We waved goodbye to 2021 with an online celebration, attended by staff, students, faculty, learning centres and friends.
Using Zoom, we had a jam-packed session on December 21, 2021. Special thanks to Nina Kawai-Hopson, whose brainchild it was, for organising the whole event with the help of all the participants.
Warnborough Council Secretary Dr Pamela Hatton, playing the role of Master of Ceremonies, welcomed everyone to the event before President Dr Brenden Tempest-Mogg made a brief speech thanking all the participants.
The event kicked off with a song by English band, Gentlemen of Few, and their song “All We’ve Done“.
Council member, Teck Yeong Ng, introduced 5 Warnborough learning centres from Malaysia, and they then presented videos of their work and their students. The learning centres were Two Studio Multimedia Academy, JM International Holdings, Adego Academy of Art + Design, Canvas Education and MTTC College. Well-done to them!
Next up, from Romania, the Home of Strings, Maria Ungheanu and Dr Niculae Voice presented their own take on the Puccini classic, O Mio Babbino Caro.
We then shuttled over to Bali, Indonesia, where Dr Seri Malini from our partner Udayana University introduced students from the Faculty of Humanities who presented a traditional Indonesian dance and read out poetry.
Moving west, Gouhar Pirzada, the CEO of our learning centre STEP-IADM in Pakistan reflected on the year that was before showcasing STEP’s final student theses and achievements.
For some levity, the New Levites from Romania sang their song “Decembrie” (December).
Dato’ Dr Jayles Yeoh, CEO of AIMSMET (Asia Metropolitan University) spoke about the partnership with Warnborough and showcased a video of our joint IEMBA graduates. Dr Vitaly Kopnov and Dr Maria Dremina presented a short clip of neurostyling from Russia, with love.
Back in Canterbury, Danielle Williams sang Gabrielle Aplin’s “The Power of Love” accompanied by Struan Robertson and Mitch Farris.
Markus Feichter demonstrated what a green campus looks like with a presentation about his World Open Brain (WOB) International Academy in Bolzano, Italy before Jane Robinson had everyone rolling in the aisles with her funny original number entitled “Goodbye 2021“.
Dr Julian Ng presented a short video clip of The Warnborough Foundation’s year of 2021, narrated by Roxanne Bentrup, while highlighting the need for people to keep giving to help communities in need. The closing number was “Merry Christmas from Me to You“.
Warnborough Council members also turned up for this event, with Council Chairman Dr John Allen saying a few words, Alumni Chairman Rev Dr Richard Martin wishing everyone well, and HE Ambassador Dr Jocelyne Clarke-Fletcher greeting everyone from St Lucia in the Caribbean. Dr Jill Kiefer and Dr Urs Hauenstein joined from New York and Switzerland respectively. What a fantastic event that was, and we wholeheartedly thank everyone who participated.
