AAS Magazine Vol 1 March 2017 Mar. 2017 Vol 1 | Page 17

Today we are a family of 43 Universities and 23 alumni chapters with a commitment to supporting more than 140,000 Australian Alumni in Singapore. For sustainability, we also need to consider that every year approximately 23,000 more Singaporean students are studying in Australian Universities.

In the upcoming election at the AGM, three of the stalwarts in our team, are retiring, Abhishek Bhati, Melvin Gwee and Lee Ee Win. They have all conscientiously served AAS and our members, and without their dedicated support and team work, we would not have been able to fully achieve our goals. I wish to thank them sincerely for their commitment, and I do look forward to their continued support in other capacities.

We are looking forward to having three Candidates elected to our Management Committee. Their credentials must be impeccable, and with their dedicated commitment to serve the AAS, will need to actively contribute and provide continuity in the execution of our agenda of building a strong and sustainable AAS that continues to enhance value to our members.

"To ensure that we can effectively scale the AAS foundations, we NOW need to augment our team with the following critical skills: sponsorship, partner and alliance management, digital transformation and corporate governance."

While it is not in the Constitution to elect Candidates with specific technical skills, given the needs of the organisation to rapidly scale its infrastructure and support services to cater for the 70,000 Australian Alumni who now have the right to 100% subsidised membership by their partner university, I am highlighting these skills to our members, stakeholders, and to our respective candidates, the technical know-how that is now needed for the AAS to deliver on its AAS 2017-2019 Strategic Plan. Given the limited financial resources of the AAS and the importance of these contributions for delivering enhanced value to our collective stakeholders, this is an important consideration for all to be aware of.

Management Committee Members that have strong professional statures, proven leadership capability by leading from the front, that are individuals not afraid to do the hard work and who have the ability to engage all key stakeholders at the highest level are essential. If Members choose not to elect the new MC members with these skills, it will need to be externally sourced, either from a Committee composed of the collective volunteers of our member base, or funded from the Association's own operating budget.

In conclusion, it is now in your good hands, fellow AAS members, to attend our AGM on 28 March 2017, and vote for the right candidates.

For only with your support can we ensure that the AAS of the future can be even better than that of the present.

Chris Cheah, President

Australian Alumni Singapore

Andrew Han

Andrew Han is a Futures Instructor at Online Trading Academy. Prior to this he contributed extensively to the finance organization in various roles including Internal Audit, Treasury, Contollers, and Financial Systems at The Dow Chemical Company in the Asia Pacific region and the United States. He is currently serving the AAS as Auditor and is standing for re-election to the Office of Auditor. He is a Councilor of the CPA Australia Singapore Division and Co-Chairman of the Professional Connect Committee in Singapore. He is a FCPA, CPA Australia and graduated from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

aas 2017 ELECTION

MAGEMENT COMMITTEE

ELECTORAL CANDIDATES 2017

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