NorthOneOMICA (P) 137/11/2008 Vol 4 June 2009

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

Alumni Profiles

Conservation work in DRC

Birdwatching in Brazil

Reunions

Class Notes

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

4 Letter from the Head Read about campus development and the launch of the UWCSEA Foundation.

5 Note from the Alumni office Welcome to the fourth issue. Congratulations, Class of 2009!

6 Alumni Profile Kevin Stea (Class of 1987), Entertainer.

8 Awards Day Award winners and photos from Upper School theme week!

10 Values in Practice (ViP) Lucy Fauveau (Class of 1996) carrying out conservation work in DRC.

12 Values in Practice (ViP) Green Initiatives at UWCSEA.

13 Sport Harry Mason (Class of 2000) referees his first international rugby test match. Alumni coach basket- ball at UWCSEA.

14 Values in Practice (ViP) Pascale Moreau (Class of 1979) Deputy Director UNHCR.

16 Class of ‘78 Scholarship Fund

17 Alumni Profile Zainab Mansaray (Class of 2005), NC Scholar.

18 Recent Reunions See photos from alumni get- togethers around the world.

20 Alumni Profile Patrick Grove (Class of 1993), Entrepreneur.

22 Values in Practice (ViP) Tejaswini Apte (Class of 1991) - Environmental Consultant.

24 Travel Birdwatching in Brazil - Tejas Ewing (Class of 1998).

26 Singapore Food Aruna Khanzada’s (Class of 1978) Hainanese Chicken Rice.

27 Staff Leavers Mary Kirwin leaves after 35 years. Other 2009 Staff Leavers.

29 Classnotes

31 Upcoming Reunions

Editor Brenda Whately

Assistant Editor Prapti Sherchan

Layout Lenca YewPrapti Sherchan

OneºNorth is published by United World College of South East Asia twice per year for alumni, staff and friends of UWCSEA. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited without written consent. Send your address change to alumnimagazine@uwcsea.edu.sg and/or update your profile 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: Lucy Fauveau on lake patrol with rangers in Virguna National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.

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

Contents

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, first 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 profile, search for and contact other regis-tered members, post photos and blogs, stay informed about news and events, etc.

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

Reunions and get-togethersA reunion of the 30 year, 20 year and 10 year anniversary classes will be held each August in Singapore. Other class reunions and alumni gatherings take place in various locations throughout the year, planned by both UWCSEA and its alumni. Watch the alumni website for updates and details, 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 six times during the academic year, containing College news and reports of events and ac-tivities, as well as a brief alumni section.

Give or get adviceHave yourself listed on the Mentor page of the site if you are willing to be contacted with questions or asked for advice regard-ing your university, location or career, etc.

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

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.

Please keep in touch!alumni@uwcsea.edu.sg

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

Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, East Timor, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mali, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Northern Ireland, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saint Helena, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka, St. Bartelemy, St. Maarten, Sudan, Swaziland,

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

OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

Printed by Interprint Communications Pte Ltd

Alumni services

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Note from the alumni office

from the Head of CollegeLetter I am pleased to report that the development of the College on the two campuses is continuing

smoothly. The world has changed dramatically since the expansion was announced but despite the current economic crisis the College is in good health and we are continuing to experience a strong level of interest in both campuses of the College.

We have finalised the Master Plan for the Dover Campus and aim to begin phase one of the programme of refurbishment and development in June. This will involve the creation of a covered bus park near the boarding houses which will also serve as a play area during the day and provide additional parking for College events. The main part of phase two will consist of the construction of a classroom block on the site of the Middle School Office near the Humanities Block, whilst phase three will focus on the refurbishment of the two original classroom blocks on either side of the tent plaza - we are adamant that we should maintain something of the original character of the College - and the construction of a third block joining the two at the end nearest the boarding houses. Another classroom block will be constructed on the site of the Main Library and High School offices in phase four. The new building will also house the school administration. The final phase will see the complete refurbishment of the Humanities Block. It is our aspiration to complete the whole programme within five years.

Across the island, the permanent home for the East Campus at Tampines is on course for the opening of the Infant School in August 2010 and the remainder of the campus in August 2011. The piling work was completed in March and the main contractors moved on site in April to begin construction.

Another milestone in the College’s history was recorded in February when the UWCSEA Foundation Board held its first meeting. We are delighted that the following have agreed to be Directors of the Foundation:

Kishore Mahbubani Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Chair) David Chong Founder and Chairman of Portcullis Group of Companies Gay Chee Cheong Board Director Hyflux Limited Sat Pal Khattar Chairman of Khattar Holdings Kirtida Mekhani Director CIS Agriferts Pte Ltd Charles Ormiston Senior Partner Bain and Co Michelle Sassoon COO Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Mary Ann Tsao President Tsao Foundation Zhang Lei Chairman and Chief Investment Officer Hillhouse Capital Management It is a reflection of the high regard in which the College is held that we have been able to bring together such a talented and committed group of people to serve on the Foundation, which is a key component of our strategy to develop a world class school. With the exception of one person, all the Foundation Board has a connection with the College as an alumnus, a parent or a grandparent of current or former students.

The purpose of the UWCSEA Foundation is to support the College in achieving its mission and enhance the UWCSEA experience through five key programmes: scholarships, outreach initiatives, staff professional development, capital developments and an endowment. The Foundation has been granted IPC status, the first foundation associated with an International School in Singapore to achieve this. This means that all donations to the Foundation attract generous tax breaks from the government.

We are extremely grateful to the parents, staff and alumni who have already made donations to the Foundation; one parent generously funding a full scholarship for the next two years for a student from Sierra Leone, and one alumni year group fully funding another.

Julian Whiteley

The graduation ceremony of the Class of 2009 was held on 23 May with 289 stu-dents of 50 different nationalities becom-ing the newest members of the UWCSEA alumni community. The guest speaker was Singapore neuroscientist, wheelchair ath-lete and world record holder Dr William Tan, who delivered an inspiring speech in which he moved the audience with the message that even in the face of adversity, remarkable achievements are possible. Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

Please see the alumni site and the next is-sue of OneºNorth (Dec ‘09) for photos.

2009!Graduation

The academic year is drawing to a close and we have another group of students to welcome to the alumni community. We wish all of our new graduates and other students leaving the College this term, the very best!

I hope you enjoy as much as I have, the stories featured in this issue about what some of our alumni have been up to in their careers, educational pursuits and travels. For those of you missing Singapore food, we have added a recipe provided by one of our alumni for chicken rice, one of the local favourites. Pages eight and nine feature Awards Day, held in April to which some of the Grade 12s wore some very interesting costumes! It was the culmination of three themed dress days during which they were to be seen dressed as superheroes and stereotypes and then anything else that their imagination could come up with.

The website has continued to grow, exceeding the 5,000 member mark in April and we have added some new features including a Mentor page where you can get or be available to give advice about your university, location, career, etc, to other alumni or current students. Please think about signing up to offer your expertise if you haven’t done so already. Information about Reunion 2009 appears on the site as well. We hope to see you there, especially if you are from the classes of 1979, ’89, or ’99. If Reunion 2008 is anything to go by, it will be a great weekend of reacquaintance, reminiscence and fun. Other alumni events being planned around the globe over the next year include New York, Mumbai, Jakarta and London. We’d be happy to advertise anything you are planning as well.

The Class of ’78 has proudly achieved its goal of raising enough funds among members of the group, to fully support their own IB scholar for the next two years. This will be the very first fully-alumni-sponsored scholarship awarded. I’m sure that the group is looking forward to getting to know the recipient of their scholarship soon.

Prapti and I have enjoyed meeting so many alumni who have visited the campus this past year. You are welcome any time. Please stay in touch and remember that if you are changing your contact details in future, please update them with us and/or on the alumni site so that others can remain in touch with you.

All the best for the rest of 2009!

Regards,

Brenda WhatelyDirector of Alumni Relationsbrenda@uwcsea.edu.sg

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ALUMNI PROFILE

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

Kevin came to UWCSEA as an American National Committee scholar in

1985. His parents had offered him the chance to apply to UWC-USA when his family moved to New Mexico as a ‘carrot on a stick’ to entice a reluctant Kevin to join them there. He had previously been attending school in Oregon while his parents lived in Wisconsin. When his mother received the UWC letter of offer and very excitedly read it aloud, he remembers the quizzical look that they gave each other as she read the ‘South-East Asia’ part. It had never occurred to them that the National Committee would offer him a place in a different UWC than the one they expected. His thoughts on the subject now are, “I’m so glad they did!” He felt no hesitation about moving to Singapore and says he viewed it as a big adventure. Kevin had grown up as an only child, so his biggest a d j u s t m e n t i n v o l v e d boarding in Senior House with so many other students. He says, “My time at UWCSEA was absolutely a defining experience in my life. I learned more, achieved more and experienced more than I ever thought possible.” He remembers finding it very interesting to see himself and his country through the eyes of so many other students of different backgrounds.

Some of the challenges that he encountered on his arrival in Singapore included, “the geckos on the walls of my room, the giant cockroaches that unexpectedly flew into the toilet stalls, and the many sleepless nights I experienced after spotting on my ceiling the largest spider I had ever seen.” Along with fonder memories which include the roti prata from the hawker centre at the HDB building across the road from the College and the ‘drain-sliding’ that he and many of the other boarders did during the monsoon rains, he says that one of the best weeks of his life was

Grade 11 Project Week. He and a group of friends rented a boat and sailed up the east coast of Malaysia to produce a photo essay on the effects of the Crown of Thorns starfish on the coral reef. He describes the memory of that trip as “magical.” Kevin says he never had a childhood dream to dance or pursue a future in front of a camera, but some of his activities at UWCSEA may have influenced his

eventual career direction. From his involvement in the gymnastics programme at the Col lege he was persuaded by teacher John Burgess to perform in the Arts Festival. Fellow student Sean Ghazi, now a successful singer and actor, had had the brilliant idea to create a show of musical numbers from a variety of different musical productions and Kevin became involved. He found the process of writing, acting, singing and dancing a lot of fun, and although it wasn’t until much later, he says that it eventually dawned on him that he could actually make a living at it. After leaving UWCSEA Kevin accepted a scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC).He was attracted originally to the entrepreneurship programme they offered. Finding the programme much easier than the UWCSEA IB programme however, he says he was a less than dedicated student and although he managed

to get good marks, he says he really applied himself only to his film class. He found that class so interesting that he began attending other related classes that he wasn’t even enrolled in. It was at USC that he signed up for his first dance class. Looking back he says, “I think it’s so important to find what you are truly passionate about, something you love, and then find ways to make your living in it.” After taking dance classes for a year, he attended an agency audition and found himself signed and booked for a job two days later. Once he started working consistently he says he never looked back. A year after that first dance job, Kevin was hired as dance captain, dancer and assistant choreographer on Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition Tour and later appeared on the related documentary Truth or Dare. He has danced and assisted with choreography for Michael Jackson

and a long list of other artists including Elton John, Prince, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, David Bowie, Celine Dion, Macy Gray, Anastacia, Smashmouth, Rihanna and the Pussycat Dolls. He has appeared in several movies, and television shows including Newsies in which he played the role of Swifty the Rake, Melrose Place, Friends, Sister Act 2, Showgirls, The Birdcage, Charlie’s Angels, Naked Boys Singing, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Rent and Scrubs as well as awards shows including this year’s Academy Awards. He has been involved in several commercials including a series of Gap commercials which he says he loved doing. He has choreographed a cappella vocal/movement pieces for Carramba Che Sorpresa in Italy, and has walked the runway for Fendi, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. With such a long list of credits to his name, Kevin has a lot of stories to tell about time spent with many of the big names in the entertainment business, including dancing on tables at a club with Madonna, hanging out with Prince and listening to Whoopi Goldberg tell amusing stories.

