NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

BY POST

To:  All Members

cc:  All Exco Members

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 68th Annual General Meeting of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped called pursuant to Clause 7 of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (“SAVH”) Constitution and Rules, will be held virtually via Zoom on 28 August 2021 (Saturday) at 2.30pm, for the purposes of considering and if thought fit, resolving the ordinary resolutions set out herein:  

AGENDA

  1. Opening Address

Opening address by the President of SAVH

Ordinary Business

  1. Minutes of 67th Annual General Meeting

Confirm the Minutes of the 67th Annual General Meeting held on 26 June 2021 (Saturday)

  1. Matters arising from 67th Annual General Meeting
  2. Reports

To receive, consider and adopt the Annual Report 2020/2021 and the Audited Statement of Accounts for the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

  1. Appointment of auditors
  2. Election of Executive Committee Members

Election of six (6) Executive Committee Members, 2021/2023 consisting:

  • 3 visually impaired members;
  • 3 sighted members
  1. Other Matters 

Any and all other matters, for which notice has been given in writing.

NOTICE IN LIGHT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC SITUATION

In light of the continuing covid-19 pandemic, the 68th Annual General Meeting will largely follow the format of the 67th Annual General Meeting. The Meeting will be held entirely through virtual means and voting for the resolutions and elections will be conducted entirely through proxy form prevoting using the same platforms as during the 67th AGM. In addition, we acknowledge that there were concerns arising from how the 67th AGM was conducted. We have attempted to address these concerns as best as we can, and have enclosed a FAQ to explain what measures we have taken and answer questions which may not have been adequately answered in the previous AGM.

By order of the Executive Committee

Dated 28 July 2021

Lyn Loh (Ms)

Honorary Secretary, SAVH

NB: Please ensure that outstanding membership fees, if any, are paid by 4pm on 27 August 2021 (Friday).

 

PLEASE READ NOTES APPENDED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGE.

IMPORTANT

Please note the following:

  • Any other matters to be included in the Agenda should be forwarded to Honorary Secretary in writing at least two weeks before the date of the Annual General Meeting [Section 7.1(a)] or not later than 5pm on

13 August 2021 (Friday).

  • All nominations must be made in the proposed form, duly signed and completed before forwarding to the Honorary Secretary not later than 4pm on 13 August 2021 (Friday). This is consistent with the SAVH Constitution of not less than 7 days before the Annual General Meeting (section 6.4) but has been brought forward to give more time for the proxy forms and related content to reach members for their consideration before submitting their decisions.
  • All members, nominees for elections and proposer and seconder of nominees must be paid up members.
  • Should your subscription be in arrears, please make payment as soon as possible, latest by 4pm on 27 August 2021 (Friday).
  • All correspondences with the Honorary Secretary should be addressed to 47 Toa Payoh Rise, Singapore 298104 or via e-mail at: HonSecretary@savh.org.sg

PREVOTING FOR RESOLUTIONS AND ELECTIONS

In line with government guidelines to reduce the duration of events involving large numbers of people, and in line with common practice amongst other organizations, we will not be carrying out live voting during the AGM. Instead, members who wish to vote will be required to submit their votes ahead of the date of AGM, and the results will be announced only during the AGM, and thereafter made available through the various channels as following past practice.

Members will have to sign and complete a proxy form with their votes. They then have the options of uploading the scan of the duly signed and completed form to a secure online platform, emailing the scan of the form, or mailing the actual hard copy form to a third-party vendor, NOT to SAVH.

Instructions on voting for all three methods of submitting votes, including the website, email address and physical address to send the form to, will be stated on the proxy form, which will be sent out to members after nominations of candidates for elections have been closed and confirmed.

All votes, whether submitted through the online platform, email or mailing of hard copy, must reach the third-party vendor by 27 August 2021 (Friday) 5pm. Votes submitted directly to SAVH will be rejected except where members have contacted SAVH for assistance with completing their proxy forms.

Members who have difficulty completing their proxy forms and wish to request SAVH to assist may contact SAVH, whereupon they will be arranged to come to SAVH for SAVH to assist, and their forms can also be delivered on their behalf. However, this is subject to pandemic restrictions, and we seek members’ understanding to give sufficient advance notice to request assistance.

Any personal information you provide will only be used by the third-party vendor to validate your vote and will not be linked to your votes when the vendor reports the results to SAVH.

There will be a unique serial number which will be issued to each proxy form, so please only use the proxy form which has been issued to you. This serial number will only be used by the third-party vendor to ensure that there are no duplicate submissions, and will not be provided by the third-party vendor to SAVH.

Any information you provide to the third-party vendor will not be retained by the vendor after they are no longer needed for the purposes of the election.

An external auditor will serve as scrutineer and audit the voting process. Members of EXCO will also be appointed to observe the vote counting process.

The above measures are to ensure accountability and reduce risk of voter fraud.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF NOMINATIONS

In order to make it possible to conduct prevoting, the deadline for submission of nominations of candidates for election to the Executive Committee will have to be brought forward compared to during physical AGMs in the past. Duly signed and completed nomination forms must now reach the Honorary Secretary, SAVH, at 47, Toa Payoh Rise, Singapore 298104, by 13 August 2021 (Friday) 4pm. Members who wish to be nominated should also read the Additional info of Nominees for Exco Election enclosed with this notice of AGM.

ATTENDING THE VIRTUAL AGM

Due to safe management considerations amidst the pandemic, we have decided to conduct the AGM entirely through a virtual format.

As all resolutions and elections will be conducted through prevoting, there will be no further voting during the AGM. The results of voting will be announced during the AGM. Responses will be given to written questions submitted in accordance with the terms set out in the notice of AGM. Written questions must reach the Honorary Secretary, SAVH, at 47, Toa Payoh Rise, Singapore 298104, by 13 August 2021 (Friday) 5pm.

Members who wish to register to attend the AGM should use the following link:

https://online.meetings.vision/savh-agm-registration/

Members who have registered to attend virtual AGM will receive a link to attend closer to the date of the AGM. Members who did not submit their proxy form but wish to attend the virtual AGM must also register their interest to attend. There is also an option to call in to listen to the AGM, and members who wish to use this method must also register via the link mentioned above. Alternatively, members who wish to attend the AGM could also register either through receptionist staff at phone 6251 4331, or email membership@savh.org.sg.

More details on attending the AGM will be provided at a later date, including details for a trial session to practice joining the AGM. Members who wish to request assistance with registering for or attending the AGM may contact staff Mr Kan Teck San at membership@savh.org.sg, or phone 62514331 extension 103, or Mr Chong Kwek Bin at kwekbin@savh.org.sg, or phone 62514331 extension 701.

Key deadlines to note in this document are stated below for members’ ease of reference:

13 August 2021 (Friday) 4pm:       Submission of nomination forms to Honorary Secretary

13 August 2021 (Friday) 5pm:       Submission of written questions to Honorary Secretary for response at AGM

19 August 2021 (Thursday):          Members will receive proxy form (tentatively)

20 August 2021 (Friday) 5pm:       RSVP attendance for virtual AGM

27 August 2021 (Friday) 5pm:       Submit proxy forms to third-party vendor

Enclosed:

  • Nomination form
  • 68th AGM Nomination Process and Requirement
  • Additional info of Nominees for Exco Election
  • Minutes of the 67th Annual General Meeting held on 26 June 2021
  • FAQ for 68th Annual General Meeting