Queen's Birthday Honours

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.