The MAAC 7th Australian Alumni Gala Dinner 2016
This year, The MAAC successfully hosted its 7th Annual Australian Alumni Gala Dinner 2016 on 02 December 2016 at the Mayang Sari Grand Ballroom, JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Amongst the 390 people who attended the dinner were the Guest of Honour, The Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia and Patron of The MAAC, His Excellency, Mr Rod Smith. Also in attendance were the Deputy High Commissioner, Dr Angela Macdonald; Austrade Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, Mr Daniel Havas; Counsellor of Education & Science for the Department of Education Australia, Ms Karen Welsh; Counsellor for Political & Economic Section, Mr Philip Kimpton; First Secretary for Political & Economic Section, Mr Damian Hickey; Victorian Commissioner (South East Asia) for Victorian Government Business Office SE, Mr Brett Stevens; Chairman of the MABC, Mr. Leigh Howard; other prominent Australian Alumni, corporate sponsors and representatives of Australian Universities from Australia. The major sponsors for this event were:
Gold Sponsor: | Mulpha International Berhad |
Silver Sponsors: | Tourism Australia Central Equity |
Meat Sponsor: | Meat & Livestock Australia |
Wine Sponsors: | State Government of Victoria Dionysus Asia Sdn Bhd |
Other Sponsors and Raffles Prize Sponsors include Blackmores, Hanbul Cosmetics Sdn Bhd, PM Resources Sdn Bhd, Amoy Canning Beverages Sdn Bhd, English Hot Breads, JW Marriot Hotel KL, YTL Hotels Sydney Harbour Marriott, YTD Private Limited, Accent Wellness Compounding Pharmaceutical, Studio, Royal Selangor International Berhad, Wanderzoom, Mondelez International Inc, Urban Spring and Bonzour Home.
The main highlight of the event was the presentation of three awards to deserving Alumni of Australian Universities and one award to an Australian University Alumni Chapter that contributed significant roles to the society while promoting excellent education in Australia. The Australian High Commissioner, accompanied by Mr Daniel Havas; Ms Karen Welsh; Mr Damian Hickey; The MAAC President, Ms Pat PW Yeoh; Vice President of Alumni Relations, Mr Adrian Ong; Vice President of Bilateral Relations, Ms Nicole Lim and Vice President of Education & Welfare, Ms Jane Teh, presented the 4 awards to the following:
Distinguished Alumni Award 2016: | Datuk Ar Tan Pei Ing (The University of Melbourne) |
Young Entrepreneur Award 2016: | Mr Chris Tan Chur Pim (Bond University) |
Community Achievement Award 2016: | Dr. Siti Suriawati Isa (Queensland University of Technology) |
Alumni Chapter Award 2016: | The University of Newcastle (Australia) Alumni Malaysia Chapter |
In her speech, The MAAC President, Ms Pat PW Yeoh spoke about establishment of The MAAC and the milestones of achievements thereafter. She also thanked the Australian High Commission, Australian Universities, The MAAC Executive Committee and others for their continuous support towards The MAAC and its projects. After her speech, Ms Pat PW Yeoh presented a Certificate of Appreciation to each Executive Committee that has served for the term of 2014/2016. She also awarded Ms Chelsea Lai for ‘Going Above & Beyond’ as an Executive Committee who not only brought the MACC Scholarships to greater height but also in her initiative in automating both the participation and application forms for the universities and scholars respectively ensuring the forms are available online in our website. She has also revamped the entire participation and application process. The High Commissioner in his speech thanked The MAAC for playing a crucial role in uniting Alumni Chapters while being the main contact point to fulfil Australia’s new Alumni engagement policy. He spoke about the importance of alumni and the role they play in creating the awareness that an Australian education is a world class education. His Excellency also acknowledged and thanked The MAAC for its yearly organised events and another successful Gala Dinner this year.
The guests were treated to a sumptuous five course western meal and beverages, with special performance that featured the Pop Pop Jazz Band, which was founded by an Alumnus from UNSW who is a prominent figure in the music industry. After the awards presentation, the ‘sing off’ from The MAAC Voice 2016 Karaoke competition was held and out of the 3 finalists, Dr Ahmad Aldrie Amir, a graduate of The University of Queensland was chosen by the crowd as the champion, who performed ‘Heaven Knows’ by Rick Price with his guitar. The other 2 finalists who performed were Ms Deborati Dasgupta (Australian National University alumnus) who performed ‘I Knew I Loved You’ by Savage Garden with her keyboard and Ms Serena See (Victoria University Alumnus) who sang ‘I Honestly Love You’ by Olivia Newton John. Towards the end of the Gala Dinner, everyone waited for the raffles draw where many great prizes were to be won. Central Equity representatives were invited to do a lucky draw for a 2 night stay in Melbourne. Among the raffles draw prizes that were sponsored were The Grand Prize, worth RM 12,000 – a 2 night stay for 2 at the Marriott Sydney Harbour Hotel with return air tickets for 2 to any destination in Australia and an hour vacation photoshoot; followed by the first prize of a Tod’s Leather Military Bag worth RM7,200, 2nd prize of 4 Days 3 nights at the Intercontinental Hotel Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast, with buffet breakfast for 2, and 3rd prize of 2 night stay for 2 with breakfast at Ritz Carlton Hotel. Other prizes include products from Royal Selangor Pewter, Hormone Therapy sessions, Scandinavian Furniture, Skin care products, Health Supplement Hampers, Pilates sessions, Homecare products, etc. For those who would like to view the photos from the gala dinner, please click here. For the gala dinner short video, please click here.