Constitution

CHAPTER I — NAME

The name of the Association shall be known as the “CHEE HWAN KOG, SINGAPORE”, (hereinafter called the Association)

CHAPTER II — ADDRESS

The place of business of the Association shall be situated at No 67 Anchorvale Link Singapore 545071

CHAPTER III — OBJECTS

The objects of the Association shall be to serve with respect the great virtues and merits and the good sayings and behaviours of the various Reverential Immortals of the Buddhist Sects, to aim sincerely in doing good deeds, and to promote friendship for the purpose of mutual assistance and contributions towards all charitable works and social welfare, including the running of childcare centres and homes for the aged, but shall not participate in any political activities.

CHAPTER IV — MEMBERSHIP

(1)   Membership of the Association shall be open to every person, irrespective of gender, who is of good character and willing to respect the great virtues and merits and the good sayings and behaviors of the various Reverential Immortals of the Buddhist Sects, and who is willing to abide by the rules of the Association.

(1A)   Only Singapore citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents above age 21 shall be entitled to become and be admitted as members of the Association. This Article is fundamental and shall not be altered or deleted. They shall have the rights to vote and to be elected into office in the Association.

(1B)   Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents from age 12 to 21 shall be entitled to become and be admitted as Associate Members. Persons who are below 18 years old shall not be accepted as members without the written consent of their parent or guardian. They shall not have any rights to vote or to be elected into office in the Association.

(2)   An intending member shall be recommended by a member and supported by another and shall complete an application form specially prescribed by the Association. His/Her application shall then be approved by the Management Committee at a Committee meeting. Every approved applicant shall pay towards the Association’s Fund $12/- on entrance to membership, and yearly subscription of $24/- or lifetime subscription of $200/-, and fee for membership badge $1/-, and shall be supplied with a copy of the Articles of Association. A person must become a member for three full calendar months before he/she shall enjoy the privileges of the Association. Existing members shall pay yearly subscription of $24/- or lifetime subscription of $100/-. Associate Members do not need to pay any fees.

(3)   If a member should fall into arrears with his/her subscriptions for over six months, he/she shall be informed immediately in writing by the Secretary General. Should the member still fail to settle his/her arrears within a month, the Secretary General shall inform him/her finally in writing giving 14 more days grace to pay failing which, he/she shall be denied the privileges of membership until he/she pays up his/her arrears (unemployed members shall be exempted from such monthly subscription upon notifying the President or the Secretary General).

CHAPTER V — MANAGEMENT, GENERAL MEETING

(1)   The management of the Association is vested in a General Meeting of the members presided over by the President. At least sixty (60) members of the total membership of the Association must be present at a General Meeting for its proceedings to be valid.

(2)   An Annual General Meeting will be held in January on a date to be fixed by the President and the Secretary General. At other times a General Meeting must be called by the President on the request in writing by more than 25 members and may be called at any time by order of the Management Committee.

(3)   Two weeks’ notice shall be given of an Annual General Meeting, and at least one week’s notice shall be given of any other General Meeting. Any member who wishes to place an item on the agenda of a General Meeting may do so provided he/she shall give notice to the Secretary General one week before the meeting is due to be held. The Secretary General, after receipt of such notices, shall put all items proposed on the agenda on the Notice Board for the information of all members of the Association. The following items should appear on the agenda of an Annual General Meeting:-

(4)   In the event of there being no quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned for half an hour, and should the number then present be insufficient to form a quorum, those present shall be considered a quorum, and may proceed with the meeting, but they shall have no power to alter, amend, or make additions to any of the existing Articles of the Association.

(5)   The President shall preside over all meetings. Resolutions shall be passed by a majority of votes, and should there be a tie of votes, the President himself shall have the power to decide on a resolution.

(6)   All resolutions passed at meetings shall be observed by all members of the Association, and shall not be passed to non-members. Failure to observe this rule shall be considered as a breach of the Articles of the Association.

CHAPTER VI — MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

(1)   At an Annual General Meeting to be held once a year, but every three years shall be elected from members, by formally signed votes, 31 members to form a Management Committee of the Association.

