both the boys and the girls teams

from UWCSEA.

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UWC Day allowed students to truly live the UWC values;

every student adopted a project for a day. Projects

ranged from producing story-books for children to beach

cleanups and planting fl owers and shrubs around Dover.

UN night encouraged a feeling of international camaraderie among the student body, featuring

numerous dance performances from around

the world as well as international food and goods

stands.

Many UWCSEA graduates

participate in a Gap Year program before enrolling in university, allowing

them to partner with an NGO and develop a keen sense of global

awareness.

The Initiative For Peace group staged the Focus on Timor Leste

2009 Conference in Bali last June involving 22 UWCSEA students and 40 Timorese youths.

New skills were learned and encouragement was given to make a

difference.

This September, seven Grade 12 Theatre students presented Martin Crimp’s ‘Attempts on Her Life.’

The intimate feeling evoked by the traverse

stage was matched only by the superb acting of the

participants.

Singapore-based author Alix Burrell recently published a children’s book, I Hate Peas, donating the proceeds to the Tabitha GC at the request of her 2nd grade daughter at

UWCSEA.

Senior House students relax during the

weekend excursion to Pulau Besar in Malaysia, a much-

needed respite and well-loved tradition.

of College Eventsm

beber OO

By Alex Durand Grade 11 Class of 2011

Photos from Dunia

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exchanges and partnerships, on behalf of the Nauru Minister for Education. That’s when I caught up with this amaz-ing young alumnus and heard what he has been doing since leaving UWCSEA, before heading to university.

Ben’s family is from New Zealand but he was born in Singapore and has lived here most of his life with the exception of a brief period in the UK in the late ‘90s. He arrived at UWCSEA in 2000 at the age of 10 and left eight years later after completing his IB. Upon graduation, Ben decided that he would pursue a gap year to gain some business experience and to

ALUMNI PROFILE

The Republic of Nauru is the world’s smallest independent is-land nation, 21 square kilometers

in size, roughly fi ve times the size of Sen-tosa Island, Singapore, with a population of 13,000. It is located in the Western Pacific halfway between Brisbane, Australia and Hawaii, USA. Initially inhabited by ethnic Micronesians and Polynesians, Nauru was annexed and designated a colony by Germany in the late 19th century and after World War I became a territory administered by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. During World War II it was occupied by Japan and then once again returned to its former trusteeship before achieving independence in 1968 and becoming a full member of the United Nations in 1999. Nauru’s economy is based mainly on phosphate mining and it is connected to the rest of the world by a twice-weekly fl ight on a government owned airline to Brisbane.

Nauru is interested in the establishment of a state owned investment trust which has as its aim, the generation of long-

term revenue security for the govern-ment through diversifi cation of revenue sources outside of the island. It also has an interest in developing a strategy to achieve funding from development partners to update its educational facili-ties, train its teachers and to re-initiate a school programme in which students are funded to go elsewhere to study and then return to the island to work. There are three medical doctors on the island who were recipients of that programme in the past, but it has not been in place for many years, due to lack of funds. Nauru established diplomatic relations with Singapore in March 2009, and in June, Ben was involved in the fi rst offi cial visit to Singapore to discuss both of these areas - to learn about Singapore’s system of education and to gain information and advice regarding the development of an investment corporation similar in pur-pose to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

While he was in Singapore at that time, Ben dropped into UWCSEA to speak to the Head of College about best practices in education and the idea of education

By Brenda Whately

There are probably not many 20 year olds who have ever attended the opening session of the General Assembly of the

United Nations as a representative of the government of one of the member nations, yet that’s just what Ben van der Sande was doing in September 2009. Ben has been working as an Advisor to the government of the Republic of Nauru, a small Pacifi c Island State since graduating from UWCSEA in May 2008. His title is Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and he reports directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

2008 IB Grad Completes Gap Year as Government Advisor

Ben van der SandeUWCSEA 1999-2008

“UWCSEA gave me the confi dence to seek

opportunities beyond the normal. Along with the high

quality of the education it offers, it motivates

individuals to dream large and see those dreams

through.”

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Headquarters in New York for the Gen-eral Assembly of the UN. On the 8th of October he signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ on behalf of Nauru with the Director of Technical Cooperation for Singapore and formalized an agreement by which Singapore will provide devel-opment assistance to Nauru in the form of training its offi cials. As this article is being written, Ben is preparing to meet President Medvedev here in Singapore to explore the possibilities of enhanced bilateral co-operation with Russia. Ben spends one week each month on the island of Nauru and the remainder of his time in Singapore or traveling as directed.

Business and politics were a part of Ben’s student life at UWCSEA, where he undertook the role of Treasurer of Global Concerns and Secretary General of the Model United Nations. It is only now though, Ben says, that he understands the full impact that being a student at the College has had on his way of think-ing, giving him a more broad based and global perspective.

Ben is enjoying his opportunity, is learn-ing a lot and feels that he is contributingin a permanent way to the development of Nauru. He says he genuinely wakes

Clockwise from top left Ben at the UN • Ben with President of the Republic of Nauru, Marcus Stephen • Ben and the Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Emmanuel Ogunnaike • A phosphate mine in Nauru

get a sense of the ‘real world’. He says, “UWCSEA gave me the confi dence to seek opportunities beyond the normal. Along with the high quality of the edu-cation it offers, it motivates individuals to dream large and see those dreams through.” So, through a business contact, he was introduced to representatives of the government of Nauru. He convinced them that he had a contribution to make, along with a true global perspective, and he was offered a role working with the Foreign Minister. Ben’s portfolio brings him into contact with a variety of Gov-ernment departments; specifi cally the Development Policy Planning Depart-ment, the Aid Management Unit within the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of External Relations. His mandate is to advance identifi ed government priorities in the area of development and transparency, particularly with respect to the manner in which donations from foreign govern-ments are administered and accounted for. He is also interested in education initiatives because, as he says, “Human capital is the most valuable resource the country has.”

In his advisory role Ben has travelled to China, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and in September, to UN

up every day and thinks how lucky he is to be doing the job that he does. He plans to go to Bond University in Aus-tralia in January 2010 to pursue a degree in International Relations and Business, after which he would like to return to Singapore and enter private business. He says that after 18 years in Singapore he feels an emotional connection to the country and considers it home.

With the wealth of experience that this interesting and resourceful young man has gathered over the past year or so, Singapore will be lucky to have him back.

Ben is happy to be contacted by anyone who would like to be in touch. His email address is b.vandersande@hotmail.com

In his advisory role Ben has travelled to

China, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and

in September, to UN Headquarters in New York for the General Assembly of the UN.

