Singapore American School Journeys December 2007, Volume 3 by Singapore American School

MICA(P) 245/04/2007

SAS

Volume 3 December 2007

ourneys Singapore American School Alumni Magazine

SAS gifts to children of Cambodia

Published by the Office of Communications and Development 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 Tel: (65) 6363-3403 Fax: (65) 6363-3408 www.sas.edu.sg journeys@sas.edu.sg

SAS Cover

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Inside features: • Alums working in Singapore • Fond food memories • Island’s 21st C biomedical hub • Aven recalls building King’s Rd

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Vol 3 December 2007

C o n t e n t s SAS Education Foundation

Editor Junia Baker Superintendent Brent Mutsch Director of Communications and Development Beth Gribbon Associate Director of Alumni Relations Lauren Thomas Designer Josephine Yu

Now in its third year, the SAS Education Foundation is funding student programs and helping to ensure the long-term financial health of the school.

SAS expansion — Will there be a second campus?

SAS gifts to the children of Cambodia

Front cover: The 12th century Bayon temple near Siem Reap towers over SAS community projects in four Caring for Cambodia schools. Photo by Patrick Green Back cover: Beth Gribbon, Director of Communications and Development, and Lauren Thomas, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, welcome visiting alumni to SAS.

Then & Now: Singapore food memories

Singapore Today: Biopolis and A*Star

Fabulous research facility lends itself to internationally acclaimed researchers as well as SAS student interns.

HS English teacher John Hurst becomes antiquarian book dealer.

The real world for the Class of 2007

Modern dance artist and alum visits SAS

Art through the eyes of 1991 alumnus

Singapore Today: Doing Singapore — again

Alums tell their stories about returning to Singapore to live and work.

Alum who fell in love with science at SAS

The school the community built

Superintendent Aven recalls the building of the King’s Road campus.

Notes & Quotes

Reunions in 2007 and 2008

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In a community-wide effort, SAS parents, teachers, students and alumni help educate the Cambodian leaders of tomorrow.

25 years at SAS SAS Journeys is published by the Office of Communications and Development of the Singapore American School.

School Board considers options for the future.

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Welcome Alumni Welcome Alumni, It’s been an exciting first semester of the 2007-2008 school year. In August, we were pleased to welcome Dr. Brent Mutsch as our new superintendent. Brent’s first few months have been included discussions with the Board of Governors and SAS community about the feasibility of expanding the school beyond its 3,800 current students. In this issue Board Chairman Garth Sheldon addresses the questions and concerns about expansion. The SAS community has been very active both on campus and away from Singapore. I hope you are as “wowed” as I was by the work of Caring for Cambodia. This organization, set up by SAS parent Jamie Amelio, has gathered the support of the SAS community and taken Lauren with visiting alumna Kathi Kreiling Whitely (81), left, advantage of its skills and the volunteer time of SAS parand Candace Kreiling, who is married to Kevin Kreiling (78). ents, teachers, students and alumni. I came into the Alumni Relations position in August 2007 after nearly three years in the Admissions Office. In Admissions, we often see the initial anxiety that parents have about moving their children into a large international school setting. After the children settle in, that anxiety melts into a joy in the shared experience of attending a well-regarded institution like SAS. Over the past few months, I’ve been delighted by the “warm and fuzzy” feelings that the visiting alumni share about their childhood experiences in Singapore. To this end, I encourage departing families to register on our website and for the most recent graduates to use this incredible alumni resource to make connections when they leave SAS. The Alumni Relations Department is part of the SAS Office of Communications and Development, headed by Director Beth Gribbon. I work with Development Assistant Emi Enomoto to maintain the alumni website at alumni.sas.edu.sg, this alumni publication and any event invitations and reminders. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to register online. We’re able to update the alumni website often with the help of some very special alumni. Karen Studebaker, former faculty member and alumni parent, e-mails frequently with “finds” and leads on alumni. Nathalie Vo-Ta (90) updated us on this summer’s Austin reunion, and her sister Shari (98) is planning the class of 98’s 10-year reunion in Las Vegas. In addition to our busy alumni website, SAS alums, including Raoul Rolfes (93) who organizes open-class reunions in Las Vegas, are active on social networking sites like www.myspace.com and www.facebook.com. We’re hoping that these social networking sites will bring alumni together and encourage them to use the SAS alumni website as a catch-all database for former classmates. As Charlie Pulaski (98) told me this fall, “the SAS site will always serve as a repository for connection as the popularity of social networking sites will wane.” If you find yourself back in Singapore, please visit us. We’ve welcomed many alumni visitors this fall, and it’s always fun to hear the stories and look through the yearbooks. No SAS visit is complete without dining in Mr. Hoe’s cafeteria. In this issue, SAS Librarian Kirk Palmer and several other alums highlight favorite food memories, which should get your mouth watering and your tickets reserved on the first flight back to Singapore! We’ve noticed a growing trend among our young, professional alumni: all roads lead back to Singapore. The economic boom in the region means an attractive job market. In this issue, Greg Waldron (88) speaks with those who have returned to work in Singapore, while Michelle Schmitz (07) writes about internship opportunities at the island’s biomedical hub. Hope to visit with you soon, either in person or by e-mail.

Lauren Thomas, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, lthomas@sas.edu.sg 3

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Letters to Editor

gan it along with Mike Imperi and Bava in 1981. Under Lewis we were a rough and tumble team that intimidated other teams and often lost. Bava turned the same ‘bruisers’ into a highly efficient ‘finesse’ team that went undefeated, beating Raffles Junior College for the final game of the season... I and others, including Coach Bava, believe that this team represented the first milestone in the resurgence of rugby at the school.”

From July Ellis Jolley (81): “Wow! Finally something of substance from SAS in my mailbox... love the quality and all the photos of the school and grounds, the art displays... story about 1956 by Stuart Lippe and the one on Jane Goodall. Still waiting though for a picture of that 50th anniversary quilt...” [Thank you July for the kind words. Your quilt picture is in this issue. Ed.] From Stuart Lippe (59) on his “In 1959” contribution: “I liked what you did with my contribution. I like that you identified me with the class of 59 but also allowed me to make my point for posterity that I was there at the creation (to steal a phrase from Dean Acheson). Modesty aside, I thought it came out very well. I did not realize that Thieves Market is still there... nice touch.”

From Eileen Van Kirk Umbehr (76): “Thank you so much for the articles you published [‘SASer’s journey from trash man to lawyer’]. I really appreciate the plug for my book too. [Small Town Showdown is now available from Amazon.] I showed Journeys to my manuscript editor, and she said it was the nicest alumni magazine she’d ever seen.” From Leigh Ann Whiddon Harvey (87) — fond memories: “I really enjoyed Journeys... I liked the story on Mrs. Liew. She started at Ulu Pandan in 1975 in Mercury, and I started SAS in 1975 in Mercury... I enjoyed the stories on Boni and Coach Bava too. Bava was my canoe partner in Australia for Interim Semester... It was a lot of fun.”

From John Dankowski (principal 71-71) — Boni: “Your article about Boni’s retirement caught my attention as an exciting ‘blast from the past,’ which is what most alumni publications deliver. If you can contact Boni, please tell her that I was so impressed by her and by your writeup about her. She and Theresa were our two wonderful secretaries in the days of Harry Fogie. She has retained her beauty so magnificently, and I will always remember her gentle graciousness.”

From Cliff Groen (64) — small world: “I want to congratulate you on the June edition of Journeys, which is excellent. I was interested to see the photo of Jim Baker (66), whom I remember well, and Haywood Blakemore (school board chair in the late 90s), an old acquaintance of mine — we’re both lawyers with similar experiences. Small world. The ar ticle by Stuar t Lippe (59) [‘In 1956’] describes well what I remember from my years in Singapore. The article on IASAS was also interesting. Terry Ng (64) and I were on the original SAS teams playing against ISB. I had no idea IASAS had evolved since then.”

From Karen Studebaker (faculty and parent 75-81) about Journeys: “You’ve knocked everyone’s socks off! What a fantastic issue.” From David Dawson — Nat Bava and the 84-85 rugby team: “I appreciated the article on Nat Bava, someone who has certainly influenced my life. I think of him often. However, the picture of him talking to students on the steps to the softball field at King’s Road is not of the rugby team. It is from the mid1980s, 1984-85 school year, I suspect, as Greg Miller (85), John McGrath (86) and Bill Anderson (87) are clearly in the picture, and they never played rugby. Bava took over the team in 1984 from Dick Lewis, who be-

Chris Bodeen (88) passes on greetings to teachers: “To two of my ex-teachers who were in the recent issue of Journeys. I was at the King’s Road campus 1984-86. I greatly enjoyed Jim Baker’s Chinese history [actually Asian Studies — Ed.] class. It had a certain influence on my decision to pursue studies in Chinese language, politics and history, which led me into a career as a reporter with The Associated Press in Beijing. Bob Dodge’s European history class was similarly affecting. He might recall me as the blonde American who had an intense rivalry with Perry McDonald (88).”

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Education Foundation Education Foundation steadily grows The Singapore American School Education Foundation is now firmly established as a strong and well-supported institution. In the second year of fund raising for the foundation (2006-07) over S$500,000 was raised. Many of those funds were raised through the continuing generosity of the Khoo family and the annual Star Appeal dinner, as well as the contributions of the other members of the “1956 Circle” — William and Jamie Amelio, Stephen Riady and Shincee Leonardi and the SAS PTA. A substantial portion of the funds is earmarked for support programs and financial aid in this school year and includes visual and performing arts, athletics and community service, as well as a parent Speaker Series. The remaining funds will be placed in an endowment fund, where the interest earned will help finance future initiatives of the Annual Fund drive. The funds continue to provide a full scholarship for a seventh grade student from Cambodia to attend SAS. This is her second year at the school, and it is our hope that she can remain with us through high school. Another interesting program is the Best Foot Forward Travel Fund, which the PTA established with a founding donation of $50,000 in honor of Superintendent Bob Gross (1999-2007). This fund is restricted to financial assistance for students to participate in traveling competitions or honors programs. Donors may specify that their funds be used for this program if they so wish. For information about the Education Foundation, please contact the school or see www.sas.edu.sg, Giving to SAS. Thank you for your support of the Education Foundation.

Plans for the Memory Garden and Riady Performing Arts Center are on the SAS School Board table. Full story in June 2008 issue of Journeys.

Making a donation You may contribute to the SAS Education Foundation by check or credit card. Checks in Singapore dollars should be made payable to: The American School Trust Limited. Checks in U.S. dollars should be made payable to: Singapore American School Foundation.

Beth Gribbon, Director, Communications and Development

Checks should be mailed to: Office of Communications and Development Singapore American School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547

Additional donations to 2006-07 Annual Fund of the SAS Education Foundation that were not included in SAS Journeys, Vol. 2 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Traveler’s Palm Circle

Credit card donations can be made over our secure server by clicking the Make a Gift Online link on the donations page. Go to http://alumni.sas.edu.sg/donations. All donations made online in U.S. dollars or by check in U.S. dollars are U.S. tax deductible through our U.S. Foundation.

S$100-S$999

Danny A. Flores • Randall and Ginny Donohue • Rosemary and Melvin Farmer • Nicolas Laveris • Architectnix, APAC

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From the School Board

Growth at the Singapore American School SAS School Board: left to right, Marybeth Shay, Bon Soon Koo, Chairman Garth Sheldon, Sheila Wang, Maya Roll. Back, Carl Stocking, Bart Broadman, Devin Kimble, Bob Comstock, Joseph Anderson, Kirk Hulse. Not shown, Tom Linton.

Dear Parents, Faculty, Staff and Alumni, We began the fall 2007 semester, our 52nd year of operation, with 3,824 students from more than 50 countries, 345 professional staff and a waitlist of 550. SAS is the largest single-campus international school in the world, and the facility we occupy represents an existing economic commitment to our community and to Singapore in excess of $270 million. We are proud of our school, our teachers and administrators, our students and the academic, community service, sports and cultural endeavors they undertake with distinction. We are grateful to our community, which supports everything we do with time, money and enthusiasm. Given the accomplishments of our students, teachers, administrators and community, the educational program we deliver and the facility we have, it is not surprising that the number of people who wish to send their children to SAS is growing. Balancing the need to accommodate this growth in demand with our commitment to the continuous improvement of what we do remains the principal focus for the Board of Governors. SAS remains committed to growth on terms that meet the operational and fiduciary imperatives of The American School Trust Limited, the registered not-for-profit entity under which the school operates. These imperatives include upholding the standard of educational programs and facilities and maintaining the sound financial foundation of the school. At each stage in the past growth of the school, the trust has found the required financial resources through maximizing its existing assets and through student facility fees. In the case of our biggest expansion to date, the 1996 move to the Woodlands campus, we were able to utilize the substantial asset of the Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Road land (our previous high school campus). The Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Road campus

was donated to the trust many years ago through the generous contribution of Citibank. This asset provided the seed money to finance the development of the present campus. No such ready asset is now available to the trust to provide the initial capital while protecting fully the existing school. In developing a realistic strategy for funding the expansion of the school, SAS will examine its current method of funding the school facility and look for new sources of funding in order to balance the demands of debt repayment with the limits on school fee levels. It is likely that we will be looking to the corporations, institutions and philanthropic individuals within the community we serve to follow the historical lead of Citibank and others who have contributed to SAS over the years. The urgency felt by the Singapore government to provide additional space for foreign education is matched by the parents who wait for space to open up in their school of choice. At SAS we are honored to be that school of choice for a majority of Americans living or intending to live in Singapore, as well as for the parents of the 50 other nationalities represented at our school. We are working to find a way to continue our time-honored commitment to expanding to meet the needs of our community and expect to do so in partnership with the government and the constituencies we serve. We invite comments from you at any stage in this process and intend to keep you fully informed with ample opportunity to engage in discussions with us as we move forward. Garth Sheldon, Chairman, SAS Board of Governors 6

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Education: the best weapon against poverty By Lauren Thomas

for HOPE,” Jamie said. Hope is in short supply in Cambodia, where most of the educated middle-class was killed by the genocide of the Khmer Rouge and the civil war that followed. The people who would have been today’s teachers and mentors simply do not exist. In addition, most families do not have the US$5 a month to pay for their children to attend school or the additional funds to purchase the mandatory school uniforms. Jamie saw a need and founded Caring for Cambodia. She and her volunteer board of directors, primarily made up of SAS parents, have opened four schools and are educating 3,000 students. In a process that she notes is often “one step forward, two steps back,” Jamie has also launched a

When SAS parent Jamie Amelio speaks about the children of Cambodia, her face glows with joy. She is a parent who takes great pleasure in her children, all 3,000 of them. Six years ago, Jamie and her family spent their vacation exploring Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Around the temples, Cambodian children surrounded the tourists, selling soft drinks and post cards. “One little girl approached me, tugging at my shirt, asking not for a dollar for a Coke, but for money to go to school. This simple request struck me because I’m a firm believer that education is the best weapon against poverty. I thought to myself, this little girl is really just asking 7

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SAS parents, such as Sandra Smith (right) and Lori McConaghy (below), often travel to Siem Reap to read to the children and assist in the classrooms, actively engaging in“teaching children who love to learn, learn to live.”

