Year: 2012

The next Young Media Professionals Chapter event is a special pottery-making session and dragon kiln tour for Press Club members and their guests this Sat 5 Jan 10:15am-12:30pm at the Jalan Bahar Clay Studio, just outside NTU. It’s part of a larger series of events leading up to a festival where the longest dragon kiln in Singapore – Guan Huat – will be lit in its entirety for the first time in 40 years.

Post Museum has already stopped its public workshops, but for our members, they are willing to hold one more session for us on 5 Jan where we’ll get to make our own piece of clay handicraft and tour the kiln as it is prepped for the mass firing during the festival taking place 18-20 Jan.

More about the festival here: http://awakenthedragonkiln.wordpress.com/about/

Press Club workshop details/payment procedure:

Awaken the Dragon Pottery Workshop and Dragon Kiln Tour
Sat 5 Jan 2013 10:15am-12:30pm

Jalan Bahar Clay Studios

$15 per participant for clay and tools to be paid to Press Club VP Lau Joon-Nie at the door.

Members are welcome to bring family members and guests. Recommended for children aged 4 and up.
Members to email secretariat@pressclub.org.sg with name, membership no. and no. of guests by Thur 3 Jan 2013.

Happy New Year and hope to see you and your friends and family there for this very educational and fun hands-on activity!

Best wishes,
Joon-Nie

As an end of year social get-together, we are joining in the Luminox BlackOut Christmas Party. All Press Club members are invited.
If you are interested in attending, please respond directly to: lamberthui@crystaltime.com.sg and state that you are from Singapore Press Club (SPC). You need to register to gain admission.

The party is hosted by Mr Tan Soo Khoon, Chairman of CrystalTime.

Cheers
George Joseph
Hon Secretary

Dear members,

You are invited to enjoy a feast of fine music performed by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

高韶青之夜 I & II or A Night with George Gao I & II (Fri 2nd Nov & Sat 3rd Nov) is an erhu-themed concert. Renowned erhu master George Gao is known for his innovation, and this will be his first appearance with the SCO. The programme is different on the two nights, and you can opt to attend both.

琵琶三人行 I & II or Three Pipas in Harmony I & II (Fri 23rd Nov & Sat 24th Nov) is a pipa-themed concert with three masters of the instrument performing highly challenging pieces with the SCO. The programme is different on the two nights, and you can opt to attend both.

Time: 8pm
Venue: Singapore Conference Hall @ 7 Shenton Way

You are also invited to attend the Pre-concert Talks on Sat 3 Nov and Sat 24 Nov at 6pm at the SCO Exhibition Hall.

The concerts are complimentary for Press Club members and their guests, courtesy of the SCO.

Registration deadline: 2pm Thu 1st Nov

To register, please email: secretariat@pressclub.org.sg Provide your name, Press Club membership number, current occupation and hp number. You may register your guest(s) but please indicate their current occupation and ID number. Collection of tickets will be at the venue based on membership/ID number. confirmation email will be sent to you after the deadline. Thank you.

Queries?
Contact Press Club MC member Carol Foo at carolfoo@mediacorp.com.sg or SCO’s PANG Ze Shuen at zspang@sco.com.sg

HAVE A LOVELY WEEK!

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Have A Meal or Drinks with Your Favourite Author

Dear members,

You are invited to Eat Your Words and sip a Literary Cocktail at the Singapore Writers Festival.
Please see the e-brochure below for more information.
Just show your Press Club membership card at The Arts House to enjoy a 15% discount off the ticket price.

Enjoy your Literary Feast!

Date: Saturday, 20th October 2012
Time: 10.30am
Place: Meet @ Lobby of Asian Civilisations Museum, Empress Place

Dear members,

Join our exclusive guided tour and marvel at masterpieces of Islamic art from many regions of the Islamic world. This exhibition affords a unique opportunity to view choice pieces from the collection of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim community.
The complex architectural traditions of the Islamic world will be explored through a hundred objects drawn from Iran, India, Turkey, Syria, Spain, and Egypt. Works of art in metal, wood and pottery, as well as paintings and textiles covering more than a thousand years of artistic production will be on display.

The exhibition includes contextual photographs that illustrate the historical background and inspiration behind the various artistic forms. A fully illustrated catalogue written by experts will be available. The privately sponsored exhibition is organised by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Members will also be given a walk-through of a separate exhibition entitled Islamic Arts from Southeast Asia: Highlights of the Asian Civilisations Museum. The displays reveal how artistic ideas from central Islamic lands were adapted to a style that is uniquely Southeast Asian.

Together, the two exhibitions illustrate the wide range of Islamic arts across the world and their connections across cultures.

Web Links:

Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in Islamic Arts

Islamic Arts from Southeast Asia: Highlights of the Asian Civilisations Museum

The event is free-of-charge. To register, please email: secretariat@pressclub.org.sg

Deadline: 5pm on Wednesday 17th October

Please give your name, membership number, current occupation and hp number. You may register your guest(s) but please indicate their current occupation. If the group size is too large, we may need to arrange two consecutive tours, with half the group viewing the exhibits on your own first. You will be informed of this in the confirmation email that will be sent after the deadline. Thank you.

