Happy 40th anniversary, SEAMEO RELC!

1968 – 2008: 40 Years for the Regional Centre of Excellence Dedicated to Language Education

SEAMEO RELC in the making … from 1968 to 2008

In the beginning, there was an interim building …1968

SEAMEO Regional English Language Centre interim premises were made available for RELC at 104, Watten Estate by the Government of Singapore in February 1968.

Built for a regional purpose, the primary aim of the SEAMEO Regional English Language Centre was to maintain and raise the standards of teaching and learning of the English language in the countries of Southeast Asia.

Four years later we moved to a permanent home … in 1972

In May 1972, the Regional English Language Centre, after a busy and fruitful period of almost four years of operations in the interim Centre in Watten Estate, moved into its permanent home. The RELC Building was an imposing 18-storey structure situated in central Singapore.

The official opening of the RELC Building marked a new era in regional cooperation among the eight member countries of SEAMEO. The Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, officiated, and a large number of distinguished guests both from the SEAMEO countries and non-SEAMEO countries graced the occasion.

RELC was described as “an educational landmark in Southeast Asia”.

40 years into its existence, the building remains a symbol of our devotion to the development of language teacher education.

We are proud of our achievements and we stay committed to our mission.

Our Aims

We aim to:

1. improve standards of language teacher education in the SEAMEO member countries

2. strengthen national efforts in pioneering new teaching approaches 

3. promote international cooperation and cultural exchange amongst members of SEAMEO

Activities

The SEAMEO Regional Language Centre is bustling and teeming with activities. As the leading language centre in Southeast Asia, SEAMEO RELC continues to offer a range of programmes and activities.

Link to our course website

Our seminars and workshops have received excellent feedback from the region and beyond.  In particular, the RELC International Seminars aim to provide the opportunity to develop fruitful dialogue between researchers and educational practitioners. They are a time when language experts and educationists can come together for discussion and the dissemination of information. There are paper presentations, panel discussions, parallel sessions and workshops.

The 43^rd RELC International Seminar will take place from 21 to 23 April 2008.

Link to our seminar website

Awards

The hard work paid off. At the end of 1998, SEAMEO RELC was awarded the prestigious inaugural ASEAN Award.

In 2006, SEAMEO RELC was awarded the Friendship Order by the ten President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

SEAMEO RELC Governing Board Members (2006/2007)

Seated (L-R)

Prof Dr Khin Mar Wai (Myanmar), Dato’ Hjh Noor Rezan Bt Bapoo Hashim (Malaysia), Dayang Hjh Aishah Binti Hj Muhammad Husain (Brunei Darussalam), Mrs Tay Sor Har (RELC Director), Ms Ho Peng (RELC Governing Board Chairman) , Dr Chantavit Sujatanond (SEAMEO Secretariat) Deputy Director (Administration and Communication), Asst Prof Saowapa Chayaburakul (Thailand), Dr Lolita M Andrada (Philippines)

Standing (L-R)

Dr Sugiyono (Indonesia), Assoc Prof Somphone Kounnavongsa (Lao PDR) ,Prof Pit Chamnan (Cambodia), Dr Nguyen Hoa (Vietnam)

SEAMEO Members Countries and Associate Member Countries

Upcoming Events

Lookout for activities lined up for the 40^th SEAMEO Regional Language Centre Anniversary Celebrations

22 April 2008        

                             MediaCorp 938LIVE!!  broadcast from “The Living Room” 

                             Listen to the ‘Live’ broadcast from our foreign and local educationists .

12 – 18  June 2008

Hellium Balloon

18 June 2008

Walkathon in support of Children Cancer Society (www.ccf.org.sg)

Miss Indranee Rajah (Deputy Speaker) and Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC will be officiating at the walkathon

June, August and September 2008

Watch this space for Talks for Teachers, Students and Parents at the National Library Board

Specialist Certificate in Information Technology in Language Education

The course in the Specialist Certificate in Information Technology in Language Education was held from 11 – 29 February 2008. There were seventeen course participants, with one or two from each of the eleven SEAMEO countries.

Though previous familiarity with IT ranged from extremely proficient to near-novice status, the group was very well knit, and shared and learned a lot from each other as well as from their lecturers. Comments from two of the course participants are especially insightful:

Haleza Khusaini from Malaysia said, “Our RELC lecturers have shared with us many useful ideas on how to exploit and use IT from the simplest word processing, PowerPoint, Excel and Internet [uses] to the composite use of all the above, integrating them with videos and other software. All these things that I have learnt will be useful to me as a lecturer and teacher trainer, not just in the immediate future but indefinitely. The course has made us more aware that cooperation among us is the key to a better learning environment.”

Susalyn Ramos from the Philippines said, “I’m very grateful to the Philippine government for giving me the privilege and honour to attend Course 417. Bringing back the principles that I have learned from this course, I hope that I can be a tool for improvement to the Philippine educational system. The people I’ve met, the places I’ve been to, the opportunity that I’ve had will be a part of me forever. Singapore will always have a special place in my heart, especially the SEAMEO-RELC staff.”

There is so much more to this course than just getting a certificate – it’s about friendship too!!

Courses on Cultural Awareness

Throughout February and March, RELC hosted groups of university students from two universities in Japan. The students attended a programme that introduced them to the rich and diverse culture of Singapore and allowed them to speak English in everyday contexts with speakers from the different ethnic groups in Singapore. The programme included visits to places of interest and exposure to historical and modern aspects of our city state. At the end of their stay students made presentations on what they had learned about Singapore.

 In addition to learning about Singapore, they met students from other countries studying at RELC and shared events such as inter-class discussions and satay parties.

Certificate Course in TEFL for Afghan Faculty Members

In January 2008, sixteen members of staff from universities in Afghanistan joined RELC for a six-month programme. Their programme, funded by USAID, comprises two elements; enhancement of the participants’ English language proficiency and development of their English language teaching skills.

 As part of their programme the participants have also visited places of interest and a variety of educational institutions in Singapore

CONGRATULATIONS!! RELC International Hotel

Singapore Hotel Association Awards

RELC International Hotel and the Staff Members have received numerous Service Awards. The awards are:

v     The Excellent Service Silver Awards on 29 October 2007

v     Service Gold, The National Courtesy Award on 26 November 2007

v     The Honesty Award on 28 November 2007

v     SHA/Police/NCPC/STB Hotel Security Award 2007 on 28 November 2007

v     The Fire Safety Excellence Award 2007 on 29 November 2007.

SEAMEO Service Award

On 13 March 2008, at the 43^rd SEAMEO Council Conference in Kuala Lumpur, YM Tengku Datin Seri Marsilla Tengku Abdullah, the wife of His Excellency Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Bin Tun Hussein, Minister of Education, Malaysia presented the SEAMEO Service Award 2007/2008 plaque to Mr Eric Neo Wei Fei, Front Office Assistant of RELC International Hotel. The award was in recognition of his outstanding performance, exemplary service and work commitment.