Date : 14 March 2020
2 – 5 pm
Venue : OnePeople Harmony Room 3
Attendance:
The Humanist Society (Singapore) (‘HSS’) Annual General Meeting (‘AGM’) was attended by 24 people, 22 of whom were members with voting rights. There are 14 proxy voters. The voting membership for the year is 60, so the quorum was reached, with a few constitutional amendments tabled.
Annual Report
The meeting began officially at 2:10pm with the President’s address.
- 2019 events
- A summary of the year’s events including :
- Darwin Day Talk at Goh Loo Club
- Introduction to Humanism
- Humanists at Pink Dot 11
- Asian Humanist Conference hosted by HSS
- Science Talk: Pseudoscience and Fake Science
- Critical Thinking & Rationality Workshop
- Volunteers High-Tea
- Hosting Danish Humanist Vice President’s visit
- Excursion to ArtScience Museum
- Cultural Christmas with People’s Association
- Year-end Humanist Barbecue
HSS also paid respect to Dr John Elliot for his friendship and contributions to the humanist cause.
- Interfaith work
- Asian Civilisation Museum visit and panel discussion as part of AHC 2019
- IRO-USP dialogue in NUS
- IRO exhibition at Far East Plaza
- International Conference on Cohesive Societies
- IRO Youth
- Press and social outreach
A summary of mentions, letters and engagement with the press and media.
- Invitation to Prime Ministerial function (cancelled due to COVID-19)
- Mention in parliament by NMP Anthea Ong re: Stephen Code
- Inclusion in Babelfish podcast re: forum on law governing dignified versions of national anthem
- Peer Support Group
- New Humanist Club at Yale-NUS
- Celebrant services
- Financials 2019
Financials were reviewed and approved.
- Minutes of 2019 AGM minutes
Reviewed and approved.
- Membership 2019
Secretary broke down how the membership figures changed over the last year.
- Proposed Constitutional Changes
Administrative changes such as new postal address change,
● Associate membership
● Membership Grace Period
Questions and objections were raised in regard to the associate membership. These ranged from having a ‘second class’ of members, to the wording of the declaration ‘redefining’ humanism. Exco agreed to review the wording of the associate membership declaration, to be put to a vote after an intermission.
The revised wording took into consideration members’ concerns, and the amendments were later passed with unanimous approval.
- Election of 2020 – 2022 executive committee members
President: Shamima Rafi / Xue Jianyue
Treasurer: Shawn Shaik (uncontested)
Ordinary Committee Members: Tang Yi Seng, Dan Dan Thio, Paul Tobin (uncontested)
Xue Jianyue was elected President of HSS with a majority of 22 to 15 votes, with 1 spoilt vote. [Afternote: Post-AGM, the executive committee realised that an Assistant Secretary must be elected as this particular position has reached the end of its two-year term. The Assistant Secretary post was previously unoccupied. The committee has appointed Dan Dan Thio as Assistant Secretary instead of Ordinary Committee Member. The committee regrets this error.]
Appointment of honorary auditors: The honorary auditors for 2020 are Mr Lionel Cheah and Mr Noah Koh-Buhari. [Afternote: Post-AGM, the executive committee realised that Mr Cheah is not a voting member, and is thus not eligible to be an honorary auditor. The committee has appointed Mr Alanson Low in Mr Cheah’s place. The committee regrets this error.
Afternote 2: Mr Buhari Shahran has had his name changed to Noah Koh-Buhari via deed poll effective October 2020]]
- Outgoing president’s parting words
Any other business
No other business was raised.
