Singapore envoy hosts gathering of Filipino alumni

CEBU, Philippines - Philippine alumni  of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Lee Kuan Yew School) gathered on Saturday, December 7, 2013, for a reception hosted by Singapore Ambassador Hirubalan V P and his wife Mrs. Mano Hirubalan, at the Singapore Residence in North Forbes Park.

Around 30 alumni attended the gathering, which marked the formal inauguration of the Philippine Chapter of the Lee Kuan Yew School Alumni Association. Ambassador Hirubalan welcomed the establishment of the Philippine Chapter, hailing the initiative  as an excellent platform which would help forge closer people-to-people ties between Singapore and the Philippines. He also suggested that one of the Association's first projects could be to explore how it could support existing recovery and rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Mr. Zak Yuson, Director for Citizen Journalism at Rappler.com, elected president of the Association, thanked the Ambassador for hosting the inauguration reception. Mr. Yuson also introduced his fellow officers of the Association, including: Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge, Ms. Rowena Tan, Department of Budget and Management consultant Mr. Patrick Lim, and Ms. Nicole Bacolod of the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority. As a symbol of this occasion and in keeping with the Christmas spirit, the Association presented a tradional Christmas "parol" (lantern) to the Ambassador and his wife to be displayed in the Singapore Residence during this festive season.

The Philippine Lee Kuan Yew School alumni group will meet again in January 2014 to plan a forum on post-Haiyan recovery and rehabilitation. The meeting is also open to all Philippine nationals who are graduates and post-graduate students from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Management University. For more information, please e-mail Nicole Bacolod, [email protected].

The Lee Juan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore is one of Asia's top public policy  schools offering graduate-level education to decision makers and influencers in the region. Over 100 Filipinos have attended the Lee Kuan Yew School, with many having received generous scholarships. Applications for next year's courses are now open until January 15,  2014. More information is available on the school's website:www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg. (FREEMAN)