Letter from Baba Colin Chee, President, The Peranakan Association Singapore

(This is a monthly letter from Baba Colin Chee to members and friends of TPAS)


Dear Babas and Nyonyas,

THE GOLDEN GIRLS

On the fourth day of Chinese New Year, my wife Linda and I shared a table with four elderly aunties at the Marine Terrace food centre beside the market. They were all around the same age, in their late 70s to 80 years.

Three of them were nyonyas, fluent in Baba Malay. But they switched easily to English and Hokkien when they spoke with their friend of over 40 years, a Hokkien-speaking Ah Soh. They were clearly the live-and-let-live types, accommodating one another.

When they discovered Linda and I were from The Peranakan Association Singapore, one of them said: “I am also a member. For a very long time already. But I don’t want to get involved, because we Peranakans are so political. Always talking bad about others and complaining about everything.”

Have we not heard this before? It must be a character trait built in from the time we were little and sat around the dinner table complaining about other people’s cooking and bad behaviour!

UNITY

Yet, if this Association is to grow, the community has to be united. Not just within itself but reaching out to those outside it.

It is about nine months to the day when my team and I were elected on 27 May to form the new General Committee for the 2018-2020 term.

Since then, we have been reaching out to various individuals and parties to see how we can best work together. It used to be that we worked separately because we saw things differently. There was always this competitive tension.

We have since taken the position that our community and culture are much larger than any one of us. They are a sum of our parts, so to speak. I am glad to see that many that we approached share the same view as us.

We have started working together. If not, at least we have started to talk to one another. You will see a great deal more collaboration with our partners in the coming months – events for our members and potential members, a lot more sharing of resources, and more fun together.

STABILITY

I wish to thank each member of my team for making this possible – the General Committee, Magazine Editorial Committee and the Peranakan Voices. Not just them, but their loved ones, too, who have had to tolerate their absences from home so that we may come together to build a stronger working Association.

We now have a more structured Association to show, with sustainable work processes and greater governance in place, and one that will be more prepared for a digital future. It is a stability that we will always need. There are still gaps. We shall work on closing them.

GROWTH

All these improvements have led to growth. In the six months to end-December 2018 since our election, 65 new Life Members have signed up. That makes it a total of 91 new members for the whole of 2018. It is a gain of members not seen for a long time. As at end last year, our revamped membership record stands at 1,984 members. This makes us one of Singapore’s largest culture and heritage associations.

FINANCE

Equally important, the Association’s finances are beginning to look healthier. As at 31 December 2018, we turned in a surplus of just over $7,000, after several years of deficits averaging more than $30,000 a year. We have locked in $300,000 in reserves to be drawn against only when absolutely necessary. This leaves a working capital of over $70,000 to see us through 2019.

We have stopped the bleeding too. This is because, in 2019, a donor has stepped forward to support the cost of publishing and distributing our beloved award-winning magazine, The Peranakan. The cost of designing, printing and mailing out our magazine forms a significant portion of our annual deficits. We are hopeful this funding support will continue.

FRIENDS

Most of all, we thank the Friends who have come alongside the Association. They are our loyal advertisers in the magazine, the table donors who supported our Christmas Malam Jolly in 2018, and our prize sponsors who gave generously to the evening’s Raffle Draw.

In addition, we appreciate the donors last year including one who made a large contribution. Also, the donor who is sponsoring the cost of publishing our award-winning The Peranakan magazine in 2019. And others who have pledged their generosity to support us in times of need.

They have taken a huge load off our shoulders. In return, we have committed to both them and you, our members, to continue to spend prudently and giving value.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

As we round up preparations for our AGM on Sunday 31 March 2019, we look to your support and understanding for constitutional amendments that we are proposing for your approval.

The most significant amendment is to introduce a Junior Membership category to enable us to recruit younger members, as culture is best imbibed when young. Other amendments will help to add clarity in the nomination and election procedures of the constitution.

The AGM package has been prepared and will be mailed to you by early next week.

My prayer is for this year’s AGM to be deliberative, measured and civil. My hope is that our members’ decisions will be made not on emotion or bias but on sound wisdom with facts. And always with the common objective of benefitting not just our Association but also our community.


God Bless,
Colin Chee
Unity. Stability. Growth
It is not going to be business as usual
27 February 2019