The Management Committee of 31 members shall elect by ballot/vote duly signed amongst themselves the following office bearers:-

The Management Committee shall hold such office for only three years. (Committee Members not wishing to accept office shall be required to tender their letter of resignation within one week of notification of their being elected, otherwise they will have to attend office).

(2)   Any changes in the Management Committee shall be notified to the Registrar of Societies and the Commissioner of Charities within two (2) weeks of the change.

(3)   Within six weeks of the election of office bearers, the old office bearers shall hand over their duties to the newly elected office bearers. On the day of the Swearing in Ceremony the old office bearers shall hand over the Seal of the Association all money belonging to the Association and all documents of the Association etc. If there is anything missing, the old office bearers shall be held responsible.

(4)   Any enthusiast may be invited by the Management Committee to act as an Honorary President or an Honorary Adviser of the Association.

(5)   All officers except the Treasurers may be re-elected to office year after year. Re-appointment of the outgoing Treasurer may be considered after a lapse of at least three (3) years.

(6)   A Management Committee Meeting shall be held once every three (3) months, and Special Committee Meetings may be convened if and when necessary by giving not less than three days’ notice to the Management Committee Members before the meeting. At least one half of the Management Committee Members must be present for its proceedings to be valid.

(7)   Where a conflict of interest arises at a Management Committee meeting, the Management Committee member concerned should not vote on the matter nor participate in discussions.

He or she should also offer to withdraw from the meeting, and the other Management Committee members should decide if this is required.

(8)   The duty of the Management Committee is to organise and supervise the daily activities of the Association, and to do all charitable works or matters, and to make decisions on matters affecting its running when the General Meeting is not sitting. It may not act contrary to the expressed wishes of the General Meeting without prior reference to it and always remains subordinate to the General Meeting.

(9)   The Management Committee has power to authorise all the expenditure from the Association’s funds for the Association’s purposes, with the exception of contribution towards all charitable works and social welfare etc., which are subject to a sum not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per month.

(10)   The Management Committee shall have the power to remove the Committee member who is appointed by the Management Committee before the expiration of his period of office and may appoint another person in his stead.

CHAPTER VII — DUTIES OF OFFICE BEARERS

The duties of the Office Bearers are as follows:-

(a)   The President shall act as Chairman at all General and Management Committee Meetings. He/She shall keep the proper seal of the Association, sign all important documents, and also represent the Association in its dealings with persons other than members of the Association. He/She shall have power to authorise expenditure on behalf of the Association, provided that the total amount authorised does not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000/-) each occasion.

(b)   The Vice-Presidents shall act for the President in the latter’s absence. Should both the President and all the Vice Presidents be absent, a temporary Chairman shall be elected to act on their behalf.

(c)   The Secretary General shall deal with all affairs which do not come within the category of the various Officers in Charge, and also take charge of all important documents. He/She shall also have the right to give guidance to the Officers in Charge of the various Sections in their work. He/She may require to convene and to notify all meetings, and shall have power to authorise expenditure for the purposes of the Association, provided that the total amount authorised does not exceed Five thousand Dollars ($5,000/-) each occasion.

(d)   The Assistant Secretary General shall assist the Secretary General in all affairs and shall act for the latter in his/her absence.

(e)   The Treasurer shall deal with all receipts, and payments of money on behalf of the Association, and shall submit reports of accounts to the Management Committee Meetings. He/She shall not keep more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000/-) in cash, and all money in excess of this amount shall be deposited in a bank named by the Management Committee. Cheques etc. for withdrawals from the bank shall be signed by any of the two following persons, namely the President, the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General, the Treasurer, and the Assistant Treasurer.

(f)   The Assistant Treasurer shall act for the Treasurer in his/her absence.

(g)   The Chinese Correspondences Officer shall be in charge of all Chinese Correspondences.

(h)   The English Correspondences Officer shall be in charge of all English Correspondences.

(i)   The Public Relations Officer and the Assistant Public Relations Officer shall be responsible for all public relations matters.