He says he never ever expected to be working consistently as a dancer for 20 years, and this year, for the first time Kevin has decided to reduce his focus on dance. This has been a difficult decision for him but he says that as he finds himself working more and more with younger dancers he realises that he must begin to concentrate a bit more on his other pursuits. There doesn’t appear to be any shortage of them. Very recently Kevin has directed a music video, performed as one of two leads in an Indie rock ballet called The Question, the trailer for which can be viewed on YouTube, was involved in a fashion show in LA and has photographed an article and fashion editorial for an online magazine. He has performed with Hugh Jackman at the recent 81st Academy Awards, has appeared at the recent A-List Awards as well as on Dancing with the Stars. At the same time he is working on an album, has sung at Long Beach Pride and has three upcoming concerts between July and October this year with Open Artists with Open Arms, a group of artists who create benefit concerts and events for various charities

UWCSEA 1985 - 1987

Kevin Steaby Brenda Whately

like Lifeworks and the Aids Healthcare Foundation.

Over the years Kevin says he realised that he had something to give back to his industry and so he has also taken on a role that he describes as educator and rights advocate. He says he is making an effort to leave his industry better than when he arrived by working with the agencies, answers4dancers, dancer’s alliance, the screen actors’ guild and AFTRA. Kevin enjoys living in Los Angeles but loves to travel. He says that it’s difficult to take vacations when constantly on the lookout for the next gig, so he has usually waited until a job has taken him somewhere and then stayed on or travelled from there afterwards. He dropped into Singapore four years ago on a trip around the world and visited the UWCSEA campus while he was here. While he enjoyed the visit, he was disappointed to see that Senior House, where he had lived for two years, has been torn down since and replaced with a new residence.

Although he says that he is not good at keeping in touch with old friends, citing 20 lost phones and several broken computers, Kevin does keep his profiles on Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr, Dipity, Facebook and the UWCSEA alumni website updated and if anyone wants to get in touch he would love to hear from them.

“I think it’s so important to find what

you are truly passionate about, something you

love, and then find ways to make your living in

it.”

Clockwise from top left:The 81st Academy Awards, Feb 2009 with Hugh Jackman (Kevin, far right); Kevin on the cover of Made 4 Sport; Kevin in ‘Newsies’.

Kevin Stea Interscol 85-86

Photo credits : Opposite page: Edward St.George-Adams, Magazine Cover: Elias Tahan.

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Awards Day

AWARDS

21 April 2009

ALUMNIOutstanding volunteer work in the Gap Year ProgrammeOutstanding volunteer work in the Gap Year Programme

GRADE 12Academic Attainment Award Grade 12Academic Attainment Award Grade 12

English AwardAsian Languages Award - Chinese

Asian Languages Award - HindiAsian Languages Award - Indonesian

Asian Languages Award - JapaneseAsian Languages Award - Korean

European Languages Award - FrenchEuropean Languages Award – German European Languages Award - Spanish

Bilingual Award A1/A2Bilingual Award A1/B

Biology AwardThe Shaun Hanley Award for Chemistry

Physics AwardDesign & Technology Award

Environmental Systems and Societies AwardScience, Technology and Society Award

Sports Science AwardGeography Award

History AwardEconomics Award

Business & Management AwardPsychology Award

Mathematics AwardTheory of Knowledge Award

Computing and IT AwardDavid Watson Prize for Performing Arts

Outstanding Technical Support for the Performing ArtsDiana Greenwood Prize for Senior Drama

Lance Huet Art Prize Grade 12Gavin Waddell Art Prize Grade 12

Robert Lutton Creative Writing Prize (Upper School)Publications Prize for Footprints

Guitarist of the Year AwardStrings Player of the Year Award

Vocalist of the Year AwardOutstanding Performance and Commitment to College Music

Outstanding Contribution to NYAAPublic Speaking Award

Student Initiative Award (William Thomas accepting award)Student Initiative Award (Devika Rajashekar accepting award)

Thomas Kemeny Jocelyn Ames

Hannah BrooksGal OshriElke WynbergZuriel HassirimKhushboo ChawlaRizqarossaa DarniYuta ShinozakiEun Seo JoArchana RamanujamAmelie SchraderJoaquin Marandino PeregalliInga PenkinaNarun UnWiraaj AgnihotriRyota SekineGal OshriKuan-Liang WuSneha ThayilChan Ning LeeMegan YapMelanie DobsonJulia Seul Bee LeeAnuncia CamachoWai Kin LeungRachael HenninCho Jung WooElke WynbergZuriel HassirimAlexander ClarkNicola Louise KroppChristopher D Ross Murphy Ji Won RimPia Jacqueline ChandraHalligan David QuinAnuncia Camacho Wiraaj AgnihotriYuta ShinozakiDaniela Lais Da Silva PedroChan Ning Lee Halligan David QuinMaria MateenUWCSEA Bandana InitiativeHIV Patient Care Centre Brochure

Service Award Grade 12Service Award Grade 12Service Award Grade 12Service Award Grade 12

Contribution to Upper School Boarding LifeThe ECIS International Student Award

Outstanding Contribution Award Grade 12Outstanding Contribution Award Grade 12Outstanding Contribution Award Grade 12Outstanding Contribution Award Grade 12Outstanding Contribution Award Grade 12

GRADE 11Academic Attainment Award Grade 11

Photographer of the Year AwardBrass Player of the Year AwardWindplayer of the Year Award

Senior Pianist of the Year AwardEARCOS Global Citizens Award Grade 11

Contribution Award Grade 11Contribution Award Grade 11

Service Award Grade 11Service Award Grade 11

GRADE 10Academic Attainment Gr 10 & Mark Ironside Prize

Mick McManus Prize for High School DramaContribution to High School Drama

Ann Evans Art Prize Grade 10Mary Kirwan Award for Drawing Grade 10

Contribution Award Grade 10Contribution Award Grade 10

Service Award Grade 10Service award Grade 10

Contribution to High School Boarding LifeEnvironmental Award

GRADE 9Academic Attainment Award Grade 9

Percussionist of the Year AwardContribution Award Grade 9

Service Award Grade 9Service Award Grade 9

The Council of International Schools Group Award

Rizqarossaa DarniSarah Ann ElliottWonjay ChangEddah MburuFrancisco Alejandro Martin AlbiJoaquin Marandino PeregalliChan Ning LeeAnuncia CamachoHannah BrooksSumire DoiNishta Kumar

Anuran MakurJustin KimMaxwell MoodyKenichi YonedaTasha StoltzCharlotte Ella Jones MaslinTasha StoltzStephen James KhalekEmily YapAliena Haig

Aditi SabhlokNicolas CarterLodewijk VriensSahana RamakrishnanMansi GuptaManavi SachdevaGabriella SantosaChristina ChungSoracha PrathanrasnikornCharlotte WittesaeleNikhil Sambamurthy

Cristabelle OrmistonJonathan Andrew ChapmanJoanna SmitOh Se JungChen Zi Tong

RoundSquare

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VALUES IN PRACTICE

Lucy Fauveau has led an extremely interesting and well travelled life. She

has attended school in the UK, Eu-rope and South East Asia and has done volunteer work and project work for various organisations in Asia and Africa including her most recent conservation work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Lucy was born in France to French parents, but lived there for only two years as her parents, who are both doctors involved in public health, sociology and migration, moved often with their work. The family were living in London in 1991 when her father was offered a position in Laos and as there were no appropriate English-speaking schools there at the time and in Cambo-dia where the family subsequently moved, it was decided that Lucy would board at UWCSEA. She arrived as a Year 4 (Grade 9) boarder in 1992 and remained for the next four years until graduating from the IB programme in 1996 and moving on to pursue further studies.

Thirteen years later, in April 2009, Lucy returned to visit UWCSEA with fellow alumna Alisha Leow. After hearing a little of what she had done since leaving Singa-pore in ‘96, we asked her if she would be willing to share her story with us and she graciously agreed.

Brenda Whately

Where did you go and what did you do after moving on from UWCSEA in 1996?I took a year out to “discover my French roots”! I went to the Sorbonne in Paris and did a French Civilisation course and then attended lectures in Social Anthro-pology at Nanterre University. I went on to complete a BA in Social Anthropology and Development Studies at SOAS in Lon-don, after which I volunteered for a year in Mozambique for two different NGOs; one in community health and the other in HIV prevention for adolescents and I managed to learn Portuguese in the process. I re-turned to the UK to do an MSc in Forced Migration (Refugee Studies) at Oxford University as I wanted to do humanitarian work, and then I interned and worked for two years for Marie Stopes International as an assistant Programme Manager for Madagascar, Angola, and Yemen. I had been advised to get management experience before heading abroad. It led me into the domain of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and I was hired as the SGBV manager in a refugee camp in East-ern Chad, near the border with Darfur, for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). We were eventually evacuated out of Chad due to the intensified conflict and I stayed about a year in France looking for new work. After following my then boy-friend to the DRC, I started working for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) as the Project Manager in Virunga National Park. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and my management

experience again allowed me to enter into a new and fascinating domain which has turned out to be the most exciting work I’ve done so far! What were your main influences for choosing the work that you have done and do now?I’ve grown up in the non-profit world. My parents have always been an enormous inspiration. The UWC spirit also encour-aged me toward charity work. There was always a fund-raising activity, an awareness-building game, a cultural-sharing show, a concert, a play, a social service commit-ment to helping others, a gobal concerns organisation or event that somehow tied in core values such as understanding oth-ers, social justice, global awareness, caring for the environment, helping those less fortunate, adapting to different situations, being generous etc. Being in that kind of environment, with such an incredible mix of people definitely contributed to my general direction in life. How long have you lived in DRC and what did your work there involve? I have lived there for almost two years, based in Goma most of the time with regular trips into the Virunga National Park. I was responsible for the ZSL project and a team of four excellent Congolese colleagues. The general goal of the project was capacity-building for the Congolese wildlife authority and the park. I was in-volved in and supervised all aspects of the project - admin, logistics, finance, HR, fund-raising, organising workshops, training, field visits, procurement of equipment and materials for the rangers. I covered media interviews and represented the organisa-

tion at the DRC level. ZSL also covered bonuses for 650 park staff to supplement their government salaries.

