Dear Dr Kenson,

NOTE OF APPRECIATION

Thank you for taking time to see me, together with the rest of the candidates for the position of Manager, Development (ACM) today.

In my most honest opinion of my performance at the interview, I did not score well. But, I feel totally reached out to in terms of your sincere belief in what I had to share of my past experiences. In addition, the exit kind concern towards my grandmother’s health was exceptionally encouraging.

Interestingly, I have been very fortunate to be able to seek work experiences in passionate organizations, whether they are non-profit (Epilepsy Care Group, Student Advisory Centre) or commercial (3dsense Media School, LASALLE). PASSION means a lot to Artists, and because I value passion highly as well, openings with the National Heritage Board do attract me deeply, as I firmly believe in the therapeutic benefits of Arts & Culture appreciation, especially in times of emotional need.

Museums are not only  educational institutions, but they can also be places for networking and enjoyment of life (as one interesting programme in the Museum of Western Art; Tokyo and Epson collaborated- OPEN; Opportunities for People Enjoyment & Networking). I find this concept really wonderful and believe that the museums in Singapore could achieve even more in terms of attendance, programmes, partnerships and publicity internationally.

And yes, there are prospectively big, untapped international donors out there, and I do hope the museum can grow in her international donors’ pool. Also, there are more new Foundations being set up in Singapore, with Chew Hua Seng Foundation (part of Raffles Education Group) being one such that I know of as my best friend happens to be the only full time staff in the Foundation, and many of such new Foundations seek high visibility in their donations, and many still like to contribute in areas of youth work and education related causes. Therefore, it might be feasible to have joint activities with the charities in fundraising activities.

Environmental issues are getting the BIG limelight in these recent 2 years, and Arts & Green activities do come hand in hand, if given the right dose of partnerships.

As a Singaporean, I am blessed with many things my fellow peers in the 3^rd world countries do not enjoy; a good education despite my parents’ little formal education, a good health due to good sanitation (that is so important for a country’s progress, as I seen more of this world), a good government and not forgetting the good infrastructure we have in this little island.

And perhaps this is WHY I grew up hoping to be able to make use of my blessings to give others a pull in their needy times too. As the media frequent focused on humanitarian work reports, and the beautiful work done by Mother Teresa while I was a teenager, I set my eyes to be like her someday, and henceforth the start of my journey to venture into the non-profit world of ‘outreach to the poor and needy’.

Gradually, this dream grew larger, and the scope of ‘social work’ expanded. I am excited to be in a position to link resources, bring volunteers and donors to fill a gap in the poverty world; and thus this best explains my pursuit.

Recently, a good friend of mine just closed down his Art Café at the Esplanade Library; it was a nice little café where many community projects were being held, and I was glad to be part of the Café’s projects. I was at the World Art Festival for Peace 2008 in Yokohama recently and was a little sad to not see any works from fellow Singaporeans, while there were works displayed from our neighboring countries. But I do hope to see them in the future!

As mentioned, it was a rare opportunity to be offered as the first full time staff of this leprosy outreach project that is non-affiliated to Rotary Club Hong Kong. And making choices is never something specially taught in school though we covered theories of possibilities in Mathematics, or SWOT analysis in Economics. As it is a non-expatriate offer, the increased commitments financially at home meant continuing with this hard-fought offer would not be viable in long term. With tears literally, I resigned from the offer and settled my closure with this before coming back to Singapore last week.

In closure, I do appreciate your kindness, and the intention of my letter is really to express my most sincere gratitude for the time earlier, though short since time was running out.

As you mentioned casually, jokingly, perhaps I should speak to Professor Tommy Koh, if I wish to build up my portfolio to join the United Nations in future. And certainly, I do believe I need to start working in a large governmental or non-governmental organization in order to go to my desired destination one day, which covers part of the reason for my application to NHB this time.

As the saying up there goes; commit to Heaven’s hands, I shall.

And it is with the little hope, however unusual this letter can sound (probably the first amongst so many applicants ever before?), I hope to hear from you again, on further sound advice, links, or maybe a chance for me to learn from you, in growing the donors of this museum.

I never had a grandfather, and I believe that I do need more guidance from a more senior person, along my adventures, to reach United Nations, and I do very much like to keep you informed in my progress in time to come, if it is not inconvenient.

Thank you for the time, and encouragement, and belief, and I wish you all the best in this recruitment exercise.

Yours sincerely

Teri Ng Hwee Kheng