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On 9 November 2007, a special dinner was organized in
appreciation of the pioneering efforts of our staff since the inception of RP in
2002.
With the valuable contributions and service of staff members throughout
the last five years, RP can certainly be proud of what it has achieved to date.
The dinner was held at Keppel Club, of which Principal/CEO,
Prof. Low Teck Seng specially arranged for an exquisite food and wine pairing
for this occasion. About 50 RP pioneer staff graced this occasion with their
presence, and for those who could not be there, we definitely missed their
presence.
The evening started off with a cocktail reception. Staff
members enjoyed champagne and mingled with each other. This was followed by an
opening address by Prof. Low. He expressed his heartfelt thanks to all pioneer
staff for their efforts in contributing to the establishment and development of
RP.
He went on to explain the food and wine menu for that
evening. Being a wine connoisseur himself, Prof. Low carefully made sure that
each dish from the 9-course menu was paired with an appropriate wine. Everyone
present was certainly touched by this thoughtful gesture. Apart from this, each
staff was also given a token of appreciation before the dinner – a photograph
with a personalized message written by Prof. Low on the flipside of the
photograph.
As the dinner commenced, OHR arranged for the Director of
CED, Glen O’Grady and the Director of Estates, Lim Tuan Seng to share their
memories of RP and how they have seen RP grown in the last five years. Both of
them reminisced about the past and their sharings definitely brought about much
nostalgia among the pioneer staff.
In
his sharing, Glen mentioned, “The early days of RP were marked by regular
Tuesday and Thursday morning workshops where we discussed what education meant to us
and what our PBL would be like.” Considering the milestones that RP has achieved
to date, it is no wonder that Glen added, “I say this in all seriousness because
we should remember that the success we have has not come about because it was
foreordained. We should remember the fact that we did not know all the answers
beforehand. Rather, we have demonstrated and modelled precisely what we wish our
students will develop - a capacity to be adaptable and work out life sensibly as
we go through it.”
Later, a slideshow presentation was displayed on the
screen. It included pictures of RP’s beginnings at the Tanglin campus, from our
first corporate retreat, our first staff sharing to our first anniversary. It
was really a walk down memory lane for our pioneer staff and they must be really
proud of themselves for having been part of this long but rewarding journey.
The dinner ended with some important comments by Eden and
Prof. Low. Prof. Low shared his vision for making RP a leader in problem-based
learning and encouraged staff to continue believing in the PBL way of education.
Presenting the pioneers of RP….For being with us all this while, we thank you!
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