Graduates and alumni urged to join convention
The Borneo Post - Monday, 22 July 2002
KUCHING: All graduates and alumni of Australian universities have been urged to come forward and join the Sarawak delegation for the upcoming AUIAC (Australian Universities International Alumni Convention) 2002 in Melbourne from Sept 5-7.
Sarawak Alumni of the University of Adelaide (SAUA) deputy president Dato Sri Adenan Satem said it was a worthwhile convention to attend since the theme `Networking in the Knowledge Economy' encompassed relevant issues in today's globalised world. Adenan, who' is Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, was speaking at a dinner here organised on Saturday night by Sarawak Australian Graduates Association (SAGA) and SAUA for the organising chairman of AUIAC 2002 Melbourne, John Button.
He said he would be attending the convention personally together with a number of prominent Australian graduates and ministers from Sarawak including Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr George Chan, Agriculture Minister Datuk Effendi Norwawi and Infrastructure Development and Communications Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh. Taib, who is the patron of AUIAC 2002, has been invited to declare open the convention with an opening address on Sept 5 and to officiate at the closing.
The convention will discuss working papers on topics such as `Tension in the Global Village', `Challenges in the Global Economy', `Cities and Urban Environment in the 2111 Century' and `Taking Risks Venture Capitalist'. Besides offering a good forum for discussions, the convention also promises an excellent opportunity for networking among alumni from all over the world. Button said meaningful networking, intellectual exchange and cooperation were important in today's and future K-economy.
Individual university's alumni gathering would also be held in conjunction with the convention, he said. Button described the Chief Minister as the founding father of the convention and who is very well respected by the Australian alumni worldwide. He said the recent award of the Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia for Taib was the highest honour given to a non Australian in recognition of his service to bilateral relations between Australia and Malaysia.
Button added that the well-organised and well attended AUIAC 2000 held in Kuching had impressed alumni world-wide. The Chief Minister was the patron as well as organising chairman of AUIAC 2000 Kuching. SAGA president and SAUA secretary Rodger Chan said SAGA and SAUA would be organising a group of about 50 delegates to participate in AUIAC 2002 Melbourne. Taib, who has been the patron of the AUIAC international convention since its inception in 1998 in Adelaide, is expected to lead the delegation.
The Sarawak delegation will visit Melbourne for the convention and then, to Adelaide for a homecoming alumni gathering hosted by the South Australian state government and the universities. Chan urged Sarawak delegates, irrespective of which Australian university they graduated from, to participate in the Adelaide homecoming programmes. A special package for the group has being organised for those who register not later than July 30. Among those present at the dinner were Adenan's wife Datin Jamilah Ann and Australian Honorary Consul for Sarawak Datuk Philip Ting.
Meanwhile,
those who are interested to join the Sarawak delegation for AUIAC 2002
Melbourne and Adelaide visit can contact Rodger Chan at 082-483888/346712.
OVER TO YOU ... Adenan handing over a souvenir to Button