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Days to 7a700VALUES IN PRACTICE

At a family barbecue in 2008, Jonathan Cook and his brother

David began to talk about the idea of cycling the following summer from their home in London to Samoens in France, a lovely town where they travel most winters to ski. As they discussed it further, the idea of using the proposed trip as a charitable fundraising event began to take shape. Although Jon’s idea had originally been to take the summer to make the more than 700 mile trip, David, an international athlete, suggested that they should try to do it in one week - seven hundred miles in seven days. Jon says “As the older brother I couldn’t really back down from this challenge,” and so the decision was made. Ten friends, four of whom are UWCSEA alumni, all novice cyclists, would attempt to cycle seven hundred miles in seven days for charity.

Ten Friends Cycle

Jon says that the idea to turn their trip into a ride for charity is likely due to the influence of their former school environment and their parents. He says, “There were always charity dinners, trips, challenges and shows at UWCSEA and that goal to help others in whatever way you can has stayed with us since leaving the school. The community service aspect of the IB further instilled the notion that even small gestures, such as a couple of hours of volunteering per week, made a huge difference to those less fortunate. Our parents have always been involved with fundraising in some form or another as well, whether it was walking the Great Wall of China for breast cancer care or participating in fun runs for all sorts of local charities.”

The two charities they chose to support were The Shooting Star Hospice, a local cause that they were impressed with, and as they were an all-male group, they chose as their second cause, the Orchid Cancer Appeal which focuses on cancers affecting the male population.

The ten cyclists included brothers Jon and David Cook, their friends Jo Williams and David Armstrong, all alumni; Greg and Doug Stidoph and Nick Barnett, cousins of Jon and David; family friend, Ben Curry; and university friends Laurence Brown and Mike Romain.

The fi rst challenge they faced was that only three of the ten actually owned road bikes! The second challenge was getting everyone together for training as they were spread out around the South of England, working hard to lose weight, improve their overall fi tness and, “generally fi t into our lycra!” The third challenge was obviously to raise the funds for their charities.

Over 11 months they organised a variety of fundraising events including an evening at a local Italian restaurant to which they invited 100 guests. Guests were charged £30 each of which £10 was put toward the cause. Prizes were donated from local shops and businesses as well as from some of the attendees, including signed sports memorabilia and tickets to an Ashes test match, and these were raffl ed and auctioned off. Representatives of the two charities were invited to give a brief talk about their work and that evening alone raised over £2,000. A day at the local gym/health club raised £500 more with members of the group riding stationery bicycles in the lobby beside posters, pledge sheets and donation buckets. Along with raising the money Jon says they got an additional workout with over 500 miles between them, ridden that day! Two of the cyclists who are members of jazz/funk bands raised money with a gig in London, they held car boot sales and they made empassioned pitches to friends and family.

777Da777e 77Outside The Shooting Star Children’s Hospice the afternoon before leaving

“I would love The Shooting Orchids to

become a fundraising club with branches

or events all over the world, promoting the idea of challenging

yourself to help those in far more challenging

circumstances.”

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Jonathan Cook (Class of 2001)David Cook (Class of 2006)

David Armstrong (Class of 2001)Jonathan Williams (Class of 2001)

and six friends

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

They also set up a website (www.shootingorchids.co.uk) through which the public could donate, and also through which they could vote on the cycling shirt design that each member of the team was asked to come up with. To Jon’s feigned disappointment, his shirt design lost despite his determined marketing efforts and Mike’s design was voted the favourite. Jon says they gave out business cards with the address of the website to everyone they met throughout the year leading up to the ride. He says, “Colleagues, fellow train passengers, supermarket shoppers and taxi drivers must have wondered how they had gotten into a conversation with a random man about 10 guys cycling to the Alps!”

Through all of their efforts and 12,000 hits to the website, the group exceeded their target and by the end of their trip they had raised well over £23,000 to split equally between the two charities.

Jon says “The whole project has been thoroughly rewarding and it always leaves me a bit taken aback when I realise how many people have contributed to our ride with their time, monetary donations and effort. What started as a chat in the garden over a barbecue with my brother turned into a year-long project that ended up helping two deserving charities. I can’t wait for the next one.”

Plans for the next one are already underway. Jon says they have raised the challenge to 900 miles and seven countries in seven days, cycling from London to Prague. They will also be increasing their

Raise over £23,000 for Charity

Anti clockwise from top: David Cook; A typical scene from the ride;Jon and David modelling their cycle tops; The 10 cyclists with a banner their support crew provided.

Jon Cook studied Sports Science and Management at Loughborough University and is now teaching English as a foreign language. He is currently working on starting up a circuit training company and continues to fundraise for charity. He and Jo Williams ran a charity 10km event last month and both are planning a half marathon in February while continuing to train for their group’s London-Prague cycle next year.

Jo Williams, following his time at UWCSEA, moved back to London where he completed A-Levels at the London Oratory School in Fulham. He then went on to read Music at York University. Jo currently works in London as Marketing Manager for PayPal, the fi nancial services division of eBay. As well as cycling and running, in his spare time he remains active as a musician, regularly performing on Trumpet with various funk and jazz groups around the UK.

David Armstrong went on to university in the UK after leaving UWCSEA and now lives in London. He says, “I am trying to pursue a career in music interspersed with ‘a real job’ doing sales for a marketing company. After this bike ride however, I’m now clearly a professional cyclist, so don’t be surprised to see me at the Tour de France next year!” On the way home from the ride, David’s bike fell off the roof-rack of the car on the motorway and was crushed by a following lorry.David says, “A traumatic ending for him, but he served me well. RIP my bike.”

David Cook graduated in Business Economics from Exeter University this summer and is currently the number one Long Jumper in Wales. He is hoping to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010.

**To view the article about Tim Goulding’s year-long, 13,000km bicycle expedition, see One°North, Vol 1 (Dec 2007), page 18.

fundraising target as well, to £35,000. His current plan is make this an annual event, increasing the challenge and adding an extra charity each year. He says, “I would love The Shooting Orchids to become a fundraising club with branches or events all over the world, promoting the idea of challenging yourself to help those in far more challenging circumstances.”

0 Miles in

By Brenda Whately

He has also made the comment that, “A ride to Singapore isn’t out of the question!” Perhaps he will cycle from London to Singapore for his 10 year reunion in 2011 the way that Class of 1987 alumnus Tim Goulding** cycled here from London in 2007 for his 20 year one! He’ll need more than a week though!

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Sabah’s capital Kota Kinabalu might not sound like the choice for an

exotic holiday to most Singaporeans. But to Discovery Travel & Living host Anita Kapoor, the city and its islands are one of Asia’s many hidden gems. Gushing over its beautiful beaches, gorgeous little towns and mountains over the phone with Life!, she said: “I was utterly fascinated by Kota Kinabalu and I felt like a complete moron for not being there earlier.”

The 38-year-old is the host of Discovery’s first season of Exotic Escapades, a weekly travel series which premiered on StarHub Channel 16 Monday [5 October] at 10pm. No stone is left unturned in this eight-episode travelogue, which rediscovers pockets of paradise in unexpected places such as Lombok and Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, the city of Chongqing in China and New Delhi and Darjeeling in India.

