Chairman's Message
As a mid-term report, I shall concentrate on two main areas - the Council and their work on the various committees and the ‘areas of focus’ I spoke about in my first message as Chairman in the SCL(S) Newsletter (Oct 2012, No.18).
THE COUNCIL’S WORK IN ITS FIRST YEAR
In Oct 2012, I introduced the core, backbone and “new blood” groups of individuals who stepped up with me to form the Council for the 2012-2014 term. Several of the council members started off the term a little jittery getting up to speed with our well entrenched Society and coming to terms with the full extent of the work on each of the committees. We finally settled into the routine by early this year.
The reports by the respective chairs of the committees during the Annual General Meeting held on 21 August 2013 are evident of the great work of each member. I thank each of them and SCL(S) members that have been working tirelessly on these committees -- Uma Menon with the Publication and Alex Wong with the Website Research and Resources committees 2012-2013 -- and Lim Tat and Tan Kee Cheong as our honorary Auditors for the year.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Here too, as I had highlighted in my first message, sound training, engaging the younger generation and reaching out to the Construction Industry are the key focus areas. I am pleased to report that we have achieved a considerable amount in terms of training (through the Professional Development programme) and engaging the Construction Industry by collaborating with various other construction industry related institutions and bodies, through joint and/or cross programmes. In this second half of our term, we intend to follow through on a couple of the professional development items canvassed in the first half of our term and focus on engaging the younger generation and implementing our corporate social responsibility inititatives.
On the international front, the number of SCLs across the world has steadily grown to about 14 across several continents including Europe and South America. Several initiatives both ongoing and upcoming will provide our membership with a greater reach internationally.
THE YEAR AHEAD 2013 – 2014
It has been said that the last 5 miles or so of a marathon are the hardest. The Council is only halfway through its term. Several programmes and initiatives are still in their infancy and we look forward to a fruitful second half of our term and hope more members can come onboard the committees.
Thank you,
Anil Changaroth
