Ang Peng Tiam's Message

In the past twelve months, we have seen several cohort reunions - Years of 1959/61, 1965/67, 1967/69, 1968/70, 1973/75, 1975, 1979 & 1980. I understand that Year of 1960 will be having their reunion in October 2005. This trend of more old boys organising cohort reunions is encouraging as it shows that the ACS Spirit is very much alive. It helps to keep old boys connected with one another and the School. I would like to thank all the old boys in the Year of 1973/75, who managed to raise $30,000 during their reunion, to support the Retired Teachers and Staff Welfare Fund.

The ACSOBA would like to assist old boys in organising such gatherings. We can help in several ways. Firstly, we can post notices of the upcoming gatherings and contact details on our ACSOBA SCRUM Network website. Secondly, we can provide information on how to contact some of the retired teachers whom they may wish to invite for the reunions. Thirdly, we can help to organise post-event albums for old boys to share their digital photographs. We are presently working on getting a database of ACS resources for organising such events. These would include catering, photographers, venues etc. And if enough notice is given, we can also help to post the announcement of these reunions in the ACS ECHO.

For example, my cohort, the Year of 1974/76, will be organising our 30th year anniversary on 21 April 2006 at the Fullerton Hotel. I hope that all the old boys and girls in the cohort will mark this date on their calendars and pass the word around. Please email me at ang_peng_tiam@acsoba.net if you are interested in coming or especially if you can help us reach out to others in the cohort.

The best way of reaching out to all the old boys and girls in your cohort is to get everyone signed up on SCRUM. Whether you are an ACSOBA member or not, SCRUM is available to you on our website www.acsoba.net free of charge. Once you are signed up on SCRUM, getting in touch with one another in your cohort will be easy. In recent years, the schools have been providing us with the names and email addresses of all graduating students. Unfortunately, we do not have such data for the earlier years. Please actively encourage others in your cohort to join SCRUM so that you can stay connected with one another.

As I have said before, the ACSOBA must keep re-inventing itself to remain relevant. While we look for new ways to reach out to ACSians, we keep traditional activities that continue to be meaningful - Founder's Day dinner, Teacher's Day gathering, ACSOBA Golf Classic, etc.

On 01 September, the ACSOBA celebrated Teachers’ Day by organising dinner for all the retired teachers and staff. The event was again held at ACS Barker Road Shaw Pool but this time we did not make the same mistake of serving BBQ, which some of the teachers had difficulty sinking their teeth into the BBQ meat. Instead, we had a good spread of local favourites. Most came for the fellowship. For old boys, it was a chance to meet up with the retired teachers and reminisce old times. Many retired teachers spent their time sharing fond memories and updating one another.

We are thinking of organising an "outing for foodies". I understand that it is going to be at the end October or early November. The exact date and venue has not been decided yet, but if you are interested in joining us, please look out for the notice on our website.

Please continue to pray for all the students, teachers, principals and leaders in our School. To God be the Glory.