(j)   The Welfare and Relief Officer and the Assistant Welfare and Relief Officer shall be responsible for the affairs of weddings or other happy occasions and funeral rites among members, and shall help various members who are out of employment by finding and recom-mending work for them and help to settle all of their difficulties. Furthermore they shall encourage all members to donate generously towards charitable cause and promote various social welfare works.

(k)   The Officer in Charge of Preaching and the Assistant Officer in Charge of Preaching shall be responsible for recording the good sayings and divine orders of Reverential Masters, preaching moral doctrines, and influencing the heart of mankind with righteousness of morality.

(l)   The Medicines Section shall be responsible for free medical treatments and supply of medicines for poor patients.

(m)   The Officer in Charge of Education and the Assistant Officer in Charge of Education shall be responsible for urging members towards educational establishments like opening of schools, and helping to promote culture developments.

(n)   Committee Members shall assist all affairs of the Association in general.

(o)   All Sections may, should pressure of work increase, engage certain number of capable members as Special Assistants to their respective Sections, but such Special Assistants should be approved and appointed by the Management Committee.

(p)   Should there be such requirement, all Heads of Sections may call up a minor group meeting, and after all particulars and details have been discussed and decided they shall be submitted to the Management Committee for approval before execution.

2.   Any member of the Management Committee absenting himself/ herself from three meetings consecutively without any satisfactory explanation shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Management Committee, and a successor may be co-opted by the Management Committee to serve until the next Annual General Meeting.

CHAPTER VIII — AUDIT

Two persons, not being members of the Management Committee, shall be elected as Auditors at each Annual General Meeting and shall hold such office for three years and shall not be re-elected. They shall be required to audit each year’s accounts and present a report upon them to the Annual General Meeting. They may be required by the President to audit the Association’s accounts for any period within their tenure of office at any date and make a report to the Management Committee.

CHAPTER IX — OBLIGATIONS

(1)   Members of the Association shall be obliged to carry out the duties of the Association, and shall contribute in order to meet the expenses of the Association.

(2)   Members of the Association shall be required to support the rights of the Association, to abide by the Articles of the Association, and to carry out all resolutions of the meetings of the Association.

(3)   Funds, subscriptions, and special contributions made by way of donation shall not be refunded nor returned when a contributor-member resigns or be dismissed from the Association.

(4)   Every Office Bearer shall do his duties voluntarily and shall not be entitled to any remunerations.

CHAPTER X — PRIVILEGES

All members shall have the right to elect and be elected to office and enjoy all the privileges of the Association.

CHAPTER XI — AWARDS

Certificates and presents shall be awarded to those members rendering specially good services to the recognition of the Association. For the praise of their good works, copies of their photographs shall be put up in the Assembly Hall of the Association. Such awards shall be recommended at the Management Committee Meetings.

CHAPTER XII — TRUSTEES

If the Association at any time acquires any immovable property, such property shall be vested in the Trustees subject to a Declaration of Trust. The Trustees shall not effect any sale or mortgage of property without the prior approval of the General Meeting of members.

Any trustee may at any time resign his/her trusteeship. If a trustee dies or becomes of unsound mind or is absent from the Republic of Singapore for a period of one year, he/she shall be deemed to have resigned his/her trusteeship. If a trustee is guilty of misconduct or act of such a kind as to render it undesirable that he/she should continue as a trustee, a General Meeting shall remove him/her from his/her trusteeship. Vacancies in the trusteeship shall be filled at a General Meeting, but the number shall not be greater than five or less than two. Notice of any proposal to remove a trustee from his/her trusteeship or to appoint a new trustee to fill a vacancy shall be given by affixing in the premises of the Association a document containing such proposal at least two weeks before the meeting at which the proposal shall be discussed. The result of such meeting shall then be notified to the Commissioner of Charities. The address of each immovable property, name of each trustee and any subsequent change must be notified to the Commissioner of Charities.

Only Singapore citizens shall be Trustees. This provision restricting trusteeship to Singapore citizens is fundamental and shall not be altered or deleted.

