Dear all
A BIG THANK YOU to all who attended BSWA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) this evening in Dhammaloka as well as those who couldn’t attend, but have given their proxies.
With the highlight of the meeting being the approval of the amended Constitution, the committee is thankful for the resounding support shown by the members (including the proxies) for the proposed changes to the Constitution.
As for the election of the Office Bearers and committee members, it was announced by Poh Lian Suan, Returning Officer, that the following members were elected into the new committee:
President – Dennis Sheppard
Vice President – Lay Har Goh
Treasurer – Boon Tan
Secretary – Geoffrey Webb
Assistant Treasurer – Jee Too Foo
Assistant Secretary – Anthony Hawkins
IT Supervisor – PJ Gunasekara
Ordinary Committee Member – Bill Prins
Ordinary Committee Member – Chet Yeoung The
Ordinary Committee Member – Lucky Kodituwakku
(Lucky withdrew her nomination of the Assistant Secretary prior to the AGM but was convinced by Ajahn Brahm during the AGM to take up the ordinary Committee Member position instead of stepping down totally. She got the role unchallenged and endorsed by all in the meeting.
Anthony Hawkins was elected as the Assistant Secretary when the Returning Officer asked the floor for volunteers and he rose to the occasion).
Dennis, in his President’s report and in the spirit of “great to celebrate all that we do together” went to great lengths to give kudos to the committee, volunteers and staff. And indeed, BSWA and its committee hope to create an event to celebrate the contribution by volunteers both past and present.
With the new committee now in place and under the continued guidance of our Spiritual Director, Ajahn Brahm, work needs to get started to keep up with the increasing demands of this dynamic and successful Buddhist Society and as pointed out by Ajahn Brahm in the Spiritual Director report: “Keeping perspective: It is common to put too much attention on the ‘growing pains’ of our BSWA without emphasising that our BSWA is widely regarded as one of the leading Buddhist organisations in the world. That it is traditional in its support of both the male and female Sanghas, that it is progressive in its inclusivity of diverse cultural practices, and that it is innovative in the design of such facilities as Jhana Grove Meditation Retreat Centre and its use of modern media to spread the Dhamma far and wide.”
With Metta
Lay Har Goh
Vice President
Now ex Acting Secretary 😊