General Matters
The General Committee of the DSOBA conducted 12 meetings over the past year. An attendance report of each GenCom member is appended to this report. Thanks to the Membership Development Sub-committee [namely James Hong (67) and Horace Chan (66)], we have successfully recruited 40 new Life Members to DSOBA over the past 12 months.

On the social front, appreciation is due to our tireless organizers Victor Tan (80), Desmond Yip (82), and Lawrence Lee (74), who amongst them spearheaded the vast array of social events spread over the past year. I don't envy the thankless task of Chow Kee Wing (63) who had tried his very best to keep our Race Box afloat. But the lack of your presence will probably mean the end of this service to our members in the coming horse racing season.

Sunny Lee (77) made steady progress with the upgrading of our web site www.dsoba.org and plans for our adapting to the internet era. This will lead to the eventual inevitable move towards a paperless Association. The DSOBA on-line shop has also been launched in the www.diocesans.net site. While all this is happening, Sunny will still continue to publish our periodic newsletter in paper format.

Thanks are due to Stanley Fong (78), the Hon. Secretary, who does most of the scribing for me in committee meetings and also to Spencer Leung (83) who has left the committee due to his work relocation to the PRC. His GenCom vacancy was replaced by co-opting the return of Peter Yam (78).

Financial Matters
Through the collective investment acumen of George Hongchoy (79), John Li (75) and Richard Leung (71), we maintain a stable reserve of around HK$1.5m in various investment vehicles, despite the not-so-healthy global economy. S.A.L. Rahman (71) also contributed immensely to the financial well-being of DSOBA by slaving as the Ball Chairman. Under his leadership, in excess of HK$200,000 have been raised during the Annual Ball.

As a result of these great efforts, we have contributed close to a total of $90,000 to DBS over the past year. The more significant donation items were:- Approximately $10,000 went to 5 different scholarships; $30,000 was donated after the School Fete (Congratulations to Henry Leung (74) for his leadership); and $20,000 was used to sponsor the 10km Fund Run.

DSS Decision
I think many of you would be interested to know the situation on DBS applying to become a DSS school. Since the commencement of my term, I have spent considerable time representing DSOBA in the School's decisionÐmaking process. You should recall that a poll was conducted to gauge the old boy members' leaning towards this issue, and 69% of those who returned their views are in support of DSS. The School Committee subsequently applied to the EMB to convert DBS into a DSS school and this was approved on 28 March 2003 by the EMB. The School Committee is now busily preparing DBS for this change, which will take effect in September 2003. Your continual support of the School's plight will be much needed.

Finally, fellow old boys, it has been a most enjoyable year for me serving DSOBA, and it is my hope that our Association will continue to thrive under the next President in this constantly changing world.

S. Selwyn Chan (77)
President 2002-03

(04/03)

President's Report 01/02
President's Report 00/01
President's Report 99/00
President's Report 98/99
President's Report 97/98
President's Report 96/97