Food For Thought school meal program, school uniform drives, a dental program and a clean water supply system. She has even considered the students’ commutes, purchasing 1,000 bicycles for children who travel long distances to school. Jamie is very clear that her mission is not to parachute in and throw money at the problem. She has worked with the Cambodia Ministry of Education to ensure that the schools provide a self-sustaining ser vice for trained Cambodian educators. With the help of SAS teachers, CFC has opened a training center for Cambodian teachers. The teaching jobs in the CFC schools are highly sought after, as teacher wages are paid on time, and both teacher and student attendance is nearly 100 percent.

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The SAS community â&#x20AC;&#x201D; students, parents, teachers and alumni â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is a major contributor to the success of Caring for Cambodia through donations of time, uniforms, school supplies and funds

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Left: SAS parent Marybeth Shay takes pleasure in hands-on activities with CFC students. Below: The SAS Education Foundation provides a full scholarship for Rathana (right), while her good friend Cherry is sponsored by the Amelio family. Both girls live with the Amelios and are pictured here with Middle School teacher, Sharon Carroll.

vowed to educate them through college. The girls, who took their first trip on an airplane coming to Singapore and had never seen a credit card or an escalator, had the expected initial culture shock. Due to their kind, bubbly personalities, both have settled into the SAS community well. Teacher Sharon Carroll, who has been working closely with the girls, says “They are fantastic girls, and they’ve come such a long way.” Jamie believes “to whom much is given, much is expected.” If you would like to help Jamie continue the CFC legacy, see www.caringforcambodia.org.

The SAS community has been a major contributor to the success of CFC. Students and alumni have cleaned and painted CFC schools and donated SAS uniforms and school supplies. Families have held Easter egg hunts and no-gift birthday parties to raise funds. SAS teachers have taught Cambodian teachers. The SAS Education Foundation has subsidized a Cambodian scholarship student. Jamie personally picked Rathana, who has been at SAS for two years now, along with her good friend Cherry, who is sponsored by the Amelio family. Both girls live with the Amelios, who have

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SAS Primary School teacher Kaye Bach teaches hands-on learning activities and strategies to Cambodian educators.

Teachers educating teachers – at the heart of CFC By Liz King, SAS parent

of educators from SAS and the Tanglin Trust School. As a fellow educator, I was eager to be a member of this teacher training committee. One of our first meetings started with what educators like to call “brainstorming”— How many schools? How many students? What are the grade levels? What is the class size? How long is the school day? How are the teachers trained? How are classrooms equipped? Is there a curriculum? How many hours do the children spend in school? Are there formal assessments in place? Within a month, Annie and I, along with two other mem-

CFC’s teacher training efforts began in December 2003, when President Jamie Amelio made one in a long list of excellent decisions. She reached out to former SAS parent Annie Meyer — a veteran teacher, talented listener and master collaborator. Jamie recognized that an educator’s perspective would be critical to CFC’s success, and Annie was the perfect person for the role. Within a month, Annie had amassed a small committee 11

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Ung Savy started with the basics: The government mandated that students wear blue and white uniforms, yet most children cannot afford them. Even more critical, we discovered that a majority of the students came to school without being fed. Teachers had basic levels of training, but their government salaries were paid inconsistently and were barely enough to support their families. Our initial goals became abundantly clear: provide uniforms, daily nutritious meals and teacher salaries. Savy observed classrooms at SAS and Tanglin Trust and was particularly captivated by SAS’s Early Childhood Center. Six months later CFC’s first kindergarten was built, staffed and recognized by the Cambodian Ministry of Education — the very first of its kind in Cambodia. And then in October 2006 — the same weekend that CFC’s second kindergarten was dedicated — Kaye Bach found her way to the CFC schools while on holiday with her family. Fortuitously for CFC, a fire was lit in her belly. I was also in Siem Reap at the time, and my phone rang while I was visiting a temple. Kaye said, “Liz, I’m at the Amelio School with Savy. This is incredible! We need to talk! I need to know more

Our initial goals became abundantly clear: provide uniforms, daily nutritious meals and teacher salaries

bers of the committee, were on a plane to Siem Reap to observe the CFC schools, answer those questions and begin the daunting process of identifying our first steps. We were met at the airport by Ung Savy, CFC superintendent of schools, who spent hours explaining his country’s educational system, its chronic challenges due to the monumental loss of teaching expertise during the war years (some statistics estimate that 70 percent of all teachers were killed) and the specific pressing needs of the CFC schools. 12

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Photos this page show an eighth grade service project, which included building houses, cleaning out sheds, painting classrooms and interacting with the children.

about what you’re doing. I want to be involved!” Call it serendipity. Call it fate. Call it what you will, but when that phone rang, the next phase of our forward progress “got its legs.” Anyone who knows Kaye Bach, knows that she is precisely the teacher for whom the phrase “master teacher” is intended. The training she developed with former SAS teacher Erin Hopper and Tanglin teacher Katie Sansom established the model for our teacher training efforts to move forward and expand — just as our CFC teachers and the Cambodian Ministry of Education had hoped it would. We are on to something and we intend to see it through. Four schools now serve more than 3,000 students. We have a nearly 100 percent attendance rate among our teachers and students. But more than that, we have a plan. We are members in a community here in Singapore that is brimming with educational talent from all over the world. We are also the neighbors of a country that is eager for that talent. CFC aims to be the bridge that allows these professional teacher exchanges to happen. We are educators. We are listeners. We are collaborators. And we know we have what it takes to make a difference.

We are on to something. and we intend to see it through. Four schools now serve 3,000 students. We have a nearly 100% attendance rate from teachers and students. But more than that, we have a plan.

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Then & Now

Body by Hoe! and other favorite food memories Arriving for my first visit to Singapore in 1976, when the famous car-park food stalls across from the present Centerpoint were at their peak, and inspired by the popular time-lapse Tourism Board commercial, in which the space changed from a convenient parking location to a fully active food court in about one hour, I decided to try a local favorite, mee goreng. I confidently told the uncle who had that stall that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;can, can take spicy.â&#x20AC;? Well, that mee goreng pretty much blew the top of my arrogant head off. Thankfully, not too much later I had the benefit of being introduced to Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fine food successfully,

By Kirk Palmer Teacher and librarian, 1978-present Memories of places, especially when traveling the world, are often associated with food. That basic need is often the first one that we look to fulfill wherever we land. For those of us who have lived away from our home countries and for those who grew up in Singapore, food plays a very important role in the memories associated with the island republic and of the Singapore American School.

Steve Emma (faculty 83) and Patty Emma Mullen (faculty 85-92) with author Kirk Palmer (right) at the SAS 50th anniversary dinner, which served up Singapore delights to the country tunes of Matthew and the Mandarins.

Oyster omelets were big hits in the 1970s at the Tanglin Handicraft Center (now Tanglin Mall).

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Then & Now McDonald’s set consumption records for the first day, week and month that held for a long time. For Mexican food, just about the only way it was available was when the shipments of tortillas and condiments arrived at Jason’s Supermarket in Orchard Towers. Word would go around the school community faster than an email (never question the speed and accuracy of the bamboo telegraph!) that the south-of-the-border items had arrived and, next to payday at Bank of America, the lines of teachers at Jason’s were almost as long. Probably the most popular place for local food other than that of Mr. Hoe was and maybe still is Newton Circus. Where else could you see students enjoying noodles and forbidden drinks; teachers and expats and locals chowing down chili crab; and tourists walking around, overwhelmed at the selection. Newton’s success has always been amazing; the location seems to have been the initial draw, but good food will bring foreigners and locals alike. The seafood restaurants now concentrated along East Coast Parkway used to be scattered across the island, but it is a nice advantage to be able to go there now and enjoy the huge selection.

Every day at dusk in the 1960s and 1970s, dozens of stalls-onwheels emerged from side streets and set up their “kitchens” on the vacant parking lot across from Cold Storage (now Centerpoint).

easily and safely under the careful guidance of the Hoe family in the SAS cafeteria at Ulu Pandan. There are probably a number of SAS colleagues who have enjoyed easing into the local cuisine by eating some pretty amazing lunches in the SAS cafeterias — mee goreng, fried rice, kway teoh, baby kai lan, chili tofu and much more. It is almost a starter restaurant for Asian food novices. I know of one long-term colleague who proudly stands, arms outspread, and declares, “Body by Hoe!” Ahhh, but the memories of those wonderful food experiences are what keep us attached to SAS and Singapore. For those who were here in the days before the proliferation of wonderful restaurants that we have today, practically the only places to eat good western food was in the best hotels and at the American Club. A few other places, such as Foster’s Steakhouse, Jack’s Place and The Ship, also provided that restaurant connection to western food. The Hilton, Mandarin and Hyatt hotels were the best. Of course, if you wanted to downscale a bit, then out by the New Zealand (now American) military base in Sembawang or on Transit Road near the original Parisilk store, you could find some pretty good steak with fries. For fast food, A & W was the only thing available, and it was fun to go to the drive-in restaurant along Dunearn Road. Not until McDonald’s opened in 1979 at Liat Towers on Orchard Road did fast food really take of f. That

My first taste of mee goreng at the car-park stalls pretty much blew the top of my arrogant head off Who could forget the proclamation of the Tourist Promotion Board, when the Handicraft Center was built at the current site of Tanglin Mall, that all of the very best food stalls island wide would be relocated there. It worked — the food was fabulous. Thinking about each of these places brings back memories of steamy plates of food proudly presented by the wait staff at stalls, restaurants and hotel coffee shops. See, the connection of the place is to the food. Certainly, memories of food favorites will always bring a smile to my face and possibly a grumble in my tummy in memory of a particular culinary pleasure. Mmmmmm, I think a bowl of laksa with prawns and some extra bean sprouts would hit the spot, and I know just the place to get it. 15

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Then & Now

Selamat makan dan minum! By Steve Wang (92) Some of my fondest memories of Singapore were definitely from hanging out with friends and family while enjoying delicious Singaporean cuisine. Eating spicy chili crab and washing it down with a cold Anchor or Tiger Beer at Newton Circus has to rank up there at the top. “Rocky! Two more cold ones, lah!” Newton Circus was a hangout for SASers on the weekend, as well as for kids from the other international schools. We would meet and talk, flirt with guys/girls, while enjoying the wonderful selection of food at a very affordable prices. Roti john and roti prata, popiah, char kway teow and satay with peanut sauce could all be had for under $2 back in the day. Perfect for students with tight budgets! Another favorite was fish head curry with my family at the Banana Leaf. Meals were served family style on large banana leaves instead of plates, and you ate with your fingers. Just don’t let anyone catch you using your left hand! My folks used to play a joke on my friends and tell them that the fish

eyes were reserved for them as special guests. Worked every time! I still tease my friends about it! I also remember gorging on chicken rice. Singapore hawker stalls definitely serve up some of the tastiest dishes on the planet. I was rather surprised and a bit disappointed that the chicken rice in Hainan, China did not even come close to what you can get in Singapore. And who could forget the wonderful seafood bonanza that was near Big Splash on the East Coast Parkway. Is that place still around? [Yes, it’s still here. Ed.] You could walk into virtually a seafood supermarket, pick fresh seafood from the tanks and tell the server how each should be prepared — XO drunken prawns, ginger steamed fish, black bean oysters and garlic pan-fried clams — oh what a feast! It has been over 15 years since I left Singapore and throughout all my worldly travels since then, I have yet to return. But the fond memories and wonderful tastes and smells of Singapore cuisine still linger in my senses as if it was yesterday. Selamat Makan!

Chicken and beef satay with spicy peanut sauce — a big favorite with SASers throughout the years.

Steve Wang’s parents always insisted his friends eat the eyes of the fish as they were the honored guests...

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Then & Now

The food I miss

Singapore’s Newton Circus stalls are alive and well. The vendors are a bit more pushy and the prices are higher than in the old days but the food is still good and the atmosphere remains noisy, fun and beery.

By Glen Kukula (89) Saturday back in the mid 1980s was my time to hang with the local boys. I lived in Serangoon Gardens, and there were not too many kids from SAS in the area. BMX bikes were hot tickets, and we made ramps and racetracks on undeveloped land so we could race and do tricks on our bikes. I had a Torker 2 with all the “must have” options, which made me the local hero because my bike was from the States. Those days were hot and long, and we would build up huge appetites after the BMX riding. So my lot of local friends, Malaysians, Chinese, Indians and I, would ride to the Serangoon hawker center. To me eating at hawker stalls was like my kids eating at McDonald’s today. It was normal to buy and eat food right on the side of the road. As I rode up to the hawker center with $2 in my pocket, my mouth would water from the smells of all the different food. First stop for me was to get a bag of soy-bean milk with crushed ice and a straw sticking out of the bag with a

Top: Glen Kukula (89) with son Hunter. Bottom: Oh, those curry puffs! And roti prata with curry, fried bananas, chicken rice and laksa, not to mention the seafood feasts at East Coast Park.

red drawstring that bit into my finger because the bag was heavy — 25 cents. My favorite food was chicken rice with a bowl of hot chicken broth on the side — $1.75. The other foods I miss are satay with peanut sauce, curr y puffs, laksa soup, roti prata with curr y, fried bananas and popiah. Luckily I have found restaurants in So-Cal that make some of these items, but just writing about them makes me hungr y! 17

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Then & Now

Ho & Hoe continue to cook up happy memories Top: Leonard Perry (85) smiles with pleasure at memories of Mr. Hoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cinnamon buns, which he sampled when visiting SAS this September. Dr. Perry has been a professor in industrial engineering at the University of San Diego for seven years. He was in Singapore on a six-month sabbatical with the National University of Singapore, where he taught and did research.

