Click on images to see full-size flyers.

Almost all of you would have received your membership cards by now. We are aware from our records that a number of members have not received their cards but this is because we do not have a physical postal address for you. If you are one of these members, please email president@suka.org with your postal address and we shall send a card to you.

This year, we have a number of corporate members who have extended an exclusive discount scheme to SUKA members. They would require the production of your membership card at the point of purchase or ordering for validation. The latest discount and benefit schemes were provided by the Millennium & Copthorne (UK) Hotels Group which includes their famous Bugis Street restaurants at the Gloucester and Kensington hotels; and by the UK based CityFleet executive cars, black cabs, limousines and coach services - a company of Singapore's homegrown Delgro -Comfort Bus and Taxi company.

For those who are not yet members or are thinking of renewing your membership, it is not late to apply. Pro-rated fees are applicable for mid-year applications. See the Membership section on our website.

Hope you are able to enjoy these exclusive benefits and have a great 2013!

From,
Bernard Cheong
President, SUKA

SUKA is pleased to announce 2 major exclusive discount schemes for SUKA members from the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Group.



1. 15% off Best Available Rates on stays at all Millennium hotels across the UK

Members should take the following steps to receive the discount:
- Book the stay via www.millenniumhotels.co.uk and enter the promotional code 'SUKA'
- Present their SUKA membership card on check-in at the hotel

Terms & Conditions
- Members must present their SUKA membership card on check-in.
- Discount is available at Millennium & Copthorne hotels in the UK only.
- Rate is non-commisionable.
- Bookings must be made through the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels website, using the promotional code 'SUKA'.
- Full prepayment must be made at time of booking and refunds will not be made if a booking is cancelled.
- Bookings cannot be amended.

2. 10% off food and drinks at the Bugis Street restaurants in London and at Le Chinois Restaurant and Bar

Terms & Conditions
- Members must present their SUKA membership card on arrival at the restaurant to receive the discount.
- A minimum of at least a Main Course must be ordered, per person, to receive the discount.
- Discount is available at the Bugis Street restaurants at the Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington and the Millennium Gloucester Hotel London Kensington, and Le Chinois Restaurant and Bar at the Millennium Hotel London Knightsbridge.

These discounts will run until the end of 2013.

SUKA would like to welcome CityFleet Networks Ltd as a Corporate Member for 2013.



You will no doubt be aware of ComfortDelGro and our Comfort and CityCab Taxi services in Singapore. We are delighted to be able to tell you that the same level of service can be received here in the UK through their UK company, CityFleet Networks Limited. CityFleet, a part of ComfortDelGro, has been servicing the corporate market with ground transportation solutions for over 35 years providing access to Licensed Taxis (Black Cabs), Standard cars, Executive cars and Executive coaches.

Whether it is a full corporate bespoke solution you require or simply a personal account for occasional taxi use CityFleet is here to help.

Typically Account charges would be in the region of 15-27% of the journey cost and be made up of a number of elements. For SUKA members, both corporate and individuals, CityFleet is pleased to be able to offer significant discounts from their charging tariff. They will simply apply a flat 10% administration fee to each journey and then you will be invoiced on a consolidated basis at the end of the month.

To activate your discount scheme simply contact them at SUKA@cityfleet.co.uk, and a CityFleet representative will be in touch to talk you through the various account set-up options.

Dear members

The first batch of 2013 membership cards have been given out today. The 2nd and final batch to all new members and members who have renewed their membership for 2013, will be be posted out within the next 7 days.

For those who have not renewed or are thinking of joining, please don't hesitate. Membership forms can be downloaded from our Membership page on our website.

We hope to conclude certain SUKA-exclusive discount deals with a few key service providers and companies in the next few weeks and any "card-carrying member" of SUKA will be entitled to these deals.