These destinations might hardly scream exotic, but to Kapoor, it is all about fi nding the “unusual and slightly kooky” nooks and crannies about a place.

“Asia is full of them. There is just not enough online or in books and material to tell people what a great damn continent this is,” said the chatty host, who is also a writer. Enamoured with the region, she was most impressed with how the locals lived with nature.

She recalled an incident where she and her film crew came across a

beached whale stranded in shallow waters in Kota Kinabalu. She said: “All the people in the area – the neighbouring islands and mainland – had come out and were bathing the whale and trying to move it back into its path. Unfortunately, it died.” But the footage of the dying beached whale will not be included in the series as “it would have been sad to call that exotic”.

This encounter is a hint that the dream job of hosting travel shows is not as glamorous as it sounds. She and her crew also capsized with all their camera equipment off the shores of Lombok. “Thank God we were a kilometer from the shore and we got rescued,” she said.

The series is a homecoming of sorts for the Mumbai-born Singaporean. Kapoor, who moved to the Republic when she was seven, said going back to India again after being away for eight years was an experience. She said: “India is a tough place, it hurts you and yet helps you at the same time. It was a chance for me to discover my childhood roots.”

Her life has taken unexpected turns, one of which is her hosting career. In 2003, she took part in the Discovery Travel & Living Channel’s search for a Singapore host, “completely a lark and something I did because it looked like fun,” and won. The freelance writer, who has also acted in the play “The Vagina Monologues, added: “I

never in my wildest dreams thought they would choose me. I discovered my passion.”

She went on to host l i fes ty le programmes such as Secret Singapore and Bare Beauty on MediaCorp channel Arts Central or Okto as it is now known. Perhaps she was always destined to be a performer. Her last name is common among actors and actresses in the Bollywood industry but she said she is not related to any of them. But showbiz certainly seems to be in her blood.

“Source:The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Permission required for reproduction.”

Anita Kapoor attended UWCSEA from 1983 to 1989 and has continued to have an amazing and interesting set of experiences in her life and career ever since. Most recently she became the host of the new television travel show, Exotic Escapades, while continuing to be involved in several other hosting, speaking and writing projects. Anita came back to UWCSEA in August to attend Reunion 2009 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her class year. She graciously agreed to be the guest speaker and she gave a wonderful heartwarming welcome to kick off the reunion weekend. There will no doubt be no shortage of new and interesting projects in Anita’s future, as like the article says, show biz seems to be in her blood.

Discovery Travel & Living host Anita Kapoor looks for the unusual in her new travel series.

ExoticEscape to the

By Cheryl Tan

ALUMNI PROFILE

Anita on an America’s Cup racing yacht, New Zealand. Photo credit: Hsu Jing

Photo credit: Michael Zaw

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

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SINGAPORE FOOD

PUFFS

Keith Stagg’s

Curry

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

Two options for the pastry

Method One• Slowly melt 225g of lightly salted butter with 2 tbsp of water• Add 600g of plain fl our to a bowl• Combine with the melted butter and an additional 4 - 6 tbsp of water to make a soft dough• Knead for about 10 minutes • All of this can be done in a mixer with a dough hook• Brush on a little oil and let it rest for 30 minutes in a plastic bag• Roll it out and use Method Two• Sift 700g of plain fl our into a bowl with a pinch of salt• Add 5 tbsp of vegetable oil and combine• Add up to 1/4 cup of water to form a dough• Knead for 10 minutes• Let it rest for 30 minutes

Suggested fi lling (but it is all down to taste)

Cooking oil4 shallots, fi nely chopped2 slices of fresh ginger, fi nely chopped2 garlic cloves, fi nely chopped2 tbsp of curry powder (mild, medium, hot, extra hot - your choice)120ml stock250g minced meat (chicken, pork, beef or mutton)1 large potato, diced smallA handful of chopped corianderSalt/pepper to taste Gently fry the shallots, garlic and ginger in some oil. Add curry powder and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add some stock to lift the cooked paste. Add the meat and diced potato and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining stock. Cook until reduced down to fi lling consistency. Add chopped coriander and season to taste. Cool down. Make your curry puffs and either deep fry or oven-bake to a golden brown. Enjoy!

Keith Stagg (Class of 1979) attended UWCSEA from 1973 to 1978. After leaving Singapore he gained a degree in Hotel and Catering Management and worked for many years in hotels and remote catering operations in Australia before returning once again to England. On his return he changed career course and became an

investment banker. Keith is married with three children and says that cooking remains a passion for him. If you would like to contact Keith he can be reached through the UWCSEA alumni site.

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TEACHER PROFILE

I met John Burgess, former teacher of UWCSEA for the fi rst time last year when he was in Singapore to cover

the Volkswagen Table Tennis and Aviva Open Badminton events. We met again more recently and had a chat about his time at the College in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and what he has been up to since.

John fi rst arrived at UWCSEA as a young PE teacher in 1972. He remained at UWCSEA for 16 years, leaving in 1988 to teach at the Vienna International School in Austria for a year before embarking on a role in sports and events marketing back in Asia, followed by his current career as TV sports presenter and commentator. John has never lost his enthusiasm for sport throughout his life, playing rugby for the Singapore National team during his early years in Singapore and participating in several other sports then and since. While covering sporting events at UWCSEA in the 1980s, he also covered events for a local Singapore television channel, and over the past several years he has gone on to present for several television sports networks around the world. The FIVB (International Volleyball Federation, Lausanne) contracts him directly for world events coverage and Manchester United have worked with him for the past two Asian Tours. In fact he has been a commentator for 27 different sports over a period of 29 years. He hosted the fi rst of many South East Asian games in 1983, the Asian Games in Seoul, Beijing, Hiroshima, Bangkok, Busan and Doha and he covered events at the Olympics in Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Athens and Beijing. John has also done voice-overs for television and radio and has been

a Master of Ceremonies at numerous opening and closing ceremonies. Along with his work as commentator and presenter, John was Director of IDEALS International Study Centre in Ko Chang, Thailand from 2004 through 2008, organising and facilitating team building courses for senior students and corporate groups. He was a member of the Round Square Organisation of which UWCSEA is also a member, and he continues to support the Tabitha Project in Cambodia. Recently John has taken on a personal project, beginning work on a book about his TV exploits, which he is calling Lucky Granddad.

