Annual Dinner & Bookprize Presentation 2000

Gracing the Stanford Club's Annual Dinner & Bookprize Presentation was Minister of State Mr David Lim.

This year the Stanford Club of Singapore held its fourth annual Bookprize event. This Prize has been established to identify and recognize an outstanding young individual who through his or her academic achievement, extra-curricular activity, and community service has demonstrated uncommon talent and potential for success in an American university environment. The contest is open to Singaporean and permanent resident JC-1 students attending one of Singapore's 14 JCs. The goal is to select an individual who is then given a trip to Stanford campus, staying for one week with fellow Singaporean students at Stanford. In this way, the Stanford Club seeks to expose one of Singapore's best qualified JC students to a college education at Stanford. The winner and two runners-up are also awarded a Book selected from a list used by Stanford University as recommended reading for incoming freshmen.

The format of the contest is a form of mini-application to an American university. Interested students are asked to submit copies of their academic records (O-levels plus the first year JC exam scores), a description of the individuals extra-curricular activities and community service activities, and answer two essay questions. This year's questions were as follows:

[short essay] Which of your extra-curricular activities has been most important to you? Why?
[long essay] What three developments of the 20th Century do you think will have the greatest influence on your life in the 21st Century?

This year we received 39 applications from 11 of the JCs. This was the largest number of participating JCs yet. In order to carefully review each application, a Judges Committee of 6 was formed. This year's judges were: Chee Foong Wan, Chee Kai Chin, Serena Wong, Berry Kwock, Andy Thorson, and myself. The Judges first screened the applications for academic qualifications. Then a first round of judging focused on each individual's extra-curricular activities and short essay. This generated 16 semi-finalists. The second round of judging focused on the long essay and selected 6 Finalists.

The Bookprize winners with Minister David Lim. From left to right: Kevin Pang, Jen Wei-Ting, Kimberly Tan, and Mr David Lim.

The 6 Finalists were invited to meet with the Judges on March 5. Each individual spent 30 minutes with the Panel. The panelists questions included clarification of certain points in the original application, further discussion of each Finalists' motivations and academic ambitions, and other topics designed to draw the Finalists out and get a good feeling for which one would be the best candidate for the trip to Stanford campus.

This year's contest was extremely close, with the final selection coming down to the wire. The judges were extremely impressed with the maturity of the candidates, their commitment to being active contributors to society, their individual visions for their own futures, and their poise and skills a t self-expression. In the end the winner was Mr. Kevin Pang of Raffles JC. The first runner-up was Ms. Wei-Ting Jen, also of Raffles, and the second runner-up was Ms. Kimberly Tan of Hwa Chong JC.

Mr David Lim meeting up with one of the sponsors Mr David Dahl from Litton Components. Looking on from the right is Andy Thorson, President of Stanford Club of Singapore.

This year's Awards Dinner was held on April 7 at the Manadarin Hotel. Each of our three winners and their families were invited along with teachers from their schools. The featured speaker was Mr. David T. E. Lim, Singapore's Minister of State for Defence. This year's dinner was extremely well attended by the Stanford Club members, and Minister Lim's address was excellent. Stanford Club was especially honored to have also had in attendance representatives from our two sponsors: Mr. Peter Tan, Managing Director of Goodyear Orient, and Mr. David Dahl Director of Research for Litton Components.

Kevin Pang has already completed his stay at Stanford during the week of May 7. I will be meeting with him next week to get his report.

In conclusion, I should give you some of the items included in the list of 20th Century influences on these young people's futures: these included the Internet, bio-chemistry, the shrinking global village, the women's rights movement, the formation of the Republic of Singapore, and the revolution in education. The judges were impressed with the range of influences cited in the essays from the physical machinery of the Modern Era to the great changes in Values and Ideas that the 20th Century brought with it. It looks as though at least one more cohort of the next generation will find itself with some excellent leadership.

Mr David Lim chatting with the Executive Council Members of the Stanford Club after the Bookprize Presentation. From left to right: Bobby Sundralingam, Davis Hawkins, Watson Ong (1989/90), Mr David Lim, Wilson Tan (front), Andy Thorson (Rear), Patricia (Andy's wife), Chin Chee-Kai

Another group photo of the bookprize winners with the Guest-of-Honor and the President of Stanford Club. From left to right: Kevin Pang, Kimberly Tan, Mr David Lim, Jen Wei-Ting, Andy Thorson.

First prize winner Kevin Pang receiving his prize from Mr David Lim. Looking on is the Chairman of the Bookprize Committee, Don Huse.

Jen Wei-Ting receiving her bookprize award from Mr David Lim.

Kimberly Tan receiving her bookprize award from Mr David Lim.

Bookprize winner Jen Wei-Ting meeting with Chairman of Bookprize Committee, Don Huse, and his wife. Looking on to the right of Wei-Ting is her sister.