World Scientific Publishing Company hosted its 25th Anniversary Dinner on 11 July 2006 at the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore. Professor and Mrs Phua Kok Khoo (also known as Mdm Doreen Liu), together with their family, celebrated with distinguished guests, authors and 200 WSPC staff to mark this extraordinary event.

Distinguished guests and authors included Nobel Laureate in Physics C. N. Yang as guest-of-honour; Douglas Osheroff (Nobel Laureate in Physics); Aaron Ciechanover (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry); Professor Tommy Koh (Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large); and Lee Khoon Choy (former Ambassador of Singapore).

Managing Director Mdm Doreen Liu opened the dinner with a thought-provoking and timely speech about the challenges facing STM publishers. In her speech, she talked about the tremendous changes in this industry. According to Mdm Liu, the publishing industry 25 years ago was dominated by family-run businesses. Today, most publishing firms are conglomerates while electronic media is becoming more widespread in this industry.

Mdm Liu stated that in this day and age, the quantity of books published is not the only determining factor of a company's success, but the quality of the books as well. She also noted that aggressive and creative marketing of WSPC's brand name needs to be looked into since building a company's image is of paramount importance. Another trend is that e-journals and e-books would soon overtake print journals and books.

Lastly, Mdm Liu concluded that the world is changing, and new skills will continue to emerge and old skills will be eradicated. No one can afford to settle into complacency, and all WSPC staff should be prepared to upgrade themselves continually, keeping themselves agile and youthful, both in body and mind.

WSPC Chairman, Prof Phua Kok Khoo brilliantly followed with a heartfelt salute to guest-of-honour Professor C. N. Yang by recognizing his contributions and commitment to physics worldwide. This was followed by a video presentation of WSPC's activities including its overseas offices and staff.

The evening ended with the guest-of-honour, Prof C. N. Yang sharing his passion and stressing on the importance of scientific research and the obligation of those with the means to support the next generation.

The dinner was a resounding success because of the generous support of so many people.