John has many fond memories about his years at UWCSEA. He met Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Charles and other members of the British Royal Family during his early years here. He was involved with Beluntu, the College’s outdoor pursuits and education facility in Malaysia which unfortunately closed in 1984. He introduced the UWCSEA “Days of Sport” which encouraged total participation by staff and students

in a huge variety of activities on one “manic” day each term. He says, “It was wonderful watching everyone pitching in and having great fun rain or shine, and getting to know every student and member of staff of the College through “Days of Sport” was a great privilege.” In line with his sometimes outrageous sense of humour, he played a lot of pranks on colleagues and students alike, including the time he says he tried to surprise the ‘coffee lady’ by pretending that he and fellow PE teacher Brian Green had been shot by arrows from a newly delivered set of archery equipment. To their disappointment and great amusement, when she arrived at their offi ce, she stepped over them, set the coffee down and left without comment! Perhaps she knew them better than they thought! He remembers kicking footballs with enthusiastic students, up into the two large mango trees on the bank by the end of the Maths block to bring down the ripe mangos, ending up losing balls for months at a time. Canoeing in the monsoon drains during really heavy rains he says was another wonderful memory, “but far too dangerous for today’s risk-averse world.”

Music has played a very important part in John’s life. He joined with John Edwards (then Head of Music) and several other staff members to create the International Festival Chorus in the early 70’s and he took the lead in several musical performances throughout his UWCSEA career, including Fagin in a memorable production of Oliver. He and drama teacher Rory O’Sullivan, in 1987 conceived the idea of a dance/

John BurgessHead of PE & Head of Pursuits Faculty

UWCSEA 1972-1988

Teaching and having unffunfunfun

“I really have had the most wonderful life, initially in education

and now in sports broadcasting, taking

inspiration from some of the most talented and motivated people in the

world.”

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drama tribute to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the UWC movement. The project was called Isshoni and was based on a Japanese themed fairy tale starring many talented students including Sean Ghazi and Kevin Stea, both of whom have since gone on to very successful careers in the entertainment industry. The show was a big hit when it was performed in Singapore as well as at Atlantic College in Wales and on one very memorable night in the London West End. One of the Isshoni performers, Simon Collins,

The project was called Isshoni … starring

many talented students including Sean Ghazi

and Kevin Stea, both of whom have

since gone on to very successful careers in the entertainment industry.

in the 80sand

In line with his sometimes outrageous sense of humour, he played a lot of pranks on colleagues and students alike.

now a lawyer living in Tokyo, has agreed to co-ordinate the 25th year reunion of the project in 2012. John says, “What a fairytale!”

John is married with two daughters, both of whom attended UWCSEA, and he recently became a grandfather for the third time. Education seems to be in the Burgess family blood as his wife Wendy was a Year Head and Director of Development at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore before retiring a few years ago, and both daughters, Sarah and Anna are teachers as well. Before becoming a teacher, Sarah Burgess Brunskill studied music and had a successful career in the Arts, performing the lead singing role in Riverdance for three years, touring numerous cities in Asia, Europe and Australia. She has since married, changed career and has her fi rst child. Anna Burgess Parr studied drama, theatre and TV and worked as a TV producer at MediaCorp before also becoming a teacher. She is married with two children.

John has continued his association with UWCSEA over the years, and still accompanies the Senior Boarding House students on their annual weekend trip to Pulau Besar in Malaysia. He says, “UWCSEA is an extraordinary establishment with a truly global perspective and continues to make such a positive impact on so many people’s lives. I’m delighted I was able to make a small contribution to its evolution. I really have had the most wonderful life, initially in education and now in sports broadcasting, taking inspiration from some of the most talented and motivated people in the world.”

John is a member of the UWCSEA alumni website and would be happy to hear from any of his former students and colleagues who wish to contact him.

Clokwise from topJohn in New ZealandAt the Beijing OlympicsIn Bali with family

by Brenda Whately

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

UWCSEA 70s

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By Isabelle ChampalbertUWCSEA 1978-1985

TRAVEL

In March 2005 I received an e-mail: “Are you Isabelle Champalbert who went to United World College in Sin-

gapore?” I couldn’t believe it! It was an e-mail from one of my best friends at UW-CSEA, Hyosoon Kim! We did our Project Week together at Kukup Laut (a Chinese fi shing village in Malaysia), where I’ll never forget the experience of having a bag of boiled rice and fi sh for breakfast at 5am, on board a fi shing boat, without a fork or spoon! We exchanged e-mails and in June 2007 Hyosoon (Stephanie) and her husband Doug, came to visit me in Bologna. She hadn’t changed a bit. After some good Italian wine, Stephanie and Doug insisted that we visit them in San Francisco. I warned them that there are four of us - myself, my hus-band Gianluca and our 2 boys, Nicolò and Luciano, but they were serious about the invitation. So, with some en-couragement from my sister Cathy, in January 2008, I bought plane tickets. We left Bologna on 26 June and fl ew to New York where we spent a day and a half in Manhattan. We managed to visit Cen-tral Park, the American Museum of Natu-ral History, Seaport where we had dinner over-looking the Brooklyn Bridge, and the top of the Empire State Building. Then we fl ew to San Francisco where Stephanie and Doug were waiting for us at the airport. We spent three days in San Francisco and loved every part of it - hanging from the cable-car going up famous Pa-cifi c Heights, the farmers market where Gianluca wanted to sample everything, the visit to Alcatraz, the military subma-rine that the two boys loved, walking across Golden Gate Bridge, the food, the Jacuzzi at the condo... For a true San Francisco experience, we even saw a Gay Parade! We also visited Muir Woods with their impressive sequoias and giant redwoods, went for a swim in the Russian River to work off lunch, and ended the day at a South East Asian restaurant called

Betel Nut, reminiscing about Singapore.It was sad to leave San Francisco, after all the hospitality we had received, but we had to move on! So with our rented car, we drove to Lake Tahoe, the highest lake of its size in the United States, with crystal clear water, where we stayed for two nights, explored the historical area, went to Emerald Bay by catamaran and saw a racoon save her baby when it fell from a roof! The boys had fun chasing the Tahoe Nessies (huge dark ducks), even in the freezing cold water. From Tahoe we drove to Yosemite Na-tional Park, passing through Mono Lake, where we spent three nights in a tent. The park was beautiful. I had never seen such a vast park in such a natural state. We even saw bears! We walked to Vernal Falls, did rafting in the Merced River, cycled to Mir-ror Lake, saw Half Dome at sunset and listened to a Ranger tell stories by a camp-fi re. It was an eight hour drive the next day to Las Vegas, but the continuous change of scenery and straight roads leading to ‘nowhere’ made it quite an experience. We arrived in Las Vegas, where it was 40°C, just in time to see the city light up. For the next few days we visited Zion and Bryce National Parks, and then for a change, we organised a

day of canyoneering at Escalante with a guide. On our way out, the guide showed us genuine Indian arrowheads found in the area which thrilled the boys as much as the activity had. After that gruelling day, we drove to the Boulder Mountain Lodge where we had a warm soak in the Jacuzzi and spent the night. In the morning we drove the Scenic By-way to Moab to visit Arches National Park, had dinner overlooking the Colorado River, and spent the night in a bungalow in the middle of a beautiful garden full of fruit trees and deer! Here too we couldn’t resist the jacuzzi after dinner, contemplat-ing a clear sky full of stars. Moab was really hot, so the next day we decided to go rafting in the Colorado River. It was just what we needed - a bit of adventure, a great picnic, a water-gun battle, and a swim!