Left: In August, Vanessa Santoyo Misenheimer (97) dropped by SAS with her mother, Yolanda Shoemaker. The Shoemakers were in Singapore from 1989 to 1994. Vanessa now lives in Texas with her husband Rick and beautiful daughter Alayna, who just celebrated her first birthday. Yolanda and Vanessa were eager to try out Mr. Hoeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sichuan chicken after their long absence. While having lunch in the Intermediate/ Middle School cafeteria, they visited with Hoe, PS Deputy Principal Ken Schunk and MS Deputy Principal Brian Combes.

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Then & Now 40 years of great meals and warm smiles at SAS For forty years, the Ho family has engendered memories that send visiting alumni to the school cafeterias even before they seek out favorite teachers. While most people remember their school cafeterias with revulsion, patriarch Ho Tee Jam and his sons, the High School‘s Ho Juan Sim (shown here with family) and the Middle School’s Hoe Juan Jok (blame the spellings on the British colonial government), and their wives, children, nieces and nephews have fed SASers well.

Mr. Ho’s Sichuan Chicken 4 cups cooked chicken cubed (seasoned with salt, pepper, ginger juice to taste) 15 dry red whole chilies (cut in half) 2 Tbs.chopped garlic 1 cup roasted cashew nuts Sauce (combine ˚ cup vinegar, ∫ cup sugar, ˚ cup dark soya sauce and 3 Tbs. Chinese cooking wine) 3 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in ∫ cup of water 6 Tbs.corn oil 3 cups chicken stock 1 Tbs. Sichuan chili (optional) Heat the wok with oil, brown the red chilies until you smell a strong chili fragrance. Stir in the chopped garlic. Immediately add the cooked chicken and the sauce and continue to stir fry until the liquid begins to caramelize (be careful not to burn it). Add in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Taste the sauce to see if it needs additional soya sauce, sugar, cooking wine or vinegar. Once it is to taste, thicken the sauce with the corn starch mixture. Top with roasted cashew nuts and serve.

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Singapore Today

Biopolis and A*STAR: Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R&D industries reach new heights

Photo courtesy JTC Corporation

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Singapore Today

By Michelle Schmitz (07)

Another key program that A*Star offers is “student attachments” — opportunities for students to get research work into their school curriculum. Whether during the summer or during the school year, these students often shadow a scientist working in a field they wish to pursue, helping out wherever they can. They are treated like researchers and required to go to all overall institute lectures and lab meetings as well as work full hours in the lab. In return, these students (ranging from high/secondary school students to graduate students) either receive school credit or monetary compensation. (Eight SAS alumni in the last four years have had this opportunity.)

Singapore is a country that has gone through much change. From the kampungs that were homes to many separate cultural clusters, we now have housing estates and condominiums that are homes to a unified population. SAS itself was once in a small colonial house on Rochalie Drive; now it occupies a multi-million dollar complex in Woodlands. In the last ten years, from the steep economic fall that occurred in the Asia-wide financial crisis in 1997, Singapore has broadened its horizons and created a new identity. No longer is it just a port city and a financial capital — Singapore is a biomedical research, science and engineering hub, thanks to the efforts of the A*STAR program and the creation of Biopolis.

Biopolis — The City of Science To achieve Yeo’s second wish, the current crown jewel of the Singapore biomedical industry — the Biopolis biomedical research complex — was born. The 55-acre complex, built with a S$570 million budget, is a pioneer in the Asian scientific research industry. Located in Buona Vista in western Singapore (near Holland Village), Biopolis contains seven buildings: Genome, Helios, Chromos, Proteos, Matrix, Centros and Nanos. It performs research in genetics, nanotechnology, proteins, neuroscience and immunology, among many other fields. Biopolis first proved its technological capabilities during the SARS crisis in the spring of 2003. A*STAR, in particular the advanced Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), sought to find the genetically separate strains of SARS virus and see how they “evolved” from the founding strain. Additionally, they were instrumental in finding separate overall strains from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and other affected regions. Unfortunately, the SARS research had to end when the outbreak suddenly stopped — but Biopolis had proven its capability among the “big names” in biomedical research. A*STAR and Biopolis are “star” representives of Singapore’s initiatives toward a vibrant knowledge-based economy that provides an intellectually stimulating and creative environment for entrepreneurs, scientists and researchers. Singapore’s biomedical industry has the ability to collaborate and compete with the best minds in scientific research, serving as an example in Asia for the merits of scientific research.

A*STAR Scholarships and Incentives A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) was an idea founded in the early 1990s. Philip Yeo, then chairman of the Economic Development Board, was searching for a re-branded identity for Singapore’s National Science and Technology Board that included the newest capabilities in biomedical sciences as well as the physical sciences and engineering. Drawing upon the strong economic resources of the time, along with Singapore’s prodigious scientific and academic talent, A*STAR was created. Yeo had two abiding wishes. He wanted to open up the field of Singaporean scientific research to the public and scientists from around the world; he also wished to have a research complex where scientists could collaborate on biomedical projects. To achieve the first goal, A*STAR scholarships were awarded to high-achieving Singaporean and permanent resident youth. These scholarships ensure that Singapore has outstanding foreign-educated local talent. Recipients of the scholarship complete undergraduate college (mostly in the U.S. or Britain) paid for by A*STAR. All graduate school up to the PhD level is paid for as well. In exchange students are obliged to work at various A*Star institutes for eight weeks each summer while they are in school and six years after they complete school. For foreign-born scientists, A*STAR offers incentives: living packages and unmatched resources. It recruits through ads in prestigious scientific magazines, such as Nature and Science, and at job fairs. The American scientists at A*STAR come from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, the National Institutes of Health, Max Planck, the National Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins University, among others.

Many thanks to Dr. Edison Liu, Dr. Neil Clarke, Dr. Lance Miller and A*STAR for their informative contributions to this article. 21

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Singapore Today

Singapore’s twenty-first century research facility Written and compiled by Michelle Schmitz During the four years that Biopolis has existed in Singapore, eight SAS high school students and alumni have worked at the complex, either for the summer or longer-term attachments. They worked at an assortment of jobs, anything from microchips to cancer research to bioinformatics. Below are the experiences of three of them.

Michelle Schmitz (07) couldn’t decide between medicine and research for her career path. The tiebreaker was Biopolis.

years of chemistry, two of physics and two and a half years of biology, I realized biology was the passion that I wished to pursue. However, I couldn’t decide if I should pursue laboratory research or medicine. Though I would like to be a doctor and would be challenged to learn about and examine hereditary and infectious diseases, research also appealed to me. It was a 50/50 mental schism — and I had to find a tiebreaker. That tiebreaker was Biopolis. In my freshman year in 2003, I was among a group of four molecular biology students who headed to the NUS Science Park to look at the “exciting genetic research” that scientists were doing at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology. That trip and enlightening conversations with the sci-

Michelle Schmitz (07) Genome Institute of Singapore As a kindergartener in Manhattan, when Barney and Power Rangers were the crazes, my favorite pastime was reading a reference book on childhood diseases. After repeatedly reading this book, I could quote and apply what I learned to the real world, much to my parents’ surprise. I soon graduated to reading anything vaguely science-related (National Geographic, Scientific American) and regurgitating facts unabashedly at the dinner table. Thus my scientific passion was born. I knew that I wanted to leave some sort of mark on the world. Thus I considered my options. After completing two 22

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Singapore Today entists there eventually led me to this work. Getting an attachment at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) was not easy. Earlier this year, I e-mailed Dr. Edison Liu, remarking on my deep interest in scientific research, and asked for a chance to do a summer internship. I interviewed with different departments — bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology and cancer biology — to see which areas fit my interests and background. I also was interviewed by Dr. Liu. Eventually, I was assigned to the Cancer Biology 2 department, working with estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells. Why did I pick cancer biology? For me, cancer research is a personal vendetta against my genetic destiny. Most of the men on my paternal side died from either lung or stomach cancer. A very close family friend died from ovarian cancer. There was a real possibility that a simple cell-cycle switch could occur, which would produce cancerous cells in a nanosecond in someone I knew. The realization hit me hard, and I decided that, given the opportunity, I’d try to examine the procedures done today to

see if we had a chance of fighting the disease. Needless to say, my time at GIS was a wake-up call. I came in as an idealistic 18-year-old, fresh from a high school education that emphasized learning and concepts behind scientific procedures. When we performed experiments, we usually tried the experiment once in order to learn the concepts behind it (twice if we were so unlucky), then moved on to the next experiment. That way, a student curious about learning never had the chance to be “bored” with a certain procedure.

I was no longer just learning about concepts but experiencing them — a skill that I found priceless

Peck Yang (07) says that the most important part of his experience at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology was the opportunity to be hands-on in the laboratory.

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Singapore Today GIS turned me into a realist. I was not mollycoddled the way I was in high school. I was given the same responsibilities as those of fellow researchers. Sure, like all interns, I got the jobs that many find unpleasant but necessary: creating bacterial plates, waiting around centrifugation machines and de-icing the -80°C fridge where we kept our samples. Yet at the same time, my experience was not limited to such mundane events. My supervisor is a brilliant scientist. He allowed me to try all the experiments that I knew about and observed. He realized that I have a strong science background and was glad he did not have to teach me the concepts or real-world applications of the experiments. I learned by watching experiments first. After a week, I graduated to harvesting cancer cells and the E. coli cells that were transformed with plasmids containing estrogen receptor alpha genes — two experiments I knew about conceptually but never had the chance to perform. With time, my responsibilities grew. I was no longer just learning about concepts behind the various experiments, but experiencing the experiments — a skill that I found priceless. The work itself, after the initial learning curve, was a bit monotonous, but I was content in knowing that every small step, every experiment that we performed contributed

to knowing a little more in genetic research and that was enough impetus to keep me going. I also got the chance to bridge an age gap with bioinformatics. I figured out how to use a special Agilent “lab-on-a-chip” that not only found concentrations of DNA samples, but also ran a virtual gel electrophoresis and measured the fluorescence of DNA samples. I ended up teaching my supervisor how to use the lab chip. Another time, I discovered that I was able to search through the BLAT DNA database twice as fast as my boss, reducing the time that it took us to analyze a sample efficiently. I also had the chance to learn about biochemistry, as my mentor is a biochemist by training. Over my weeks in Biopolis, I read and digested over two hundred pages of important scientific papers about estrogen receptors and epigenetics to further understand the concepts behind the experiments we performed. Besides these required readings, I was advised to visit the NUS library in the adjoining building and read as many scientific papers as possible. Of course, there were the usual office politics. Science research, I realized, is an amazingly cutthroat world, with colleagues competing for publishing rights and recognition. Yet, if given a chance, I would I do this internship again in

“SARS Inhibited” by Mara Haseltine depicts the SARS Protease Inhibitor, which was discovered by an international team of scientists at Biopolis.

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Singapore Today hours, sometimes after being asked to go home, just to finish a crucial experiment and save a few hours the next morning. I kept working on my experiments because they kept failing, and I couldn’t stand failure. I wanted them to succeed in every bone of my body, and so I kept going. Now that I’m in college, meeting new people and learning new things every single day, I feel like my time might have been better spent here — but I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into biology, biomedical research, a field I never thought I would explore. And I know the work I did will help in some small way toward the larger goal — to make human life better — and I’m happy because of it. So all you students out there considering an internship, go! Look around, find out for yourself whether a certain discipline captures your attention. Learn some new skills; learn some new facts. At the end of the day, you have to decide what’s right for you. And if the internship turns out not to be what you wanted, as it wasn’t for me, just move on. a nanosecond. I feel that this research experience was invaluable, especially because it helped shape my perspective on sciences. My advice: it would be a shame if SAS students and alumni do not take the opportunity to work at Biopolis, as this biomedical research hub is right at our hands.

Peck Yang (07) Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology During my stay at Biopolis, I was attached to a medical device group in the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. I decided to complete this attachment in the summer of 2007 prior to my freshman year as I wanted to decide whether I should pursue a career in research or academia. An important aspect of my stay at IBN was the people I got to meet. In my lab, I met students from different universities in Singapore and around the world and learned about their experiences in research. In retrospect, the most important part of my experience was the opportunity to be hands-on in the laboratory. My project focused on fabricating and characterizing a DNA nanobiosensor. Fabrication took the bulk of my time as I spent weeks in the clean room. During these weeks, I was able to operate, with the help of my mentor, the high tech equipment that is used at the cutting edge of nanotechnology research. I also experienced the trials and tribulation of research work as I had many equipment failures, a very busy mentor and a difficult device to fabricate. Another great aspect of my attachment was the third annual International Conference on Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. I attended talks on topics ranging from nanoparticles that could deliver drugs with nanoprecision to artificial heart tissue to hydrogels with green tea components. It was amazing to hear top researchers from MIT, Harvard and other universities present their findings and research. All in all, my attachment was an amazing experience.

Eng Seng Ng (06) Agency for Science, Technology and Research At the end of my senior year at SAS, I decided to take a year off. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it seemed a good idea at the time. As I looked around for interesting opportunities to further my knowledge during my year off, my attention naturally turned to Biopolis. While casting around for opportunities open to people entering college, I found the A*STAR program — the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. I emailed the director of the institute, who is the parent of an SAS student I know, and interviewed with him the following week. He was brilliant at sending me to exactly the right job — one where I could participate in cutting-edge research. When I first got there, I was amazed by the technology and the techniques. Everything was new to me, and I threw myself into learning everything I could. There was certainly a lot to learn — not having studied much biology, I was ignorant of even the most basic procedures. Still, I read textbooks, watched people in the lab and learned. Before long I was performing experiments practically on my own. The monotony of doing procedure after procedure took its toll on me — but I kept going because, almost against my will, I became fascinated with my work. I would work late 25

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Hurst’s life-long love of literature By Junia Baker, Alum Parent

Georgia. When Martin Luther King was assassinated that spring, his distraught teenaged students threatened to beat him with their desks. “I managed to diffuse the situation but began to think about living overseas.” Later that same year, when Bobby Kennedy was also assassinated, he said, “That’s it. I’m leaving this country.” It took a while. First he moved to Arizona and taught there for several years. “It wasn’t a foreign country but it felt like one.” Then on to India, Pakistan and Tokyo, before landing in Singapore in 1982. Ireland will be Hurst’s fifth foreign country, sixth if you count Arizona, but it’s not really foreign as his great-grandfather, John Gibbons, immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1897. At the age of 16, Gibbons returned home from school to discover that his truly wicked stepmother had intentionally let his pet jackdaw fly away. Furious, Gibbons packed his sea chest, which Hurst still has, left home and sailed for America. On arrival, Gibbons was told by the U.S. Army that he either enlist or return to Ireland, so he enlisted and became a quarter master in General George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry. One of his duties, according to family lore, was that take care of Custer’s dogs. Hurst always pooh-poohed this fable until he read that indeed, Custer’s daughter used to visit him with her wolfhounds in tow. Luckily for Hurst, his great grandfather was on leave for General Custer’s last stand at Little Big Horn. Running a bookstore is not a dramatic change for Hurst. He has had a life-long love affair with books. He is especially

John Hurst is leaving SAS after 25 years, not to retire but to start a new career as an antiquarian book dealer in Ireland. Hurst intentionally avoided drawing attention to himself during his SAS years, but had a real impact on many students, my son included. His involvement was memorable not only in his creative writing course and literature classes, but also in coaching the Cultural Convention Oral Interpretation teams and directing SAS drama productions. His 40 years in education took him many places. He began teaching in 1967 in an all-black school in Atlanta,

John Hurst and fellow thespian and SAS teacher Trish Kuester share a dramatic moment.

