Professor Eu Kong Weng
Congress President, ICSC 2009

Head and Senior Consultant Surgeon
Department of Colorectal Surgery
Co-Director, Inflammatory Bowel
Disease (IBD) Centre
Singapore General Hospital

Professor, DUKE-NUS Graduate Medical School

President, ASEAN Society of Colorectal Surgeons (ASCS)

Dr Ho Kok Sun
Organising Chairman, ICSC 2009

Senior Consultant Surgeon
Director, Entero-stomal Services
Department of Colorectal Surgery
Singapore General Hospital

Director, Endo-Lap Simulation Centre

Dear Colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the International Colorectal Scientific Congress which is also held in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of the SGH Department of Colorectal Surgery. This annual event is indeed a most prestigious event and we hope to present a truly rewarding and enriching experience for our faculty, delegates and fellow alumni members.

A common trait that exists in the best of surgeons is this pertinent quality of constantly exploring and developing techniques that provide the best clinical outcomes to the patient. This quality should also be applied in our day to day surgical practice and management of other colorectal conditions.

Over the last decade, we have seen vast advancements in surgical techniques in colorectal surgery. Minimally invasive colorectal surgery or laparoscopic colorectal surgery has become the technique of choice in most colorectal resections. As surgeons, it is therefore only natural that we explore into more advanced techniques that may prove beneficial and provide good clinical outcomes to our patients. It is from the basis of this belief that we develop the best training programme and constantly find means to upgrade our clinical skills and knowledge. This has been the focus and direction of this annual scientific conference. Particularly for this year, we have planned a line-up that includes Robotic–assisted Colorectal Surgery, a Genetics Symposium entitled ‘Personalised Medicine, Genomics and Beyond’ and several Workshops that further enhance the exciting programme of this event.

As with all our previous symposiums we are most delighted to share our experiences and knowledge with you and in the process, obtain important insights into similar experiences and skills of our other esteemed colleagues from the world and engage in valuable comradeship and revelry with all participants of this congress.

I look forward to meeting you at this event.

Welcome to the 20th International Colorectal Scientific Congress 2009!

Sincerely,

Professor Eu Kong Weng
Congress President, ICSC 2009, Singapore

Dear Colleagues,

I am indeed most delighted to be given the opportunity to chair this important annual scientific congress. The inherent theme for this significant event is ‘Exploring the Boundaries in Colorectal Surgery: The Past, The Present and The Future’, which will explore the development of this surgical specialty over the years, and the development of current and future surgical techniques in the field.

As the organizing chairman of this event, I hope to bring together an exciting line-up of programmes that stimulate both our clinical knowledge and scientific intellect. This will be in the combination of interesting symposiums and engaging ‘hands-on’ Workshops that enrich our current knowledge and clinical skills.

Over the years, participating as a member of the faculty and organising committee of this event, I have gained valuable feedback from many of my esteemed colleagues who attended our conferences as to what makes a most interesting programme for such a congress. With this insight, the organising committee has planned a programme that will appeal to the members of the surgical faculty.

This year’s programme has been classified into several categories: 2 days of scientific symposiums, genetics symposiums, nursing symposiums and a series of 5 Workshops as part of our pre- and post- congress courses.

A holistic and interactive approach was used in the planning of all our sessions which includes a video symposium in robotic-assisted colorectal surgery, a technique which is still new and relatively unexplored in the region. Interesting colorectal cases will also be discussed by an expert panel in the Case Conference segments of this meeting, in which our participants will have a good opportunity to gain valuable insights in the management of certain colorectal conditions. Of course, by tradition, the social dinners will provide the best opportunities for both faculty and participants to relax and interact and possibly discuss future collaborations together.

On behalf of the organising committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our colleagues to attend this event. The committee looks forward to meeting you in Singapore.

Welcome to the 20th International Scientific Congress 2009!

Sincerely,

Dr Ho Kok Sun
Organising Chairman, ICSC 2009, Singapore