MINUTES OF THE 41st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE SOCIETY OF MALAYSIA

HELD AT 8.00 PM ON JUNE 27th 2003
at The Green, Royal Selangor Golf Club

The President called the meeting to order.

1. Adoption of Minutes of the 40th AGM

The President tabled the Minutes of the last AGM for adoption. Datin Gunn Chit Wha proposed they be adopted. Dr. Goh Cheng Teik seconded the motion and the Minutes were accordingly approved.

2. President's Annual Report

The President's Annual Report was circulated and the President asked if there were any questions from the members. There being no issues raised, Tan Sri Augustine Ong proposed that the President's Report be adopted. Elizabeth Lee seconded the motion and the President's Report was duly adopted.

3. Hon. Treasurer's Report

The Hon. Treasurer's Report was also circulated, and it was highlighted that the latest financial year ending Dec '2002 generated a surplus of RM2,000. However, this apparently small sum is only due to the timing of big fund-raisers like the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister talks, that happened to fall in 2001 and 2003. Again this year, there were several returned cheques which the committee had to chase down, and the Treasurer reminded members to submit properly written cheques. Datin Gunn Chit Wha proposed that the Treasurer's Report be adopted and Suresh Sidhu seconded the motion. The Report was duly adopted.

4. Election of Office Bearers

The President suggested that to save time, and since the present committee and auditor had been doing a good job, that the same committee and auditor be re-elected en-bloc by the members. As there were no objections, Dr. Goh Cheng Teik proposed that this be adopted and Tan Sri Augustine Ong seconded the motion. There were, however, some exceptions which had to be proposed and seconded separately: Steven Fung had already held the Vice- President's post for a consecutive 3 years, which is the maximum allowed by the constitution, so he had to relinquish this post but was elected as committee member. Ngooi Chiu Ing (absent) declined to be re-elected into the committee.

Ex-Officio Committee Members

President: Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad

Vice-President (Oxford): John Zinkin
Proposer: Chacko Vadaketh
Seconder: Shalini Ganendra

Vice-President (Cambridge): H.E. Bruce Cleghorn

Secretary: Leong Hon Sze

Treasurer: Shaun Chan

Committee Members

Oxford Cambridge
Margaret Hall Elizabeth Lee
Terence Mahony Shalini Ganendra
Julian Candiah
Steven Fung Sarina Karim
Proposer: Shalini Ganendra
Seconder: Elizabeth Lee

Mark Disney
Proposer: John Zinkin
Seconder: Tan Sri Augustine Ong

Honorary Auditor: Rahman Ahmad

5. Other Matters

• The President mentioned that there had been comments that the Society's were too snobbish and that we should organise more events for charity. However, the President felt that the latter is not the purpose of our Society, which should not compete against others like the Rotary Club etc. We may, however, donate to some noteworthy causes. With regard to our high-profile Royal Programmes, not only are other Malay royalty now keen to play host to the Society members, but also other non-royalties.

Chacko Vadaketh suggested that there are many ways to contribute to charitable events – it does not necessarily always involve cash contributions to the needy. The Society and its members could contribute their time and effort towards a worthwhile cause. He quoted the example of the recently organised talks by some members of the Society at Sunway for the secondary school students from the Malaysian government schools as contributing to society. The President added that 1,000 students from our local government schools attended this event which encouraged the use of English, and that Malay students are now studying English more seriously.

Tan Sri Augustine Ong said that he has been talking to some libraries to encourage parents and children to read, and was wondering whether the Society can be tapped to further this cause. He was also wondering if deserving students who are financially lacking, can be directed to the Society to help them get in touch with people who can help sponsor them to Cambridge or Oxford University for studies.

The President mentioned that he was Chairman of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholarship which sponsored students, but its funds were limited. If it is a genuine case, the President will try to help in his personal capacity, on condition that the student had already obtained entry into the Oxbridge universities.

The Vice-President (Cambridge), who also happens to be the British High Commissioner, added that the British government sponsors 50 Malaysian students p.a., some via joint sponsorships with universities, companies or other institutions. The Society can enter into such a joint sponsorship if it wants. This will be considered by the Society's new committee.
• Paul Foo asked whether the committee plans to encourage more new graduates to join the Society and participate in its events. The President responded by appointing Paul Foo as the Society's representative to bring new graduates into the folds of the Society.
• Dr Foo Ban Nyen asked how many categories of membership the Society offers now. The Secretary replied that there is now only 1 category of membership – Life for RM100.

There being no other matters, the President called the Meeting to a close at 8:25 p.m.

Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad (Presiden)

Leong Hon Sze (Setiausaha Kehormat)