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As the President of DSOBA, I would like to welcome everyone to the 2009 DSOBA Annual General Meeting. It has always been our primary objective at DSOBA to bring together old boys at various social settings and occasions. To this end, we have witnessed an increasing sharing of work and life experience especially amongst our younger membership. At the end of April 2009, the total membership stood at 1,613 reflecting an approximate 5% increase in new members and our reserve funds stood at over $1,798,000. In this annual report, I would like to highlight some of our key achievements during the year : |
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The Happy Hour at Central was one of the new social events that took off in February 2008 and helped to bring out many new faces looking for a comfortable break from work in Lan Kwai Fong.
We have four Dinner Talks during the 12 months from September ’08 to early 2009 with guest speakers including the venerable Chow Wai Tong, Class of ’54 and the refreshing Kenneth Chen, Under Secretary of Education and Jat Sew Tong, Senior Counsel both of Class ’82, as well as our Association’s “Die-Hard” supporter Lawrence Yu Kam Kee, Class of ’64. I am very happy to report on seeing enthusiastic turnouts at each of these events.
In regards to our contribution to the school, we are donating in total over $94,063 from our major events’ profits and have recently established a new fund for sports development of the school teams. Part of this new fund is currently earmarked to purchase training equipment for the swimming team of the DBS Swimming Club.
I would like to personally thank Darwin Liu, our Social Chairman for arranging the various events including Games Day, Poolside Party, and the Dinner Talks; and also our Ball Chairman, Jose Cheng who put together a most enjoyable event at the newest hotel in town which brought in a record surplus for this annual showcase gathering.
Today, our membership base has been expanding more and more by the use of internet. The reorganization of our DSOBA website by Daniel Ma and David Lau has allowed our old boys to access more updated information globally. Their kind efforts will now link up the various overseas old boys’ chapters including North America, China, South East Asia and the UK as we plan towards DBS’ 140th anniversary celebrations in the coming months of 2009.
The DSOBA stall at School Fete continues to be one of the most profitable stalls every year. Through the hard work and dedication of Henry Leung and Kasim Fattedad, they have made it possible for another huge success in 2008. Great job!
As we keep ourselves relevant to changing times, it is important that I must thank Selwyn Chan for laboring through the heaps of historical records to update our Association’s M&A to reflect our mission and objectives.
DBS old boys have a wealth of knowledge and experience in overseas learning as well as in their professional careers. The University Day and Career Talk were once again hugely successful. Hundreds of parents together with current school boys attended the University Day on a Saturday afternoon seeking advice from our old boys. Our Mentoring Program co-managed by Richard Lai and Lau Pau has again proven to be an invaluable resource for career advice amongst our members. I would like to personally thank each one for their precious time and commitment to these worthy initiatives.
This year marks the first time our Golf President’s Cup being held at The HK Golf Club. Our Selwyn Chan and Jerry Chang have been instrumental to the event’s success and getting us off to a good start for a better capital sourcing event of the Association.
In conclusion, I am extremely proud and feeling fortunate in having Myron Ng, Daniel Wan and such a strong General Committee to propel the DSOBA towards greater success and continuing our relationship with the School.
My heartfelt appreciation to my team, the School Committee, the Headmaster, all fellow members and last but not the least, our Association secretary Amy for all their support and guidance.
Sincerely,
Desmond Yip ’82
President 08/09