Were you involved with protection of the Mountain Gorillas in Virunga National Park?In training the rangers to do their job more efficiently, we are contributing to the protection of the gorillas and their habitat but my project did not focus particularly on the gorillas and that sector. There were four other conservation NGOs doing that. Can you describe the impact of the war on the National Park and the Mountain Gorilla?In the first year and a half I was there, the war had already started in the province. The conflicts between the different war-ring parties resulted in people fleeing from their homes to Goma and the surround-ings seeking safety, shelter and food, which the government and the humanitarian NGOs tried their best to secure. This huge movement of population also meant that natural resources such as firewood and charcoal were over-stretched and people had to go into the park to meet their basic needs. Rebel groups and armed men poached animals in the park for survival. The last 200 of the 720 Mountain Gorilla population in the world live in the southern sector of the park on the border of Rwanda and Uganda. The rebel movement used that sector as their base, making it impossible for us to access. For over a year and a half, no one knew what the status of the gorillas was and there was nothing they could do. Fortunately, the rebels did not kill the gorillas, but it

was more the illegal traffic of charcoal that threatened their habitat - charcoal made of wood from the park meant increased deforestation, reducing the gorilla’s habitat.

How have you been able to look after your personal safety?Most of the time Goma was relatively safe, but the roads out were more dangerous. The National Park was out of bounds for most humanitarian NGOs as it was occu-pied by different rebel groups, but we had to support the rangers and their families and get our activities on the ground done, so we entered the park regularly. I took my safety and that of my team very seri-ously. We tried to stay well informed of the situation by asking colleagues, locals, other NGO staff, and contacts in the military before making trips to certain sectors of the park for example. The local radio stations and the internet, to some extent were also a source of information. I convinced my headquarters to rent an evacuation house on the Rwandan side, 10 minutes from Goma, and it became my base for a while as events escalated. I had escaped to cross the border in my Land Rover minutes before panic hit town thanks to a call I made to check up on a BBC journalist who was on the front line. I had three mobile phones (one for each network as they are quite unreliable), and a satellite phone to stay in touch. How easy was it to get the necessities that you and others required to live there?There are one or two great shops in Goma where you can get almost every-thing you need, if you are willing to pay

LUCY FAUVEAU 1992 - 1996

Conservation work in the Democratic Republic

during a time of warCongoof

the inflated prices! All the basics were there and even some luxury goods. To my great joy I even found soy, chilli sauce and sambal! I missed Asian food! Why did you leave DRC and do you plan to return?I left at the end of November 2008 when the project’s funding ended. I travelled to France to see family and friends and then felt the urge to reconnect with South East Asia so I went to Bali and also made a nostalgic trip to Singapore to see UWCSEA and some old school friends. I hadn’t been back since I was 18, and I am now 30! I have just been recruited by the Frankfurt Zoological Society (where my boyfriend Rob works) as the Project leader for Virunga, so I’ll be back there by the end of May! You are currently volunteering in Bali - could you expand on the work you are doing there?I am volunteering for a month with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation in Ubud. I had actually been to the Bamboo Foundation as part of Project week at UWCSEA to learn about the different uses of bamboo! Now I am helping to complete a training manual for the sustain-able management of sympodial bamboo (clumps) for construction. In exchange I get to live in an adorable bamboo house on the beautiful estate, eat organic food grown on site, meet and work with a suc-cession of experts, artists and passionate people.

Looking back on your career to date, how satisfying and rewarding has it been and do

From Left: Lucy at the edge of the Nyiragongo Volcano, DRC; Lucy on lake patrol with rangers, Virunga National Park; Lucy and Lisha Leow ‘96 visiting UWCSEA; Young Mountain Gorilla in Virunga National Park.

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

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SPORTyou plan to continue to do the same type of work in future?I don’t think of it as a career so much as a series of experiences. I have gained so much from the types of jobs I have had, the people I have met and the situations I have been in. My way of seeing things, understanding and reacting is constantly challenged and I must re-think and re-adapt. I definitely plan to continue this kind of work and life until I can’t physically or mentally take it anymore! Is it correct to say that you have kept in touch with many of your friends from UWCSEA?My largest network of friends to date and the ones I am closest to are almost all from UWCSEA. As I travel around I realise there is almost always someone from UWCSEA that I know and could count on if needed. Returning to visit however has felt like going back home, and hanging out with old friends was so fun and comfort-ing! No one knows you like your boarder room mates... What types of leisure activities and hobbies do you enjoy?I love to dance salsa! In fact, I learnt at the same time as my best friend Candice Leong who also was in UWCSEA with me and who became an international salsa star. I love diving, Latin American music, Af-rican masks, photography, yoga, meditation, roads less travelled, water sports, being in nature, Balinese spas…

For more information about the Virunga National Park where the Mountain Gorillas live (tourism re-opening for gorilla visits in DRC soon!) and where the lava lake filled Nyiragon-go volcano towers over Goma, check out the park’s official website at http://gorilla.cd/ and Lucy’s page at http://lucyfauveau.gorilla.cd/ For information on the Okapi (an animal the size of a horse with a zebra’s hind legs and a giraffe’s neck and tongue which only exists in Congo), which members of Lucy’s team photographed, visit ZLS’ sites at http://www.zslblogs.org/?cat=16 and http://www.zsl.org/conservation/news/first-ever-pictures-of-africas-unicorn,514,NS.html and the BBC site at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7609393.stm.

Lucy can be reached at lucyfauveau@gmail.com

Over the past couple of years UWCSEA has taken action in

several areas to make the campus more environmentally friendly. Bottled water is no longer sold on site and has been replaced with six additional water fountains around campus and four additional water dispensers from which the students can refill their own reusable containers. Disposable styrofoam and plastic cups have been replaced by reusable cups at the coffee shop, Toscana. If staff and students forget to bring their own cup, they can ‘rent’ one and be reimbursed when it is returned. Sandwiches are no longer sold in plastic packages but simply wrapped in biodegradable paper.

The paper and exercise books used at the College are now sourced from a company in India which uses recycled sugar cane waste. Farmers are assisted to grow sugar cane from which they keep the sugar and the waste goes to the paper manufacturing company. The water produced in the process is then cleaned up and used to irrigate the sugar plantations. College publications are now produced on recycled paper.

New copiers and printers have been introduced to all departments with the aim of cutting down the amount of paper used. Staff and students must log on before use and automatic settings print double-sided in black and white. Documents can also be scanned instead of copied.

LED lights are currently being trialled which use 10% of the energy of normal lights. Water taps in the washrooms have been fitted with attachments to control flow and showers in the change rooms and boarding houses have been fitted with a system which heats the water with heat extracted from the air conditioning system.

Air conditioning at Dover campus is one area which cannot be improved at the moment because the buildings are old and designed to run on traditional air conditioning systems. The new East campus buildings however will be equipped with an air conditioning system which uses energy from the sun to drive the coolant, requiring low energy input.

In addition to the efforts on Campus, whole grades of students continue to work with the Singapore National Parks each year, planting trees during UWC Day.

There is a lot more we can do to try to reduce our impact on the Earth and the College is committed to doing so.We will be keeping our eye on these initiatives and introducing more in the coming months and years.

Harry was recently selected to referee the test match between Sri Lanka

and Thailand in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations Division One tournament played in Dubai on 11 April 2009. It was his first international test match. This followed his nomination in March 2009 to the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) 2009 referee panel and his subsequent selection as one of the five referees on the ARFU ‘Future Development Panel.’ That same month he was in Dubai as In-Goal Assistant Referee for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) Sevens. He says, “My RWC Sevens experience as a match official was simply fantastic, meeting some great people on and off the field.” He has recently been appointed to referee the ARFU Women Sevens in Pattaya, Thailand at the end of May 2009.

Harry played rugby for the Singapore U19 squad at the ARFU tournament in Taiwan in December 1997 along with a few other UWCSEA students including Paul Foster, Alun Meadows, Shaun Tullidge and Keane Ferretti. He also played for the U16 and U19 squads at UWCSEA before injuring the

cruciate ligaments in his knee in January 1999 for which he subsequently underwent two bouts of surgery. In 2000 he was playing again and was selected to the Singapore men’s national sevens team, playing in the World Cup Sevens qualifier in Kuala Lumpur and the International Rugby Board (IRB) Volkswagen Sevens in Japan. In 2003 he tore his knee ligament again, requiring a third operation. It was at that time that he started his coaching and refereeing qualifications. He is now an IRB Level 2 coach and referee and has been coaching rugby at UWCSEA since 2004 from the U10s right up to the U19s, currently coaching the U14 squad twice a week. Although he no longer plays competitive rugby, he still participates at a social level and trains regularly with the SCC rugby section. He plans to continue to seek international and regional referee appointments.

Harry completed a degree in Applied Social Science at the Australian College of Applied Psychology in 2007 and currently works in Singapore as a real estate agent. As refereeing overseas tournaments can

When the second term started up in January, a couple of

our 2007 grads were to be seen arriving at the basketball courts at the end of the school day to help coach basketball. Amshuman Rao, who was a student at UWCSEA from 2002 through completion of the IB in 2007 and Martin Jensen, an IB student from 2005 through 2007 gave some of their free time during the holidays to coach the Girls ‘12 and Under’ and ‘14 and Under’ teams alongside PE teacher Denise Stevenson.

Amshuman headed to Sydney, Australia in February to continue his

studies while Martin remained in Singapore and has continued to coach. He is planning to return to Denmark for university over the next couple of months but until then he is coaching both boys and girls teams approximately three times a week. He also offers one-on-one coaching and has recently travelled to Kuala Lumpur as assistant coach with the ‘14 and Under’ girls ‘A’ team and played a key role in

Harry Mason referees his first international rugby test matchClass of 2000

Recent alumni come back to help coach basketball at UWCSEA

them winning the championship. Denise says that his commitment to the teams has been “phenomenal” and without his assistance they would have struggled to provide sufficient high quality coaching for all the teams throughout the term.

Both alumni played basketball while students at UWCSEA and coached younger teams. They said it’s always fun to come back and help out and a great way to stay

take him away from Singapore for several days at a time, he says he is lucky that his job allows him the flexibility to maintain a good balance, which he has managed to do thus far.

Harry can be reached through the UWCSEA alumni site.

Green initiatives at UWCSEAMike Price

Lucy Fauveau,Interscol 95-96

in touch. They were pleased to note that the emphasis on involvement of the younger students over the past couple of years has already led to stronger senior student teams and this was evident when the girls’ team won the SEASAC basketball tournament in Bangkok in February. Martin says, “ I love the sport and being able to coach for my school again is fantastic. The kids are great and keen to learn. I’m enjoying the chance to give back.”

