The NUS Alumni Overseas Chapter Manila hosted the first-ever Cocktails and Connections, a networking event for NUS Business School Alumni members, at the La Latina restaurant, Greenbelt 5, Makati City, Metro Manila.

It was the first-ever faculty subgroup gathering in Manila, which had been in the plans since the inception of the chapter. Twenty-one NUS Business School alumni were joined by 22 NUS alumni from other faculties and schools (Arts and Social Sciences, Computing, Design and Environment, Public Policy, Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Law) who actively attended the chapter’s gatherings in 2023. Also present at the event were seven special guests from the Harvard Club of the Philippines.

Registration and cocktails commenced at 6:00 pm, followed by a short programme which started around 7:00 pm. Chapter Chairperson Mr Richard Tan (Public Policy ’13) provided an overview of the chapter’s activities for 2024, including the upcoming NUS Innovation Forum to be held for the first time in Manila in May. He also thanked the NUS Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) for their generous sponsorship of the event. The event’s special guest, Mr Pan Jingxuan, Deputy Chief of Mission and Counsellor of the Singapore Embassy to the Philippines, arrived around 7:30 pm. Mr. Tan and Chapter Vice-Chairperson Mr Nestor Precioso (Science ’06) organised a short toast in his honor, thanked him for the Embassy’s continuous support of the chapter, and wished him well, as he will be embarking on a new post in March.

Special NUS giveaways were distributed to all NUS alumni present. Guests enjoyed various Latin American dishes for dinner such as milanesa, paella de kubina Chilena, lomo saltado and salmon Tikin Xic. Guests stayed well beyond the 9:00 pm end of the programme, enjoying the opportunity to catch up with old friends and expand their personal and professional network.

Prepared by: Nestor Precioso, Science’06

Thanks to the generous support of the NUS Office of Alumni Relations, the NUS Alumni Overseas Chapter Xiamen (hereafter “Xiamen Chapter”) recently held its 2024 New Year Reception. This year, Xiamen Chapter creatively organised receptions in three major cities-Fuzhou, Xiamen and Hangzhou. Around 70 alumni took part in the receptions. Xiamen alumni had a dinner at a Hakka restaurant, tasted special northern Fujian food, and prepared New Year gifts for alumni. Xiamen Chapter successfully reached out to 30 or so new alumni through the receptions. Other than good food, a technological and cultural tour was also initiated in Hangzhou by Vice Chairman Dr You Mingliang and Dr Xu Luang. Some 20 alumni and family members paid a visit to Uniview (a leader of AloT solutions worldwide) and Xixing Ancient Town. It’s worth highlighting that a few alumni from Singapore, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Zhangzhou, Nanjing and Quanzhou purposely flew or took the bullet train to attend the receptions.