The 65 th MDA Annual General Meeting has just been concluded alongside the MDA/FDI Scientific Convention and I would be failing in my duty not to congratulate the Organising team under Dr. Haja Badrudeen for an absolutely fabulous Convention.

The feedback from the Convention was generally favourable with little or no setbacks. Apart from one of our sponsored speakers having to leave early unexpectedly, the others performed much to the delight of the delegates. The Informal nite was well patronized and there was no shortage of ‘high spirits‘ through the evening. Two buses were engaged to ferry our delegates to and fro.

The MDA Banquet was indeed a regal affair with DYTM Tuanku Raja Muda Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah and DYTM Raja Puan Besar Tuanku Zara Salim gracing the function. Also in attendance was the Honourable Health Minister YB Dato' Liow Tiong Lai. The trendy ‘Lenard Tan' entertained us all with some of his latest presentation.

The Annual General Meeting was also conducted smoothly and the membership should be congratulated for allowing the Chair to take the entire process through its paces with little or no encumbrances. Accordingly, the Election Committee Chairman Dr. T. Thurairatnam and his team made short work of the elections procedure to keep tidiness and transparency throughout the balloting process.

The new Council sworn in on 21 st June 2008 are as follows :

President-Elect	Dr. Lee Soon Boon
Honorary General Secretary	Dr. Haja Badrudeen Sirajudeen
Assistant Hon Gen Secretary	Dr. Mohamad Muzafar Hamirudin
Honorary Financial Secretary	Dr . How Kim Chuan
Asst Hon Fin Secretary	Dr. S. Ratnasothy
Publications Secretary	Dr. Seow Liang Lin
Elected Council Members	Dr. Raymond Chai Yeong Chang
	Dr Muda Singh Radhawa
Northern Zone	Dr Neoh Gim Bok
	Dr Teh Tat Beng
Southern Zone	Dr Steven Phun Tzy Chieh
	Dr Leong Chee San

I take this opportunity to congratulate all and welcome them aboard.

The new Council had the privilege of being invested before their Royal Highnesses, DYTM Raja Muda Raja Nazrin Shah and DYTM Raja Puan Besar Tuanku Zara Salim and the Honourable Health Minister YB Dato' Liow Tiong Lai. A rare privilege indeed!

Finally, the 16 th FDI/MDA Scientific Convention and Trade Exhibition has been scheduled for 16 -18 January 2009. Mark out your dates for we are going to a bigger venue and hopefully larger than life speakers.

Dr. S. Sivanesan

President
Malaysian Dental Association