Denise, who has been with the the PE Department since 2007 says that

they are always pleased to have alumni help with coaching of the various College sports teams. If you are in Singapore and would like to become involved in helping out with the coaching of any sport, you are invited to get in touch with the Director of Sport, Expeditions & Activitiese to check into the opportunities to do so.

Amshuman and Martin can be reached via the alumni site.

Martin (Top row left) and Denise (Top row right) with the winning girls in Kuala Lumpur

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VALUES IN PRACTICE

UWCSEA 1972-1979

Pascale Moreau Working for the protection and well being of refugees

Making friends in the Sahara Desert (Pascale - far right)

Frederique my sister (aka Fred) and I were raised in a nomadic family and we spent our childhood and

adolescence in many countries. My father worked for a French bank in South East Asia and he changed assignments every three to four years, always taking us along everywhere. It was a great and extremely enriching childhood, with many happy memories. We had the privilege to visit and live in the early sixties and seventies, in several countries that were to change dramatically thereafter. But this ‘expat’ life also had its share of more traumatic experiences such as directly experiencing the Vietnam war in the sixties and our evacuation from Saigon in April 1975 with one suitcase. The family came to Singapore in early 1972 after a few years in Africa and this coincided with the start of my secondary education. As there was no French school in Singapore, my parents made what was an unheard of decision at that time in the French community, to switch us both to the English system so that we could all remain together. We came to learn English in three months, very much thanks to the creativity of a Chinese teacher who did not speak any French and taught us from scratch using gestures and mimic! Although I remember those months as being absolute hell, it worked and in September 1972 I entered First Year at SIS (Singapore International School which became UWCSEA). Being younger, Fred joined me the year after and we remained ‘day bugs’ until early 1975 when we became boarders in Maley House as my parents were reassigned to then-South Vietnam. That year was particularly complicated for the

family given the political upheavals in Vietnam. Whereas all French women and children had been evacuated in April, the men had all remained behind willingly to ensure the necessary transition with authorities. Many, including my father were put under house arrest while their release was negotiated. This occurred after some harrowing months and given my parents’ new assignment in Kuala Lumpur, we were able to return to UWCSEA in 1976 where I remained until my graduation in 1979.

What can I say about UWCSEA that has not been written before? It is certainly the one biggest influence in my life and along with our family travels, has very much influenced the choices I have made and who I am today. I still consider it an enormous privilege to have been able to attend this school and I firmly believe that the world may be a better place if more youth could benefit from

such a diverse and unique education. So over the years, I have been thrilled to see that UWCs have sprouted on every continent. Coming from a very traditional family and a very conservative and strict French schooling system, UWCSEA was a shock and I remember being in awe of many students who were so much more daring and adventurous than I was. Just reading some of the ‘wild’ stories of Maley House girls recently has reminded me of those great formative years. But I also have to say that the teachers and their genuine interest in dialogue with their students of all ages as well as the very diverse nationalities and cultures living so closely together, probably had an even bigger impact. If Tony Dilley reads this, he should know that I started studying Oceanography because of his and Dick Hutchings’ great biology classes – the lesson on the ‘aerodynamic-ity’ of Asian elephants is one I will never forget! Unfortunately, I was terrible at Maths and Chemistry, so I changed to an Archeology major after two years which I really adored until I suddenly realised that I would probably starve to death, that I would have to scrape and scrounge every penny and that I was not rich enough to pay for my digs which is what most archeologists have to do! Like many children of ‘expats’, the bug of travelling

“ If I analyse my motivations more closely

now with time passed, I also rec-ognise that I had been strongly affected by the fate of various groups of refugees we had en-countered in so many countries visited during my childhood...”

Pascale sewing by campfire light, Morocco

Mitrovica Field Office, Kosovo, UNHCR

was firmly anchored in me and I just could not fathom my life in one location. So I had to find an area of study (hopefully leading to a decent job!) that would satisfy my need for ‘internationalism’, diversity and discovery. International law followed by international relations had all the criteria I was looking for! In addition, I had many ideals and was hoping to make a real difference, somehow ‘paying back’ for the great life I had had so far. If I analyse my motivations more closely now with time passed, I also recognise that I had been strongly affected by the fate of various groups of refugees we had encountered in so many countries visited during my childhood - Ethiopian and Somali refugees, Indochinese boat people, the situation in South Africa in the late ‘70s and Afghanistan spring immediately to mind. The humanitarian world of the UN was a logical choice and I applied for positions with UNICEF and with UNHCR. UNHCR offered me a three-month internship and although it was not paid, I thought it would open up opportunities. Indeed, I signed my first paid contract with them over 20 years ago as a legal officer in their branch office in Paris dealing with asylum seekers from Ghana and Sri Lanka.

As the UN Agency in charge of refugees worldwide, UNHCR requires i ts international staff to do field rotation throughout one’s career. There is no such thing as a permanent fixed posting in one location. Rotation implies a change of duty station every two to four years, which must also include postings in hardship duty stations. For most of us, this work does take its toll on family life, sometimes on our health and many times

on our inbred optimism. I don’t think any of us could stay unless we firmly believed that individually and collectively we can actually make a real difference in the lives of people. Whereas some locations are more ‘comfortable’ than others, we have many colleagues working in very difficult, isolated and increasingly unsafe areas. None of us ever forget that the refugees we serve are in much worse conditions than we are however - not just in desperate need of humanitarian aid and international protection but the need to rebuild their lives and to hope for a better future for their children. This makes it all worth it. It is challenging and rewarding work that requires dedicated teamwork, an understanding for and a love of diversity and a clear dedication to dialogue, negotiation and action. Does this not sound familiar to UWC-ers…!

Rotation in UNHCR took me to a variety of duty stations – Romania during Ceaucescu days where I spent over two years and never imagined I would live through the end of the regime and the transition to democracy; assisting the opening of UNHCR offices in Eastern and Central Europe as these countries were becoming ‘accessible’ and started to encounter asylum issues; a short emergency team mission to then-Zaire for the Rwandan genocide; Russian Federation where I stayed for three years at a time just after the coup attempt in 1993 when change was still nascent and very

fragile and where most of our work then was focused on the internally displaced from the first Chechnya conflict; Bosnia-Herzegovina working regionally on the return of minorities after the Dayton Agreement and then fYROM/Kosovo in 1999 for the major exodus immediately followed by one of the largest and quickest spontaneous voluntary return movement of refugees UNHCR has ever seen. I then spent a few years representing UNHCR in the European institutions in Strasbourg which was a very different but extremely interesting assignment and this was followed by Kosovo again, this time as Chief of Mission, where the main challenge was, and remains, the return of ethnic minorities.

For the past two and a half years, I have been in our Geneva Headquarters working in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) where I am one of two Deputy Directors. UNHCR has five regional bureaux of which this is the second largest (after Africa) covering over 45 countries ranging from Central Asia to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, onward to South Asia, South-East Asia, East Asia and finally the Pacific. If one thinks about the range of countries concerned, you can imagine the diversity and complexity of refugee-related issues our teams are working with in this region. Mrs. Ogata, our former High Commissioner, used to say that she would know her priority for the next day just by watching CNN every

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

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On the weekend of 22-24 August 2008 the Class of ‘78 returned to the campus for their 30 year reunion. For many it was their first visit back to Singapore since leaving the College. It was also the start of another ‘first.’

Several members of the group decided to embark on a project that allowed the class to ‘give something back.’ They settled on the ambitious target of funding a full two-year IB diploma scholarship. In four short months the target was reached and S$60,000 of gifts and pledges had been received by the Foundation, allowing a new African scholarship to be awarded for August 2009.

Now that the financial target has been achieved, we hope the class enjoy meeting the recipient of their generous support and sharing in his/her experience at the College.

The Foundation would like to thank the entire class for their encouragement and the listed class members for their contributions to date. Whilst this was certainly an inclusive project, I am sure the class would echo our sincere thanks to Dale Fisher who has drawn the group together for this project since the idea was first discussed last August.

You can follow the programme of the first alumni-funded scholarship at http://foundation.uwcsea.edu.sg

Lesley AntonKerim BothorMatthew BucknallGregory CaccavaleRonald ChongWilliam ChongPaul CumminsPeter EuGustavo FazzariDale FisherCraig FloodGeorge FongNicolai FoongJackie GreenwoodKush HandaLiz HuntYuki KoniiWyming LooJacques MainguyRobert MiltonJohn MorrisPhilippa NewickTony ParedesNiru RamachandranKenneth RobertsonMario RosarioRajiv SachdevSuvir SachdevSiobhan SampsonJohn ShangEric SuanKatie WarnerPatrick WidjajaZain Willoughby

To the Class of ’78 – Thank You

night and this is exactly what one can do for RBAP. Some of the big refugee-related

Zainab attended UWCSEA from 2003 to 2005 as a National Committee (NC) Scholar from Sierra Leone.

The civil war that erupted in 1991 had forced Zainab and her family to move from a village in Northern Sierra Leone to the capital Freetown, where Zainab was enrolled to pursue a medical degree when she was awarded the NC scholar-ship for UWCSEA. She seized the oppor-tunity even though it meant repeating two years of High School as she felt that it was an opportunity to broaden her ho-rizon and build a stronger foundation.

Zainab describes her two years at UWC-SEA as a very enriching experience which exposed her to different cultures, pro-vided her an opportunity to explore the world and opened her up to community service. She says the most important and enjoyable part of being at UWCSEA was the emphasis the College puts on being a good citizen of any community.

After completing the IB programme in 2005, Zainab was awarded a Davis Schol-arship1 to pursue pre-med at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the summer of 2007, she won the Taylor Health Fellowship, which provides an opportunity for pre-med students at Macalester to shadow health profession-als. She observed doctors in the Twin Cities of St Paul and Minneapolis and also in Freetown, drawing comparisons between the medical practices in the two countries. In Freetown, she shad-owed a psychiatrist, scrubbed in for a hysterectomy and a cesarean-section with an obstetrician and gynecologist and observed the differences between private and public practices. In the Twin Cities she shadowed two pediatri-cians. In 2008 Zainab was selected as a Mayo Scholar under a programme which grants the opportunity to a select a few science and economics undergraduates from private colleges in Minnesota to work with Mayo researchers and Licens-ing managers, assessing the viability of

newly invented products in the market. Zainab’s role was to explore the diagnos-tic applications and marketability of a novel cDNA probe for a particular fungus. After extensive research and analysis, Zainab, along with a team of other un-dergraduates, approved the diagnostic tool and presented their findings to a team of experts at the Mayo Clinic.