CHAPTER XIIA – BUILDING FUND

The present leasehold premises owned by the Association known as No 67 Anchorvale Link, Singapore 545071 is a 30 year lease comprised in the Government Certificate of Title in Vol 552 Fol 102, commencing from March 16,1999 and ending on March 15,2029 (the current lease). In order to ensure that the Association shall continue to own and have the use of the leasehold premises after the expiration of the current lease, at the Annual General Meeting held on 11th January 2004 it was resolved that part of the compensation monies paid by the Government to the Association at the time of acquisition of its old premises and site at No IB Flower Road, Singapore 549372 shall be set aside and earmarked as building fund (the Building Fund) for the specific purposes of using it as license fees payable to the Government for the extension of the current lease or the acquisition or reconstruction of another premise. The Building Fund shall be controlled and managed by the Building Fund Committee comprising of the Chairman, the First Vice-Chairman, the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer (the Building Fund Committee) of the Association for the time being.

The Building Fund shall not be used or allowed to be used for any purposes other than the payment of licence fees payable to the Government for extension of the current lease or the acquisition and building of a new premises or the use of the Association.

CHAPTER XIIB – MANAGEMENT OF BUILDING FUND

The Building Fund shall be controlled and managed by the Building Fund Committee by placing it on or under a fixed deposit account or accounts with a bank or finance company. The withdrawal of the Building Fund shall be approved by the aforesaid six committee members and duly signed jointly by the Chairman, the Secretary and the Treasurer of the Association with the seal of “CHEE HWAN KOG BUILDING FUND COMMITTEE” affixed thereto for it to be valid. If there are any changes of the Building Fund Committee or its members at any time or from time to time the outgoing and incoming Building Fund Committee or its members shall within seven (7) days notify in writing the bank or finance company of such changes for its records.

CHAPTER XIII — VISITORS AND GUESTS

Visitors and guests may be admitted into the premises of the Association but they shall not be admitted into the privileges of the Association. All visitors and guests shall abide by the Association’s rules and regulations.

CHAPTER XIV — PROHIBITIONS

(1)   Gambling of any kind such as the playing of paikow or mahjong, whether for stakes or not, shall be forbidden on the Association’s premises. The introduction of materials for gambling or opium smoking and of bad characters in the premises shall be prohibited.

(2)   The funds of the Association shall not be used to pay for the fines of members who have been convicted in Court.

(3)   The Association shall not attempt to restrict or in any other manner interfere with trade prices or engage in any Trade Union activity as defined by any written law relating to Trade Unions for the time being in force in Singapore.

(4)   The Association shall not hold any lottery, whether confined to its members or not, in the name of the Association or its Office-bearers, Committee or members.

(5)   The Association shall not indulge in any political activity or allow its funds and/or premises to be used for political purposes.

CHAPTER XV — DISCIPLINE

The Management Committee has the power to dismiss any member due to the following reasons:-

CHAPTER XVI — MANAGEMENT

All functions of the various Sections shall be responsible to the Management Committee which will direct all procedures of work.

CHAPTER XVII — AMENDMENT TO RULES

No alteration or addition/deletion to these rules shall be made except at a General Meeting and with the consent of two-thirds (2/3) of the voting members present at the General Meeting, and they shall not come into force without the prior sanction of the Registrar of Societies, and the Commissioner of Charities.

CHAPTER XVIII — INTERPRETATION

In the event of any question or matter arising out of any point which is not expressly provided for in the rules, the Management Committee shall have power to use their own discretion to determine it.

CHAPTER XIX — DISSOLUTION

(1)   The Association shall not be dissolved, except with the consent of not less than 3/5 of the members of the Association expressed, either in person or by proxy at a General Meeting convened for the purpose, or by postal vote.

(2)   In the event of the Association being dissolved as provided above, or in the event the Association ceases to be a registered charity under the Charities Act, all debts and liabilities legally incurred on behalf of the Association shall be fully discharged, and the remaining funds (if any) will be donated to charitable organization(s), or Institution(s) of a Public Character, when the Association is an Institution of a Public Character, as the case may be, with similar objectives in Singapore which is(are) registered under the Charities Act, as the members of the Association may determine at the General Meeting.

(3)   Notice of dissolution shall be given within 7 days of dissolution to the Registrar of Societies, and the Commissioner of Charities.