Then it was on to Monument Valley where we stayed in a Navajo Tribal Park and had a long and interesting chat over breakfast with our host, Diane, who spoke about her 40 years living with the Navajo. After breakfast we were off to the Grand Canyon, the place Doug said we couldn’t miss out on, and he was right. We stayed two nights at an “in-park” lodge at the South Rim and

Family vacation and reunion of two great friends

A combined

Isabelle (second from right) and Stephanie (centre) with Isabelle’s husband and sons in San Francisco

after

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although the evenings were cloudy, the sunsets were quite impressive. The boys enjoyed the Ranger talks and we were lucky to see condors fl ying and a coy-ote standing a few meters from our car! At last it was time to face our biggest adventure. We drove three to four hours to Hualapai Hilltop and then walked three hours without seeing a single per-son, to Havasupai, an isolated Indian village of about 450 natives in a canyon perpendicular to the Grand Canyon. It was quite an experience! We arrived late and there was no dinner. The next day we hiked to Havasupai Falls to see their blue-green waters and natural pools, and we were glad we had. Even the boys agreed that it was worth the trip and en-joyed swimming in the pools. At 4:30pm we headed for the café... to ensure that we didn’t miss out on another dinner! We stayed two nights and while the other tourists opted for the return trip by heli-copter, we did the three and a half hour walk back up to the car, in the hot and dusty canyon! Apart from the “trains” of mules guided by a few locals and packed with products for the general store and the post, we were a rare group of hikers. When we arrived at Las Vegas, passing through the Hoover Dam, we were glad to have survived Havasupai, and glad to be back to civilization. The fi rst thing we did was have a shower and jump in the swimming pool. That evening we walked down the Strip and visited The Venetian, where we had a typical Italian dinner

Stephanie (Hyosoon) Kim (UWCSEA 1979-1984)Stephanie has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis and works in the pharmaceutical industry. Her idea of the ultimate holiday combines her passion for travel with her passion for long-distance running.

Catherine Champalbert (UWCSEA 1981-1988)Cathy lives in the South of France where she and her husband have recently opened a restaurant, “La Moule Joyeuse” (The Happy Mussel). Cathy has two sons and travels often, visiting family in Singapore and the US.

Richard Champalbert (UWCSEA 1983-1990)Richard moved to the US in 1999 as a software engineer, and currently writes computer games for EA (Electronic Arts) in Orlando, Florida. A major contributor to the games NASCAR 08, Head Coach 09, and Tiger Woods 2010, he is currently working on Tiger Woods 2011.

Isabelle Champalbert (UWCSEA 1978-1985)After leaving UWCSEA and graduating from the American University in Paris, Isabelle moved to Milan, Italy in 1988. While working for a multinational software-house commercializing CAD-CAE-CAM, she met and married her husband, Gianluca, in 1992. In 1995 they relocated to Bologna where her sons Nicolò and Luciano were born. Since 1999 she has worked for her husband in engineering services, and in 2009 they started their own company (www.mathfem.it). Isabelle says that she enjoys travelling and wants her children to explore the world like she did, growing up.

in a very Italian atmosphere, which re-minded us that our trip was coming to an end. We were impressed at how the second fl oor of the hotel looked so much like being in Venice, in the open air. The next morning we fl ew to Orlando, where my brother Richard (he too a UW-CSEA alumnus), was waiting for us at the airport. The boys were overjoyed to see their “American” uncle, who took good care of us for three full days. The boys obviously enjoyed their visit with him and it was a pleasure to see that Richard is living in a great place. We must visit him more often!

We spent a day and a half at the NASA Kennedy Space Center which Nicolò and Gianluca in particular loved, half a day surfi ng at Cocoa Beach which Luciano loved, a day at Disney World, and we vis-ited Richard’s offi ce at EA - Electronic Arts.

On July 22 it was time to go back home. It was my fi rst serious trip since I left my parents in Singapore in 1985, and it is thanks to Stephanie and Doug that I had the courage to do it. We plan to go back to America to explore more! Stephanie wrote, “Doug is already starting to plan for your next trip.” So if the economic crisis doesn’t hit us too hard, and my health permits it, we have no excuses!

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

Top Left: Stephanie and Isabelle in Bologna (2007); Centre: Havasupai Falls; Right: Isabelle canyoneering (2009); Bottom left: Leaving Escalante after canyoneering

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

Juen Li graduated from UWCSEA in May 2008. Because she was planning to enroll in an Australian university and would thus have some time before her fi rst semes-ter, she decided, along with her sister Juen Mei who graduated at the same time, to take advantage of the Gap Year programme and volunteer her time at the Mercy Centre in Klong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand from September to De-cember 2008. Below is an account of her gap year experience.

GAP YEAR

Juen Li Ding Class of 2008, 2003-2008

A Gap Year Experienceby Juen Li Ding

Top - Juen Li with one of her studentsBottom - Juen Li with kids from Mercy Centre

I’ve never been a teacher be-

fore, but at the Mercy Centre I became one.

It was such a sudden tran-s i t i o n . O n e minute, I was graduating from UWCSEA, a student, ready to get out into the world, to grow up and experience things. Before I knew it, there I was, arriving in the slums of Bangkok not as a student but as a teacher. I was in new territory, ready to be changed, challenged, and committed to the group of people who would eventually become so important to me.

During our three months at the Mercy Centre, we were given the responsibility of teaching English to students of several age groups. Let’s just say it wasn’t easy, learning to be a teacher, that is. From the numerous hours spent planning, to the disappointment of an unsuccessful lesson and the joys of being understood, overall it was a valuable experience that helped us to understand the responsibility and importance of being a teacher and making a mark in the lives of others. The thought that we had somehow impacted the children and sown in them an enthusiasm for the English language was very gratifying.

As teachers, we also formed relationships with so many of the children at the Mercy Centre. With each new friendship, I felt a growing need to dedicate more time to each individual. The kindergarteners treated us as something of a mix between a big sister, a friend and a teacher. We got to know the Grade 5 and 6 students individually when we spent time with them outside of class. The older group of students were only slightly younger than we were and this re-sulted in us being treated like friends. We talked to them about their work as well as their personal lives and they confi ded in us.

Getting to know the different people at the Mercy Centre, from the children at the halfway house to the older students and the staff of the various departments includ-ing Sister Maria and Father Joe, was a little overwhelming at fi rst. However, it wasn’t long before we couldn’t help but feel that we had become a part of the Mercy Centre family. The organisation has reached out to slum children in so many ways, for such a long time, that the fact that we became part of it was a once in a lifetime experience of which I am very proud.

