United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council

The United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council (abbr. UKSSC) is a representative body which represents the interests of Singaporean students studying at universities in the United Kingdom. It aims to raise the profile of UK-based Singaporean students, and also to encourage an active interest in developments taking place within Singapore amongst the overseas student community.

The current President of the UKSSC is Benjamin Ze-Min Lee.

Background

The UKSSC was formed in August 1998, after the idea of an umbrella organisation for Singaporean Student Associations was first mooted by Jayson Goh. The first-ever Annual General Meeting of the UKSSC was chaired by Thomas Wee.

Today, the UKSSC represents some 5,000 to 6,000 students and comprises more than 40 constituent societies, including university-based student associations, special interest groups and professional interest groups.

Organisation

The highest decision-making authority within the UKSSC is the Executive Committee. Members of the Executive Committee are elected by the student community during the Annual General Meeting every August. The Executive Committee comprises three departments - namely the Secretariat, the Student Services Office and the Regional Directorate.

The Secretariat

The Secretariat is responsible for all policy matters relating to the UKSSC and the student community as a whole. It is also responsible for the administration of the UKSSC, including exercising such functions as maintaining a central registry of members and funding of members' activities.

Candidates seeking election to the Secretariat must be directly elected according to the procedures set out in the Constitution.

tudent Services Office

The Student Services Office is responsible for ensuring that the interests of the Singaporean student community are met through a variety of practical means.

The UKSSC offers a vacation attachment service which enables UK-based students to link up with potential employers both in the UK and in Singapore through vacation placement programmes. It also offers a couch surfing service and an online forum where students can buy and sell used items, exchange tips on travel and accommodation, and engage in general chatter about the issues of the day.

Regional Directorate

The Regional Directorate is responsible for fostering ties amongst the Singaporean students in the respective regions around the UK. It also ensures the speedy and efficient dissemination of news updates to the students.

Another important function of the Regional Directorate is to promote an active interest in developments within Singapore.

Currently, there are Area Directors for Scotland, Northern England, Southern England, Oxbridge and the British Midlands.

History

Early history

The UKSSC was established under the auspices of Contact Singapore, the Government agency responsible for promoting Singapore as a place for work and career development. In its early years, the UKSSC served as an information dissemination mechanism for Contact Singapore, but it gradually evolved into a more independent body, concerning itself with raising the profile of Singaporean students, both in the UK and in Singapore. However, because of a lack of resources and difficulties in co-ordination, the UKSSC could only serve to facilitate and publicise the activities of individual, local Singaporean Student Associations, such as the annual Nottingham Games. It could not organise any activities of its own.

It was generally felt that the UKSSC needed to do more to engage students if it did not want to forced out into the periphery. However, one of the major challenges it faced was that the UKSSC's agenda was often at odds with that of the local societies that it represented. For example, student leaders would often not publicise UKSSC events or updates to their members, so as to prevent having competing interests with their own events. While student gatherings, parties and dinners were generally well-publicised and well-attended, UKSSC found it difficult to get its own plans off the ground because of a lack of support.

Revival

In 2006, the Government of Singapore formed a new Overseas Singaporean Unit with the intention of engaging its growing international community. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans were studying or working outside the country, and it became imperative for the Government to woo them back to Singapore. One of the main groups of people who fell under the spotlight was overseas-based students, particularly those based in top universities in the United Kingdom and United States of America. The founding of the Overseas Singaporean Unit coincided with several high-profile visits to the London by top Government officials and civil servants, including Chiang Chie Foo, the Permanent Secretary for the Prime Minister's Office, and Wong Kan Seng, the Deputy Prime Minister, who hosted a dinner reception for more than 300 Singaporeans at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Knightsbridge.

Capitalising on the increased attention given to overseas students, the then-President of UKSSC, Moses Wei-Wen Lin, started a new initiative called Confluence, which would incorporate an all-day career networking fair with a dialogue session involving top Government officials, aimed at addressing the issues and concerns faced by overseas-based Singaporeans.

After more than four months of planning and preparation, Confluence 2006 was held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore, on 19 August 2006. The Minister for Defence, Teo Chee Hean, and two other Members of Parliament were engaged in more than two hours of formal dialogue with more than 900 students, and the excitement spilled over to the tea reception outside the convention centre afterwards, with Teo Chee Hean besieged with questions by dozens of eager students.

The event was given tremendous publicity in both the print and televised media, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong even held up Moses Lin and his committee as shining examples for the youth of Singapore during a televised National Day speech. The success of Confluence 2006 was particularly notable because the students came together independently, and were not supported by any corporate or Government organisations. Initially faced with the task of raising S$40,000 in order to fund the event, the students sacrificed their summer holidays and worked tenaciously to raise funds, eventually raising in excess of S$70,000. The students were described as being concerned, entrepreneurial and highly resourceful, and this contributed tremendously towards raising the profile of UKSSC.

The new UKSSC

Hot on the heels of the success of Confluence, the UKSSC held its Annual General Meeting, with Benjamin Ze-Min Lee, who was instrumental in the Confluence fund-raising effort, being elected to succeed Moses Weiwen Lin as President. Lee came into office having already formed a team of candidates to run alongside him, promising lasting reforms which would have practical meaning and significance to the student community at large. Although some members expressed apprehension and reticence at these reforms during the meeting, the vast majority of the students supported the plans being put forth by the new leadership.

The new leadership immediately began to lobby the local student leaders as well as the students themselves. New initiatives such as the online forum, the couch surfing service and the vacation attachment scheme were launched in October 2006, less than two months after Lee and his team were elected.

Leaders

The 9th Executive Committee of the United Kingdom Singapore Students' Council was elected on 19 August 2006. The Committee comprises the following Officers:

President - Mr Benjamin Z M Lee

Co-Chair (Midlands) - Miss Ho See Ying

Secretary - Miss Leow Lay May

Treasurer - Mr Boey Xianjie

Area Director (Oxbridge) - Mr Julius Lim

Area Director (North/Scotland) - Mr Damien J Gomez

Area Director (South) - Miss Rajashree Rajan

Area Director (Midlands) - Miss Esther W Y Foo

Area Director (Greater London) - Miss Leung Wing Yee

Public Relations Officer - Mr Kurt Z Y Ma

Creative Director - Mr Ryan S J Tan

Former Presidents

1. Mr Thomas Wee [1998 - 1999]

2. Mr Ling Ming Koon [1999 - 2000]

3. Mr [http://app.sgdi.gov.sg/listing.asp?agency_subtype=dept&agency_id=0000009859 Desmond Tay] [2000 - 2001]

4. Mr Adrian Chang [2001 - 2002]

5. Miss Wong Wan Yi [2002 - 2003]

6. Miss Geraldine Goh [2003 - 2004]

7. Mr Chew Shouzi [2004 - 2005]

8. Mr Moses Weiwen Lin [2005 - 2006]

External links

* [http://www.ukssc.org Official UKSSC Website]
* [http://www.contactsingapore.org.sg/ Contact Singapore]
* [http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/ Overseas Singaporeans]
* [http://www.sgstudents.co.uk/ SGstudents.co.uk]