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QM John C. Gibbons, 7th Cav., Interesting Books is nestled among quaint shops and restaurants along High Street in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland.

The Mall, Westport’s tree-lined boulevard along the picturesque Carrowbeg River. This Irish heritage town was built by James Wyatt in the eighteenth century.

moved by original works, the connection that comes from having a first edition, autographed copy of a work by an author whose words have affected him. It is a feeling he hopes to share with others. His personal collection of the works of Irish poet Seamus Heaney, 1995 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, is among the finest anywhere. Will he miss the classroom? “Nope, I’m changing careers, but a lot of my work will be a continuation of teaching — teaching people what to look for in a rare book and guiding literary tastes.” His store is located in Westport, County Mayo, home to 5,000 people, many fine restaurants and 45 pubs. The most famous pub is Matt Malloy’s, owned by the flautist of the same name in the Grammy-winning Chieftains. Westport is an Irish Heritage Town nestled in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, overlooking Clew Bay. Croagh Patrick is renowned as the mountain from which St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Tourists and pilgrims make the trek each July in memory. Also in July is a fabulous music festival with nightly entertainment and open air concerts, while the Westport Arts Festival each September attracts the best in contemporary theater, literature and music. The surroundings and atmosphere sound like a place where “QM John C. Gibbons, 7th Cav., Interesting Books,” Hurst’s new enterprise, will be welcome. O

Familiar SAS King’s Road and Ulu Pandan faces from the early 1990s: left to right, Don Adams, Joan Adams, Trish Kuester, Paula Silverman, Ellen Rankin, Bill Rankin, Lynn Boone, Joe Dirvin, Junia Baker, Rick Silverman, Bill Van Zevern, Bev Green and John Hurst.

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25 years at

SAS In 25 years at SAS, John Hurst taught high school English, the history of India and journalism, directed theatrical productions, led IASAS Oral Interpretation teams and took groups on Interim Semester. A few of those memories follow. Ron Henderson (86): A little more than 20 years have passed since I last sat in Hurst’s classroom. I was never the sharpest knife in the drawer and entered high school thinking xenophobia was a fear of Buddhists. I had the misfortune of having John for ninth grade English. The problem wasn’t Hurst but rather William — Golding or Shakespeare. I remember classes being about as much fun as a wine and anthrax party, but John’s enthusiasm and sense of humor managed to change this, and reading miraculously became enjoyable rather than something you did just to pass exams or in my case, fail them. John’s creative writing and journalism classes had a big impact. His love of words and his passion for a good story were infectious. Gradually, writing became something exciting. Whether he made us better writers, his classes certainly made us look at things in a different way. Kristy Weitz Mermelstein (87): John was my journalism teacher for the Eagle Eye. He was a crack up — totally thought I had zero potential as a writer but was very kind with his opinions. He had a wicked sense of humor. Quick wit and that southern drawl of his was to die for. John was definitely one of SAS’s coolest. It has been many years but you never forget the teacher who always gave it to you straight. Ellen Catterson Ochsner (87): John transported me right back into the glory days of India and the Mohenjo daro civilization. Very few teachers are able to talk to kids in a current vernacular, treat and challenge them like the young adults they are, while planting a deep appreciation for world history. I just recently had occasion to talk with David McCullough, a renowned historian, and mentioned John as an example of a teacher so in touch with history that he made it relevant and tangible to our young minds. David said we are sadly lacking in more like him in our teaching systems. Francesco Zargani (86): I am hard pressed, more than 20 years after I graduated from SAS, to be able to convey in words what John Hurst meant to me as a teacher, theater

Friends’ farewell in Singapore last August: John Hurst (82-07), Trish Kuester (87-present), Jane Dodge (83-present), Don Adams (84-present), Bob Dodge (83-06), Brian Donalson (92-present), Jim Baker (56-66, 71-74, 82-present), Paula and Rick Silverman (87-present).

director and friend. He was first my English Lit teacher, then my theater director and mentor. He was a superb teacher because he allowed the student to immerse himself in the subject, to become a character in the narrative. John wasn’t just a good teacher; he was a great one. I was so fortunate to have had the chance to study with him. Ginny Donohue (HS English teacher, 84-99): My memories of John at SAS are of his continual scholarship, reading and discussing things, such as “who was the real Shakespeare?” Once I asked him to give a guest lecture. His approach was engaging and thought-provoking, showing how just a few words can contain the power of imagery to enliven and release our imaginations … When we first got computers at SAS, John was the first person to figure out how to get to Amazon, so it is wonderfully fitting in more ways than one that he is going to have his own bookshop in the land of literary giants. Amanda Tsao (08): Whether in his opinion on last night’s reading or on why he always said “good morning” in the afternoon, he was a great teacher. There was always something interesting but hidden about Mr. Hurst, and you wanted to find out what it was. If he was reading this right now he’d ask me why I was trying to write his eulogy. Thomas Bynum (09): Mr. Hurst’s love and complete knowledge of poetry hooked me on it and even rekindled a love of poetry in my grandmother. His brilliance was not limited to poetry — it extended into all other realms of English. Discussions in his class were never dull and often flew from books to history to pop culture to current events, with him never missing a beat and continuing to be an expert in every field. I count myself lucky to have been in his class. 28

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The real world By Sean McCabe Speaker for the Class of 2007

from actual reality. Do you realized how privileged you are? You wouldn’t last a second in the real world.” So on behalf of the senior class, look, we understand we are privileged, we’ve had many opportunities others our age have not, and yes, perhaps some of us suffer from “silver spoon syndrome” just a little bit. But for all of those who claim we aren’t living “real” lives: Take a look at this senior class. As a result of those privileges, just how many lifetimes have we lived in four short years of high school? We’re going to meet people in college for whom college will be the furthest they’ve ever travelled from home. In four short years, we’ve spanned the globe, building houses and peeing into the wind on mountains during interim semester. We’ve competed in IASAS against students, not in the next district, but from entirely different countries. We’ve experienced cultures vastly different from our own on casual three day breaks, where instead of heading over to grandma’s house, we went

Class of 07, relieved parents and friends, I’d like to start today by saying thank you to our distinguished faculty and administration. You tried to get us with homework, rapidly vacillating dress code policies and exams, but we ran the gauntlet and won, and as a result you have to throw us this fancy party. But as we are about to graduate, I had better dispense my wisdom while I am still an immortal teenager, and consequently, know everything. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of Mr. Gross and in the presence of parents and faculty to join this graduating class and that big scary real world out there in holy matrimony. One of the things that always made me mad was the litany from teachers and parents that goes something like this: “You’re living in a dream world, disconnected 29

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SAS Class of 2007 30

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I measure lifetimes in terms of richness of experience, and by that standard, we have lived thousands of lifetimes in our short period at SAS. How unreal is that? elephant trekking in Thailand. We have laughed and cried and sweated with other individuals from all across the world. We have done things in four short years that the vast majority of individuals on this earth can only dream of doing in a hundred. I measure lifetimes in terms of richness of experience, and by that standard, we have lived thousands of lifetimes in our short period at SAS. How unreal is that? ... I had a little epiphany when I was watching TV the other day. I was watching some politician rattle on about the next generation, and I realized that that the next generation that teachers, politicians and Shell commercials are always calling upon to change the world is us! And as an international community that has had the advantage firsthand of being enlightened to some of the woes of our society, we have a responsibility first to be aware of what is going on in the world and second, to make it better. Think of all that’s gone on in the world this year — Israel.Palestine.Iraq.NorthKorea.oilcrisis. GeorgeW.Saddam.Dar fur.star vation.HIV.genocide … Brangelina. It seems the world’s gone crazy. Our parents broke it, so we have to fix it. As a now “educated AND mature” body of people, it is our duty to fight evil all over the world, especially hatred, discrimination, oppression, poverty and bad music. Teachers, you are the lovely people who inspired and educated us. A year-long speech could not express my eternal gratitude. Parents, I have an Erma Bombeck quote I’d like to share: “Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries. After 18 years of child raising, they are unemployed.” But as you let go and say goodbye today, remember your children, even as adults, will always be your babies. And students, don’t forget your parents; throughout the rest of your life, they will continue to be good sources of wisdom, advice and cash. As you look back on your days at SAS, I hope you will remember the people. I don’t know if we were the best class to come out of our school, but I can safely say that the hallways of SAS will never be quite the same again. Class of 07, you have pushed me farther than I thought I could go. Now a cold frigid reality lies on the other side of that wall, and the real world beckons us to join its chorus, with all the promise and possibility that it presents.

It is our duty to fight hatred, discrimination, oppression, poverty and bad music 31

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Alum Spotlight

Modern dance alum teaches class at SAS By Alaine Handa (01) Walking through the unfamiliar school felt almost intrusive, but the walls were adorned with familiar posters from past dance shows during my years as an SAS student. The new high school dance studio is gorgeous and larger than the studio we used back then. The studio is also larger than many of the studios in Manhattan that my dance company has rehearsed in. I met Tracy van der Linden, the high school dance teacher, and she asked me to observe the dance performance class. About half an hour prior to the end of class, Tracy taught the students a short postmodern dance phrase. I was quite pleased with the phrase because it challenged the dancers to push the envelope by using dance as a means of communication via the human body. She urged the students to come up with story plots for the movements. This is quite a hard concept in the postmodern dance scene because each movement is calculated to communicate an idea, a story, an image or a concept to the viewer. Tracy then invited me to teach the class the following week. I led the class with a yoga-inspired warmup and then through a series of improvisation exercises. Using the imagery of a wheel forced the dancers to use circular movements, which took them to the ground and back into standing positions. Sometimes movement improvisation spawns from specific imagery â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a majority of my work uses this method to create set choreography. I taught the students snippets of choreography from my latest

Photo by Michael Mastroianni Alaine Handa in â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the Ground.â&#x20AC;?

dance work and explained how I derived the movement. Within a one-hour period the students learned company repertory and had a taste of my athletic, quirky and image-driven movement style. At the end of the class the students were left sweating but still wanting to learn more. Not many students from SAS continue dance training after high school, so I spoke about my college experience at UCLA as a dance major and my post-college life as a dancer and choreographer in New York City. I also spoke a bit about how I founded The Movement Collective in 2006 with two other dancers. While I was in high school at SAS, Mrs. Gould was my teacher, and we were introduced to the basics of modern dance and choreography. I did not know at that time that I was very lucky to 32

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Alum Spotlight have been exposed to modern dance and choreography at such a young age. At SAS, I performed in Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Nightmare before Christmas and Dance Showcase 99-01. I was also part of the Cultural Convention dance team. Back then, I wanted my choreography to entertain, showcase a specific movement style or communicate a theme. My last dance piece at SAS explored the theme of losing an innocent victim as a byproduct of war. My involvement with the SAS dance department gave me many opportunities, but I did not appreciate how lucky I was until college. I developed my choreography in college by challenging myself to include dances that derived from important events and emotions, culminating with a self-produced concert about my experiences as a third culture kid. The people I interviewed were a mixture of friends from Singapore, including Niki Felt (SAS 03) and other TCKs I had met. Third culture kids have ways of finding one another because the world is our playground and we are barely separated by those “six degrees.” Some thought home was where their families lived even if they had not lived there, while others called home the place where they spent their formative years. They all felt that home is where the heart is. Many said that their upbringings helped shape their majors and the professions they wanted, especially professions that would allow them to travel and have clients in different countries. I created a documentary film from the interviews and a dance piece depicting what third culture kids feel and go through on an emotional level. I separated the piece into five sections titled “Changing of seasons,” “In transit,” “Am I home?” “Memories revisited” and “Time of your life,” with a slideshow finale of pictures of me, my TCK friends and my travels. Each section focused on the specific timeline of what a third culture kid goes through from the moment we leave a country to questioning our roots to remembering the loss of friendships from moving away and finally acknowledging the fact that we

Third culture kids have ways of finding one another because the world is our playground and we are barely separated by those “six degrees” had good moments and wonderful memories we share. I felt very strongly about creating that show because it spoke to me on a personal level and to other third culture kids. One of my friends whom I interviewed was actually tearing up by the end of the performance! Upon graduation from UCLA, I moved to New York City. I did not have any job prospects but kept my head high in hopes of “making it.” I held several temporary job positions, prior to landing a position as a dance teacher for Young Dancers in Repertory, a non-profit organization. To supplement my income, I moonlighted as a bridal makeup artist. I have danced with three different companies and performed in art galleries, dance studios, coffee shops, Ailey Citigroup Theater and the Merce Cunningham studio theater. In January 2006, I co-founded The Movement Collective with two other dancers. Since then, we have presented work and performed at various venues in New York, including Dance Forum, Dance New Amsterdam, Movement Research/Dance Theater Workshop, Empire Dance and Teatro la Tea. I am quite pleased with how far I have gone since high school and look forward to a rewarding career in the performing arts.

SAS offers three semesters of dance, a year-long dance performance class and an after-school dance club.