Bernard Cheong
President

Dear Fellow Singaporean, We are excited to bring the 50th installment of the Distinguished Business Leaders (DBL) Series to you in London. Yes, we have hit the big 5-0. The DBL Series has reached out to many Singaporeans living abroad since its inception in 2006 and we thank you for the strong support and interest in it. For this 50th edition, we are happy to feature Mr Liew Mun Leong of CapitaLand Limited again - he was the speaker who launched the first DBL event in 2006. Join us at Royal Garden Hotel, London, on 1 March 2013 as Mr Liew shares with you his illustrious professional journey of 42 years. Join us at Royal Garden Hotel, London, on 1 March 2013 as Mr Liew shares with you his illustrious professional journey of 42 years, as well as his views on the real estate sector. Come with your Singaporean friends and enjoy an evening of networking with the speaker over dinner. Yours sincerely, (MR) Wong Kan Foo Director Overseas Singaporean Unit Mr Liew Mun Leong Board Director, CapitaLand Limited Group President & CEO from 2000 - 2012 Chairman, Changi Airport Group 1 March 2013 Royal Garden Hotel, London ABOUT THE SPEAKER Mr Liew Mun Leong is a Director of CapitaLand Limited.  He was President & CEO of CapitaLand Group from November 2000 to 31 December 2012.  Listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Limited invests, develops, operates and manages a complete value chain of real estate businesses in more than 110 cities in over 20 countries in Asia Pacific and Europe.  More>> ABOUT THE DBL SERIES Conceived as a high-profile initiative by the Overseas Singaporean Unit since 2006, the DBL Series seeks to create a platform for interaction between Singapore-based companies and the Overseas Singaporean community, to enable Overseas Singaporeans to stay abreast of developments in the various sectors of the Singapore economy, as well as to find out more about job and business opportunities in Singapore and the Asian region. We are planning the lineup of events for the rest of 2013. Look out for it on the Overseas Singaporean Portal! This email is brought to you by the Overseas Singaporean Unit. To find out more about the programmes, events and initiatives offered by the Overseas Singaporean Unit, visit www.OverseasSingaporean.sg or 'Like' us on Facebook at 'OverseasSingaporean' to receive updates, news and announcements from home.

SUKA is pleased to welcome those of you who had signed up as members for the first time and we hope to see you at our events and activities in 2013. Many thanks also to all of you who had recently renewed their membership. Your support is greatly appreciated.

In particular, we would also like to welcome back the Millennium and Copthorne Hotels Group as a corporate member after an absence of several years. More details about them can be found on this link http://www.millenniumhotels.com/

The management of SUKA is currently in discussions about member benefits with Millenium and Copthorne (UK) and will update the Association as soon as an agreement has been reached.

Bernard Cheong
President
31 January 2013

We are happy to invite all our SUKA members and friends to join us in welcoming the Year of the Snake in our SUKA event for Chinese New Year.





Please send all enquiries and bookings to sukacny2013@suka.org or sukacny2013@gmail.com

"The Imperial College Singapore Society (ICSS) is holding our annual musical production next February and we would like to extend a warm invitation to all SUKA members for our production. The production is meant to celebrate and showcase our uniquely Singaporean culture with the inclusion of such Singaporean elements as Singlish, hawker food, NS army references and more. As a gesture of goodwill to the community of which we are a part of for the duration of our studies, we will be donating all proceeds from the production to a chosen charity. It would be a great opportunity to have a night out and enjoy the comfort of the familiar elements of Singaporean culture and donate to charity at the same time! The event details are as follows:

Synopsis: Four Imperial College students who have just finished their exams andare two days away from flying back home to Singapore. At the end-of-exam party,they have one drink too many and chaos ensues. They wake up in some unknownlocation, with no recollection of what happened the night before. What's worseis that one of their friends is missing and he was the designated"sober" one to hold all their passports. They embark on a journey toput the pieces of their memory back together, bumbling through drunkenstudents, wax statues and even the cast of the Lion King! Will they find their missing friend? With onlya day before their flight back home, will they make it back to Singapore? Come on down to find out!

Date: 2 February 2013

Time: 7.30 pm (Registration opens 6.45 pm)

Venue: Imperial College Great Hall

Ticket Price: £10 (£9 early bird price ending 6 January 2013) Tickets can be purchased from http://bit.ly/MajorEvent13."

Or click here to join the survey.

Click on the image to see a larger flyer

Menu of the day:

1. Satay Chicken & Lamb
2. Guinness Chicken Wings
3. Deep Fried Sliced Fish with Pepper & Salt
4. Kueh Pie Tee
5. Indian Rojak
6. Curry Chicken with Roti Canai / Boiled Rice
7. Stir Fried Long Beans, Lady Fingers, Aubergine with Sambal Sauce
8. Char Kuay Teow
9. Singapore Char Hea Mee (Prawn noodle)
10. Tapioca Kueh & Kueh Seri Muka (pandan on top and glutinous rice at the bottom)
11. Teh Tarik & Bandung

Chef will be able to prepare Kueh Pie Tee in front of the guests.

Places are limited, book your place as early as you can!

