Letter from Baba Colin Chee July 2018

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

(This is a monthly column to TPAS members and guests)

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What’s in a Brand?

Last Saturday, 28 July 2018, your new General Committee (GC) held our first Planning Retreat.

Together with several members from our Peranakan Voices and subcommittees, we revisited the TPAS brand.

It was necessary as two thirds of the GC have never served in the committee before.

TPAS Advisors, Babas Thomas Tan and Peter Lee, were graciously on hand to support us. They were long-time GC members in past terms, as is our First VP, Baba Alan Koh. Baba Peter more than ably led our discussions on the TPAS brand and “mystique”. It was a very fruitful session.

We also discovered much about ourselves. The retreat helped the GC to better understand each other’s personality, to improve team dynamics.

This segment of the retreat was expertly facilitated by Nyonya Tina Yap, who has wide MNC training experience. She treated the learning session as her contribution to our community. Thank you, Tina!

Two New GC Members & Transition

We have two “new” GC members – Nyonyas Gwen Ong and Dawn Marie Lee. They were invited by the GC to fill vacant positions in the committee when Babas Emeric Lau and Steven Lim asked to step down because of work exigencies. I thank both Emeric and Steven for volunteering their time when we needed them.

We are just getting into the third month of our term.

Much of the past two months have been focused on rebuilding and rekindling relationships, taking over the secretarial and treasury work from the previous team, and hunkering down to identify gaps in our administration, operating protocols and governance.

Work has started on closing the gaps we identified. Introducing new technologies to achieve operating efficiencies will take more time.

The GC has already touched base with the People’s Association and the Peranakan Museum. We have also started meeting up with advertisers of The Peranakan magazine to thank them for their strong and continued support. We will soon meet up with GSA, Chetti Melaka, Eurasian Association and other associations in the Federation, although I have already begun informal chats with several of the respective Presidents. In my catch-up list are NUS Baba House and NHB, NAC, STB, tertiary institutions and schools, among others.

Programmes

We have begun work on organising some programmes this year and next. They will cater to the wide spectrum of our members.

We supported the Singapore International Jewellery Expo in July for TPAS members to enjoy special privileges, and discounts at Foundation Jewellers for the duration of the fair.

It was well received by members.

In mid-August this year, we will have our first “private” batik tour in Jogjakarta and Solo. Other activities are being lined up. We will announce them when we have tied up the loose ends.

We are now busy coordinating the 31st Baba Nyonya Convention in Tangerang, Indonesia, organised by Pertiwi, in November. Over 70 TPAS members have registered for this annual convention held by rotation among members of the Federation of Peranakan Associations.

New: Christmas Malam Jolly. Booking Opens Soon!

Best of all, we will have a Christmas Malam Jolly to laojiat and celebrate in festive style, on the day of Tang Chek! This will be on Friday, 21 December at a convenient and beautiful venue that will be announced soon along with other details. Tables are limited, so make sure you book early!

Reaching Out to Our Young

One of our biggest challenges is membership. One third of our members are aged above 70 years.
The cold truth is that our TPAS membership is gradually ageing in line with Singapore’s population.

We will have to increase the number of younger members if TPAS is to survive future attrition within the next 10 to 20 years. That means reaching out to our youth as well as those in their twenties, thirties and forties. How do we do it? We will share our plan with you in due course.

It is an urgent item we will address during the planned review of our Constitution.

Getting Funding

As a non-profit heritage and cultural organization, TPAS is highly dependent on external funding.
Generating income through programmes is insufficient to sustain TPAS.

Over the last three years, we have been drawing down on our reserves. The time has come to replenish these reserves through fund raising, income generation and further cost management. Otherwise we will not be able to operate as an association in six years’ time.

Last year saw the lowest level of deficit recorded for the past three years – $21k, versus over $30k per year in both 2016 and 2015. This was achieved through careful cost cutting, prudent spending and staying with just basic break-even programmes. It also meant a reduced level of activity.

Cost Burden

We have identified our biggest cost burden. Unfortunately, it is our highly regarded and much-loved magazine.

Although our editorial committee of The Peranakan magazine is made up of hardworking volunteers who produce engaging content, the graphic design, printing and mailing still add up to a huge sum. Advertising revenues have plunged and cannot cover the cost of production – a common story with many media companies – and postage cost has gone up.

The past couple of years have seen a cutback in the number of issues from four a year to two. Many of our members bemoan the fact. The magazine team has flirted with alternative designers and printers to lower cost while maintaining standards. Even so, cost creeps continue to beset us.

We are therefore still actively looking for more sustainable solutions. To be honest, going fully digital is a clean long-term solution; but we know this will break many hearts.

The Next Two Years

In spite of all this, if we do our sums right and pull together, and with a little help from our friends, we can and should look forward to good news in the next two years.

Next year, our beloved The Peranakan magazine will celebrate its Silver Jubilee. Singapore will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2019 as well.

In 2020, the Peranakan Association Singapore will celebrate its 120th Anniversary, and our choir, the Peranakan Voices, turn 20!

There is still much to be excited about and to look forward to.

God bless,
Colin Chee
Unity. Stability. Growth
It is not going to be business as usual
31 July 2018