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Alum Spotlight

Communicating through art By Johan Fält (91)

in August 2002. I think about my time in Singapore quite often because after I moved there in 1986, I suddenly enjoyed school. My friends and I were “punk-rockers” and saw it as our task to criticize all kinds of rules, but we followed them, and I now understand why they were important. I learned a lot and found the joy of knowledge. I also met some of my best friends in Singapore. Mark Fantino (90) and I still keep in touch even if Karlstad and San Francisco are a bit too far apart. He is still like a brother to me. My kids call him Uncle Mark. I’ve visited Singapore a couple of times since graduation and still have some friends there, but I like to remember it as it was

I spent most my time at SAS behind an easel, contributed in the yearly exhibitions and also in the IASAS cultural conventions 1989-91. My goal was not necessarily to become an artist but to harness my ability to create in art, music and theatre. After graduation I moved back to Sweden and took classes to complete Swedish requirements for graduation (European geography, Swedish history and so on). Then I moved to Karlstad, where I (finally) got a bachelor of arts degree in 1997. Gunilla and I were married in 1999. Our daughter Matilda was born in May the same year (!), and our son Elliott was born

The many faces of Johan — teacher, writer, painter and SAS alumnus.

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Alum Spotlight

Opposite: The Kiss (2006); above left: The Key (2003); above right: Comet (2007); right Livets Villervalla (2007); bottom: Gunilla and Johan.

when I lived there. It’s a city in constant change, and sometimes memories are better than trying to relive them. I work part time as a drama teacher at the Karlstad School of Performing Arts. The rest of my time is spent with my firm, Allvarspank Produktion, where I direct plays, write plays and monologues and play music. My niche in theatre is comedy/farce and children’s plays — my versions of Robin Hood and Treasure Island were great successes. The theatre does not keep me away from the easel though. I paint off and on and have exhibited my work on a number of occasions. The most recent was this past summer, when I took part in a joint exhibition at a major art gallery in Karlstad. It still feels weird, after some 15 years of painting, to sell and therefore to part with my art. But if people like it, I’m happy. I’m still trying to find ”my style” of painting, my iconography and so on. But I suppose the day I do is the day I’ll quit painting. I like the idea of an empty canvas open for anything, the flow I experience when everything but the canvas and I ceases to exist. The creative process is still the most important thing for me — the finished piece is only a reminder of the joy I found in making it. A day doesn’t go by in the studio or at the theatre without thinking of my mentor, my guide and hero, the teacher who told me to shut up and paint, Mrs. Linda Harley. I love her dearly, and I hope to get in touch with her again some day. At the age of 35 I’m finally beginning to understand what she tried to tell me. (I know I must have been a strange kid at times.) I’ve found that the creative process doesn’t differ much whether I’m directing a play or painting a picture. Any form of art is a way of communicating. Then it’s up to the creator if he wants to communicate his inner thoughts or put the emphasis on what the audiences expects to see. Communication through art is an important language to know, and Mrs. Harley taught it to me. My time in Singapore was a gift. At SAS I found joy in painting and acting, but my time there also taught me to respect cultural differences and individual greatness. 35

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Singapore Today

Doing Singapore – again By Greg Waldron (88) Miss the good old days in Singapore? It is easier than ever to return, but finding a job with the perks that Dad had is no easy feat. Over the years I’ve developed a healthy dread of immigration officials. When I attended SAS from 1981 to 1988, the company my dad worked for had secretaries and messengers to contend with Singapore immigration, freeing me to deal with the travails of student life at Ulu Pandan and King’s Road. But living in Hong Kong in the early 1990s I had to fend for myself: officials demanded reams of paperwork and kept me sitting around for hours, apparently looking for any excuse to put me

on a plane to the States. Singapore was even worse: a fellow SASer I know got a job here after graduating university in 1993, but was denied an employment pass on the basis that he had too little experience to qualify for it. So it was with some trepidation that I approached Singapore immigration earlier this year to renew my permanent residency — Singapore permanent residency is not actually “permanent,” but only good for terms of five or ten years. In the five years since I’d been awarded PR status, I’d quit my job with a big American corporation and started a fun, albeit unpredictable, career as a freelance writer. Dressed in the suit I wear perhaps once a year, I waited in line at immigration, my renewal papers typed out neatly, wondering where

Author Greg Waldron cooking in his very local kitchen – expat packages are rare, especially for the entrepreneur.

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Singapore Today

Greg Rutledge (78) encouraged his company in Manila to relocate to Singapore and it did so in 2003. He and Susan StudebakerRutledge (80) and daughter Asia “are planning to stay forever,” and thoroughly enjoy events such as Easter in Fort Canning Park. Ed Gaffney (87) worked in Singapore 1994-97. He came with Whirlpool and then started his own business – Brooklyn Bagels. He returns frequently when he has “a serious need for a Singapore food fix.”

I’d end up if I got the heave ho. Indonesia? Cambodia? Laos? The Singapore immigration officer perused my forms and client endorsements for perhaps two minutes, and then without a single question extended my PR status for ten years. She even smiled. Amazing. And so I experienced one of the countless changes that has swept through Singapore in the years since most alums last visited these sunny shores. Determined to create a “global city” that is relevant in a region dominated by growing giants, such as China and India, Singapore hopes to grow from a population of 4 million to 6.5 million in the next few decades. Despite many government campaigns and countless incentives to get Singaporeans to procreate, the country is facing a demographic crunch, and there is only one source of new people: foreigners.

most of the foreigners were middle-aged executives and their families, but now foreigners of all ages are welcome to come here and work — and they don’t need to be with a major corporation — entrepreneurs are welcome too. Nonetheless, finding a senior role in Singapore (and Asia, for that matter) can be difficult. While the region does suffer a dearth of management talent, companies now prefer to hire employees with strong local languages skills. Many of the management roles formerly filled by expatriates have been “localized.” “Many westerners fail to understand the sophistication of modern Asia,” contends a white paper about expatriates on the web site of U.S. search firm Heidrick & Struggles. “In the eighties and nineties multinationals viewed Asia as an area for low cost manufacturing. Ambitious managers in the U.S. and Europe saw the region as something of a corporate backwater, a good place to spend a few years perhaps, but a bad place to advance one’s career. Globalization and the rise of vast consumer economies in the region have changed this: increasingly, board level executives from major western

Localized! There are more foreigners than ever working in Singapore, among them a good number of SAS graduates. In the 1980s 37

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Singapore Today

For self-employed people like me, the expat packages that everyone’s father seemed to have in the 1980s are but an idyllic memory Obviously this is much harder with kids, but no great gains ever came without great sacrifices.” There are many examples of both approaches. Phil Wickham (89) and Todd Waldron (89) arrived in Hong Kong in 1993 without jobs, and after a great deal of door knocking found work and started promising Asian careers. Both eventually returned to Singapore, although Wickham later went back to Hong Kong. On the other hand, Dan Coe (86) and Greg Rutledge (78) returned with their companies, and both now have kids attending SAS. Bachelor Aaron Couch (98) came back for a job in a training firm, and now works at SAS. “Other than work, life is pretty much similar to when I was in school,” Rutledge says. “We participate in school activities, eat at the stalls, shop in Holland Village, eat Sunday brunch at the American Club and spend time riding bikes or rollerblading at East Coast Park.”

companies are relocating to the region, with the result that the caliber of executive talent one finds in Asia is as good as one finds in Europe and the U.S.” How, then, is one to return? Ed Gaffney (87) took part in several entrepreneurial ventures in Singapore during the early nineties. “Unless you can get your company to send you to Singapore, the best thing to do is network as much as possible,” Gaffney says. “Lots of resources exist: head hunters, SAS alumni and the American Chamber of Commerce. I’d also recommend, after spending six months of actively laying the groundwork, to just head over, put yourself up for a month or so, and then knock on doors.

Dan Coe (86), who works for Coca Cola, says that working in Singapore is different from going to school here — “there’s much more interaction with the local culture and customs.” In the photo are Lisa, Patrick, Dan, Ryan and Cate Coe. All three children attend SAS.

The same, but different Coe shares his sentiments: “Besides the new restaurants and bars, it is pretty much the same. That said, there is a much more modern attitude here now as far as “worldliness” is concerned, so some of the local attitudes are slightly different. As far as goods are concerned, you can now get anything you want in Singapore.” Indeed, American brands have overwhelmed Singapore: Subway, Starbucks, The Gap, Ben & Jerry’s and countless other such establishments give Singapore’s shopping centers an eerie, quasi-American feel. Perhaps the biggest adjustment returning alumni have to make is a much reduced domestic situation. In years past, many SAS students enjoyed a country club lifestyle. The company paid for the apartment, there was “home leave” every summer, full time maids did the cooking and ironing and a car with driver was always at the ready. Today, unless one is fortunate enough to be a serious big shot, this sort of five-star treatment is a rarity.

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Singapore Today “Many seeking jobs in Asia completely overestimate their chances of winning the famed ‘expat package,’” says the Heidrick white paper. “There was a time when a manager transferred to Asia could count on a range of perks… while such packages still exist, they are far rarer and all but impossible to land for somebody who is not a senior executive transferring to Asia within his company. Even executives with expat packages have discovered their packages are only good for a few years, and find themselves put on local packages should they decide to stay in the region for the long term.” This is a view Rutledge agrees with: “It is getting harder to find opportunities here, due to the costs associated with expat packages. A lot of companies are moving toward local-hire packages, which can make cost of living (housing, transportation, etc.) expensive — but living here is, I think, worth it.” For self-employed people like me, the expat packages that everyone’s father seemed to have in the 1980s are but an idyllic memory. While spacious, my apartment bears little resemblance to the high-rise palaces everyone had in high Aaron Couch (98) came to Singapore with a training and development firm, and now works at SAS as a relief teacher and tutor. He says that life on the island is much faster paced than most parts of the U.S., and if you’re in the corporate world, be prepared to work “12-15 hour days without much time to decompress.”

There are more foreigners than ever working in Singapore, among them a good number of SAS graduates

more traffic on the roads these days, apartments are smaller and more expensive, and the government is talking about increasing the population by fifty percent.” For those who want to return to Singapore, it is easier than ever from an immigration point of view, but the lavish expatriate lifestyle that many alumni remember will be difficult to come by. Coming back takes a big commitment and could involve major sacrifices. Nonetheless, Singapore is still a great place to be: the region’s economies are booming, and Asia is as culturally diverse and interesting as ever. All great fun, but Dad isn’t paying the bills anymore. Greg Waldron graduated from SAS in 1988, and returned to Singapore in 1997 as a stock market correspondent with Dow Jones Newswires. In 2003 he left Dow Jones to pursue a career as a freelance writer. His work has appeared in dozens of publications, including Time Asia, Forbes, The Straits Times, The South China Morning Post, GQ, Maxim, and The Singapore Business Times. He can be reached at gregorywaldron@gmail.com.

school. My maid comes just once a week, and my idea of chauffeured comfort is the public bus — or a taxi if I’m in a hurry. Dinner often consists of noodles at the hawker center, and I only visit the American Club when my parents are in town. Home leave? I’ve not been Stateside for five years. For singles, the absence of an expat package is not a great issue, but young expatriate families in Singapore without expat packages can find Singapore very expensive. A booming economy means property prices are at all-time highs, and an international education for one’s children is difficult to afford if the company is not paying. “If I can’t get more money out of my company, the rising rents and the high cost of international schooling will force me to leave Singapore,” says one SAS graduate with two small children. “Yes, the taxes here are cheaper, but there is

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Singapore Today

From Paris to Singapore to Bali

Brandon and Nicole Huismann — chefs in beautiful Bali.

By Brandon Huisman (95)

outside of school — the bonds with friends and teachers and the sports teams and the endless travel opportunities. There were some SAS alums still living in Singapore when I was there, so I could always catch up with them if I wanted a sense of nostalgia or a buddy to have a couple of beers with on my night off. While finishing my contract in Singapore, we were contacted by an international resort company for an opportunity in Bhutan. My wife would be the pastry chef and I was to be the executive chef, a big jump. One highlight toward the end of our two and a half years in Bhutan was running into a busload of SAS Interim Semester students. Knowing Bhutan and the lack of cuisine that is available, I made a deal with the resort to treat them to pizza and burgers on their last day, when we knew they could not possibly eat one more bite of red rice. We now work in similar positions in Bali, Indonesia, and visit Singapore whenever we can. There are a lot of young expats all over Southeast Asia in the hospitality business. I do love the work that I do, but I would not recommend it as a fast track for moving abroad.

After graduating from Texas A&M business school, I attended culinary school in Paris, where I roomed with Anthony Raymond (SAS 95). After several years moving and cooking at various establishments around the U.S., my wife Nicole and I went on our honeymoon around the world and of course, ended up in Singapore. I wanted to stay in Singapore and learn to cook the dishes that I grew to love when we lived there, but we couldn’t find jobs. Eventually, I obtained a training visa for six months working at a Chinese and Thai restaurant. Unfortunately my wife couldn’t stay because we couldn’t afford it, so she returned to the U.S. I found a room in an HDB flat in Holland Village. I shared the flat with an elderly Chinese lady. She didn’t speak any English and I didn’t speak Mandarin — it was perfect. My life was a lot different in some ways but in others the same. Of course I didn’t have the luxuries of the driver, the maid and the American Club, but it’s not like I had those in college either. Growing up in Singapore was different and special because of the community involvement inside and

I shared an HDB flat with an elderly Chinese lady. She didn’t speak any English and I didn’t speak Mandarin — it was perfect 40

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Singapore Today

Corporate recruiter turns to jewelry design By Jennifer Lee (98) After I graduated from NYU, I landed a job at Bloomberg L.P., servicing financial professionals. I started on the analytics desk training clients on our products and financial markets. After a year, I moved into the sales department and after four years began recruiting for its other offices in the States and overseas. Several of my business trips brought me to the Singapore office, and I realized this is where I wanted to be. Asia is on the road to becoming the next powerhouse and I want to be here during these times. My family moved to Singapore in 1990, and my parents are still here. My younger brother, Christopher (01), graduated from NYU as well and is working in product development at Tiffany & Co. in NYC. Family, opportunity and travel are the reasons I moved back to Singapore just a few months ago. After nine years in New York, it became critical to decide whether I would continue with my career there or move to Asia, where there are other incredible opportunities. The money is here and markets are expanding. I was at a crossroad in my life, where I could be content staying in corporate America or do something I had always wanted to do, which is start a business in jewelry design — with the support of my father. The job market here is really at its peak. Being in recruitment for the past year and having seen the performance here, I can honestly say that getting a job here is fairly easy, especially in the financial markets. Companies are expanding their businesses and sectors and are looking for new talent constantly. I think Singapore is geared up to be the next Hong Kong. The new casinos and Formula 1 race will especially attract a lot more foreigners. The social scene is definitely much better than before. I have firsthand experience of the nightlife and have seen a young adult social community developing — it reminds me a lot of the meat packing district in NYC. There are definitely many more young professional expats working in Singapore. What makes Singapore attractive is that it is a safe place to live. The other attractive quality for young professionals is that it’s so cheap to travel to the islands or other cities like Hong Kong for the weekend.