Dear Members

You may have heard of plans or indeed heard my presentation at the AGM earlier this year regarding SUKA's setting up of a Mandarin school for young children in Central London. We are able to do this with assistance from a few volunteer teachers and also from the Overseas Singaporean Unit.

In the course of our planning, we have received tentative interests from some parents of young Singaporean children but as our plans are now in the final stages, we would like to solicit more views from our young parents in London about how SUKA should plan and operate this school in the future. To refresh everyone's memory and to serve as a aide memoir for you to pen down your views to me, here are the pointers regarding the planned SUKA Mandarin School:

1) As there is critical mass amongst the Singaporean community in London, the venue is likely to be a rented church or school hall , somewhere in the West End. There would be rental costs involved and although there may be a subsidy, we would like a small contribution from parents who are sending their children to the SUKA Mandarin School. We are planning for a £ 300 per year contribution for each child . Your views about this level of contribution is sought.

2) The aim of the SUKA Mandarin School is to track the Singapore Schools syllabus P1 - P3 closely. As I mentioned at the AGM, SUKA is aware that there are other good 3rd party commercial Mandarin schools operating in London, who provide an excellent "one-size fits all" Mandarin class for children of chinese descent from all parts of the world. SUKA has identified that there is a niche for a Singapore Schools Mandarin syllabus to be taught to our young children, who come one day, would have to return to Singapore for various reasons. I have heard of children having problems integrating with the education system back in Singapore and the creation of this Mandarin school will help to alleviate some of the stress associated with a mis-matched education curriculum while our children are here in the UK.

The Mandarin syllabus will follow what is taught in Singapore to an extent that is practical and possible , considering our limited resources here in London. For example, if we do not have enough children or there are children of vastly different abilities in Mandarin, in each year group, we may have to amalgamate year groups (e.g. Pre-school and P1 children as a combined group ; P2 and P3 in another single group).

Your comments about this will be appreciated.


3) Due to our volunteer teachers' time commitments, it is envisaged that the school will run only on the weekends. Do you have a preference for which day (Sat or Sun) and the time ?

4) Also, do you know of other Singaporean families who are not SUKA members, who would like to enrol their children in such a school? Obviously, to be fair to other SUKA members, a pre-requisite of enrolment would be that their parents join SUKA as ordinary members. Are there any feedback about how many such families and any views about this?

5) Lastly, any suggestions about the administration and management of this proposed Mandarin school?

Drop me an email president@suka.org or post your views/comments on our Facebook page "Singapore UK Association" before 15 October 2012.

Thanks

Bernanrd Cheong
President, SUKA

Dear members

Please be aware that the closing date for applications for the above scholarship is drawing near. In case you had forgotten, the dateline is 30 September 2012 and applications are only accepted via the post. No email or electronic transmittal of applications is allowed.

On the other hand, if you have already submitted your application letter and supporting documentation by post, please drop a simple message to president@suka.org to say that you had already done so.

Thank you.

Bernanrd Cheong
President, SUKA

SUKA is proud to invite everyone to our Hari Raya event to be held on 29th September 2012. The venue for the event is the famous Pak Awie Restaurant at 36 Southwick Street, London W2 1JQ.

Please note that we have Early Bird special price for all.
Early Bird to 19/9/2012
Member £15 Non-member £23
After 19/9/2012
Member £20 Non-member £25

The dress code for this event is Smart Casual.

Click on the image above to see a bigger and clearer version of the flyer.

Dear members,

Time has passed us by very quickly and I am pleased to call now for nominations for the various office bearer and committee member positions to manage SUKA from 1 November 2012 to 31 December 2013.

The caretaker committee led by myself, Olivia Ow and Khoo Swee Chern will be stepping down in October. I am barred from running again for President SUKA by the Constitution, having served the maximum of 2 terms. I am grateful for your support during my term and wish the Association well.

Please send in your nominations to president@suka.org before 15 September 2012. To ensure a successful election, SUKA will collate sufficient nominations and give adequate campaigning time for the nominees, hence the date of the AGM for the election will only be announced towards the end of September.

Best regards

Bernard Cheong President

On 6 August 2012, the Singapore UK Association celebrated with our Singapore Olympians at a special dinner hosted by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in London. A cake (see photo below) was presented to Team Singapore by SUKA.

Dear members,

Time has passed us by very quickly and I am pleased to call now for nominations for the various office bearer and committee member positions to manage SUKA from 1 November 2012 to 31 December 2013.

The caretaker committee led by myself, Olivia Ow and Khoo Swee Chern will be stepping down in October. I am barred from running again for President SUKA by the Constitution, having served the maximum of 2 terms. I am grateful for your support during my term and wish the Association well.

