Home ยป SO LONG SINGAPORE, HELLO IRELAND

February 16, 2011

So long Singapore, Hello Ireland

IAVE IRC

The flag was handed over to Ireland the bell was rung to signal the end of the unforgettable 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Singapore. 1,080 delegates attended the conference; 185 speakers and moderators facilitated 4 plenaries, 10 forums and many more workshops; and an additional 400 volunteers worked to make it all happen.

Closing Ceremony of the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference, Singapore

27 January 2011 Resorts World Sentosa

In his closing speech to the conference, Dr. Lee said he gave up his career as a scientist and his dream to find the cure to cancer, to instead develop a drug to cure the ills of society - that drug was volunteerism. Dr. Lee asked the conference to spend 10 seconds of silence to remember the volunteers who had fallen in the line of duty.

Past presidents of IAVE were then presented tokens of appreciation, including Margaret Bell, who served IAVE from 1988-1996, Kenn Allen who served as president from 1996-2001, and Liz Burns who served from 2002-2008. Special awards were also given to David Boyd-Thomas from UBS, Ed Martinez from the UPS Foundation, Sydney Lai from Standard Chartered Bank, Regina McNally from State Street, with mentions to other companies including Valley, Samsung and Kraft Foods. Dr. Lee also recognized Laurence Lien, Tan Chee Koon, and Stanley Tan from NVPC. 

Elaine Bradley from Volunteering Ireland spoke about the Dublin conference in 2012, first praising NVPC for their unrivaled organization and rich program at the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference. Laurence then handed over the IAVE flag to the next hosting country of Ireland. Finally Laurence and Dr. Lee rang the IAVE bell to announce the official close of the 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Singapore. 

After lunch hosted by Samsung, guest filed off for field visits, including :


  1. A glimpse into the life of Chinese overseas
  2. Art in transit walking tours
  3. Creating a better world for animals
  4. Food goodie bag programme
  5. Journey back in time
  6. Khoo Teck Puat Hosital tour
  7. NorthLight - a living and learning community
  8. Peranakan Museum tour
  9. Sungei Bulo Wetland Reserve education tour
  10. Butterfly trail at orchard
  11. The gifts
  12. YAH! (Youth-at-Heart) Community College