Besides how to hand wash my clothes, clean a clogged toilet and manage my own ex-penses, I learnt about life in the slums. Every day I woke up in the Klong Toei slum area, fi lled with motorbikes and bicycles, road-side stalls, the homeless and occasionally, night-time gang fi ghts. Every day I refl ected on how different this was in comparison to my life. I am now not only more grateful for what I have but I am much more aware of the kinds of lives led by others who are not as fortunate as myself.

Working with the Mercy Centre also had me witness a variety of sad and unfortunate situations among some of the children. I was there when a 16 year old mother left her newborn baby behind, when a child left the house because he felt he needed to be more independent, and when a young girl of only six years of age arrived with a little pink bag and some clothes after having lost her parents to HIV. During my time there I witnessed suffering up close, but I also saw joy in some of the younger children

especially - they had food, someone to care for them and friends who equalled brothers and sisters - they had a family! Seeing their bright smiles and their newfound hope in life, I understood how much the Mercy Centre programme has impacted them. I deeply respect and admire the likes of Father Joe, Sister Maria, Usanee and Nitaya, all the people who work tirelessly to keep the children at Mercy Centre safe, with a place to sleep, an education and a family. It shows that if we want to make a difference, we can.

It’s just amazing how spending a short pe-riod of time with a group of special people can change your life. I went there with the intention of making a difference, and in return, I was deeply impacted. Even now, months after returning from Bangkok, not a day passes by when my thoughts don't return to my Mercy Centre experience! It was such a wonderful opportunity for me, and I’ll never regret a minute of my time there. My parents were excited about us going overseas to work, however they still called us every night and were worried about the protests in Bangkok. All I can say to that is - well, we ended up in one piece, just a little bit more aware about the world, so overall, I think it worked out very well!

Both Juen Li iand Juen Mei are attending Melbourne University, Melbourne, Australia where they are each pursuing a Bachelor of Biomedicine degree. They can be contacted through the UWCSEA alumni site.

For information about gap-year type op-portunities for alumni, please contact kmo@uwcsea.edu.sg

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MEMORIAL

Jeremy Elias 1976-2009(UWCSEA 1987–1993)

My great mate Jerry, you will be sadly missed by all around the globe, espe-cially by my family and I! We have some awesome memories together, ones that I will cherish for my lifetime! I thank you for that. Today we are celebrating your life in your fashion and that’s having a good old munch! Its brought some faces back to me I haven’t seen for a long time and I’m sure that’s what you would have wanted. On behalf of myself, my family and everyone here, we know you are happy. Take care up there and we will catch up one day I’m sure! I love you mate.

Justin Ahern speaking at the gathering after the funeraL

Jerry I thank you for being a best friend and a very important pillar in my life. I will hold you close to my heart forever. Rest assured in true Liverpool spirit, you’ll never walk alone. From all of us, Jerry. We will miss you.

Leon Le Mercier

Poor Jeremy once got detention on my behalf. I’ll never forget that! It says a lot about his character (and not a lot about my own for letting him take the blame!!)…Jeremy would do absolutely anything for his friends. Jeremy you were an amazing human being and dare I say you had a heart that was even bigger than your appetite, though it is a tight competition! While I’m so very sad, all my memories of you are fi lled with bar-rels of laughter. You were my very good friend, my culinary guru and I feel hon-oured to have had such a special person in my life. With much love always,

Sabina Maschi

Jerry, thank you for a being such a dear friend and like a brother to me over the years. You will always hold a special place in my heart and in our family, and even though I will miss you dearly I am so grateful for all the wonderful memo-ries we have shared. Christmas time was always so much fun and memorable with you around – a time I will always cherish and we as a family will remem-ber so fondly in years to come. Keep smiling Jerry... Love you lots and always.

Bron, Justin, Shaun, Pa, Diane and Brian

He was truly special and lighted up every room that he walked into. He will be missed!

Eija Erasmus

In loving memory of my brother. My dear Jeremy, to have been the other half of what we had - a brother sister rela-tionship is something that will stay in my heart always. When you left me you took half of my heart and soul with you, for all the remaining days of my life - I live and carry the pain and emptiness of knowing we will never grow old together, our baby Samara will never know her uncle and I will never have my brother to call on again. I know it was hard all these years with us living in separate countries. May you be resting in ever-lasting peace in the heavens above, my dear Jeremy, for not a day of my life goes by that you are not in my heart and thoughts. I love you very much.

With all my love, your sister, Naomi

Photos contributed by Justin Ahern and family, Naomi Elias, Eija Erasmus, Tamasine Henderson, Leon Le Mercier, Sabina Maschi, Miki Morrica.

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CLASS NOTES

1974 Sue Cockcroft I left UWCSEA in 1974 to go to The Lon-don Hospital to train as a physiotherapist for three years. I worked in London for another three years after graduation and then came out to Australia on a six month working visa in November 1980 and have been here since. I have had my own physio practice (in partnership) since September 1984 and became an Australian citizen in 1989. I love living in Australia!!

1977 Bruce Marks I joined the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm in May 1977 and trained to be an airframe and engine technician. Left in 1986 and went to work in Saudi Arabia. Spent a couple of years there then worked at vari-ous locations around the world. The last fi fteen years I have been in Oman where I work for the Royal Air Force of Oman as a technical advisor for their fl eet of transport aircraft which consists of Airbus A320’s, BAC 1-11’s and Lockheed C130’s.

In August whilst on a short visit to the UK, I had the opportunity to meet up with David Sumner-Smith who was in the same year at UWCSEA (SIS). This was our fi rst meeting since 1976.

1978 Andrew Smith

I’m currently Managing Director of a company called Cobra UK Limited. The company is part of a public listed Italian group based in Milan and specialises is supplying Alarms, Immobilisers,

Parking Sensors and Stolen Vehicle Track-ing Systems to the Automotive Sector.

Since leaving UWCSEA, I have established a career in the Automotive Industry, pri-marily working in a variety of sales and marketing roles with Ford in the UK, Eu-rope and USA before moving to work in the automotive supply sector.

I live in Epping, Essex, UK with my partner Christine; we met whilst working together at Ford.

Aruna Khanzada (Ramachandran)Aruna has published a cook book, “CUR-RY BASE, a fool proof guide to making curry easy” available to be previewed

and/or purchased online at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/732625.

Aruna gives curry class parties in London using the book for people to get together for a demo and a three course meal using the curry paste. Participants take away the curry base recipe (or purchase the book) and a pot of the freshly made paste. For further information, please email Aruna at arunakhanzada@mac.com.

Dale Fisher Dale was in Washing ton for an influ-enza meeting w i t h W H O and grabbed the opportuni-ty to meet Eric Suan also from Class of 1978, in nearby Baltimore after linking up on the Class of ‘78 listserv. They hadn’t seen each other since school in 1978.

