On Tuesday, 13 July, the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia (CAM) hosted a farewell party for outgoing British High Commissioner Boyd McCleary at the Elizabethan Club. About 20 alumni gathered to convey their best regards to Boyd for his future career posting as Governor of the Virgin Islands. Also present were eight of the 14 Chevening scholars destined for the UK for the October 2010 intake. The evening also doubled as a celebration

and send-off party for this group who were in high cheer. Scholarships they had been awarded earlier in the year were not affected by the budget trimming exercise undertaken by the UK Government.

CAM President Nithi Nesadurai was the host for the evening which began with social interaction. The formalities commenced when Nithi invited a representative of the UK-bound scholars, Sharifah Bakar Ali, to say a few words. She expressed the group’s gratitude for receiving their scholarships and specifically thanked Boyd for his efforts in ensuring that all 14 of them awarded this year were retained.

In his comments, Nithi said that Boyd’s performance as British High Commissioner had been outstanding, citing a variety of examples. He had also been very supportive to the Chevening Alumni from the time he had taken up the post. This had motivated and spurred the Alumni to organise the scale of events they had since 2007 – 14 public forums and two other major events, excluding the social sessions amongst alumni. Nithi concluded with a toast to Boyd and Jill’s health and to his next role as Governor. He then presented Boyd with a memento, engraved with the wording Chevening Alumni of Malaysia 2006-2010, as a farewell gift on behalf of the Alumni.

In response, Boyd expressed how much he had enjoyed his term in Malaysia. With reference to the outgoing scholars, he had been impressed with their spirit. When faced with the possibility of the number of scholarships being trimmed down to 11 (from the 14 awarded), he was told they were willing to dig into their pockets to pay the difference to ensure all 14 made it to the UK. Boyd also had high praise for CAM which he said had organised forums on a variety of pressing topical issues ranging from the environment to human rights and governance. Also impressive was the number of Chevening alumni he had run into during the course of his official duties. He concluded by raising a toast to the Chevening programme.