Queries?
Contact Press Club MC member Carol Foo at carolfoo@mediacorp.com.sg

SEE YOU THERE!

“Forget Wikileaks and Facebook gossip. Here is the inside story that media insiders have been waiting for.’ So says Press Club member and author Cherian George, about the book “OB Markers – My Straits Times Story”, by former Straits Times Group editor-in-chief and Press Club member Cheong Yip Seng.

The Singapore Press Club and book publisher Straits Times Press will jointly present a special event to launch “OB Markers – My Straits Times Story.”

OB MARKERS
My Straits Times Story
By  Cheong Yip Seng
Date: 19 October 2012, Friday
Time: 2.30pm – 4.00pm
Venue: SPH Auditorium, News Centre, 1000 Toa Payoh North

At the launch, club president Patrick Daniel will lead a panel to engage Cheong about his time steering The Straits Times through the difficult terrain of the local media landscape, especially during his years facing down a “tough-as-nails” political leadership.

“As editor-in-chief of the Straits Times group, Cheong Yip Seng occupied the hottest of hot seats in Singapore media under three prime ministers. This frank memoir is full of lessons for Singapore’s new political terrain, warning a new generation of government officials that they overuse their power over the press at their own and the country’s peril, and entreating news professionals to keep faith with the vision of meaningful, quality journalism,” says Cherian.

Cheong will also be available for signing copies of his book purchased on that day. ST Press is offering the book at a special discounted price of $25 (compared to the retail price with GST of $34.78) for that day only.

All Club members are welcome to attend and may bring guests, but you need to register your attendance with the Club Secretariat to gain entry to the News Centre auditorium. The registration form is attached. If interested, please sign up by 15 October.

Fancy a Saturday walk with nature? Join in the club’s trip to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR), one of Singapore’s best and the first wetlands reserve to be gazetted here.

Its global importance as a stop-over point for migratory birds was also recognised by the Wetlands International’s inclusion of the reserve into the East Asian Australasian Shorebird Site Network. SBWR was listed as an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003.

Our trip is made special as participants will also be put through a basic bird watching and photography course by Mendis Tan, SBWR’s Conservation Manager and an accomplished photographer of birds. He will personally take us through the nature walk to experience the beauty and ecological diversity of the wetlands.

And with tips on bird watching, look out for copper-throated sunbirds, the scarlet-backed flower pecker, Oriental Pied Hornbills, white-bellied sea eagles, storks and migratory shorebirds. The wetlands are also known for its crabs, fish and reptiles, including huge monitor lizards, and if you are in luck, crocodiles!

Date: Saturday, 13 October 2012
Time: 8.00am – Meet at SPH News Centre front car park (return by 2pm)
Fee: $5 (members) $10 (guests), including lunch and transport from News Centre to Sungei Buloh and back and entrance fees.

Because of restrictions on the number of people at the reserves at any one time, we can take only a maximum of 35 persons. Priority is for club members and spouses and children of members above 16 years (in that order). Unfortunately, younger children are not allowed on this nature and bird watching walk.
Those interested, please register immediately with the Secretariat.

Zhong Hua
Committee Member

Dear Press Club Members

By popular demand, the Press Club Golf League is organising another regional trip, over 6 days from 8 Nov to 13 Nov to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Please see the attached itinerary, which has been planned with our agent, World Championship Golf (WGC).

We intend to play 5 games over the 6 days. For golfers on a twin-sharing basis, the cost will be $1800, inclusive of airfare.

Non-golfing members who would like to join the trip are also welcome. However, we have been advised that it’s best that it be on a free and easy basis, so that members can be free to choose the tour packages that best suit their interests.
For non-golfers on a twin-sharing basis, the cost will be $1200.

Single room supplement for both packages will be another $300.

We can take a maximum of 30 members. We will appreciate it if members send in their registration using the attached form and a cheque to the secretariat by 28 Sept as we have to confirm the airtickets by end Sept.

We look forward to another successful and enjoyable trip.

Dicky GOH
Golf Convenor

Eminent Speaker Series

INDIA: Is The Despair Misplaced?

Guest Speaker

His Excellency Dr T C A Raghavan

High Commissioner of India

Tuesday 25 September 2012

12.15 to 2.15 pm

Imperial Ballroom, Orchard Wing, Level 35

Mandarin Orchard Singapore Hotel

333 Orchard Road, Singapore

The second fastest growing major economy a decade ago – as the fruits of the 1991 economic liberalisation began to show – India was widely regarded as the emerging power to watch. It had world-class software engineers, ambitious entrepreneurs who bought up global brands such as Jaguar-Land Rover, and a huge domestic market that pulled in increasing amounts of foreign investment. While other economies were roiled by the 2008 global financial crisis, India continued to expand steadily. Domestically, it was at peace. The great convulsions of the 1980s and 1990s had subsided.