Roberta Stack (Fish) After leaving UWCSEA I at-tended a col-lege in Califor-nia, US. I have d o n e m a n y things s ince then, includ-ing earning my second degree black belt in Kenpo Karate. Ten years ago I realized that my passion is for animals, especially pet rats. I fell in love and I went into rat rescue big time. My husband has tried to limit the number that I have at one time, but during one phase, I had 64! We travel with our rats in a big trailer! We live up in the pine trees where deer and other wild animals roam through our yard. Animals rock!

1979 Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan and John Field got married in Au-

gust 2009 right before heading off to Sin-gapore for Reunion 2009. The couple held

a wonderful event at their home which included a huge fi reworks display and Chinese lantern ceremony. The wedding was attended by other members of the Class of 1978; including Yuli Toh, Karin Brown, Fiona Kellaway and Homer Gilpin.

Patricia Newmarch (Maley)This is me and my 12 year old daugh-ter ; she gets the height from her fa-ther!!

1980 Peta Tilbrook (Yelland) I studied at The University of Western Australia for eight years, gaining a PhD in Microbiology and then spent three years in London and nine years in Perth as a Research Fellow in Cell Biology. I then transitioned across into management as the Research Manager of a research institute, followed by becoming a School Manager in UWA’s School of Population Health.

I married Matthew, also a research scientist turned Manager, halfway through our stud-ies at UWA. We have no children but my sister provides four rent-a-kid/teenagers whenever required. Yvonne Lomasney I attended UWCSEA from August 1976 to April 1978. After moving back to Canberra, I attended Phillip College and graduated in Dec 1979. I have been with the De-partment of Defence since October 1980 and now reside in Brisbane. My UWCSEA days were the best, and I often think about them. The big thing was being thrown into the fountain on the last day of school.

1982 Dale Stephens I was a student at UWCSEA from 1975-77 when I left tropical Singapore for dusty out-back Australia (Whyalla, South Australia). In 1980/81, I was an AFS exchange student to Wisconsin USA. I had a ball living with my host families and thoroughly enjoyed

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my deep immersion in US culture. In fact I ended up marrying Dawn, my American host ‘sister’. I studied law in the 1980s and joined the Navy in 1989. As a Navy Legal Offi cer I have had numerous de-ployments including East Timor and Iraq. I especially value the opportunity to ensure humanitarian goals are met under the law from a ‘driver’s seat’ position. I have two wonderful children, a son, Leigh (15) and a daughter, Madison (8). I am currently pursuing a Doctorate in Law at Harvard Law School. I have very fond memories of UWCSEA and Singapore from the mid/late 70’s - all set to a very defi nite disco beat!

Michele Perkins (Milne)I a m l i v i n g j u s t o u t s i d e Washing ton,DC with my husband Geoff and our three children: Zac (11), Fiona (10), and Aidan (7). Having worked in Educa-tional Travel and school counselling, I chose to stay home when I started having children. My husband is retired Air Force and now an IT consultant and former at-torney. We have lived here for 6 years and plan to make it our permanent home.

After (very sadly) leaving Singapore I moved to New York City and went to a boarding school in Connecticut for four years. After graduation, I went to college in Lugano Switzerland for two years, then transferred to Boston University, where I lived for 10 years. After a bad marriage, a great divorce and my mother’s death, I moved to Florida, went to Graduate school and met my husband. We got married, moved to California and had one child, then moved to Texas and had two more kids, before moving to Northern Virginia, where we plan to stay. I’d love to reconnect with old friends.

1983 Peter Jessen

I left UWCSEA in 1981 after O-Lev-els, followed by a one-year stint at Atlantic College in Wales. I then went back to Denmark and took a “sabbati-

cal” (worked on a farm and in a factory) before hitting the books again. After Busi-ness School I spent some years in Copen-hagen working as a Financial Controller. In 1997 my wife Tine and I decided to return to Southeast Asia, where I have joined our family business. We spent the fi rst two

years in the Philippines, followed by four years in Malaysia before fi nally making it back to Singapore. We are happy here and all of our four kids attend UWCSEA! We’ve gone full circle, so to speak...We maintain a house in Aabenraa (Southern Denmark) which we use as our base whenever we go on leave. I still enjoy sailing - though its motor boats these days. I have made con-tact with a few former UWCSEA students in recent years, including old pals Richard Bradwell (Bradfi sk) (1983) and Michael Seest (1983). Singapore is a cool- but an expensive -place to live. If you have not been here for some time you’ll be aston-ished how much it has changed (including UWCSEA...). If anyone remembers me I’d love to hear from you!

1984Patrick RouxelPatrick lives in Singapore and directs fi lms about rainforest conversation. His latest fi lm is “Green” and is available for free download from www.greenthefi lm.com

1985Stephanie (Hyosoon) Kim After leaving UWCSEA, Stephanie gradu-ated from the University of California, Davis with a degree in Biochemistry. She met her husband Doug there, and says, “Lucky for me I didn’t have to kiss too many frogs before I met my prince”. After eight years they married and moved to Southern California where Stephanie works in the pharmaceutical industry. She has a passion for travel and for long distance running so her idea of an ideal holiday is combining her two favorite things - running destina-tion marathons.

1988 Catherine ChampalbertAfter leaving UWCSEA and attending Shatec in Singapore for hotel management, Cathy worked in the restaurant industry in New Zealand and then the South of France where she has remained. Married with two sons, she and her husband opened their own restaurant “La Moule Joyeuse” (The Happy Mussel) two years ago. Cathy travels yearly, alternately visiting her mother in Singapore and her brother in the US.

Virginia Chan I left UWCSEA in 1986 in my fi fth year and continued my studies in Business Ad-ministration in Hong Kong and Australia.

I travelled extensively in Asia, Europe and USA but Singapore was the “hub” since my familyemigrated from Hong Kong in the ‘70s. My f o n d m e m o r i e s o f UWCSEA were truly unforgettable and a

stepping stone to anything possible. As an animal fiend, Biology class was the obvious favourite. Thanks toMr. Seston who taught me that Biology is essential and goes beyond theory. I was very fortunate to have worked at a veteri-nary over the years. A dream comes true but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had tochoose another path. I am however, still an avid supporter of Cat Wel-fare, ASD and voluntary work for other animal welfares in Singapore.

Currently, I run an image consultant busi-ness and I am a proud mother of a beautiful six year old girl, Shalea. Multi-tasking as a single parent and having a hectic work schedule has its moments but is certainly rewarding. Would love to hear from other ex-UWCSEA friends if possible!

1990 Richard Champalbert

Richard, pic-tured here with his two n e p h e w s , m o v e d t o the US from F r a n c e i n 1999, work-ing as a soft-

ware engineer in a small coastal town in Florida called Melbourne. In 2007 he discovered that he could be writing computer games for EA (Electronic Arts) in Orlando, which he says seemed like a lot more fun! He currently lives in Orlando but has kept his home in Melbourne for weekends. Since he has been working at EA, Richard has been a major contributor to three games: NASCAR 08, Head Coach 09, and Tiger Woods 2010. He’s currently working on Tiger Woods 2011.