Please send in your nominations to president@suka.org before 15 September 2012. To ensure a successful election, SUKA will collate sufficient nominations and give adequate campaigning time for the nominees, hence the date of the AGM for the election will only be announced towards the end of September.

Best regards
Bernard Cheong
President

The Singapore Sports Council has kindly invited SUKA's members to attend their Olympic celebration dinner on 6th August 2012 at Millennium Hotel. However, as it is at no cost to members, only 40 invitations are offered. Therefore, we have to restrict 2 persons per family, and it will be done on a balloting basis if there are more than 40 applications for this dinner event. Please submit your applications as soon as possible before 25th July 2012 to the treasurer@suka.org

Date: 6th August 2012
Time: 7.30 - 9.00pm
Venue: Millennium Gloucester Hotel


Please find details of this event in the following.

The Westminster Abbey annually invites each nation on their National Day to say prayers for the future wellbeing of their country. As usual, the Singapore High Commission has invited SUKA Singaporean members to join in this special service of evening prayers on our independence day, 9th August 2012.

As spaces are limited and constrained in the pews, therefore the first 20 who respond will be allocated to these seats. However, we do warmly welcome those who respond later on, to join us in prayers as well for Singapore. They can only join us by coming into the Abbey "walk-ins" with the general public, but will be seated separately from the main group.

Date: Thursday, 9th August 2012

Venue: Westminster Abbey

Time: Service starts at 5pm. Guests are requested to be seated at 4.30 pm.

Please kindly let us know and send your request to the email address treasurer@suka.org by 25th July 2012.

In the month of July, the OSU will be having two exciting programmes targeted at our Overseas Singaporean(OS) youths.

NS Familiarisation Visit
Come 18 July, OSU with our friends from MINDEF, will be facilitating an NS Familiarisation Visit to the Basic Military Training Camp at Pulau Tekong. This will be a good opportunity for your child (if you are a parent) or yourself (if you are a OS youth) to have firsthand exposure to the camp grounds and learn more about the NS experience.

Participants will get the chance to put on the full set of army gear, handle sophisticated equipment for field trainings, and learn the various kinds of commands commonly used. Cadets will be on hand to guide participants through this visit and to share with them their personal experiences. This visit is open to both boys and girls. Please note that attendees will have to between 15-18 years old, and a Singapore citizen.

There are limited spaces, so hurry and sign up online at this link.

Project Aspire!- an online photo campaign
In conjunction with SHINE, a month-long youth festival organised by the National Youth Council (NYC) in the month of July, OSU will be launching an online photo campaign to celebrate our OS youths, no matter where they may be.

In line with the theme for SHINE, "Aspirations", Project Aspire! wants to know and celebrate the aspirations, passion and hopes of our OS youth. To participate, OS youth simply have to take a photo of themselves, with the words "Young Singaporean Abroad: Aspiring _________". Example, they could be aspiring musician, or aspiring to see the world. The sky is really the limit as to what the aspiration can be. Next, simply upload and submit the photo via our Project Aspire! page (coming up soon) on the Overseas Singaporean Portal. In additional, we will be doing a feature article on one OS youth who has submitted the most creative photo.

Project Aspire! will be launched on 28 June, and close on 24 July. More buzz on Project Aspire! will be coming your way very soon. So, spread the word to OS youth out there that something is brewing- and keep watch on the Overseas Singaporean Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OverseasSingaporean, and the Overseas Singaporean Portal, www.oversessingaporean.sg for more information!

15th June was the launch of the Singapore UK Scholarship for Accounting and Business Studies at a ceremony conducted at the Singapore High Commission in London. Applications are now open and if you are keen to embark on a course of study leading to a Masters degree or the ACCA qualification, please apply in writing according to the criteria attached.

Good luck and please be aware that the scholarship (of which 6 in total are available) are for 50% of the tuition fees payable and that this is for academic entry in either January, May or September 2013. Closing date for applications is 30 September 2012.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified for interviews with the SUKA Selection Committee.

View or download the Key Selection Criteria document.

We congratulate the following who have won themselves a set of official TEAM Singapore merchandise comprising of a T-shirt and a Scarf. Wear them proudly at the Olympics and support the Singapore team!

Mr Max Rogers - Life Member
Ms Sadhana Manoharan - Corporate Member

Our thanks to Ms Karolyn Poon of the Overseas Singaporean Unit for drawing the winners today.