It is my privilege to be able to address all present at this AGM of ELLTA(S), the English Language & Literature Teachers Association of Singapore.
AGM Address (2002)
by Wee Wan-Ling
President, ELLTA(S)
It is my privilege to be able to address all present at this AGM of ELLTA(S), the English Language & Literature Teachers Association of Singapore.
This year marks the second year of the Association's existence. ELLTA(S) hopes to continue contributing to the professional needs of English Language and Literature teachers in Singapore. We are acutely aware of the changes that have marked the way the two subjects have developed in an increasingly professionalised manner.
In this regard, we have been privileged to have Associate Professor Oliver Seet, the first President of ELLTA(S), to guide the Executive Committee along the way in his capacity as Immediate Past President, given his long experience with English Language and Literature teaching in the city-state, and Associate Professor Rita Skuja-Steele as the Association's Advisor, given her experience on the local scene, too.
In the course of our second year, we have tried to reach out and meet the needs not only of pre-service English Language and Literature teachers through various talks, but also of in-service teachers through the seminar 'Meeting the Challenges of Speaking Good English', on 13 April 2002. That seminar was our major activity for the year.
The Association has also tried to cater to the needs of younger teachers who are starting out in the profession by supporting a 'Mentoring Beginning Teachers' website - there is a bulletin board on the the site for possible discussion of issues. The URL is: http://www.ell.nie.sg/forum/ultimatebb.chi.
We have also come out with the first issue of the ELLTA(S) magazine, edited by Ms Emmeline Payne, and co-edited by Ms Noor Suzanne bte Nasir. This magazine, we also hope, will be able to contribute further to that same community. We hope to address both practical and theoretical teaching concerns in it. We are also interested in any possible contribution you, the reader and ELLTA(S) member, may have to make. If you have an article in mind and would like a larger audience for it, please do contact Ms Payne.
ELLTA(S) has worked with the Ministry of the Information and the Arts (MITA) for the 2001 and 2002 Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) storytelling competition; with the British Council for their 'Wired Islands' competition; and with Times Media for their 'Budding Writers' project in 2001.
We hope that these instances of collaboration with other important institutions will be to the benefit of the English Language and Literature teaching community in Singapore, and we are gratified and thankful that colleagues and friends took time off to participate in these events as judges, and workshop leaders, and in other ways.
On 13 April, 2002, we also co-organised the seminar 'Meeting the Challenges of Speaking Good English'. This seminar - as earlier said, our major activity for the past leadership year - was very special, as through the seminar, we have been privileged to work with the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) for the first time - STU's Lawrence Sia, Swithun Lowe and Daisy Yew were very supportive in their interaction with us. We are very grateful, too, to the various friends and colleagues who took the time off to plan and to lead the various workshops in the seminar.
In conclusion, I wish to thank Associate Professor Oliver Seet, our Immediate Past President, and Associate Professor Rita Skuja-Steele, the Association's Advisor, for their generous support throughout the past year. Ms Yio Siew Koon's enormous contribution as the Association's vice-president must be acknowledged too - she is unflagging in energy, and notices even potential small administrative problems as 20 paces! The Association's Executive Committee, too, along with those who assisted us informally, must be acknowledged and thanked for their careful work and general support, which came even during busy teaching periods.
Working with all of the people I have just mentioned has been enjoyable, and I am indeed grateful that they 'came through' with each and every challenge that we as the Exco jointly have faced.
Finally we also want to thank the two honorary auditors who took time out from their schedule to help us with the accounts.
The new leadership year, of course, brings its new challenges with it. We have now gained more experience in understanding both our strengths and limitations as an Association, and will continue to reach to reach out to the English language and literature teaching community based on this new-found understanding.
However, this new leadership year will also see some changes in the Exco make-up: Ms Yio Siew Koon, the vice-president, and myself, stepping down, owing to the contingencies of work demands. It has been our privilege to serve.
We wish the Exco well, and know that with all the talented people on it, the Association will be in good hands.
(Dr) C.J.W.-L. Wee
President, ELLTA(S)
27 July 2002