Zainab believes that the lack of proper education is preventing her home coun-try from developing. So last summer she set about doing her part to contribute to improving education in Sierra Leone. She and a fellow Sierra Leonean from an-other UWC were recipients of one of the 2008 Davis Projects for Peace2 awards which they used to finance a 10 week project in which they began the rebuild-ing of a school burned down during the civil war in one of the poorest regions of Sierra Leone and encouraged students to participate in constructive community service. As part of their project they

were also able to provide scholarships to 10 students which covered a full year of tuition, books and school supplies. For Zainab, knowing that they had in-troduced a tradition of service that will be beneficial to the community made it all worth it.

Zainab graduated from Macalester this May and is currently completing the sec-ond summer of her Beckman Fellowship doing research in a plant genetics lab. She will be starting a PhD in Neurosci-ence at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York in September 2009. She hopes to eventually return to Sierra Leone after completing her stud-ies. One of her ambitions is to open a subsidised clinic in her community where she will be able to one day offer health services to those who cannot afford it.

We wish Zainab all the best in her new endeavours. She can be contacted via the alumni website.

1The Davis UWC Scholarship programme provides scholarship support to UWC graduates from around the world to attend a number of American Colleges and Universities with the hope of building cross-cultural understanding across the various campuses and around the world.

2 Davis Projects for Peace is an invitation to undergraduates at the American colleges and universities in the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design grassroots projects that they will implement. The objective is to encourage and support today’s motivated youth to create and try out theirown ideas for building peace.

ALUMNI PROFILE

Zainab meeting Kofi Annan, another Macalester alum, for the second time at her May 2009 graduation ceremony.

Zainab Mansaray UWCSEA 2003 – 2005

“The most important and enjoyable part of being at

UWCSEA was the emphasis the College puts on being

a good citizen of any community.”

issues we are working with at this time are the biggest displacement of civilian population in recent years (Pakistan); a major emergency operation (Sri Lanka), one of the biggest voluntary return/reintegration programmes in UNHCR coupled with ongoing displacement/movements (the Afghan situation), protracted camp situations where refugees have been waiting for a durable solution for more than a decade (Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand), big urban refugee populations (India, Malaysia, Thailand), generous countries of resettlement (Australia, New Zealand), countries vulnerable to natural disasters which can create massive displacement (in 2008 alone, cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the Sichuan earthquake in China),

etc. The challenges are complex and very difficult and we have great teams working very hard in all these countries, many under tough conditions in the field closest to where the refugees are. Together with my bureau colleagues, our work in Geneva is to assist and support them as much as possible. My assignment is due to end in 2010 after which I will be rotating again - destination totally unknown for the moment but I guess this is also what makes it all worth it.

Pascale Moreau Pascale may be contacted through the alumni website.

By Prapti Sherchan

Class of ’78 Scholarship FundDavid Shepherd

Interscol ‘78 /79

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Third annual UK alumni get-together

On 30 January 2009 alumni were once again invited to meet and mingle with other alumni and with the Head and Assistant Head of College who were in London for a recruitment fair. This year the number of attendees outstripped that of the previous two years, with almost 300 dropping in to have a drink and nibbles while catching up with old classmates and friends, renewing acquaintances and friendships and becoming acquainted with other alumni they hadn’t met previously. Watch for the date and location of the fourth annual London event, early 2010!

Photo creditSean Martin, Sylvie Core and Andrew Fensom

Mini-Reunions

Several mini-reunions have been taking place in the early part of this year among the members of the classes of 1978 and 1979, perhaps sparked by the recent 30 year reunion of the Class of 1978 in August 2008 and the preparations for that of the Class of 1979 which will take place in August of this year.

Aruna Khanzada hosted a dinner for six former classmates and friends from the Class of 1978, all of whom had become reacquainted at Reunion 2008 in Singapore and were able to meet up again at Aruna’s home in London,UK for further catching up and a home-cooked curry meal. Aruna says it was “A lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon!”

Six alumni from the Classes of ’78 and ’79, including Karin Brown and Tracey Morgan, got together in Winchester, UK for a day in late March. Katie Warner, Class of 1978 organised a feast in Perth,

Photo credit: Shahrin Merican, Aruna Khanzada and Tracy Morgan

Australia, of satay, roti prata, nasi lemak and rendang for a group of 18 alumni from her class year. Shahrin Merican and four other members of the Class of 1979 got together in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to spend some time together, and Valerie Yap, Class of 1979 caught up with a couple of other members of her group in Toronto, Canada, to chat about old times and new.

RECENT REUNIONS

UWC 80’s Reunion, LondonTim Foulkes

A group of about 30 former UWCSEA students from the 1980’s (‘84-‘88) met up in London for the weekend of 27-28 March 2009. There were attendees from Europe, USA and Singapore and even many of those who live in the UK had travelled in for the event. We booked a Malay restaurant, the Jom Makan in Pall Mall, and in our private room we consumed lots of Anchor Beer and Malay food while we reminisced about the past, including being thrown into the air con pool, trips to Beluntu, Newton Circus discussions about former teachers and old class mates and what everyone was up to now. We all agreed that we had enjoyed the best of times at UWCSEA and Singapore. We passed around old photos of when we looked slimmer and younger and we all thought we had aged well but then that was probably down to the alcohol! The following day a smaller number met up at Covent garden and ended up spending the day sightseeing and enjoying a wonderful curry meal. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend and as a result, a follow up weekend has been fixed for 11-12 September 2009 in London. Everyone is welcome! We are hoping to organise an event twice a year and hopefully numbers will grow. Anyone wishing to come along or wanting further details is welcome to email me at timbof@live.co.uk or add me on facebook.

Hong Kong alumni get-together

A group of about 12 alumni located in Hong Kong joined the alumni team while they were there for a conference in early December 2008. Attendees took the oportunity to meet other alumni living in the area.

For the second year, alumni in Singapore over the holidays were invited to get together to catch up with other alumni also in town at the same time. Last year the event was held later in the month to accommodate more alumni returning to Singapore after university exams. This year we will be looking into holding it later in the day as well in order to include alumni who are working. Please pass on your suggestions and stay tuned for the date, time and venue of this December’s gathering.

Second annual December holiday alumni drop-in

Photo credit: Tim Foulkes, Cheryl Lewis and Sudeshkumari Pathmarajah

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Above: Celebrating the IPO of Iproperty.com outside the Australian Stock Exchange, Sydney, Australia; Patrick with his classmates at the Reunion of the Classes of 1993 and ‘94, August 2008, Singapore. Top Right: Patrick and Interscol 91/92 team with Ah Meng at Singapore Zoo

The Catcha Media Group is private and Patrick says the plan is to have it remain so. Catcha Media Group however is the founder and controlling shareholder in Iproperty.com (IPGA Limited) which has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since 2007. It also owns the private company Catcha Media Malaysia, Malaysia’s largest print publisher with 20 magazine titles, as

mentioned. The Group has offices, and owns property portals, in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India. Patrick’s role in the Group currently focuses mainly on strategy, mergers and acquisitions and the identification of new opportunities for both companies. The current global economic downturn has, unsurprisingly, slowed the growth of the company but

Patrick says that it is not declining, and that revenue is holding steady. They have put some cost cutting measures in place aiming to cut 10% of total group costs over the next few months, and they’re looking forward to regaining their growth targets when the economy rebounds.

Patrick is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He loves living in KL where he has now lived for five years, following five good years in Singapore. He says it’s a great base for a regional business and a dynamic environment for young entrepreneurs filled with lots of talented people and market opportunities as well as places to unwind and have fun. He gets back to Singapore quite often as his mother, a Singaporean, lives here and the company has an office here. He attended Reunion 2008 in Singapore last August to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his class year and says, “It was great fun and I am looking forward to the next one in five years’ time.”

Patrick may be contacted through the UWCSEA alumni site.

“We’ve been on the verge of going bust at least two or three times, but I can say

safely say those days are long gone.”

ALUMNI PROFILE

There have been a lot of ups and downs in Patrick’s past, but he says that this is what he thrives

on and that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Group CEO, Executive Chairman and major shareholder of the Catcha Media Group, Patrick says, “We’ve been on the verge of going bust at least two or three times, but I can safely say those days are long gone.” He was referring to the successful publishing and online property portal business that he helped to found and develop in the years since leaving UWCSEA. Patrick is also co-founder and Executive Chairman of ASX listed IPGA Limited which owns a network of Asian property websites under the iProperty.com umbrella brand.

Prior to founding the Catcha Media Group Patrick worked in corporate finance at Arthur Andersen where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions and investigation into the investment value of the high growth new media and technology environments.

Over the past decade Patrick has built a significant media and internet business across Asia and has been recognised with numerous international awards. He was named Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2001, New Asian Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2003, Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Singapore in 2004 and was awarded BusinessWeek’s Asia’s Best Young Entrepreneurs award for 2008.

Patrick came to UWCSEA in 1989 into Year 4 which is now called Grade 9.

Patrick Grove, 2009

He completed the GCSE programme and first year of the IB programme at UWCSEA, completing his final year of High School in Australia. He then went on to achieve an undergraduate degree in Commerce, majoring in Finance from the University of Sydney and gained his qualifications as a chartered accountant. While at university he started two businesses which he says made him more money than his first junior accountant job did after graduating. This obviously fueled his entrepreneurial spirit but he credits UWCSEA with first developing it in him. While at the College, Patrick says he was involved in extracurricular activities which included being the Editor for both Interscol and Mengembara, the travel magazine which eventually evolved into the current Footprints publication. He says that this experience planted another seed for what developed into a keen interest and ultimately part of a career, in the media industry. He cites the 1991/92 Interscol as the first publication he was involved in and still remembers it with pride even though his group now publishes over 20 magazines in the Asian region. He has a study in his home with what he refers to as a ‘trophy wall’ containing a copy of every magazine and publication launch he has been involved in, and the one publication that he is missing and would like to add to his collection is a copy of the 1991/92 Interscol. If anyone has a spare copy, he’d love to get hold of one!

The Catcha Media Group which began as an internet media business for South East Asia and was originally called Catcha.com, went through a

name change as the company grew to incorporate publishing. It was founded in 1999 with three partners in Singapore, about three years after Patrick left university and completed his chartered accountant programme in Australia. It received approval to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange the following year but before the listing was completed, the dotcom bubble burst, the company fell into debt and Patrick and his partners recognised the need to restructure. This they began in 2000, starting with the name change. “In 2001 we launched one magazine – to try to survive and try something different. In 2002 we launched another magazine. In 2003 we launched another. Between 2004 and 2007 we launched or acquired another 15 magazines and in 2007 we acquired and listed Iproperty.com which has since made acquisitions in Hong Kong, Taiwan and India.” Their perseverance and determination seems to have paid off.

Patrick Grove UWCSEA 1989 - 1992

by Brenda Whately

Dot Com SURVIVORENTREPRENEUR and

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and the environment. She heard about a small, but highly respected environmental group called Kalpavriksh in Pune, India, and they offered her a job coordinating a small research project on conflicts over natural resources in India. She has been involved in environmental research and writing since 2000, and has retained close links with Kalpavriksh.