But the last two years have brought forth doomsayers. A series of corruption scandals have weakened the state’s ability to govern. Foreign investors are staying on the sidelines. Exports are sliding and the economy is feared to be slipping back to the “Hindu rate of growth” of socialist India. Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, has a vital stake in the India story. In July, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited New Delhi, and may do so again later this year. India has publicly acknowledged Singapore as its closest partner in Asean. But is it time for Singapore to start worrying about India? Or does the long term India story still hold good?

Hear and engage one of India’s most senior career diplomats on these and other themes. To attend the lunch talk, please register with the Secretariat. Details are in the response form.

Dear members,

Two Singapore Press Club Young Media Professionals Chapter members, Lee Jian Xie and Jeremy Boo, wish to extend the following invitation to fellow Club members.

Those wishing to attend should RSVP here: http://goo.gl/SZ4H9. If anyone has questions, email Jeremy at jeremy@beforeweforget.org.

Best wishes,
Lau Joon-Nie
VP, Singapore Press Club
Convenor, Young Media Professionals Chapter

INVITATION TO BOOK LAUNCH & SCREENING

You are invited to the Book Launch of Grandmother’s Garden and other stories on Saturday 18 August 2012, 3.15pm to 5:00pm at the Chamber of The Arts House at The Old Parliament. There will be a pre-launch screening of the Before We Forget documentary at 2.00pm. The book will be on sale at special launch prices.

Saturday, 18 August 2012, 3.15pm – 5.00pm

at

The Chamber of The Arts House at The Old Parliament
1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore 179429

PROGRAMME

1.50 pm Guests to be seated
2.00 pm Pre-launch screening of documentary
3.00 pm Intermission
3.15 pm All guests to be seated
3.30 pm Arrival of Guest-of-Honour, Ms Denise Phua, MP
3.35 pm Guest-of-Honour address
3:50 pm Readings by selected contributors
4.30 pm Questions
4.45 pm Tea reception and book sale

SYNOPSIS

Are we the same when memories fade?

How do we love someone we no longer know? Most of us are at a loss when we realise a person we love has dementia. And unlike many things, it becomes more difficult with time. Dementia slowly withers the memories, thoughts, and abilities of our loved ones, turning them into strangers. Dementia does not discriminate. Doctors have no cure.

Grandmother’s Garden and other stories brings together the stories of more than 30 people, including writers Mr Wang Says So, and Mr Miyagi, filmmaker Boo Junfeng, and photojournalist Bob Lee. The poetry, prose, photographs, artwork, and illustrations in this book speak of exhaustion, guilt, acceptance, strength, love, and courage.

Grandmother’s Garden and other stories is published by Hachisu, and distributed by Select Books. The printing of the book is sponsored by Lundbeck Singapore. Proceeds go to a dementia-related cause.

LATEST: Screening & Book Forum – Tue 28 August at Golden Village VivoCity Hall 2

7.00 pm Guests to be seated
7.15 pm Screening of documentary
8.15 pm Speech by Dr Philip Yap, Clinical Director, Geriatric Centre, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
8.25 pm Readings by selected contributors
8.45 pm Questions
9.00 pm Book sale

REGISTRATION
Please register for the book launch by 15 August, and the screening by 18 August. This form is for the registration for one seat only. You are welcome to forward this link to your friends: http://goo.gl/SZ4H9

Hope to see you at the launch!

With regards,
Xian Jie

Share your story on beforeweforget.org

Exclusive Curator’s Guided Tour and Talk

Dear members,

You are invited to the Peranakan Museum for an Exclusive Curator’s Guided Tour of the Emily of Emerald Hill – Singaporean Identity On Stage exhibition.

As patriotism fills the air this August, enjoy delving into the psyche of the Peranakan community, as unfolded by playwright and novelist Stella Kon.

For more details, check out http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/exhibitions/eventdetail.asp?eventid=285

After the guided tour, members are free to view all the museum displays at your own leisure.

 Exclusive Guided Tour

Date: 18 August (Sat)

Time: 1.30pm (Registration starts at 1.20pm at the Ground Floor Lobby)

Photo from Peranakanmuseum.com

Venue: Peranakan Museum, 39 Armenian Street

To register, please send an email to secretariat@pressclub.org.sg giving your name, membership number, current occupation and handphone number.

Your guests are welcome but please submit their names and occupations in advance.

The registration deadline is 14^th Aug (Tue).

Public Talk

Date: 18 August (Sat) – same day

Time: 11am-1pm

In conjunction with the exhibition, a panel discussion will be held with the three local thespians who’ve taken on the role of Emily over the years.

Margaret Chan, Pearlly Chua and Ivan Heng will share their interpretations of Emily, an abandoned girl who becomes the powerful matriarch of a distinguished household.

As this event is open to the public, interested members should register directly with the National Heritage Board. Email nhb_acm_conference@nhb.gov.sg by 15th Aug (Wed).

It’s advisable for children attending the talk to be at least 6 years old. Seats are limited so please sign up early and turn up if places are reserved for you.

Queries? Contact Press Club MC member Carol Foo @ 81137055 or Natalie Tan from NHB (ACM) @ 63323830 email Natalie_TAN@nhb.gov.sg

Have a creative August!