Constitutions

This Clan Temple shall be known as the Singapore Han Clan Association.

The address of the Clan Temple shall be at 23 Tessensohn Road, Singapore 217653.

The objects of the Clan Temple shall be to perpetuate the memory of ancestors, to offer sacrifices to them, to foster friendship among fellow clansmen and to promote mutual aid.

Chinese with the surname of HAN “韩” or their wives and who are not below the age of 18 shall be eligible for membership of the Clan Temple.

a) Ordinary Member

A person, who is introduced by a member, shall pay, on the approval of his membership application by the Management Committee, an entrance fee of $6.00 and an annual subscription of $24.00 or $2.00 per month. However, entrance and subscription fees for retirees shall be waived or reduced only on request.

b) Life Member

i) A person, who is introduced by a member, shall pay, on the approval of his life membership application by the Management Committee, a life membership fee of $500.00.

ii) An ordinary member on payment of $500.00 as life membership fee shall become a life member.

iii) A life member is exempted from paying entrance fee and annual subscription.

iv) Members, who are 65 years old and above have joined the Singapore Han Clan Association from more than 5 years no need to pay the annual subscription.

a) Management Committee

The affairs of the Clan Temple shall be managed by the Management Committee (herein after referred to as “the Committee”) headed by the President.

The Committee shall consist of 29 members and 5 reserve members elected at the Annual General Meeting of members.

b) Office Bearers

The committee shall in such manner as they think fit, elect among themselves 15 office bearers as follows:

A President, 1st Vice-President, 2nd Vice-President, 3rd Vice President, 4th Vice-President 5th Vice President, 6th Vice President,

A General Secretary, Asst. General Secretary,

A Treasurer, Asst. Treasurer,

Head of Recreation Section, Asst. Head of Recreation Section,

Head of Culture & Education Section, Asst. Head of Culture & Education Section,

A Chinese Correspondent, An English Correspondent.

i) The supreme authority of the Clan Temple shall be the General Meeting of members. Its duties shall be as follows:

a) To decide on various reform measures.

b) To decide on the conduct of various activities of the Clan Temple.

c) To authorise the various expenditures.

d) To formulate and amend rules of the Clan Temple.

ii) On the closing of the General Meeting of members, the committee shall be the highest organ. Its duties shall be:

a) To execute resolutions passed at the General Meeting of Members.

b) To supervise the conduct of various activities by the office-bearers.

c) To devise plans for carrying out the works of the Clan Temple.

iii) The duties of various office-bearers shall be as follows:

a) The President shall superintend and devise ways and means for carrying out the various activities of the Clan Temple, keep in custody all seals, documents, title-deed, etc. of the Clan Temple, and represent the Clan Temple in external relations. During the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall act in his capacity.

b) The General Secretary, with the assistance of the Asst. General Secretary, shall conduct and manage the general affairs of the Clan Temple.

c) The Treasurer, with the Asst. Treasurer, shall be in charge of all receipts and payments. During the absence of the Treasurer, the Asst. Treasurer shall act in his capacity including signing of bank cheques.

d) The Head of Recreation Section with the help of the Asst. Head of Recreation Section shall conduct programmes relating to physical culture, music, dramatics, amusements and health and shall also organise group visits and tours.

e) The Head of Culture and Education Section with the help of the Asst. Head of Culture and Education Section shall be responsible for the activities and programmes relating to culture and education.

f) The Chinese Correspondent is responsible for Chinese Correspondence. He shall assist the General Secretary in recording the minutes of meeting in Chinese, such minutes of meeting shall be endorsed by the General Secretary.

g) The English Correspondent is responsible for English Correspondence. He shall assist the General Secretary in the recording of the English minutes of meeting which shall be endorsed by the General Secretary.

a) Annual General Meeting

i) The Annual General Meeting of the Clan Temple shall be held on the Sunday immediately following the 15th day of the 1st Moon of Lunar Calendar.

ii) 14 clear days’ notice shall be given to members eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting. A copy of the agenda for each meeting and the annual report and audited accounts for the year shall accompany the notice for each Annual General Meeting.

iii) A member who wishes to place an item on the agenda of a general meeting may do so provided he gives notice of the same in writing to the General Secretary 7 days before the meeting is due to be held.

iv) The Business to be transacted at an Annual General Meeting shall be the consideration of the annual statement of accounts, appointment of auditors, the consideration of any question raised as to the management of the affairs of the Clan Temple and at every alternate Annual General Meeting the business shall also include the election of members to the Management Committee.

v) The presence of one fifth of all members eligible to vote, shall form a quorum. In the event of there being no quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned by half an hour on the same day, at the same place and should the number present be still insufficient to form a quorum, those present shall form a quorum but they have no power to alter amend or make additions to any of the existing rule or rules.

b) Extra-Ordinary General Meeting

i) An Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of Members may be called by the President at the request of at least 21 members who are eligible to vote and may be called at any time by order of the committee.

