Looking fantastic, those giant yellow balloons really make an impact!
Down by the water at Manly, what a lovely venue.
We were very pleased to support our friend and AMBCQ member Diana from House of Events this week at her Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser event for the Cancer Foundation. And what a fabulous event it was! The morning tea was at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron at Manly, which is a really beautiful venue, right on the water, of course. Comscentre, a very strong supporter of AMBCQ, also supported the event. I have to say just about everything I can think of was perfectly pitched! The food, the little yellow cupcakes, the prizes, the jumping castle, and the giant yellow balloons! And being during the school holidays, I really appreciated that kids were welcome and in fact encouraged to come along. You can imagine how much they enjoyed themselves with a jumping castle and the Club's playground at their disposal. What a fantastic morning!
It's so big, it's almost a planet!! We could only squeeze one balloon into the car.
All the children who came along were given the chance to bring home one of these giant yellow balloons - we could only take one in our car. It is much loved by our daughter Ilmi and I'm afraid she's going to be very sad when it finally bursts or goes down.
Events like this are never easy to pull off, but Diana did an amazing job. It is true, everyone is always busy, and each of us have a million things to do each day. Not everyone is willing to put themselves out in order to create an event to bring people together in support of an important cause. It is great to be able to attend a wonderful, fun event, AND support the Cancer Foundation. I'm looking forward to next year's event already!
If anyone would like to engage the services of a very good events planner, I would be happy to put you in touch with Diana and House of Events.
Kiong speaking to Diana while our Ilkka enjoys the chance to play with one of the balloons.
I won something! A BMW pack with hats (enough for all our kids!), a picnic set, and a big umbrella. We just need the car to go with it now. ;)
The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced last week, and while all the recipients are of course exceptional (or they would not have been recognised in the first place!), there are a number of notable recipients from an AMBCQ perspective: Dr Simon Longstaff, Greg Vickery and Prof Yew-Chaye Loo, all three of whom I have had the pleasure of knowing or working with outside the AMBCQ as well as within an AMBCQ context.
Professor Yew-Chaye Loo AM
Firstly, we’d like to congratulate AMBCQ member and prominent Griffith University academic, Professor Yew-Chaye Loo for being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). Malaysian born Professor Loo is the Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering at Griffith University and Director of Internationalisation and Professional Liaison for the Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology Group at Griffith University, and was awarded for his services to civil and structural engineering. Professor Loo has written a truckload of books and articles on engineering, and many of his works are considered seminal. This is not the first time Professor Loo has received such an acknowledgement. He also was recognised by the Chinese Government (through the World Chinese Venture Model Association in conjunction with the China Association for Promoting International Scientific and Technical Cooperation) "the 2011 World Top 10 Enterprising Pioneer of Chinese Descent". In 2011, the AMBCQ gave Professor Loo a commemorative plaque in recognition of this honour at a function in Kuala Lumpur.
It is a wonderful honour to be bestowed upon Professor Loo and an acknowledgement of the calibre of the staff of Griffith University.
Kiong Chan, AMBCQ President, Kevin Field, Principal Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and Greg Vickery AM AO at the AMBCQ/QYO reception for the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, December 2012, Brisbane. Greg has been a strong supporter of the QYO, among many other artistic organisations in Queensland.
Another prominent Queenslander to acknowledge is Greg Vickery AM. It is the second time Greg has been recognised with one of these honours, and this time he has been appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO). Greg served as the Indonesian Honorary Consul, the National Chairman and President of Red Cross, and President of the Queensland Law Society, among many other roles. Greg played a prominent role as the Honorary Consul for a long time, and performed many duties that went beyond the call of his role to serve the Indonesian community in Brisbane and Queensland for many years. He is also a very strong supporter and patron of the arts scene in Brisbane, as well as being a highly respected and well known legal figure.
The inaugural A2ELP cohort in Kuala Lumpur, 2011, a great bunch of people chosen for this unique opportunity. I'm on the far left and Simon is behind me.
One other person I'd like to acknowledge is Dr Simon Longstaff who also became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Simon is a prominent philosopher and educater in ethics, and is associated particularly with the St James Ethics Centre. Simon was a key facilitator for the ASEAN Australia Emerging Leaders Programme (A2ELP) in 2011 which was supported by the Australia Malaysia Institute and held in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Roundtable. I was privileged to be chosen for the programme, and Simon was a great mentor and facilitator to all of participants.
Some of our guests - Stu Myerscough from Air Asia, Dr Peter Yeoh OAM and Mrs Alice Yeoh, with Kiong Chan, AMBCQ President
The last month has been extremely busy for AMBCQ - so much so that I have not had much of a chance to update this blog. Although there is a lot to write about, I will just share with you first our recent event with the Senator the Hon. Bob Carr, Australia's Foreign Minister. This event was a real highlight for all members and guests who attended and we considered it an enormous privilege to host the Foreign Minister. We also hosted another special guest, the Hon. Bernie Ripoll MP who is Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer and Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business. The significant positions they both hold and the high degree of relevance of their portfolios to AMBCQ members meant that the presence of both gentlemen at our event was of great interest to members of our Business Council.
Bernie Ripoll speaking to Kiong Chan and Scott Hutchinson, of Hutchinson Builders
Senator Carr covered a wide range of topics in his speech - ASEAN, MAFTA, US-Australia and US-China relations, the Asian Century, Australia's position on the Security Council, Australia's economic resilience and many more topics. And of course, he had some lovely stories to share with us regarding Malaysia, as his wife Helena is Malaysian-born. He is a great speaker and the depth and rigour of his analysis and his knowledge is of course impressive. But you would expect no less from a leader of his calibre, a former Premier of New South Wales and current Foreign Minister.
Bernie Ripoll also made a great speech, speaking about some of his recent experiences representing the Australian Government at the Asian Development Bank meetings in India. He brought up the issue of Australia's economic resilience and spoke about what Australia is doing right in an international context.
Senator Carr
Both of our guests participated in a discussion panel with Kiong and I toward the end of the event, and we discussed a series of strategic and international issues, focusing on Australia's trade agreements, Malaysia, US relations, and of course China. It was a robust and insightful discussion, and much appreciated by the audience. Senator Carr and Mr Ripoll were very generous with their time and spoke to many of the guests before the official event started and stayed until the end to hear from them as well. The AMBCQ presented Senator Carr with a gift - a replica antique map from 1680 crafted by master map maker Edwin Clark. The map shows some of the gaps in knowledge that were around in that era, and how much time and technology has advanced our knowledge of the world. We also presented Bernie with a gift - another replica antique map crafted by Edwin, this time the 1823 Oxley map, which is the first map of Brisbane, made by John Oxley in the earliest days of European contact. Bernie is the member for Oxley and was thus delighted to receive it.
Rather than write too much about the event, the video below provides some of the speeches from the event. It was a truly great event, a privilege to be involved and a joy to interact with these two wonderful leaders.
Shona, Bernie Ripoll, Senator Carr and Kiong Chan during the discussion panel
Kiong presenting a gift to Senator Carr to thank him for being our guest
