After much anticipation, we finally attended the dinner reception to welcome President Tony Tan and wife Mary, on their first official state visit to the UK. We do consider ourselves really lucky to be given such an honour since most of our friends tell us they don't get such a chance to meet the president back in Singapore.
Friday evening we went down to the Royal Garden hotel at High Street Kensington after work. This hotel is owned by the same owner of Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore, a fellow Singaporean I believe. The Tans stayed two nights at Buckingham Palace, followed by the presidential suite at this hotel. The crowd that night was about 200 people I reckon, and all stood around chatting, with an air of anticipation before it started. I felt really warm and went outside of the ballroom to deposit my coat and overheard one of the security guys saying into the walkie-talkie "please bring the president down…"
A lady emcee went on stage to officiate the start of the evening's event, followed by a speech from the new ambassador to the UK, Ms Foo Chi Hsia. This is the second I'm hearing her speak, the first being the National Day reception, which was also held at the same place. Finally they announced that the president and his wife has arrived and everyone applauded. The entourage entered the room, and President Tony Tan then proceeded to give a speech about his trip, about partnership between our two countries, and the many Singaporeans he has met here.
We were told beforehand to try not using personal cameras to take photos with the president (in particular no selfies. Maybe he's not a selfie person?), in order not to slow down the crowd. Rather, there would be an orderly system (queue of course), and there would also be an official photographer to take photos for us so it's faster and they can greet more people. When the president's speech was done, we were told to carry on with the diner buffet, which naturally was a spread of local food. The laksa was especially good. We figured the budget for that night was much higher than the usual Contact Singapore event.
A long snaking queue formed immediately around President Tan and his wife Mary. People were keen to greet them and get a picture with them. Us, on the other hand, were more keen on the food. lol. Typical Singaporeans. We saw some friends and chatted over dinner. We also said hi and introduced ourselves to other Singaporeans sharing the same table. Many of the members of the SUKA (Singapore UK Association) club are what we would call "old birds" in Singlish. These are the people who have been in the UK for so many years it's almost unimaginable going back home, no matter how proud they feel to be a Singaporean. I would guess many of them married British nationals and hence have stayed on ever since.
When I was about done eating, I looked at the queue and gestured for K to join the queue with me. It moved pretty quickly, and soon enough we shook hands with President Tan and his wife Mary. His wife is a soft spoken, kind looking lady. I asked if she has enjoyed the trip so far (yes she said, met a lot of people), and she asked if I was studying here (whoa! Love this question.. means I look young lol). I said no and told her where I'm working. Where she suddenly exclaimed "Oh I met someone else tonight working in the same company as you!" K stepped forward and introduced himself and said hi. All of a sudden a group of 5 came up to say hi too and before we knew it, the photographer asked us to stand closer and snapped a pic of all of us. I'm not sure if we looked awkward cos everything happened in that moment and as we were one of the last ones in the queue, the security personnel came up almost immediately and started to usher them in the direction of the door. "President Tan is tired" someone said.
After they left people continued with their food and mingled about. We left probably half and hour later - yep - catch the train home! Overall a memorable evening I'd say. Now we just need to find out where to get the photo.
Friday evening we went down to the Royal Garden hotel at High Street Kensington after work. This hotel is owned by the same owner of Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore, a fellow Singaporean I believe. The Tans stayed two nights at Buckingham Palace, followed by the presidential suite at this hotel. The crowd that night was about 200 people I reckon, and all stood around chatting, with an air of anticipation before it started. I felt really warm and went outside of the ballroom to deposit my coat and overheard one of the security guys saying into the walkie-talkie "please bring the president down…"
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| People milling about before the event started |
A lady emcee went on stage to officiate the start of the evening's event, followed by a speech from the new ambassador to the UK, Ms Foo Chi Hsia. This is the second I'm hearing her speak, the first being the National Day reception, which was also held at the same place. Finally they announced that the president and his wife has arrived and everyone applauded. The entourage entered the room, and President Tony Tan then proceeded to give a speech about his trip, about partnership between our two countries, and the many Singaporeans he has met here.
We were told beforehand to try not using personal cameras to take photos with the president (in particular no selfies. Maybe he's not a selfie person?), in order not to slow down the crowd. Rather, there would be an orderly system (queue of course), and there would also be an official photographer to take photos for us so it's faster and they can greet more people. When the president's speech was done, we were told to carry on with the diner buffet, which naturally was a spread of local food. The laksa was especially good. We figured the budget for that night was much higher than the usual Contact Singapore event.
A long snaking queue formed immediately around President Tan and his wife Mary. People were keen to greet them and get a picture with them. Us, on the other hand, were more keen on the food. lol. Typical Singaporeans. We saw some friends and chatted over dinner. We also said hi and introduced ourselves to other Singaporeans sharing the same table. Many of the members of the SUKA (Singapore UK Association) club are what we would call "old birds" in Singlish. These are the people who have been in the UK for so many years it's almost unimaginable going back home, no matter how proud they feel to be a Singaporean. I would guess many of them married British nationals and hence have stayed on ever since.
When I was about done eating, I looked at the queue and gestured for K to join the queue with me. It moved pretty quickly, and soon enough we shook hands with President Tan and his wife Mary. His wife is a soft spoken, kind looking lady. I asked if she has enjoyed the trip so far (yes she said, met a lot of people), and she asked if I was studying here (whoa! Love this question.. means I look young lol). I said no and told her where I'm working. Where she suddenly exclaimed "Oh I met someone else tonight working in the same company as you!" K stepped forward and introduced himself and said hi. All of a sudden a group of 5 came up to say hi too and before we knew it, the photographer asked us to stand closer and snapped a pic of all of us. I'm not sure if we looked awkward cos everything happened in that moment and as we were one of the last ones in the queue, the security personnel came up almost immediately and started to usher them in the direction of the door. "President Tan is tired" someone said.
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| I took this parting shot of Dr Tan and wife |
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