Terena Starkey I am presently teaching PYP Visual Art in Elemen-tary School at Overseas Family School, Singapore. I left Singapore back in 1988, but was drawn back to this vibrant city many years later to start my teaching career. It’s also great that I’m still in close contact with a few former peers here.

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

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1992Patrick MyhrmanPatrick is married and has a 15 month old daughter. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden and works as a consultant in the pulp and paper industry. He would love to hear from more people that went to school with him. Patrick is on facebook, although not very often.

1993 Daniel Siller-Pinette

D a n i e l r e c e n t l y married Jennifer R. Mengers-O’Brien on 7 November 2009 in New York City. Congratulations to the couple!

Daniel earned his bachelor’s degree (1997) and master’s degree (1998) from The School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and his Master’s of Business Administration at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 2005.

1997Mevan JayawardenaMevan is moving to Singapore to pursue an MBA at INSEAD in January 2010. He continues to be very active in proj-ects for CandleAid (formerly AFLAC). The swim program continues and they have trained over 2,900 kids thus far in Sri Lanka. They are also focusing on post conflict relief in Sri Lanka.

1998 Tejas Ewing Tejas is currently one of the world’s leading experts on Carbon Offsetting and Climate Change strategy for businesses. He has just taken on an exciting new role spearheading an innovative Climate Change Adaptation campaign at the New Economics Founda-tion in London - www.neweconomics.org. He has also published the second edition of the world’s most comprehen-sive analysis of Voluntary Carbon Offset providers for the leading environmental journal in Europe, Environmental Data Services(www.endscarbonoffsets.com).

Tejas has a Master’s degree in Leadership in Sustainable Development run in conjunc-tion with the UK Sustainable Development Commission and the well-known NGO, Forum for the Future. He specialises in strategic climate change consulting and environmental communications and pub-lic relations projects for businesses. In 2005, he worked as a journalist with The Hindu in India covering breaking news,

Hal Quin (Class of 2009) competes in the World Ironman Championships, November 2009

Triathlete Hal Quin qualified for the World Ironman 70.3 Championships after competing in the Ironman 70.3 Singapore Triathlon in March 2009, training for the competition since graduating from UWCSEA in May. The Ironman 70.3 consists of a 1.9 kilometer swim, a 90 kilometer bike ride and a 21 kilometer run, completed in that order. Events were held around the world as qualifi ers, and the championships were held in Clearwater, Florida in November. They were attended by both professional and amateur triathletes. Hal came 13th in the 18-24 age category, with a time of 4:13:32. Hal was one of the two youngest competitors. He will be heading to Australia in the new year to pursue his university education but plans to continue training and competing as well.

Four alumni play in the Touch Rugby Home Nations Tournament, October 2009

Larissa Nelson (Class of2004)Sarah Ferrin (Class of 2004)Emma Black (Class of 2004)Ellie Shepherd (Class of 2008)

Alumni Larissa Nelson, Sarah Ferrin, Emma Black, and Ellie Shepherd participated in the Touch Rubgy Home Nations tournament in Glasgow in October 2009. Emma and Ellie represented England while Sarah and Larissa played for Wales.

environmental reporting, social issues, arts and culture, science and business.If you need any strategic business consul-tancy or training in environmental issues, climate change, sustainable development or corporate social responsibility, please let him know, and he can help. His email ad-dress is: tejas@ewingcomm.com.sg. www: http://tejasewing.googlepages.com/home

2000Christopher Huke

Chris has returned to Singapore with his wife Ellen and is working as a physiotherapist. Ellen and Chris are pleased to announce the birth of their fi rst child, Anna Rebecca Huke. Born on the 6th

of December, she weighed in at 2.98kg and was 50cm long. Both mother and baby are home and in good health.

2001 Michelle Cheong Michelle along with a friend founded a web project called The Discarded. The website is a visual archive of old business cards of people made redundant due to recession and a collage of their personal

stories. The aim of the founders is to huma-nise the effect of the recession which ‘til now has been circulated as mere statistics. (http://www.thediscarded.org)

2002 Rosemary McGowan Rosemary is the co-artistic director of Buds Theatre Company. They are holding Buds Playtent End of Year Drama Camps for 6 to 13 year olds in December and January 2010. Information about Buds can be found at www.budstheatre.com.

2006Melissa GlotzerMelissa is working on a student-run charity initiative, Blessings In A Bag (www.bless-ingsinabag.org). Donations are collected at two drop-off points in Singapore - Serene Centre and Orchard Youth Park- and dis-tributed to needy charities and communi-ties around Asia. Melissa manages BIAB’s links with schools. Hygiene/stationary/clothing items are always needed and welcome.

Archive photo of Larissa and Sarah, 2007

ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORT

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The classes of 1980, 1985, 1990 and 2000 are invited to celebrate in Singapore in August 2010. Any other alumni or class groups who

wish to join the reunion are welcome as well.

As in previous years, all four classes are invited to a Friday evening cocktail reception and Asian-themed buffet dinner at the Grand

Hyatt Hotel, provided by UWCSEA to kick off the weekend, Saturday events organised and celebrated with your own year group and a Sunday barbecue on the campus grounds, again provided by UWCSEA to revisit your memories and make your plans to keep in

touch with classmates and friends, old and new.

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 at reunion@uwcsea.edu.sg for more

information. We hope to see you in August!

Third Annual Reunion of the 30 year, 25 year, 20 year and 10 year anniversary classes

27 - 29 August 2010

UPCOMING REUNIONS

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, 25, 30 or 40 year class reunion. Alumni events around the world will

be advertised on the alumni site and through the alumni eBrief.

Details for the above events and updated attendee lists are available on the alumni website at http//alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg/

events.

For enquiries, please write to reunion@uwcsea.edu.sg

(Please indicate event in subject line)

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

London alumni reunion22 January 2010, London

The fourth annual London alumni get-together will again take place in January 2010. All alumni are welcome.

Mumbai and Jakarta alumni reunions Date and Venue TBC (2010)

The fi rst Mumbai and Jakarta alumni get-togethers do not yet have dates. Please check the alumni site for details. All alumni are welcome.

New York alumni reunion 23 January 2010, New York

The first annual New York alumni get-together will take p lace in January 2010. All alumni are welcome

San Francisco alumni reunion 29 January 2010, San Francisco

The first annual San Francisco a l u m n i g e t -together will take place in January 2010. All alumni are welcome.

Clockwise from top left: One tutor group photo from each of four class years: 2000, 1990, 1985 and 1980.

Kuala Lumpur alumni reunion March 2010 (TBC), Kuala Lumpur

A Kuala Lumpur alumni get-together will take place in March 2010. All alumni are welcome. Please check the alumni site for details.

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