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As a student in middle and high school, sports and dance were my priorities. Most of my friends were from SAS, and we tended to hang out at one another’s homes or at the American Club. It was hard as an expat kid to tap into the local community and social scene, especially when there wasn’t really one in those days. As an adult and with how foreignerfriendly Singapore has become, there are places that you can hang out and easily meet other people, i.e. Clarke Quay. SAS alums are definitely better prepared than most to find jobs here because they are able to adapt to other cultures. What a lot of young professionals fail to do when looking at Singapore to be their next home is to understand and accept the culture shock. Coming from a financial professional standpoint, if you have worked in the U.S. markets for a while, that’s all you really need to know, as the rest of the world looks to Singapore as the benchmark. But when you work in a place like Singapore, you have to cater to not just the Singapore market, but Hong Kong, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. Your clients are from many cultures and have more varied personalities that you have to deal with. What’s nice about going to SAS is that you have had that exposure when competing in sports (IASAS), where you get firsthand experience of what it’s like going to other countries and experiencing their culture.

Jennifer Lee and her parents.

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Singapore Today

Experiments in adulthood By Josh Nobles (99)

from the fact that working for SAS was going to be a more stable and better paying job than what I had in the U.S., Singapore was my home. I missed the culture, the food, the everI attended SAS from 1984-99 and graduated in 2004 changing scenery and its location in the world. I also saw the from the University of Colorado with a degree in Kinesiology. country as a place of great potential as well as a stepping Young, lost and with no direction, I decided my next move stone in my career. If things did not work out, I thought I should be a safe one, and that I would join the family busiwould have a better chance of ness in Singapore. finding an international job afterward Before this experiment in adultthan if I was still in the U.S. hood began, Ryan Morris (99) and I What I have been most happy to embarked on a journey we had come back to is the food. You simply planned for the past five years. Our cannot get the mix and atmosphere trip began in Amsterdam, and by train, of a hawker stall anywhere else. If bus and airplane, we traveled I’m stuck in a perilous situation, through Europe, Russia, Mongolia wishing I could be in one place, it’s and China. Somewhere between usually at a hawker stall eating and Moscow and Irkutsk, on a 4-day train drinking down a large bottle of Tiger ride that pushed our sanity to the beer. Simple as that. limits, I made a life decision not to I was also eager to experience work for my father, but to pursue Singapore in a completely different something more independent back way from when I previously lived in the United States. here. Before, everything was seen, My next move took me to San tasted and heard through an AmeriDiego, where I worked in a sports can expat bubble. Now I wanted to medicine clinic for three years. In experience the culture from a much the midst of a quarter-of-a-life cri“Adulthood is definitely overrated, ” says Josh, more natural perspective and not sis, Ryan and I once again jumped learn about everyday local life out of the monotony of adulthood who works in the SAS Athletic Department. through TV shows, such as “Under to experience the lawlessness and One Roof” ( a popular local TV show unadulterated passion of travel back in my day) and field trips to Haw Par Villa. adventure through Southeast Asia, beginning in Hong Kong I think similar reasons drag “life-longers” back to Singaand ending in Singapore. pore — the sights, sounds and memories that cannot be found While in Singapore recuperating from our travels, I ran anywhere else. And the experiences that they missed out into Jim Baker. Jim mentioned that SAS was considering on. Many of my friends feel it was a great time in their lives hiring an athletic trainer of some sort and knew I worked in that does not need to be revisited but kept as only a fond the sports medicine field back in the U.S. Two days later I had memory, as if returning would be a step backward in our path an interview in the activities office, and the rest is history. of adulthood. This could be so, but for me adulthood is The decision to return to Singapore to work for my old overrated. For many of us, it’s not about re-living the good high school was a difficult one, mostly because it’s exactly old days, but redefining a place that is ever changing and what my high school friends said I would do. After swallowing creating new experiences and possibilities in a part of the my pride and looking at the advantages of moving back verworld that seems to offer a limitless supply. sus staying in San Diego, I felt it was the right choice. Aside 42

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Alum Spotlight

He fell in love with science at SAS result in serious genetic diseases and also cancer. My PhD thesis won me a post-doctoral fellowship to Harvard and MIT, where I helped develop a technology called When I saw our baby Selah’s heart beating through the microarrays, which allows us to take snapshots of all the genes ultrasound, I was awestruck to see the miracle of a life be(functional units of genetic material) in the genome (the enginning. How fearfully and wonderfully she was being made tirety of the genes in an organism). Using this microarray techin the mother’s womb! I was a helpless spectator hoping nology, I am currently discovering genes that cause cancer in and praying that she would develop into a healthy baby. How my present employment as a scientist at the National Instiwas she developing from a single fused cell into a baby? tutes of Health. We can take a picture of the genes turned on in Beneath what a poet’s eye can see, our baby’s genetic cancer (red spots in the figure) and compare it to genes turned program contained in her DNA was being executed by intrion in healthy cells (green spots in the figure). By identifying the cate assemblies of biological molecules following the elgenes that are turned on or off in cancer, we can detect cancer egant laws of physics and chemistry. more accurately and also target these genes with drugs in order I met and fell in love with physics, chemistry and biology to treat and cure cancer. at SAS. These sciences quenched my curiosity for life and the Having studied and worked at natural world in which we live. some of the most competitive sciMoreover, the knowledge of science entific research programs in the could solve real-world problems. Our world, I must say that SAS gave me teachers made science fun and chalthe solid educational background lenging. Where else could I write and to help me succeed. Most imporperform a song about the periodic tantly, the faculty was of the hightable of the elements for my final est caliber. They kept the bar for sucproject but in Mr. Cox’s chemistry cess very high and were dedicated class? And I can still remember reto excellence in teaching and makenacting the famous experiments ing learning fun and meaningful. that won Einstein the Nobel Prize in They didn’t just impart knowledge, Mr. Watson’s physics class. but helped us to think and to beUpon graduation, I majored in Chang Hee with baby Selah and wife Sarah. come educated as persons with chemistry at Harvey Mudd College. character and an understanding of Professor Arthur Campbell at the colthe world we live in. I am thankful that I had the great privilege had written the CHEM textbook that I had used with Mr. lege of learning from Mr. Dodge and Mrs. Banwell, who taught Cox at SAS. I started research early on the use of LASERs in us not just their subjects but about life and what it means to electrochemistry, working during the summers of my freshman be an educated person. We had much school spirit and the and sophomore years and publishing my first scientific papers. extracurricular activities kept us well-rounded. I was able to When I went to Caltech for graduate school, I focused my perform in the musical production Jesse James and with the interest on how living things work. The subject of my PhD SAS Singers. It’s amazing how all those thespian and athletic thesis was the study of how the genetic blueprint in the DNA programs kept going. is read and executed accurately. The genetic material DNA is Yes, my years at SAS were some of the best times I had, like a filmstrip. The sequences you don’t want need to be cut and they developed me into an educated person. If I had the out and the sequences that you do want have to be spliced opportunity, I would say to the current students: make the together, so you can make your edited movie. I helped elucimost of your time at SAS, find what interests you and contribdate the mechanism by which this splicing process takes utes to the welfare of society and pursue your dreams. place. Failure to excise the junk sequences accurately could

By Chang Hee Kim (87)

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Jolly and Abe Abraham (teachers 1959-92) with Dorothy and Jim Aven and Susheela Abraham Varghese (76) at the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2006.

The school the community built basic education program. Over 1000 of them subsequently found jobs and continued to be off welfare. From there I went to Washington, D.C., first as Assistant Director of the National Education Extension program, then as Assistant Professor of Research and Statistics at George Washington University. In my last position with the U.S. Office of Education, I was involved in Title III, Title Four, state grants and the drug program. I spent the last ten years supervising education research, working with the best educators across the nation from kindergarten through university in developing new and improved materials and teaching methods. When I retired, I continued working with the public schools. The most satisfying achievement was when I not

By James Aven, SAS Superintendent 1959-1962 After leaving SAS, Dot, Gary (son), Debra (daughter) and I spent two months traveling through the Middle East, Europe and the United States and ended up in California. I had finished all the course work on my PhD prior to going to SAS and wrote the dissertation in three months after returning. I stayed on for a year at UCLA as Assistant Head of Education. Then I went to New York to revise four adult education textbooks. In the process of using and revising the books, 1500 welfare recipients were taken from the welfare rolls and put in a 44

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California to a private school in Singapore was great. It was up to me to fill all positions in administration and to supervise and fill in as needed. The school had been conducted on the Calvert home teaching curriculum. It was a good curriculum but it was time to move on to a broader curriculum that included Asian studies, shorthand, typing and physical education and would prepare students for their lives in Singapore, Southeast Asia and college. I revised the curriculum, with their permission, from the Santa Monica City Schools in California. I was able to secure all books and materials needed with the cooperation of Paul Espey, head of American President Lines and a board member, in time for school to start. The teachers were great; they made the transition without a problem. During the first year of school it was evident that we needed more space. That’s when we started discussing the next move. After much discussion, I said that I would submit a design for a school that should last for a number years. The design was submitted at the next board meeting. The plan was endorsed by all. However, one member of the board pointed out that it was a great plan but how were we going to pay for it? I didn’t have the slightest idea but I said that I would submit a plan at the next meeting. After the meeting Bob Ayers asked me to have lunch the next day. After some discussion he said his company, American International Assurance, would donate any amount of money I asked to build the school, but before I suggested an amount that I should know that as soon as I announced his donation that there were five other companies in town that would match his contribution. They came through just as he had predicted. The biggest contributors were AIA, Stanvac (Exxon Mobile), Caltex and First National City Bank (Citibank). In addition we obtained a grant from the U.S. State Department. What we had not anticipated was that other companies, parents and citizens in Singapore would send in contributions. At the next board meeting we were able to announce that the school had been planned and sufficient funds had been contributed to pay for it. We planned for a school of about 500. We did not anticipate that it would grow to the great school that is there today. I am most pleased with the faculties and administrators that followed. One last story: When the school was in the process of construction, I was having dinner with Lee Kuan Yew one night and asked him if it we would be permitted to fly the American flag at the school. (I already knew that it was not permitted but was interested in his reply.) I was surprised with his response. He said, “I don’t see why not as long as you don’t add another star to it.” Prime Minister Lee supported the school and was always accessible when we ran into difficulties.

only assisted the teachers in saving a school in California that was going to be taken over by the state and also took it to receiving honors for achievement in three years. My experience at SAS was very significant for me and my family. The Board of Directors could not have been more supportive. One story illustrates my point: After a discussing the first item on the agenda at my first board meeting, Chairman Bob Ayers moved on to the next one. I interrupted to point out that a vote had not been taken. Bob replied that they would discuss issues but it was up to me to make the decisions. That is the way it was for three years even when they asked me find my replacement: Twenty-five applicants submitted resumes, and from those I chose three and submitted them to the board. The board asked me to choose one of them. The three applicants were equally qualified. I agreed to remove one name if they would choose between the remaining two. They made the choice. The SAS experience was a defining time for me and my family. We instantly gained many friends, and some remain in contact to the present. The change from a public school in

Singapore’s Eagles, Singapore American School, 19562006 tells many other stories about the school. It is a beautifully designed coffee table book, with 276 pages of photos and history of the school and the nation. See http:/ /alumni.sas.edu.sg/?storefront or snail mail Associate Director Lauren Thomas at SAS.

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Notes & Quotes 1973

Class of 67 alums at Vancouver reunion: Russ Ng, Barbara Bready, Barbara Tice, Jean Reiter, Nancy Lalka.

1970

from public school this year to be a “snow bird” in Rhode Island.

Wendy Lamont-Woolbright, wlamon twoolbright@cox.net; Don Chambers, donchambers1@hotmail.com; Thad Goff, thad_goff@hotmail.com Don and Sandra Chambers live half of the year in the dinosaur capital of the world, Drumheller, Alberta, where there are many fossil stores and is soon to be an interactive dinosaur museum. They live the other (cold) half in Maui, boogie boarding, golfing and eating lots of ahi tuna. Wendy Lamont-Woolbright will retire

1971 Kathleen Blake Reynolds, kreynolds @laidlawcorp.com Susan de Bloeme Bell-Irving is in Vancouver. “”Wonderful seeing everyone at the reunion in July.” Colleen Kent Strid lives in Sweden with her husband and two children and works for Dow Chemical. They play as much golf as time and weather allow.

Class of 73 at Vancouver reunion: Helen Wong, Andrew Airriess, Glenda Kae Bready Kruegar, Debbie Dudley Bodal.

Class rep: Debbie Dudley Bodal, ddbodal@comcast.net Glenda Kae Bready Krugar lives in Erie, outside Boulder, CO with husband Tim and two sons. She is selling real estate and doing quite well with it. Cyndi Nicholls Moring is living near Seattle in Sammamish, WA with her younger son, Brennan, age 17. Her 22year-old, Riley, just earned a degree in economics from the U of WA. Cyndi teaches elementary art and has been teaching for much of the past 25 years. She’s also an accomplished jazz singer with 2 CDs and plans to hook up with an established band in Seattle in the near future. Andrew Airriess is a technical writer with a medical information company in Salt Lake City. The Vancouver reunion last July was his first, and the only reason he and brother Chris (72) attended was an unfortunate one. A memorial service was to be held in Seattle on that Saturday for brother Eric (65), and on that Sunday, the brothers were scattering the ashes of brother Lee (67) in Anacortes. Helen Wong is working in Vancouver in child protection social work. Her favorite hobbies are golf, hot yoga, cycling, cooking, traveling to hot and sunny destinations and shoe shopping. Debbie Dudley Bodal is “embracing life in her 50s!” She lives in Edmonds, WA and has three grown children. She leads groups to Asia for cooking classes — the most recent trip was to Bali in October. See a-chefs-kitchen.com.