Her first book, An Activist Approach to Biodiversity Planning: A handbook of participatory tools used to prepare India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, published in 2005, came out of a consultancy for the International Institute of Environment and Development (UK).The Indian government, in 2000, launched a national planning process for the con-servation of biodiversity. People from dif-ferent walks of life, ranging from village communities, NGOs, academics, students, officials and activists were to be invited to give their inputs for the plan. This was unprecedented because national planning

is usually very centralised and top-down. The government gave the responsibility of preparing the plan to the NGO, Kal-pavriksh. Tejaswini’s book documents and analyses the different tools and strategies used in the mammoth task of gathering those inputs from across the country, along with the successes and pitfalls experienced in the process. The book is presented in a format which allows readers to easily adapt and apply the tools and strategies to their own context both in and outside India. It is freely accessible online.

Her second book, an introduction to the very complex world of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), was published the following year in 2006 and is titled A Simple Guide to Intellectual Property Rights, Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge. The issues of food security, corporate monopolies over biological resources and community con-trol over biodiversity are of great relevance to all but the jargon and legal terms of the IPR field can be intimidating. To open up debate on these issues to a wider range of

people Tejaswini devised an easy question and answer format progressing from simple to more complex issues, and included a ‘jargon buster’ which can be used for other reading on the subject. It has been translated into Hindi and is currently being translated into Kannada for the benefit of farmers and students.

Currently Tejaswini is involved in long-dis-tance consultancy work which sometimes involves trips to an environmental project or organisation for evaluation followed by recommendations for the future. She also undertakes assignments which require mainly web-based research as well as editorial consultancies including a recent book on agricultural biodiversity which was published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In addi-tion she has done some speech writing for the head of Greenpeace International.

After many years Tejaswini has returned to music and now plays the guitar which has become an important part of her life. She also loves to travel and explore new places with her husband. They have trav-elled around the former Yugoslav states of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, which she describes as beautiful and a meet-ing point of East and West. “In northern Serbia the Austro-Hungarian influence is very strong in the food, culture and archi-tecture, but drive just a few hours south towards Kosovo and eastern influences are everywhere, from the minarets to the food on your plate.” Israel she found fas-cinating. “There is great diversity, from the Arab markets of the old seaport of Acre, to the tranquillity of the Sea of Galilee, the endless stream of ancient buildings in Jerusalem and the grandeur of the Negev desert.” Over the last few years she has also travelled around China, Japan, Greece, Jordan and France.

Tejaswini would love to hear from for-mer classmates, teachers and friends at tejaswiniapte@hotmail.com

Copies of Tejaswini’s books are free on request

to people living in non-OECD countries. The first

can be found at www.policy-powertools.org/

related/NBSAP.html and the second at

www.iied.org/pubs

“Only after I graduated from UWCSEA did I realise how incredibly privileged I had been to have access to the kind of equipment we

used, the music teachers we had, and the opportunity to make music with a big

band!”

From Top: Cover of Tejaswini’s second book; Tejaswini in student production “The Glass Menagerie” 1989/90

VALUES IN PRACTICE

A boarder at UWCSEA for six years between the mid-80’s

and the early-90’s, Tejaswini is today an environmental researcher and published writer. She has travelled extensively and lived in a number of countries since she left UWC-SEA, including India, Serbia, and Israel and has recently returned to the Asia Pacific region, now living in Cambodia.

Tejaswini’s husband works for the Interna-tional Committee of the Red Cross which has resulted in a fairly nomadic lifestyle in recent years, moving almost annually. This has meant less fieldwork and fewer long term projects than she would prefer but she has continued to do environmental research and consulting and is a published author of two books and several articles.

During her years at UWCSEA Tejaswini lived in all three boarding houses, Junior, Middle School Girls’ and Senior House. She says that her time at Piggott House (Middle School Girls’ House), was easily her best due to the relaxed environment and interesting activities that Mr Piggott organised for them including Christmas carolling at the homes of some of the teachers. She especially remembers the great spread of food provided by the headmaster, Mr Watson and his wife when they carolled at their home! Another of her vivid memories of Piggott House involves a raid staged on her dorm in the middle of the night during which some of the girls were ‘attacked’ with chicken rice bought from the HDB stalls opposite the school! “The girls in my year knew that the Year 5 (now called Grade 10) girls were planning something dramatic, so for about a week my dorm-mates and I barricaded ourselves in at night by pushing wardrobes in front of the doors. So when the attack came we were ready, but we still had plenty of chicken rice chucked at us through the windows which were impossible to lock

UWCSEA 1985-1991by Brenda Whately

shut. The clean-up the next day went on forever and I don’t think I ate chicken rice for quite a long time after that!”

Music and drama remain a large and defining part of Tejaswini’s memories of UWCSEA as she spent hours, along with her close friends, playing with the Percus-sion and Concert Bands. She also became involved in the Arts Festivals each year, par-ticipating in the musical accompaniment for various productions such as Annie. She developed a real passion for percussion, beginning with simple instruments like the cymbals, triangle and Chinese gong, progressing to playing timpani and the drum kit. She attributes that passion to the encouragement and sheer fun provided by the music teachers of the time including Mr Richardson, Mr Macintosh and Mr Lowe. “Only after I graduated from UWCSEA did I realise how incredibly privileged I had been to have access to the kind of equip-ment we used, the music teachers we had, and the opportunity to make music with a big band!”

After graduation from UWCSEA Tejas-wini went on to complete a BA in English Literature and Development Studies at the University of Sussex and a Master’s degree in Image (Media) Studies at the University of Kent. The combination un-dergraduate degree equipped her to take up a more practical profession in the field of environment and development without having to give up English Literature, her first love. She enrolled in Image Studies to pursue an interest in cultural studies and discourse analysis which she felt was related somewhat to English Literature while being focused on film, photography and other media. Tejaswini worked as a film journalist in India for a couple of years before beginning a research project on the censorship of Indian cinema which involved some fascinating research at the Censor Board offices in Mumbai. Though these pursuits were interesting, she felt that they were not fulfilling enough and decided that she wanted to become in-volved in something more socially relevant and of more practical use to other people

Tejaswini Apte

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

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by the entrance to the restaurant every evening. In the surrounding trails and lodges, hummingbird feeders were full of active chattering birds, hovering, fighting and feeding within a few feet of us. With sunset views across much of the Serra do Mar range, it was a wonderful place to relax and unwind.

The Atlantic Rainforest has a huge number of endemic bird species relative to its size, and our guide Ricardo had played a part in rediscovering one of them, the Kinglet Calyptura, at our next stop, the Serra dos Orgaos national park. Iconic in Brazil for its sharp peaks jutting across the horizon, known as ‘God’s Fingers’, this park also features an excellent trail towards the peak known as Pedra do Sino. The many peaks in the park attract hikers from all over Bra-zil, thanks to the challenging conditions. On one of our hikes, Ricardo showed us a cliff where a client suddenly disappeared behind him, when he slipped and fell on the wet rock, sliding over a hundred meters down into a ravine. Ricardo mentioned that if he had not seen his client go over the cliff, he wouldn’t have known what had happened to him (as he hadn’t even had time to make a sound), and they probably never would have found him! Thankfully our hike was less eventful, but all the more relaxing for it.

This region is not all forests and hiking though. There are some wonderfully pic-turesque beach towns, full of local colour and Portuguese influences. We stopped at Paraty (or Parati), a lovely coastal town which exploded in wealth in 1696 with the discovery of gold in the mountains surrounding the town. In Paraty, the mountains rise to over 1,300m within just a few kilometres of the town’s limits, and surrounding the town are numerous small islands, a wonderful combination of hiking and ocean all within easy reach. Near Paraty we saw an Antwren which was considered extinct for over 60 years, but was recently rediscovered in a highly disturbed area. This area is now protected and the bird is locally common. The town itself is a magically-preserved warren of cobbled streets, churches, squares and villas - with most of the downtown areas being reserved for pedestrians and horses. There is not a motorised engine to be heard anywhere in the centre. While we were there, the realities of what I study - climate change - were brought home in a striking way. The region had been hit by unsea-

sonably heavy rains, resulting in flooding across much of the town centre.

Locals suggested that it was the worst flooding in hundreds of years. Seeing this flooding reminded me of the importance of travelling in a way that helps protect the local environment, and I felt confident that our trip had helped conserve a region that provided a huge watershed for these coastal towns. The large area of Atlantic Rainforest soaks up much of the heavy rain in the region, and should any more of it get logged or degraded, the flooding will only get worse. I only hope that more people will come to discover the joys of the Brazilian Atlantic forest, so that it can stay preserved for generations to come.

Tejas Ewing graduated from UWCSEA in 1998, and went on to study Geography, with a focus on Sustainable Develop-ment in Vancouver, Canada, and then Climate Change Policy in London. He currently works as a Climate Change consultant in London, and also works with his father’s company, Ewing Commu-nications. He can be contacted via the Ewing Communications website (www.ewingcomm.com) or the UWCSEA alumni site.

Opposite page: Violet Capped Wood Nymph. Above: Town of Paraty; Versicoloured Emerald Hummingbird; Hangnest Tody-Tyrant.

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

TRAVEL

Birdwatching often seems like an unusual hobby to those who don’t partake in it. My father is an ardent,

though not fanatical birdwatcher. He en-joys the outdoors, as well as the intellectual and physical challenge of tracking down new species of birds, identifying them, and keeping lists of what he has seen. I enjoy the fresh air, hiking and the chance to spend time supporting eco-tourism around the world. By travelling with him, I have seen that birdwatching is an excel-lent form of environmentally-aware travel. Just like hiking or nature photography, it brings you to national parks around the world, contributes to the local economy and helps protect biodiversity.

Almost all birdwatching guides are local people who make their living by introduc-ing people to the delights of local wildlife. Many birdwatching locations protect a special piece of habitat exclusively be-cause birdwatchers are willing to travel there to see a specific bird. Most of these protected areas are not on the tourist track and would not flourish without the income brought in by birdwatchers. While other forms of ecotourism, such as beach holidays in Bali or hiking the Inca trail in Peru, bring tourists to well-known sites (and must work to limit visits in order to protect the area), birdwatching often brings a traveller well off the beaten path, to areas frequented by locals and unaccustomed to large numbers of foreign tourists. Through

birding with my father, I have often seen countries as the locals do.

