• Singapore President and SMU Patron Tony Tan Keng Yam tours PD Village and attends VIP dinner in his honour
• SMU's four Presidents past and present in a dialogue moderated by SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping
• SMU's celebrations of SMU15 and SG50 officially launched

When SMU’s Patron, Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam graced the University’s Patron’s Day 2015, he witnessed an historic dialogue session between SMU’s current President and all three former SMU Presidents, entitled “SMU: Past, Present and Future”. It was the first time all four had been seen together said SMU’s present and founding Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping who moderated the session with his usual panache. The dialogue had been organised especially to mark the official launch of SMU’s 15^th anniversary celebrations, dubbed SMU15, as well as Singapore’s 50^th anniversary, SG50.

SMU15 is especially significant for President Tan, who was instrumental in the establishment of the University and became its second Patron in 2011. As SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer pointed out in his opening remarks: “Without him, we wouldn’t be here today,” he said. Also attending the dinner and honoured in the President’s speech were eight members of SMU’s start-up team, many past and present members of the Board of Trustees, nine of the inaugural cohort of students and representatives of pioneer donors the Lee Foundation, Shaw Foundation, SMU Chancellor Mr Yong Pung How, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, SMU Trustee Mr Timothy Chia and Deloitte & Touche.

SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (left) mediated the dialogue with all four SMU Presidents past and present (left to right): Professors Janice Bellace, Ronald Franks, Howard Hunter and Arnoud De Meyer.

In the dialogue, Mr Ho posed a series of searching questions to Professor De Meyer (4^th SMU President, 2010 to date), Professor Howard Hunter (3^rd SMU President, 2004—2010), Professor Ronald E. Frank (2^nd SMU President 2001—2004) and Professor Janice Bellace (Founding SMU President, 1999—2001). Professors Frank and Bellace had flown from the United States especially for the occasion. The questions included what were the best and worst moments for each President during his or her tenure, what do they wish they could have accomplished but were not able to, and what is the biggest danger that might make SMU fail to achieve its potential. Mr Ho also asked Professor De Meyer to explain SMU’s Vision 2025 and what would be necessary for it to be realised.

As mementoes of this significant event, guests at the dinner were given an SMU15 commemorative coin and a copy of Daringly Different: The Making of Singapore Management University, written by SMU writer-in-residence Kevin YL Tan and specially commissioned by the University to mark SMU15.

When the convivial dinner came to an end, the party on Campus Green was in full swing. President Tan had toured the Patron’s Day Village on the Green earlier, and seen the stalls of business ventures launched by SMU students and alumni. During the afternoon, the six Schools had fought hard in the annual tug-of-war tournament, which is the traditional finale of the SMU Inter-Faculty Games (IFG). The School of Economics won the tournament, which secured them second place in the IFG behind champions the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Music and entertainment were provided throughout the afternoon and evening by home-grown talent such as Kit Chan, Corrine May, and The Sam Willows, as well as SMU alumni Pornsak and Rebecca Lim. By the end of the evening around 4,000 students, faculty and staff members, donors and other visitors were estimated to have attended the celebrations, which were a credit to the hard work, team spirit and creativity of the Events Team in the Office of Corporate Communications and Marketing and the Office of Student Life.

[Main photo] SMU Patron and Singapore President Tony Tan (3^rd from left) and SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (3^rd from right) with (left to right) SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer and former SMU Presidents Professor Janice Bellace, Professor Ronald Frank and Professor Howard Hunter with their personalised ‘Smoobie’ mascots. 

SMU Patron and Singapore President Tony Tan enjoyed a taste of durian crème brûlée – created by an SMU start-up business.

Students enjoying an afternoon of fun and games.

Singaporean actress Rebecca Lim being interviewed on the Patron’s Day stage by Royce Lee Ji Xiong, of SMU Broadcast & Entertainment.

SMU’s ever-popular percussion band Samba Masala got the evening’s party started. 

Watch the PD Village video here.