1974 Class rep: Stephen Hurst, stephen hurst56@sympatico.ca The reunion in July for 60s and 70s alums was a big hit, especially the makan extravaganza on Saturday night. Michael O’Higgins (64) said it was great to reminisce with several alums about the Caltex Sumatra camp days. Debbie Dudley Bodal (73) said that the weather was wet and humid and made a perfect monsoon setting for the reunion. Kudos from all attendees go to Stephen Hurst for organizing it!

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Notes & Quotes 1976 Hugh Konigsmark, hkonigsmark @tycovalves.com Danny Flores has a home-based Internet agribiotechnology business focusing on urban blight, such as hunger, poverty, disease and illiteracy. Hugh Konigsmark reports: “Not too long ago Steven Fotiades, the son of Steve Fotiades (76) took my daughter to his homecoming dance. Who would have bet some 30 years ago that this would happen! For those of you who do not know, PJ Donner is a fantastic cook! He and wife Gail Dudley Donner make chili crab that exceeds any I ever had at Ponggol Boatel! Many SAS dignitaries have dined with them — Mike Farley (now in Australia), Sally Howes Cooper (77), who has just had twins, her brother Dan Howes (73), Leslie King (74), her sister Susan King Ridley (77) and their parents Hart and Gene King, Tracy Fotides (78). Anonymous: “M” (78) – I still love you “Longhurst.” Eileen Van Kirk Umbehr reports that her book, Small Town Showdown (see June 07 Journeys), is now available online at Amazon, Target, Borders, Barnes and Noble. It’s about trash man turned lawyer Keen Umbehr (77), who took his grievance to the Supreme Court and

won, setting the precedent that contractors working for the government have the same First Amendment rights as private contractors. “In the words of Oprah Winfrey, ‘Free Speech Rocks!’”

1977 Michelle Cooper Staley (78) reports that Mike Shriner passed away in his sleep in August from a heart attack. He was working on an off shore oil rig. He has 3 daughters from his first marriage and had recently remarried and was living his dream on some acreage outside Houston. Sally Ackerman Casey (76) said “I am so sad to hear of Mike’s passing. My husband and I enjoyed visiting with him years ago at the Houston reunion hosted by the Howell family. My prayers are with his family.” Jim Baker (66 and teacher) “It’s always sad to hear that one of your former students has passsed away. It reminds us of our own mortality. In Mike’s case, it is especially poignant because I remember him as a ‘kid’ who loved life and lived it to its fullest. My sympathies to all who loved Mike.”

1978 Class reps are Greg Rutledge,

Katy Hayes Jordan (79) and Heidi Strickland Servidero (79) with their daughters, Kristan and Stephanie, at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

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gregory@studebaker-rutledge.com; GeeGee Vanvig, Geegee.vanvig@ verizon.com David Matthews died in 05 after a twoyear battle with brain cancer. He was in the Marines for 20 years and served his country during the gulf War. He is survived by his four children, his brother Mike (76) and brother Pat who was at Ulu Pandan.

1979 Class rep: Katy Hayes Jordan, pukikj@msn.com Katy Hayes Jordan writes that plans are in the works for an especially big reunion in 09 to celebrate the 30th anniversary — open to any and all alums, faculty, parents, families! Contact her at above email for information and suggestions. Teresa Burrows-Harris is married with a 3-year-old daughter. She’s a geologist with an international consulting firm. From Class of 1979 20th Anniversary Memory Book — published in 1999, but the memories remain the same: Onara Bal-Garcia: Sunday brunch at the Petroleum Club. Bouquets of fresh orchids every Saturday moring for only $5. Stacey Buotte-Purcell: Sunrise boat rides to Sisters Island and the absolute great friends. Cathy Boyington (80): Going to Bali unchaperoned! Senior skip day, toga

Mini reunion in Houston last summer included Steve Kennor (79), Bill Sibley (79), Tom Howes (79), Kerry Kreiling (79), Allison Garrett Howes (79), Brenda Kreiling, Katy Hayes Jordan (79) and Bobby Jordan (77). Not in photo, Scott Gill (79).

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Notes & Quotes party!, cheerleading (Steelers #1), the Mandarin Hotel, eating at the stalls, drinking soda out of plastic bags. Mark Barndon: Friends, island life, sneaking out of the house. Dan Brown (80): The islands, the school, the people at SAS, the night life and the incredible sunsets. Dave Brown: School dances, Bye Bye Birdie, hanging out at the lockers. Brad Cantrell (80): The stalls and satay! Anchor and Tiger beer, Coach Kasi, water fountain traffic circles, taxi drivers. Bridgette Corbell-George: French and Spanish classes, Steelers rule! Brunei by boat, Bugis Street, slave day and the wonderful friends. Peter Danos: Special teachers – Hart, Rinker, Moeller, Clark, bulldogs rule! student sit out. Allison Garrett-Howes: Orchard Road stalls, 4th of July celebrations, interim semester, Friday nights at the Club. Dick Grayson (78): diving, movie theaters, Orchard Road. Kim Guthrie-Byrd: American Club, Sentosa, the people, shopping. Katy Hayes-Jordan: Awesome teachers Ms. Rinker and Mr. Hart, night clubbing, island and interim trips, Go Vikings! Ann Hellemans-Roshak: The friends and all the memorable and unforgettable times we shared. Astrid Holm-Loveland: Exploring Singapore, Dracula and Bye Bye Birdie, swimming all year long. I–Z in June 08 Journeys!

Jane Fotiades-Moes was killed in a car accident in 2004. She is survived by her sons, Jack and Tom, her parents, Aubra and Steve and her brothers Steve (76) and Tracy (78). She is still missed by many, many friends who truly loved and admired her.

1982 Class rep: Steven Studebaker, steves@group-air.com.vn Stephen Coffee has been married “most successfully” for almost 20 years. They live with their two teenagers near New Orleans and he’s a consultant in the hydrocarbon industry. “If I didn’t have my life, I would want it.” Adrian Belinne, a former USAF pilot, is now working for the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, DC but still flies, skis, races and travels. “Fascinating how the paths cross. What about SAS set us off on them?” Susan Robin Sorrell is living in Greenville, SC and married John DeLeon in 06. She is an artist and owns CreativeChick.com, on which she teaches art classes. She is renovating a space for her expanding art business, littlehouseartstudios.com and has been published in several books. No children but an awesome dog! Steve Studebaker has been living in

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for the past 14 years with wife Ngo Thi Kim Dung and 11-year-old son. His only concern is that his son has picked up a funny accent from his British school, but “the John Wayne movies we’ve been making him watch seem to be doing the trick. It’s the swagger that concerns us now.” Steve is chief representative of the Air Resource Group. All SASers are welcome to contact him when they visit. Brenda Lewis Todd lives in Toronto and has just celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary. “We have two sons, ages 19 and 16. You know what that means — first year university and driver’s learning permit, respectively — get out the sedatives!” Brenda is a sales and marketing administrator in the trade show/ consumer show decorating industry and loves every minute of it. Heather Moore Sardella lives in Encino, near LA, “with a lovely 19-yearold foster daughter, an Italian husband and 4 spoiled pound puppies.” Brother Danny lives in NC as do her parents. Sister Jennifer (84) is in Anchorage.

1984 Mike Moorehead is living in Brazil and just had a baby, Jeffrey. He looks forward to retiring soon and traveling the world

Greg Rutledge (78), Susan Studebaker-Rutledge (80), Melvin Conjugacion (79), son Ty Conjugacion, and mother Elaine Conjugacion, popular SAS parent in Hawaii last summer. In front is Asia Rutledge.

1980 Rep: Susan Studebaker-Rutledge, susan@studebaker-rutledge.com Susan Studebaker-Rutledge reports that she and husband Greg (78) visited Melvin Conjugacion (79) in Hawaii last summer. Melvin is a policeman and has two sons. The alums had not seen each other in 29 years. Alums who visited Singapore and the Rutledges this fall included Kathi Kreiling Whitley (81), Craig Babinec and Fred Harkrider.

1981

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Notes & Quotes

Stephen Coffee (82) and wife Suzie — “If I didn’t have my life, I would want it.”

Kathleen Swank Small (83) with her recently adopted twin babies, Emily and Kaitlyn.

forever. USAF Major Elspeth Jane Mitchell is currently on assignment in Washington, DC. Jennifer Moore is working on her master’s in Anchorage. She is a registered marriage and family therapist intern working toward a licence to specialize in parenting and adolescent issues.

ported by designing flash demos, brochures and other collateral for IBM. Jimmy Allen and wife Yeon have a new daughter, Sophie. They live in Philadelphia, where he is a computer consultant focusing on open source enterprise solutions. “What I remember about SAS is 4 years of football, the SAS Singers and Mrs. Farmer, playing tetherball and dodge ball at Ulu Pandan and a once-in-a-lifetime interim semester trip to Nepal.” Another SAS twosome: Elizabeth Ee Zabori is married to Mike Zabori. They live in Calgary, Alberta with Sara, Sammie and Mikey and are looking forward to the 20th reunion next year in Orlando.

1988 Lily Supardan, lsupardan@gmail.com Michelle Morgan Cordle’s husband Dan will graduate from The Colorado School of Mines in May, which she has supElizabeth Ee Zabori (88) and Mike Zabori (88) with their children.

1989 Rep: Lauren Kuhbander Thomas, lkuhbander@yahoo.com Mindy Vail Stone is raising funds for diabetes research. Her son suffers from the disease and has to have as many as 6 injections a day. She says that he Luis Almeida’s (88) new baby, Claire, with sister Hope and brother Owen.

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Jimmy Allen (88) and new daughter Sophie.

never complains but often asks when he’ll get to “stop doing shots.” She wishes she could answer, “soon.” Alums who want to help should visit walk.jdrf.org.

1990 Class rep: Nathalie Vo-Ta Antus, nantus@msn.com Tom Wagner and Jennifer Vesper Wagner (88) had a little boy last year, Reid Thomas. Tom is now PR manager for The Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Reid is now 16 months old and “doing great...He looks like his mom and has a Japanese nanny, who only speaks Japanese to him. He is definitely bilingual!”

1991 David Steele is an officer in the US Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Korea.

1992 Class rep: Jennifer Kahn Liguori, jenniferliguori@hotmail.com Newlyweds Randy Baker and Deb Sivigny are happily and busily involved in the theatre in Washington, DC. Rorschach Theatre is into its 8th season, and Randy’s latest work, The Dream Sailors, will premier in April. Michael Steele is a USAF jet pilot.

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Notes & Quotes

Reid - son of Tom Wagner (90) and Jennifer Vesper Wagner (88).

Danae Rutherford Parsons (91) with brand new Benjamin James Parsons and his sister Chloe.

1993

Vincent Michael Mysliwiec Jr. was born last May to teacher Tina Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill Mysliwiec (99).

Class rep Ben Rosenthal.Beaker_1427 @yahoo.com Josabeth Orn married Mike Sahlenius at Thorskogs Slott in a small castle outside Gothenburg, Sweden in September and honeymooned in the Maldives. Jennifer Reynolds is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and served in Iraq.

Sara.dallaire@gmail.com; Chris Ellis, wellis@gmail.com Evan Brent Mata was born to Stacey Shoemaker Mata on July 3 in Sugar Land, Texas. Nikolaus Adams married Ygraine Gula in Harrisburg, PA in September. Siddharth Mohandas is reported to be working with Barack Obama as his foreign affairs advisor.

1996

2000

Class rep: Ingrid Heidenreich, ingrid_heidenreich @hotmail.com Merika Adams is getting married in Los Angeles next March.

2001 Class reps are Leon Bart-Williams, leon@ckb.corp.com; Jeffrey Kong, jkong@northwestern.edu Ariana Maher works at Kawasaki City Hall, just south of Tokyo, Japan as a coordinator of international relations. In this

Class reps are Sara Dallaire, Lily Liu Chanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (94) wedding party included brother Leon Liu (96) and Jennifer Cox (94). Aydan Michael Hundley, born on July 12, 2007 with proud big sister, Kiera, and his dad, Brandon. Not shown: alum and mom Olga Supardan Hundley (92). They live in Forest Grove, Oregon.

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Notes & Quotes

Kristen Scrib (99) married Eric Flint last March with many SAS alums and their families in attendance. Maid of Honor was Courtney Scrib (03) and Matron of Honor was Beth Stefanik Morrissey (98).

role, she translates documents, proofreads international contracts and letters from the mayor, acts as an interpreter for visiting officials and works alongside various sister cities to arrange international events. .

Hubert Pan’s (98) marriage to Ruth Lo in Palo Alto, CA: Eddie Serrill, Brittania Boey (98), Leon Liu (96), Claire Tan (98), John Ling (98), Roger Ahn (97), Shari Vo-Ta (98), Hubert Pan (98), Carolyn Choy (98), Amy Wei Tan (98), Austin Wei, Yedeh Ying (98), Jennifer Lee (98), Richard Liu (98), Suzanne Liu.

2002 Tim Blair is platoon leader in the U.S. 82nd Airborne division in Baghdad, but thinks often of his roots as a student in Singapore. He was at SAS 95-99 and says that the concept of integrity was the most important lesson he learned there.

