Minutes: 4th July 2010 (AFC Annual General Meeting)

[Alvin Koh]

Arowana Fanatics Club (Singapore)
AGM Minutes for Meeting on 4 July 2010 (2:00pm)

Main Committee Attendees

President: John Tan (jwhtan)
Secretary: Alvin Koh
Treasurer: Andrew Tan
Victor Chong (cucumber)
Edmund Koh (Edmundo)
Chris Kim (SoToNgMaN)
Maggie Lee (haya23busa)
Wong KF (fish2102)
Jone Yap (Zon)
Mark Goh (genki)
Alvin Tan (alf88)
Steven Gan (D24)
Stanley Tan (cavallino)
Steven Foo (Tiewster)
Nelson Tan (Rambo)

Total Member Attendees: 35 pax

Minutes are taken by Alvin Koh (Meeting started at 2:30pm, 4th July 2010)

1. AGM Commencement

As the quorum for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) was not met at 2:00pm, the President proposed an adjournment to 2:30pm. The house was called to order and the meeting started at 2:30pm with the attendance of 35 members.

The President reminded the house that the new term & committee will start on the 1st September 2010 and the meeting was called to report on current activities, appointment of new committee members and re-election of key appointment holders.

The President requested for the house to consider extending the serving term to 2 years from the current yearly duration. The house vote in favour of the term to remain unchanged at 1 year with majority votes of 18.

2. AFC Organised Events for the Present Term

There were 7 major events organised since the inception of the club. These include farm & showroom visits to GML Aquatics, Imperial Arowana Breeding Farm, Pei Feng Aquatics Trading, Max Koi Farm. There were also educational talks on arowana DNA as well as live surgical demonstrations. Products were also showcased manufacturers and shops such as GEX, Green Chapter & Wan Hu. Lastly, there was also mention of the most recent event to the Bukit Merah in Taiping, Perak of Malaysia to visit various Malaysian farms.

3. Finance Report 2010

The President presented financial figures for the current term starting from 5th September to 30th June 2010. Notable figures mentioned were (1) Membership fees collected - $27,980.00, (2) expenditure for AFC Opening Ceremony cum Arofanatics.com 9th Anniversay of which $2126.00 (approximately 50%) of payment was shared with Arofanatics.com, (3) Current bank account balance of $22,611.75.

4. Main Committee Membership

The President proposed that the committee should have a minimum of 10 members, up to a maximum of 14 members. If the resulting number of potential office bearers exceeds 14 people, voting will be carried out to determine those who will be retained.

Four out of fourteen of the existing committee members have expressed that they will not be serving in the new term. They are Maggie Lee, Wong KF, Victor Chong & Steven Foo. The board thanks them for their hard work and contributions to the club and wishes them well in their future endeavours.

In a call for volunteers to join the main committee as a member, Mr Nelson Tan has agreed to be part of the team. Nelson will be involved in event organising-related duties.

5. Re-Election of Key Appoinment Holders

The house was called to nominate and vote for key appointment holders of the Main Committee.
Incumbent President John Tan and Stanley Tan were nominated to take the appointment of President. The vote tallied at 18 versus 7 for John Tan to remain President.

The bearer of the appointment of Secretary remains as Alvin Koh with majority vote of 21.

The position of treasurer currently being held by Andrew Tan needs to be rotated as part of the statutory requirement of ROS (Registry of Societies). Stanley Tan was nominated as candidate and 23 majority votes were cast. Stanley will assume the appointment of Treasurer in the new term.

6. Future Events & Suggestions for AFC

AFC Member Dave, asked the committee if a trip to Indonesia could be organised in the near future. The President said that the cost may be prohibitive based on the expenditure of a similiar trip taken by Steven Gan and Alvin Koh several years ago. The cost was estimated at $1000 per person for accomodation as well as international and domestic flights. In order to enjoy bulk flight discounts, a minumum of 16 pax needs to be confirmed. Futher cost studies are necessary to determine the feasibility of such an event.

Dave also suggests visits to tankmakers to allow members to understand the tank making process. The President mentioned that prior attempts have already been made to contact local tank makers who may be interested. However, due to the small scale of production of tank makers and limited capacity in their premises, they have expressed difficulty in being able to accomodate a large crowd.

As the club's first anniversary falls in line with Arofanatics.com's 10th year anniversary, there will be a celebration, tentatively designed to be on the 5th of September 2010. If funds can be allocated and approved, the club hopes to be able to provide free entry for all AFC members.

Committee member Steven Gan briefed the house on the different direction to be undertaken for the new term. The events in the first year were more introductory, pertaining to farm visits and harvesting. In the 2nd term, the event committee hopes to bring the focus to the Arowana fish, by examining competition judging criteria and highlighting desirable and undesirable attributes of the fish. Breeders may also be invited to share their perception of what constitutes a quality Arowana.

A floor member also suggested a 'Grow Out' competition, which means the juvenile fishes from the same batches are judged at the end of 12 to 18 months (1 – 1.5 years). The winner will be the member who has the best fishkeeping/husbandry skills to bring out the best of the fish. The committee expressed that a competition was planned in the current term but failed to materialise but will take the suggestion to attempt it in the upcoming terms.

7. Any Other Matters (AOM)

There were no other matters and the meeting concluded at 3:40pm