“Nation Building” continues to be the theme for activities organised by the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia. We believe that awareness, empathy and dialogue are tools that can help us reach out and engage Malaysians in a positive way. 

Updates from Chevening Alumni Committee 2010-2012

A new Committee was elected into office for a two-year term at the annual general meeting held on 28 April 2010.  They are:

President	:	Mr Nithi Nesadurai
Vice President	:	Mr Siva Somasundram
Secretary	:	Ms Tan Mei Ling
Asst. Secretary	:	Ms Arividya Arimuthu
Treasurer	:	Mr Azrudi Mustapha
Members	:	Ms Aileen Toh
	:	Mr Dinesh Cheryan
		Mr David Lee
		Dr Pirunthavany Muthuvelu
		Mr Razali Sulaiman

The Committee provides a good mix of representation from the public sector. including a government-linked company, private sector, non-governmental sector, academia and a foreign mission.

The Committee got down to work straight after taking office.

Alumni Social – 25 June

On 25 June it hosted a get-together at The Social in Bangsar for members of the alumni and Rotary Club of Damansara West. It was held during the World Cup to coincide with the much anticipated match between Brazil and Portugal. While the game did not live up to expectations, those who turned up had fun with the fellowship and networking.

Farewell for outgoing British High Commissioner – 13 July

On July 13, the Alumni hosted a farewell party for the outgoing British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Boyd McCleary. The Committee had worked closely with Boyd during his tenure in Malaysia. In a fun-filled occasion, Alumni President Nithi presented a souvenir to the High Commissioner on behalf of the Alumni. Boyd left Malaysia on July 23 after four dynamic years in the country. Read about the event on the Reports page.

In his blog, the High Commissioner refers to the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia as “one of the most active such groups of Chevening scholars anywhere in the world.” You can access his blog at http://boydmccleary.blogspot.com/

The incoming High Commissioner is expected to take up office by October.

Public forum on Protecting Biodiversity – 27 July

The Committee continued with its highly successful public forum series that was launched in 2007. While the year 2009 witnessed a shift from forums to lectures by persons of high-standing under the banner of Chevening 25th Anniversary Public Lectures, the Alumni reverted to its forum format when it hosted the public forum on “Protecting Biodiversity: Malaysia’s Natural Wealth and Heritage” on July 27, in partnership with WWF-Malaysia.

With speakers from the United Nations Development Programme (Dr Hari Ramalu Ragavan), University of Malaya Law Faculty (Professor Gurdial Singh), WWF-Malaysia (Dr Dionysius Sharma) and Department of Wildlife and National Parks Malaysia (Dr E. Sivananthan), the Alumni continued with its tradition of providing the public with access to top practitioners in their respective fields. About 130 attended the excellent forum, including a bus load of students from UiTM Melaka, 160km away.

List of past events

For a list of forums and lectures organised by the Committee from May 2007 to April 2010, please go to the Events page. All of these activities were well received and helped raise the image and public profile of the Alumni.

In addition, the Chevening Alumni was also directly involved in co-organising major events in partnership with the British High Commission and the British Council. These are also highlighted.

If you have ideas for new events/topics of interest, or wish to get involved in future activities, please email the Secretary at: info@cheveningalumni.org.my