Another Quarter has come and gone. Here is an update of the happenings during the 3rd Quarter, 1st July to 30th September 2013.
OUR ALUMNI WEBSITE
Our Website was actively visited. A cumulative total of 11,310 visitors from 66 countries visited us 51,559 times as at 30.9.2013 against 10,157 visitors from 61 countries making 42,828 hits 3 months earlier.
Website advertising will commence shortly. Two of our Old Salts took up space to publicise their business.
[1] LEADING WEBSITE FEATURES
In the last Quarter several articles under “Our Leading Voyagers” caption were posted for the first time. This Quarter we have started a new series under the “Sojourns: Experiences & Sights” tag. The articles will be posted soon.
The thrust is on getting Old Salts who have succeeded in their professions or chosen fields of endeavour to write about their working and living experience in different countries amidst varying people and cultures. The pioneer author is Dato’ Chong Peng Wah, a former Colombo Plan Scholar. His first 3 articles under the caption “Under The Cotton Tree” cover West Africa. He has worked in 4 other countries. We look forward to the sharing of his extensive experiences with us. Similarly, we hope that other Old Salts will come forward to share their experiences with us.
The writings will be useful and inspirational for present students, old boys who are at the earlier phases of their careers and those who have yet to hit their career peaks.
[2] FACEBOOK COMMUNICATION
The Ipoh ACS Alumni Association has been set up on FaceBook. The latest posting on Ipoh ACS Florathon featuring an aerial view of the Florathon presentation and our School received 1000 hits.
Alan Kam has also set up Ipoh ACS Global Alumni to link all the different Ipoh ACS groups website and FaceBook sites together. This is an excellent idea to promote a higher level of inter-groups communication and cross-sharing of information.
[3] ALUMNI VOICE TRAINING AND SING-A-LONG SESSIONS
These self-development activities can be a hobby and also a means for promoting fellowship. The first sessions wil commence next month at our premises. We hope it will gain impetus and allow our alumni the opportunity for fun and companionship.
[4] KUALA LUMPUR & KLANG VALLEY SUB-COMMITTEE
The Sub-Committee has met for a second time. It is gearing itself towards initiating a number of activities in this region to bring more of our alumni together. Forthcoming activities will be announced through our Alumni Website, FaceBook and through email links to different Graduating Year Groups.
[5] SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES
To-date, our Alumni Association has helped put together 11 Scholarship Funds, the majority of which are administered by our Alumni. Currently, 36 students are in receipt of these financial aids amounting to RM25,850 this year. We welcome those who wish to establish Scholarship Funds either in their names or to commemorate individuals they wish to honour.
[6] ALUMNI LIFE MEMBERSHIP – TARGET 500
A membership blitz was carried out during our 3.8.2013 Alumni Dinner. 91 Life Membership and 3 Associate Membership applications were received. Just before and after our Alumni Dinner in August, we secured another 11 Life Membership applications. A record number of 102 Life Membership applications. Total membership count as at 31st August 2013: 534 Life Members and 13 Associate Members. Far surpassing our target. An 87.36% increase over the 285 strong membership as at 31.12.2011. Four additional life members were subsequently approved in September (this month).
We have re-set our sight – now Target 570 by the end of this year. It would represent an increase of 285 members or 100% within 2 years from 31st December 2011.
Our push for members has been motivated by 2 important considerations. The first is that we need a credible number of members in order to fulfill much needed initiatives for our Alma Mater. Secondly, although the Life Membership calls for only a very modest one-time subscription of RM100, the funds received go a long way to meeting the minimalistic operating expenses of our Alumni, allowing other incomes derived to be conserved for bigger developmental initiatives.
[7] OUR 2013 ALUMNI DINNER
The Dinner held on Saturday, 3rd August 2013 is the biggest ever – 586 participants spread over 58 tables though not as large as the 2012 Joint Alumni Dinner with Ipoh MGS. The event was celebrated in high spirit. The very talented Ms Yeap Yen Chin (daughter of one of our old boys, Michael Yeap), an acclaimed dancer, put up an excellent performance.
Next year’s Alumni Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, 2nd August 2014 to coincide as closely as possible with the 119th Anniversary of the founding of Ipoh ACS.
NEXT QUARTER
We are lining up our sight on setting up a Foundation to help further the interest of our Alma Mater and the present students. We will keep you informed.
Mrs. Lee nee Soot Mooy Ching will be retiring on xx October this year. We thank her for her effective school leadership that has helped to shore up the standing of Ipoh ACS and the excellent co-operation she extends to our Alumni.
A small group of our alumni is tasked with organizing The Ipoh ACS Alumni Closed Golf Tournament. We will disseminate details once plans are firmed up.
Best regards,
Lean Meng Seong
Alumni President
30th September 2013