Our recent trip to Brazil was no excep-tion. Rather than hitting the major sites like the famous beaches of Rio, or the eco-lodges of Manaus in the Amazon, we travelled a well-known local route from Sao Paulo, along the coast, and up into the mountains of the Atlantic forest of South-Eastern Brazil. We visited many of the weekend retreats of locals desperate to get out of the huge megalopolis of Sao Paulo (with over 25 million inhabitants). We were accompanied by Ricardo Parrini, a trained biologist who had taken to bird guiding as a way of getting out of the city and supplementing his work in the field of environmental impact assessment. Our trip focused on a small area of mountain for-est, part of the Serra do Mar range and the coastline known as the Costa Verde, which spans the 450km between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This area consists of sandy beaches and lush mountain rainforest and is well-protected because the coastline is so mountainous - meaning that much of the forest is unlogged and undeveloped. It has the added advantage of not being particularly hot, meaning that you have the luxury of hiking in real rainforest, without the normal sauna-like conditions. We began our trip in Itatiaia national park, a mountainous area of second-growth for-est, with amazing views of the ocean and

the surrounding mountain range. There, we met Haroldo Simon, born in the park 67 years ago, who remembered how his father planted soybeans, and that across the valley was an enormous horse ranch. Now, although it has only been protected for the last 50 years, it is remarkable how much has grown back, and the biodiver-sity is amazing. At our lodge every night, hordes of Guans (large turkey-like birds) arrived every evening to roost, and we simply walked through them as they fed and socialised along the main trail to our cabin. There was also a local owl that could be easily spotted every night and a friendly squirrel that curiously waited

Birdwatching

photos Tejas Ewing Iain Ewing

inBrazilby Tejas Ewing UWCSEA 1991 - 1998

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STAFF LEAVERS

Although Mary is going to miss, and be missed by UWCSEA when she leaves at the end of term 35

years after first arriving in Singapore, she is looking forward to getting back to family and friends in the UK. Mary came to Singapore with a sense of ad-venture, to accept a teaching position at UWCSEA shortly after graduating with her Art Degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and teaching for three years at Sackville School in East Grinstead, Sussex.

Mary’s specialty area lies in textiles and embroidery. She has always been fasci-nated by textile art and has collected ex-otic and interesting samples throughout her life, with a special interest in Chinese and Indonesian textiles developed while living in this region. She has regularly in-corporated textile art into her classroom and has created, exhibited and sold her own work over the years.

Mary arrived at UWCSEA in 1974, the year before the College became a full member of the United World College movement and its name changed from Singapore International School to United World College of South East Asia. The College and everyone in it at the time of her joining had what Mary describes as a pioneer spirit. Back in London while being interviewed for her position, she was asked if she would be willing to participate in the development of a planned outdoor pursuits and academic facility in the region, which eventually came to be called Beluntu, built on the beach at the edge of the jungle in Johor, Malaysia. Beluntu she feels was one of the first steps toward Kurt Hahn’s (founder of the UWC movement) vision of education where academic subjects were taught right along with outdoor pursuits. Mary has wonderful memories of herself and fellow teachers involved in the early years of the facility including Leslie Sandbach and herself working on the buildings’ roofs. One of her favourite stories around that time is about the day that Lord Mountbatten was to visit the site by helicopter. Days were spent

have included the International Festival Chorus, sailing courses and expeditions as well as the Arts Festival which she has been involved with annually since the early ‘70s. Along with teaching Art she spent some years as Co-ordinator of Lower School and then Head of Grade.

Mary has inspired a number of students along the way including Penny (Aitken) Maguire who says, “I was very lucky to have Miss Kirwan as my art teacher in ’78, ’79. I wasn’t as naturally gifted as some in my class, but I loved doing art and she always encouraged me. I since have gone on to paint and sell ceramics” and Tiffany Hutton from the Class of 1985 who says, “Miss Kirwan was simply an inspiring teacher. I did a Masters of Teaching a few years back, and as part of the process, I had to think

beforehand clearing a place in the jungle for the helicopter to land but when it arrived, much to the surprise and amuse-ment of all those awaiting its arrival, it landed on the beach instead!

Mary has witnessed a great many changes to Singapore and to the College over the years. She says, “When I joined the College in 1974 Orchard Road was two-way, reports were written in tripli-cate and long white socks for girls were compulsory!” She remembers being met on her arrival by John Marshall, then Head of Lower School, who pointed out the various landmarks of Singapore on the way in from the airport, including a traditional kampong located where Rochester Park exists today!

During her years at UWCSEA, Mary has been involved in many activities which

Moving on after 35 years at UWCSEA

Mary KirwanArt Teacher, 1974 - 2009

by Brenda Whately

SINGAPORE FOOD

Aruna Khanzada (Ramachandran) (Class of 1978) attended UWCSEA from 1971 through ‘78. Returning to the UK after graduation she went on to achieve her LLB and practiced as a barrister in London for 15 years, specialising in criminal and matrimonial law. She left the bar in 1996 to concentrate on raising two children, now aged 12 and 7 and keeps herself very busy with a range of other projects as well. In September 2008 Aruna created a lovely photo book using her own photos and those of other attendees to commemorate the UWCSEA Class of 1978 thirty year reunion which had taken place in Singapore the month before. She has recently started a photography business which she says is still in its early stages.

Aruna’s new book of recipes Aruna is also producing a book of recipes based around chicken rice as she has gained a reputation among friends and family for making the best. Here she offers one of her fool-proof, simple but superb recipes for Hainanese Chicken Rice. Be sure to watch for her recipe book called “Chicken Rice and the Rest” .

For more information, contact Aruna at arunakhanzada@mac.com.

CHICKEN RICE

by Aruna KhanzadaHAINANESE

Bring the water to boil. Rub salt into the inside cavity and the skin of the chicken. When the water is at a rolling boil, put the chicken in, making sure it is completely submerged. Bring the water back to the boil and as soon as it starts to roll, put a lid firmly over the pot, turn off the heat and leave the chicken for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the heat on again and repeat the process, making sure you do not lift the lid for the remaining 30 minutes. Whatever you do, do not be tempted to leave the chicken boiling in the water or it will ruin the meat! As implausible as it sounds, the chicken will be poached completely at the end of the hour!

To make the rice, very thinly slice the whole two inch piece of root ginger lengthwise, leaving the skin on. You should get at least eight slices. Peel the cloves of garlic and leave whole. In a mixture of vegetable and sesame oil, first fry the ginger and when it starts to crisp and brown, add the garlic. Fry till both garlic and ginger turn a very dark,

almost black brown. Add the rice to the pot, stir through the oil and add 4 cups of the stock that the chicken has been cooked in. Add salt to taste. Bring the rice to the boil and then simmer with the lid on the pan for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the ginger and garlic and fluff up the rice, keeping it warm ‘til you are ready to serve it.

To make the sauce, put dark soy, light soy, oyster sauce, mirin, sesame oil and vegetable oil in a jam jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously.

To make the chilli sauce, pound de-seeded fresh red chillis together with half a clove of garlic and half an inch of ginger till smooth. Add a drizzle of sesame oil and a pinch of sugar.

To make the soup, reduce the remaining stock to half, adding a bouillon cube to flavour. Chop a spring onion and some coriander and add to the hot soup.

Thirty years ago(!), when I first came to London to study, what I missed most about Singapore was chicken rice! I was fortunate enough to meet ‘Uncle’ Koh, a fellow resident at the International Students House here who shared with me his recipe for chicken rice (learnt from a chicken rice hawker). I now share it with you so that you can take the flavours with you wherever you go! You can make the two sauces in advance and keep them in the fridge.

1 whole chicken, giblets removed1 tsp saltEnough water to cover a whole chicken in a large stock pot2 inches ginger 5 cloves garlic kept whole1 tbsp sesame oil1 tbsp sunflower oil2 cups riceSalt to taste

Dark Sauce:4 tbsp dark soy4 tbsp light soy2 tbsp sesame oil2 tbsp sunflower oil1 tbsp mirin

Chilli Sauce:

3 large fresh red chillies, de-seededHalf a clove garlic, peeled1/8 inch ginger, peeledPinch of sugarDrizzle of sesame oilChicken stock to dilute prior to serving

One cucumber, halved lengthwise and then sliced.

3 spring onions, finely chopped.Coriander leaves.

Debone and cut the chicken into segments, scoring the meat. Pour some of the sauce over it and sprinkle with chopped spring onions and coriander leaves. When you plate the rice, add a drizzle of the sauce on top. Place a few pieces of chicken on the side and some cucumber. Serve the sauces in separate bowls at the table. Serve the soup in small bowls beside the rice.

Top: Beluntu; Left: Mary with Prince Charles at UWCSEA, 1979; Mary far right, 2009

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

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CLASS NOTES

Lian Fey FoongFey published her first solo Photography Book in May. Her intention is to create a series of pho-tography books called ‘Up Close’. In ‘Up Close - The Venice Carnival’, the first book of the se-

ries, Fey is using the Venice Carnival with all its vitality, its expressions of brilliance, as a medium to remind us of the beauty of life up close.

Her book and its accompanying photog-raphy exhibition will be featured at Bistro Senso @ Singapore Flyer ‘til the end of June. Fey invites everyone to take a walk with her and see the Venice Carnival up close. As a photographer, she says she has viewed, and appreciated the Carnival and its true beauty with her heart and soul. She hopes that you will now do the same with yours.

1979 Fiona Lansley (Kellaway) I am married to my lovely hubby Mark and we have three great girls, Holly (19), Kate (17) and Chloe (9). We are currently living in the UK. After UWCSEA I returned to Australia for boarding school, which was a stark dif-ference to boarding in Singapore. I can’t say I enjoyed it at first - I even asked my folks if I could return to Singapore! I then went to Sydney University where I stud-ied Architecture. I changed after the first year to a Maths and Psych Degree. After University, I travelled for a couple of years around Europe. I loved sailing/working on a flotillas of yachts for Falcon Sailing in Turkey, and the two seasons in the French Alps (Meribel) running a private ski chalet. I met my husband in Turkey and as they say the rest is history. We lived initially in the Lake District in the UK, and then moved for work to Melbourne, Australia. I completed a post grad in accounting and lectured at Swinburne University, Melbourne in Further Education. Again in the new mil-lennium we moved to the States for work and lived in upstate New York. As a family we had a great time there. Finally we are back in the UK, but who knows where next! I love moving and travelling and my time at UWCSEA left a lasting love for Asia and all things Asian. It felt like a magical time and made for very special childhood. Singapore still feels like home!

1978Diana Hinshelwood (Yeates) After I left Singapore, I took a gap year and then went to work with the BBC in London. Ever since, I’ve been working in the televi-sion industry, apart from a short break in the mid 90’s to train as a sports therapist. But even then, I was constantly offered TV work, so ended up back at the BBC working for CBeebies, where I became a director, and then a producer. I left again in April 2008 to set up my own production company, and am busy with both televi-sion and radio commissions specialising in Children’s programmes. I have been married to Pe-ter for 18 years, and we have one little boy, Tyler, who is now four years old. We live close to the river in Sunbury on Thames.

Karin Brown I was a UWCSEA boarder (Maley House and Senior House) from 1975-1978 as my parents worked in Brunei. I was lucky to have had a wonderful time at such an unique school and left UWCSEA in 1978 for college in Oxford, UK to do a diploma in Hotel Catering and Man-agement. I then worked and travelled extensively until I had my daughter, Kara, in 1984 - she’s now a teacher!

