SCL (Singapore) held its 2023 Annual General Meeting on 23 August 2023 at OSO Ristorante Restaurant, Oasia Hotel Downtown.

The Meeting commenced punctually at 5.30 pm with 31 attending members and a full quorum of attending members.

Council gave its account of the various activities of the Society over the past year. These included an account of:

• the activities of the Professional Development Committee led by Ashok Kumar with support from Trevor Lam, Adrian Wong and Joanna Seetoh. There has been a regular line up of seminars since last year including the flagship Annual Construction Law Update in January which drew an attendance of more than 170 delegates.
• the Publications Committee, co-chaired by Chris Rudland and Chan Yong Neng;
• an SCL Singapore initiative for the development of a set of protocols for the use of expert’s joint statements in construction arbitration which was led by Kelvin Teo.
• the Strategic Leadership Committee which aims to ensure the Society’s direction and activities continues to remain relevant in the built-environment.
• SCL Singapore’s participation (on invitation of the Singapore judiciary) to join the Building and Construction User’s Committee and the Singapore International Commercial Court Users Council.

Moving to finances, the Treasurer presented a brief overview of the accounts. Whilst the finances of the Society remained healthy, the Treasurer described the increased operational costs the Society faced and explained the revised breakeven budget that Council was working on for the next financial year.

Of particular significance on the agenda was the proposal of certain amendments to the Constitution of the Society. These amendments were mainly to make certain updates to the provisions of the Constitution (like the Society’s place of business and the provision for virtual general meetings) as well as to introduce a new Business category of membership.

As the Society continues to develop and mature, Council was of the view that allowing for a Business category of membership will provide more value for organisations with several employees that were active in the Society. A Business Membership would also serve to provide a more stable baseline of members year on year.

All proposed resolutions were passed with resounding (if not unanimous) support.

There being no further matters, the Meeting was called to a close at 6.15pm. With business out of the way, the merry making commenced thereafter with drinks followed by the Society’s 12^th Annual Dinner.

It was a memorable occasion and Council wishes to express its heartfelt thanks to all members for their continued support of the Society’s activities and plans. Special mention and gratitude goes out to June and her team at Intellitrain for working tirelessly in putting together such a well organised event. 

Click HERE to view more AGM photos and click HERE to view more Annual Dinner Photos. 

Contributed by:

Adrian Wong - Director, Herbert Smith Freehills Prolegis LLC