2005 Class reps are Cordelia Ross, s87b@hotmail.com; Barnabas Lin, barnabas-lin@northwestern.edu Patrick Wong is in this third year at Northwestern, pursuing a BS in computer Science. He says he’s meeting awesome people but will never forget his SAS friends. Sae Takagi is in college in Tokyo and has met some great people - a lot are international school kids so it’s easy

Kelley Franz (97) married James Wallace Jr. in December 2006 in Atlanta. He’s a microbiologist and she’s a veterinarian. “After 9 years of college, it’s so nice to be out of school and in the real world. We have 3 kids: Emily our English bulldog, Hank a German pointer and Kojac our hairless cat.” In the wedding party above are Allison Franz (98), far left, and Stephen Franz (02), far right. 51

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Notes & Quotes

All Alums! Nina Frazier (98) and Andrew Berg (98) were married last summer. Parents Richard and Catherine Frazier (left) were SAS teachers 1988-99 and Bill and Cathy Berg were SAS teachers 1996-2000.

to relate to them. She also works as an English teacher. Alan Zdancewiez is going to school in Mississippi, working for some cash and having a good time with his KA fraternity brothers. Luke Puglisi is a junior at Purdue, majoring in electrical engineering. He is a fund raiser for Habitat for Humanity, plays a lot of bass in bands and is looking for an internship next summer. Olivia Kelly is in Madagascar this semester and will be in Cape Town next semester. Sumna Mishra has transfered to the U of AZ and is working on a BS in psychology with a Spanish minor. She plans to either head for med school or pursue a career in dance. Lauren Widel is at Purdue, majoring in psychology and minoring in child development and family. She is also busy with psychology and sign language clubs. She says it’s pretty weird being in the U.S. after living overseas for so long but it’s a new experience so pretty cool. Definitely culture shock in the first few months, though. She misses Singapore like crazy and can’t wait to get back there in December. Cory Nguyen is also at Purdue, majoring in computer IT. During school breaks,

he has worked for International Rectifier and John Deere. Whun Oh is in Claremont McKenna College doing a double major in economics and accounting and planning to be in finance after he graduates. Rafael Kiyohara is in Boston deciding what to do next after studying for a year in Suffolk and a year in Madrid. Missy Barnette starts her senior year in December at Mississippi State U. Her year in Singapore had a huge impact and because of it, she is studying international business, concentrating on banking, finance and Mandarin. Next summer she’ll be interning in Shenzhen, China, so she’d love to hear from anyone in the area. Lisa Frasse goes to CU Boulder and is double majoring in psychology and theatre. She has been busy dancing, which she was hooked on at SAS, and will be in two modern dance performances this semester. She’s also joined the triathlon team. Cordelia Ross is at Middlebury and a psychology major on the pre-med track. She dances with the Riddim World Dance Troop at school. She misses everyone from SAS and would love to hear from old friends. Gil McMillan, who left SAS as a

Charlotte Vesterby (98) married Steen Sonderby in Skanderborg, Denmark last summer and moved to Hong Kong this past August. Shari Vo-Ta (98), Charlotte Vesterby (98) and Louise Vesterby (01) at Charlotte’s wedding.

sophomore, writes that “nowhere else in my pre-college education did I experience the high level of learning that I did for the 4 years I attended SAS. I hold no reservations in saying it was a prominent factor in my acceptance to the U.S. Naval Academy. Go Eagles!”

2007 Gabel Bredy graduated from the Lincoln School in Kathmandu and will attend Western Washington U. He’s still into music and theatre.

2009 Anton Bredy is a junior at the Lincoln School in Kathmandu, where he plays lead guitar in an award-winning band.

Parents/Faculty Rep: Karen Studebaker (75-81) kds@studebaker-rutledge.com Lynn Obendorf Kidman (teacher 8284) is an author, teacher and public speaker on athlete-centered training. She is currently in Christchurch, NZ, but will move to the University of Worcester in England next year.

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Notes & Quotes

Julie Pritchard Moore (99) and husband Phillip with Alexander Phillip Moore, born in April 2006.

Vicki Rameker (95 and current faculty) married Matthew Rogers (95) last summer in Vail, Colorado. The wedding party included Kimberly Rameker (94), Jill Dryjanski-Wu (95), Victor Rameker (97) and Michael Rogers (00).

Allan Bredy (HS Deputy Principal and MS Principal, 00-05) and Julie (6th grade teacher), Gabel (07) and Anton (09) are in Kathmandu, where Allan is director of the Lincoln School. Julie continues to teach as well as operate a Tibetan carpet export and custom design business. The family spends summers at its farm on Lummi Island, WA and says, “visitors are always welcome for some Dungeness crab (with or without pepper sauce) and Chinook salmon.” John Dankowski (principal 71-72) is now a communicator at John F. Kennedy Space Center, presenting onstage programs and leading special tours of NASA operations. Regina Smith (grade 4, 1986-89) and Mike have just retired. After leaving Singapore, they lived in Hong Kong and Manila, where she continued to teach. She says she keeps busy writing freelance [Hope she’ll write for Journeys! Ed.] and with children of alums Tim (89) in Florida and Dan (93) in London. “I would love to hear from former SAS

colleagues and students.” Rosemary Farmer (music 81-96) and husband are in Conway, AZ. “We stay busy with our family scattered all over the country, still enjoy our cabin the the mountains of Idaho and are engaged in church-related work in Conway.” They return every year to visit Singapore, staying in their flat in Bukit Batok. They are certified to lead Dynamic Marriage seminars. “We have seen many lives changed through them, which is extremely satisfying to us. I continue to do musicals with children once or twice a year as well. I have loved hearing from students out of my past since the SAS website was established. What fun!” Samuel Burris (Ulu Pandan 78-80) is retired and living in Thailand. Laura Light (MS 95-02) works at ISS in Princeton with Vice President Joan Adams (teacher & MS principal 84-02). Bonnie Leister (principal Ulu Pandan 71-86) is principal of an elementary school in Bethesda, MD and has 5 grandsons.

Please send your news and photos for the June 08 issue of SAS Journeys to journeys@sas.edu.sg. Please note that the magazine will not list telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. If you want to communicate with SAS classmates or teachers, please contact Lauren at alumni@sas.edu.sg or register with other alumni at http://alumni.sas.edu.sg.

Barbara Doenecke (Gillman and Ulu Pandan 71-74) reports that daughter Heather just got married and that son Scott has finally made her a grandmother. She’s substitute teaching and says, “I love being able to teach and NOT attend meetings or do report cards. Lori Davidson (faculty 98-01) is working in Tokyo at the American School. Mary McDonald (faculty 95-04) is working at a private school in Rhode Island. Rebecca Humphries (faculty 97-02) has settled in South Carolina. Rob and Ann Godley (faculty) are teachers in Mexico City.

Gal Benron (05) is doing compulsary military service in the Israeli Navy. She finishes in January and plans to travel before starting college in the fall.

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SAS 50th anniversary quilt The SAS 50th anniversary quilt in the SAS School Board Room is the result of a collaborative effort of members of the SAS community, but two third grade teachers, Jane Dodge (right) and Karen O’Shaughnessy, were responsible for the design and finishing of the project. The 50 squares represent 50 years of SAS education and showcase many of the organizations and programs that are associated with the school. Left to right, top row: SAS logo, 2005-present • Tribute to Superintendent Bob Gross, 1999-2007 • SAS Orchid • Woodlands • Woodlands • Tribute to Teaching • Intermediate School Gecko • SAS@50 Photo. Second row: High School Eagle, King’s Road • King’s Road • Yellow School Bus • Eco Garden • Dragon • Interim Semester • Twinkle Toes. Third row: SAS’s Many Nationalities • UN Day • Middle School Tiger • SAS Help Projects • Community Library • Library • Gilman Barracks • Mr. Hoe. Fourth row: Drama • Music • Rochalie Road • Rochalie Road • Tabitha Cambodia • Cultural Convention • Fighting fish • IASAS Sports. Fifth row: Classroooms without Walls • Boy Scouts • Pumpkin Patch • SAS@50 • Mandarin Studies • Ulu Pandan • Ulu Pandan • Peasant Painting. Bottom row: SAS logo, 19561995 • M&M’s • Gurkha Hat • County Fair • BayTree • Dance • Girl Scouts • SAS logo, 1996-2004. The words across the bottom are Respect • Responsibility • Fairness • Honesty • Compassion.

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What happened at SAS, happens in Vegas! Top: left to right, front: Barbara Gaca (97), Jona Fletcher (97), Hanako; back: John Paul Botcheller (95), Mary Jane Gamber (97), Hugh Lawson (97), Raoul Rolfes (93). Behind Botcheller is Eddie Smith (94). Right: Daniel Jol (97) and Erin Bailey (97).

By Raoul Rolfes (93) Las Vegas attracts a special kind of partygoer and the weekend of August 8–11 was no exception! This third annual gathering saw a band of about 25 SAS alumni descend on The Palms, Caesars Palace and The Bellagio to engage in that special brand of all night madness the likes of which haven’t been seen since Newton Circus! Free from the constraints of time, space and open container laws, Las Vegas is a natural fit. Dancing, hanging out and early morning food binges dominated the weekend. Our independent spirit was displayed on the dance floors of popular night clubs such as Light, Tangerine and Rain as our penchant for all-nighters shined through. Sleep was unheard of.

For 4 days every year, we leave our realities behind and bask in the unique antics of our past. 2008 will top them all! Class of 1993, It’s been 15 years and we need to celebrate! Our reputation precedes us. There will be a better function with more Tiger Beer this time around and I’m working on roti prata and chicken rice. Anyone and everyone from SAS is encouraged to attend. Festivities will commence July 31, 2008. Stay tuned to the alumni website for updates. See www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4627139322 for more pictures. 55

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Reunions

1985-1991 SASers celebrate in Austin

SASers in Austin last summer: (front) Mary Radel Kauth (87), Mary the au pair, Sophia Pu, Kathay Feng (87), Chris Schnitger (86); (middle) Tina Mercer (86), Angela Alvarado, James Clark (85), Liz Clark Carmichael (87), Alix Alvarado (86), Suzanne DeFoe (86), Nathalie Vo-Ta (90), Audrey Vane (87), Marilyn Stephens Etzel (87), Valerie McMillan, Debbie Hlavach (87); (back) Lisa Larimore Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary (87), Russell Moon (86), Nick Alvarado (90), Adam Watson (86), Deedee Collins McDonald (86), John Bolton (87), John Stubbe (86), Deanna Rutherford Waggoner (87), Ed Gaffney (87), Ellen Stubbe Kester (86), Mark Gravouia (86), John McMillan (86). Photos by Chris Schnitger.

By Nathalie Vo-Ta (90)

end of July last summer, some from as far away as Alaska. The evening started at the Cedar Door, where SAS alumni met up with one another. Some met for the first time since graduation, and Greg Waldron (88) telephoned us from Singapore that evening. As the sun set in beautiful Austin, the group made its way to the Congress Avenue Bridge. A celebrated ritual in Austin is watching swarms of bats fly out from under the bridge.

To say that SAS has reunions in 10, 15, 20 year increments would be entirely wrong. But in this case, the Class of 1987 celebrated its 20 year reunion â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with a little help from fellow classmates from 1985-1991! Thanks to John Stubbe (86), Kathay Feng (87) and John Bolton (87), over 30 of us gathered in Austin the second week56

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Reunions was spent at Stephen F’s Bar and Terrace (at the Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental Hotel), where John Bolton displayed his great talent on the piano. We then hit 6th Street, where rows of clubs and bars were open until the wee hours of the morning. We were mostly on the prowl for 80s music — some things never change! The evening ended up at a rooftop party at the hotel with lots of music and chatter. For early birds, Sunday morning saw the procession of Lady Bird Johnson’s casket through the streets of downtown Austin from the LBJ Library at the University of Texas to the family cemetery at the LBJ Ranch. It was amazing to see the respect the city had for its beloved local resident and the nation’s former first lady. There is always a strong connection and new bonds formed at these reunions. I like to think of them as reminders of youth and “preventers” of memory loss. It’s funny to think that some of us, including yours truly, were only 8th graders when the others were seniors in high school, but as the years go by, those years, if not the pounds, just melt away. Our next reunion will be in Orlando in June 2008. Join us! www.sassemiannualreunion.com/

Tons of people gather, bringing coolers and lawn chairs and listening to a live band while waiting for the bats to make their appearance. The group then made its way to Threadgill’s, a famous restaurant and outdoor theater where Janis Joplin got her start. A local group, The Derailers, played while people danced and talked the night away. Back at the main hotel, we looked at yearbooks and caught up some more. It was fun go down memory lane, looking (and trying not to laugh) at the styles and hair of years past. The next day, we went on the famous Austin Duck Tour. We rode around the city past the governor’s mansion and the capital. At Town Lake, we heard about its history as well as about the celebrities who had homes around it. At 5:30 p.m., the gang met again at the lobby and took a 30 minute caravan to Salt Lick, a famous BBQ establishment in Driftwood for a truly Texan meal, complete with peach cobbler. Our host, John Stubbe (86), provided a raffle with great door prizes, including local beer, salsa and books. Stubbe also gave everyone a special compilation CD that he had made of great Austin music. It was then time for bar hopping and most of the evening

Alums gathered at the Cedar Door are (front) John Bolton, Suzy Defoe, Mary Radel Kauth, Nathalie VoTa; (back) Ellen Stubbe Kester, Chris Schnitger.

John Bolton jumps to be included in photo of James Clark, Lisa Latimore O’Leary, Deedee Collins McDonald, Tina Mercer, Debbie Hlavach, Liz Clark Carmichael and Mark Gravouia.

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Reunions

Classes from the 60s and 70s meet in Vancouver July 20-22, 2007 In Lynn Valley, Vancouver: Standing are Dave Cowles (69), Mick Cowles (70), Constance Ng, Helen Wong (73), Melissa Waldie (70), Rob Evans, Ernie Vance, Susan Sebloeme Bell-Irving (71), Russ Ng (67): seated are Quek Yong Kang, Barbara Tice (67), Karol Tice Evans (69), Ernie Wong (68).

Left: Andrew Airriess (73), Chris Airriess (72), Lauren Airriess (Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter), Mitch Wood (72), Nicholas Laveris (79). Below: Ann Brown Breen (65), Elaine Wales (72), Patricia Wales (68), Steve Pringle (72).

Young Alumni Reunion for classes of 97-07 Union Bar American Club, Singapore December 17, 2007, 5-7 p.m. Register online

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Reunions

Reunions in 2008 Orlando, June 21 — all classes, especially class of 88. Contact Kelly Johns or Lily Supardan. Las Vegas, June 27 — all classes, especially class of 98. Contact Shari Vo-Ta. Las Vegas, July 31 — all classes, especially class of 93. Contact Raoul Rolfes.

Vancouver reunion organizer Stephen Hurst (74) with Debbie Dudley Bodal (73), who owns and operates A Chef’s Kitchen in Edmonds, WA and leads culinary tours to Asia.

Linda Chambers Pringle (72) and her brother, Don Chambers (70). Linda is married to Steve Pringle (72).

Mitch Wood (72) is an architect in Baton Rouge, LA and Helen Wong (73) is a consultant in child protection social work in Vancouver.

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MICA(P) 245/04/2007

SAS

Volume 3 December 2007

ourneys Singapore American School Alumni Magazine

SAS gifts to children of Cambodia

Published by the Office of Communications and Development 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 Tel: (65) 6363-3403 Fax: (65) 6363-3408 www.sas.edu.sg journeys@sas.edu.sg

SAS Cover

2-3

Inside features: • Alums working in Singapore • Fond food memories • Island’s 21st C biomedical hub • Aven recalls building King’s Rd

11/19/07, 3:13 PM