I reside and work as an Office Manager in Oxford and often visit my folks who now live in California, USA. Fortunately I have managed to catch up with many ex UWCSEA pupils and have attended quite a few mini reunions. Some of my former school friends may remember my love of motor bikes at school. Just for fun, I took my motor bike test in my forties and passed the first time around, much to my daughter’s horror! I own a yellow Honda Hornet 600cc which has bright pink wheel trims but I don’t ride it as much as I would like to.

Anne Matthews (Parkes) I always look upon my time at UWCSEA with fondness and many great memories crediting it for my love of travel. I returned to UK and undertook both Nurse then Mid-wifery training commencing in 1980. Dur-ing this time I met my Australian husband Chris who was on a working holiday. We have travelled extensively as Chris played both state and test cricket and now live a quieter life but we still enjoy travelling. We have a 15 year old son, Luke. Our family loves camping, fishing and travelling. We have recently returned from a camping trip to Ningaloo Reef- an unspoilt and much treasured part of Western Australia.

Family portrait from Anne’s recent camping trip to Ningaloo Reef.

1983 Nirundon (Audt) Ragan I am presently living in Bangkok, Thai-land, my home town. I started working in Aviation from 1987 and started off with being an airline mechanic with the last post of Crew Chief, B747-400 with Northwest. I received a sponsorship to become a helicopter pilot from Canada and was working as an Offshore Helicopter pilot from 1994-2000 after which I moved on to Chief Pilot and Director of Flight Operation for the Thai Partner Company in Thailand. I am presently the Operation Support Manager for South East Asia for CHC Global Operation. HQ is in Vancou-ver, Canada but I am stationed in Bangkok. Hope to be able to locate some of the old friends from the same year!

1984 Fiona Hammond (Miller)

I went to UWCSEA after completing pri-mary school at Tanglin, which was pretty much the norm back then. (None of this putting your kids down on a waiting list

More 2009 Staff Leavers Gareth Barlow, 2006 - 2009Outdoor Education, Leader, Grades 6,

7 Tioman expeditions and Grade 8 Chiang Mai and Ropes Course.

“I have had a fantastic time during my three

years at UWCSEA in what I think must be one of the best jobs in the world. I will miss many things

- friendly students, waking up for work on a tropical beach, forcing

children to walk up hill and making so many wonderful friends! Heading

to Switzerland and Africa.”

Mireille Couture, 2003 – 2009Geography, IB Environmental Systems and Society.“Thanks to all who made my six years at UWCSEA

an amazing time!”

Larry Deferville, 1983 – 2009High School Maths

“It is hard to believe that 26 years have passed so quickly. I will take

fond memories with me of the students and staff who have made

my time at UWCSEA as enjoyable as it has been.”

Chantal Hackford, 2005 - 2009European Languages and Leader, South Africa and New Zealand trips.

“I plan to take a year out for some adventure and hope to return to

UWCSEA in 2010/11!”

Cameron Hunter, 1995 - 2009Head of Chemistry since 2005,

Assistant Boarding Houseparent and formerHigh School Head of Grade.

“Heading to Munich, Germany.

Thanks to all the great staff and students of the College who have

made our time at UWCSEA fantastic!”

Catriona Lewis, 2007 - 2009HS Maths

Vicki Munt, 2006 - 2009 School Counsellor, Leader, Ambassador groups and Kalahari Experience to South Africa.

Sukhvinder Raju, 2003 – 2009Geography, Head of Grade 9, 10 since

2006, Leader, Himalayan Global Concern and Netball coach (14-18 year olds).

“Heading to Bahrain. Thanks to the students

for being so much fun and thanks to all my friends. I will miss

you but never forget you.”

Stephen Rowcliffe, 2006 - 2009IB Biology, Advisor, Interscol team 2007 - 2009 and Durian Durian Bassist 2006 - 08.“Heading off to BC, Canada

for some hiking, golf,

about the teachers I wanted to emulate. Mary Kirwan was one of them.”

Mary says that she has always enjoyed her time at UWCSEA and what she will miss most when she moves on is the mul-ticulturalism of the College as well as her colleagues and of course her students, who she says have “lit up my life.” She says, “It has been a rollercoaster of an adventure with never a dull moment.” It will be difficult to leave, but she is

Mary looks forward to being contacted by students and staff and can be reached at: mary.kirwan@gmail.com.

skiing, sailing...Thanks everyone I have had a wonderful time at

UWCSEA.”

Julie Sanders, 2006 - 2009Geography

“Thanks to my awesome tutor groups, hilarious colleagues, the super

swim team and of course my wonderful students.”

Sue Klinkhamer, 2005 – 2009Grades 4. Head of Service Learning, East Campus.

“Thanks so much to all of the fabulous people I’ve met in my

four years at the College. It’s been a very special time. I’ve enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy of my

students and my colleagues. Come visit me in Vancouver!”

Rob Houghton, 2005 – 2009Outdoor Education

Neil Tett, 1993 - 2009Moving to part time from 2009.

English teacher, Model United Nations; Houseparent - Middle School/ Mahindra House ‘93 - ‘09 and Senior Girls football coach since ‘04.

Neil is not leaving completely - he will continue to teach English on a part-time basis as of August 2009.

looking forward to the next part of her adventure back in the UK. She will be missed!

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

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The classes of 1979, 1989 and 1999 are invited to celebrate in Singapore in 2009. Any other alumni who

wish to join the reunion are welcome as well.

Check the alumni website at http://alumni.uwcsea.edu.sg for more details, to view the updated attendee list and/or to register. You may also contact the alumni office at reunion@uwcsea.edu.sg for more information. We hope

to see you in August!

Second Annual Reunion of the 30 year, 20 year

and 10 year classes28 - 30 August 2009

UPCOMING REUNIONSCLASS NOTES

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

the second they are born!) After my O Lev-els, I was shipped off to boarding school in the UK to do my A Levels, as back then my parents had not heard of the IB. Now, 24 years later, I have chosen UWCSEA for my kids because of the IB programme!

I have been married to my husband Peter for 13 years, and we have two wonderful children, Nicola (10) and Alexandra (9), who were born in Singapore. We have spent the last seven years in Hong Kong and only moved back to Singapore last year. The school has certainly changed a lot since I was there, but the Main Hall still had that familiar musty old smell (before it was renovated in the summer of 2008), and it brought back memories of the bomb scare that happened in the middle of our mock exams! I also remember the sixth formers putting food colouring in the fountain one day! I hope my children can look back on their school days with such fond memories!

1986 Dereck Camacho

I left UWCSEA and went to college in Hawaii, completed flying school and have been an airline pilot ever since. Currently living in the US... Still surfing and holding down a job as a pilot to pay for my surfing habit! Thanks to Mr. Teo who taught me that art goes beyond the canvas. Everything I do is somehow centered around art. Art is everything and everything is art.

1987Siw Haller (Castberg)

I left Singapore in 1985 in my fifth year and fin-ished my schooling in Kent and London, UK. I started working and met my husband Mark who had also travelled extensively in Asia. We moved to Singapore in 1990 having just

got married, and we are still here. Our daughter Kristi is now a proud student of UWCSEA and so tradition goes on. I con-

tinued with sports throughout my youth. I was a competitive water skier for 12 years, and was a Norwegian National Champion several years running. Having to retire with too many injuries, I am now an active cyclist, and contribute to the cycling com-munity in Singapore and the region.

1995 Grace Tahir Grace Tahir is now running Mayapada Hospital in Indonesia. The hospital has been listed in the Indonesia Stock Ex-change as of April 2009.

1996 Sanjay Chotirmall I attended UWCSEA and completed my IB in 1996. After UWCSEA, I completed my Singapore national service and then proceeded to medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I qualified in medicine in 2005 fulfilling one of my ambitions and have worked as a doctor in the Republic of Ireland since at Beaumont Hospital. I have attained my membership of both the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Ireland and United Kingdom by exami-nation and have recently been awarded a prestigious National Clinician-Scientist Fellowship research grant through the Molecular Medicine Ireland (MMI). I am taking time out of medicine to pursue a PhD in my area of interest - Cystic Fibrosis. I am also currently on a Royal College of Physicians of Ireland specialist training programme to become a specialist in Re-spiratory medicine.

Lucinde Stott (Lane)

I was at UWCSEA from 1989-1990 for Year One only. I then returned to England with my family and continued schooling in Hertfordshire and at the Harlow Ballet school and company. I attended Durham University from 1996-2000 and read Chi-nese Studies, where I met my husband, James, who was also reading Chinese. During my year in Beijing, I attended Bei-jing Dance Academy from 1997-98. After graduation, I danced in London. In 2001,

James and I became an item and married, with Jemima (2003), Florence (2004) and Cecily (2006) swiftly following. We now live in Cambridgeshire where I am a free-lance ballet teacher with the Royal Acad-emy of Dance, and also work as a dancer for a regional dance company.

1997 Tristan Towers I graduated from UWCSEA in 1997 and went to study at Cardiff University. I worked for a number of years doing technical and marketing roles in the UK aerospace industry, before packing it all in to do something more interesting! For the last few years I have been in Argentina, running a tailor-made outdoor travel busi-ness (www.sendastravel.com). Instead of sitting in the office, my typical working day involves hiking, mountain biking or horse riding in the mountains. It would be great to catch up with any ex-UWCSEAers so if you’re ever in Argentina please look me up.

2001Rebecca GiffordI studied law at Kings College London from 2001 to 2004 and then completed the LPC at the College of Law in London in 2005. I am now training to be a solicitor in London and will qualify in March!

2002Rosemary McGowanRosemary (Rosie) McGowan, co-artistic di-rector of Buds Theatre Company produced the play, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ which was performed at the Victoria The-atre, Singapore, in February 2009. Bud’s latest venture, Buds’ Playtent is conducting weekly drama camps for 6 to 13 year olds starting June 2009. To find out more about Buds’ go to www.budstheatre.com.

2003 Liam Blanckenberg Liam is currently employed as an econo-mist with Frontier Economics in Mel-bourne, Australia

Annual Reunion dates for future years are listed on the alumni site or check with the alumni office for the date of your 10, 20, 25 or 30 year class reunion.

Details for the above events will be added 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 reunion Date and Venue TBC (Early 2010)

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

Mumbai alumni reunion Date and Venue TBC (Nov 2009)

The first annual Mumbai alumni get-together will take place in late November 2009.

Jakarta alumni reunion Date and Venue TBC (Early 2010)

The first annual Jakarta alumni will take place in early 2010. All alumni are welcome.

New York alumni reunion Date and Venue TBC (Early 2010)

The first annual New York alumni get-together will take place in early 2010. All alumni are welcome

December holiday alumni reunionDate and Venue TBC (Dec 2009)

The third annual December alumni get-together will take place again during the holiday season in Singapore. All alumni are welcome.

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