ii) If within half an hour from the time appointed for the holding of the meeting, a quorum is not present, the meeting shall be dissolved. No Extra-Ordinary General Meeting may be called for the same matter(s) for at least six months from the date of such meeting.

iii) No other matter(s) other than those for which the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting was convened shall be considered at such meeting.

a) The terms of office of all members of the Management Committee shall be Three years. With the exception of the Treasurer and the Asst. Treasurer, all other committee members are eligible for election.

b) A member of the committee, who has absented himself without satisfactory explanation for three consecutive committee meetings shall upon a resolution of the committee cease to be a member of the committee.

a) Special Income: – During the Spring and Autumn Festivals, some members used to make special contributions for dinners. Whatever money is left of these two functions shall be turned over to the common fund of the Clan Temple. Whatever monetary gift is made to the Clan Temple for the loan of its hall for marriage or other happy occasions shall be turned over to the common fund.

b) The regulations regarding receipts and payments:

i) Receipts shall be issued for whatever money paid to the Clan Temple. They shall be signed and chopped with seals by the President and Treasurer.

ii) Cash in hand exceeding $500.00 shall be deposited with a bank in the name of the Clan Temple.

iii) The Clan Temple shall maintain such bank accounts with such bank as the committee may determine. All cheques drawn on the Clan Temple account shall be signed by the President or Vice-President in addition to the Treasurer.

iv) Expenditure exceeding $300.00 shall be authorized by both the President and the Treasurer and that exceeding $500.00 shall be authorised by the committee.

v) Any appeal for special subscription shall in the first instance be approved by the committee.

Two persons not members of the committee will be elected as Hon. Auditors at alternate Annual General Meeting and will hold office for two years only and may not be re-elected. They will be required to audit each year’s account and present a report upon them to the Annual General Meeting. They may be required by the President to audit the Clan Temple’s account for any period within their tenure of office at any date and make a report to the committee.

The immovable property of the Clan Temple shall be vested in Trustees subject to a declaration of trust. Any trustee may at any time resign his trusteeship. If a trustee dies or becomes a lunatic or of unsound mind or move permanently or is absent from Singapore for a period of one year, he shall be deemed to have resigned his trusteeship. If a trustee is guilty of misconduct of such a kind as to render it undesirable that he continue as a trustee, a General Meeting may remove him from his trusteeship. Vacancies in the trusteeship may 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 trusteeship or to appoint a new trustee to fill a vacancy must be given by affixing in the premises of the Clan Temple a document containing such proposal at least two weeks before the meeting at which the proposal is to be discussed. The result of such meeting shall be notified to the Registrar of Societies for approval.

a) All members of the Clan Temple shall be obliged to abide by the Rules and Regulation of the Clan Temple.

b) All members of the Clan Temple, in addition to paying their entrance fee and annual subscription, shall be obliged to pay the dinner fees for the two festivals.

c) In case of shortage of funds where by the Committee considers it necessary to raise a special subscription, all members shall respond the appeal to the best of their ability.

a) All members of the Clan Temple shall have the right to loan the hall for marriage or for other occasions.

b) In case of sickness or any untoward happening which necessitate immediate assistance, all members shall have the right to ask the Clan Temple for help. However, the help shall be confined to charity and shall have to be approved by the Committee.

c) All members are eligible for membership of any mutual benefit organization to be formed by the Clan Temple and registered under the Mutual Benefit Organisation’s Ordinance.

d) Members who before their death had done special merits for the Clan Temple shall be given special consideration by the Committee who shall cause to be organised a Funeral Committee to take charge of the funeral.

A member who is found to have acted or behaved in the following shall be severely disciplined:-

a) Refusing to observe his obligation to the Clan Temple;

b) Causing damage to the good name of the Clan Temple by carrying out undesirable activities in the name of the Clan Temple;

c) Having refused to abide by the laws of the Republic of Singapore thereby threatening the safety of the Clan Temple;

d) Having disregarded warning by engaging in affrays and committing thefts;

e) Having acted in any manner prejudicial to the good name of the Clan Temple.

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

b) In the event of the Clan Temple being dissolved as provided above, all debts and liabilities incurred on behalf of the Clan Temple shall be discharged, and the remaining funds will be decided by a General Meeting.

c) Notice of dissolution shall be given within 14 days of the dissolution to the Registrar of Societies.

a) The Rules of this society shall be passed and enforced by the General Meeting of Members.

b) No alterations or additions to these rules shall be made except at a General Meeting, and they shall not come into force without the prior sanction of the Registrar of Societies.

The Clan Temple shall hold an annual gathering of its members to celebrate the festival of the autumn on the Sunday immediately following the 15th day of the 7th Moon of Lunar Calendar.

a) In the event of any question or matter arising out of any point not expressly provided for in the Rules, the committee shall have power to use their own discretion to interpret and determine thereof.
The decision of the committee shall be final unless it is reversed at a General Meeting of Members.

b) “eligible to vote” means a member who has paid all debts due to the Clan Temple including subscription up to the month of the meeting is entitled to vote.