GENERAL

1. This Association shall be known as the "Hainan Goh Clan Association (Singapore)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Association").

2. Its objects are to revere the ancestors of Hainan Goh Clan, to harmonize friendship and foster goodwill among members, to exchange knowledge, to enhance education in order to cultivate talents, to carry on charitable activities, to provide consultative services for and settle disputes among members.

3. Its place of business shall be at 20C, Lorong 11, Geylang, Singapore 388712 or such other address as may subsequently be decided upon by the Committee and approved by the Registrar of Societies.

MEMBERSHIP

4. (A) Only Singapore citizens shall be entitled to become and admitted as members of the Association. This Article is fundamental and shall not be altered or deleted except with the prior written approval of the Controller of Residential Property or any other authority in charge of the administration of the Residential Property Act.

(B) Membership of the Association shall consist of Life and Associate Members. Application for memberships shall be made on a prescribed form and shall be considered by the Committee whose decision shall be final.

(C) Every Life or Associate Member shall pay an entrance fee of S$100.00 within two weeks of approval. There shall be no subscriptions payable by members. The funds of the Association shall be derived from free will offerings. Any additional funds required for special purposes may only be raised from members with the consent of the General Meeting of the members.

5. Life membership is open to Singapore Citizens who are at least 18 years old whose Chinese surname are "GOH" of Hainan. They shall have right to vote and hold office.

6. A person who belongs to the Hainan Goh family when not eligible for Life membership may apply to join the Association as Associate Member. Such member shall have no voting right.

7. Any member wishing to resign from the Association shall give written notice of such intention to the Secretary-General.

ORGANISATION

8. The General Meeting of members shall be the highest authority of this Association. The Committee elected by the members at an Annual General Meeting shall be the highest authority when the General Meeting is not sitting.

9. The Committee shall hold office for two years. All office-bearers except the Treasurers and the Auditors may be re-elected at the Annual General Meeting.

10. The Committee shall be responsible for all general business and shall have power to approve all matters related to this Association. The office-bearers will be elected from among the Committee Members.

11. The Committee shall consist of:-

(A) A President and three Vice-Presidents;

(B) A Secretary-General and two Assistants;

(D) 10 Committee Members.

POWERS

12. The powers of the various offices are as follows:-

(A) The President shall act as chairman at all General and Committee meetings. He shall direct the various offices to carry on the Association's business and shall represent this Association in the dealings with members and outside persons. The Vice-Presidents shall assist the President and shall deputise for him in his absence.

(B) The Secretary-General shall undertake the President's direction to supervise the various offices except that of the Treasurer for the execution of the Association's business, and shall manage all business and activities of this Association. He shall keep the Association's official seal and documents, and shall keep minutes of all General and Committee meetings. The Assistant Secretary-General shall assist the Secretary-General and shall deputise for him in his absence.

(C) The Treasurer shall keep all funds and collect and disburse all moneys on behalf of this Association and shall keep an account of all monetary transactions and shall be responsible for their correctness. He is authorised to expend up to S$100.00 per month for petty expenses on behalf of this Association. He will not keep more than S$200.00 in the form of cash and money in excess of this will be deposited in a bank to be named by the Committee. All cheques for withdrawal from the bank will be signed by the President or the Secretary-General in addition to the Treasurer and will be stamped with the official seal of the Association. The Assistant Treasurer shall assist the Treasurer and shall deputise for him in his absence.

(D) The Committee may appoint any Committee Member to serve on the subcommittees of the Association as officers managing the various affairs of the Association.

13. All the appointed office-bearers of these Articles shall be honorary. Any members of the Committee absenting himself from three meetings consecutively without satisfactory explanations shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Committee and a successor may be co-opted by the Committee to serve until the Annual General Meeting. Any changes to the Committee shall be notified to the Registrar of Societies.

COMMITTEE MEETING

14. A Committee Meeting will be convened by the President at least once in two months after one week's notice to members of the Committee. At least one half of Committee Members must be present for its proceedings to be valid.

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP

15. A Spring and an Autumn Festivals will be held annually by this Association to revere the Ancestors of Goh Clan.

GENERAL MEETING

16. An Annual General Meeting will be held by April of each year. The Committee may convene an Extra-ordinary General Meeting at any time when it thinks necessary. At least twenty or one quarter of the total membership of this Association whichever is the lesser must be present at a General Meeting for its proceedings to be valid.

17. An Extra-ordinary General Meeting will also be convened at written request, giving reasons, of at least ten members.

18. At least two weeks' notice will be given of an Annual General Meeting and at least ten days' notice will be given of any other general meetings and particulars of its agenda will be posted on Association’s notice board four days in advance of the meeting.

19. Any member who wishes to place an item on the agenda of a General Meeting may do so provided he gives notice to the Secretary-general one week before the Meeting is due to be held.

20. In the event of there being no quorum, the Meeting shall be adjourned to half an hour later at the same place, and should the number then present be insufficient to form a quorum, those present shall be considered a quorum, but they shall have no power to alter, amend or make additions to any of the existing Articles.

AUDIT

21. Two members not Committee Members will be elected as Auditors at the Annual General Meeting and will hold office for two years and shall not be eligible for re-election for a second consecutive term. They will 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 Committee.

TRUSTEES

22. (A) If this Association at any time acquire any immovable property, such property 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 moves permanently or is absent from the Republic of 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 continues 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 this Association a document containing such proposal at least two weeks before the meeting at which such proposal is to be discussed. The result of such meeting shall then be notified to the Registrar of Societies.

(B) No person other than a Singapore citizen shall be appointed as a trustee of the Association. This Article is fundamental and shall not be altered or deleted except with the written approval of the Controller of Residential Property or any other relevant authority in charge of the administration of the Residential Property Act.

HONORARY APPOINTMENT

23. On the recommendation of the Committee, the Association may invite any person, who has rendered invaluable and distinguished services to the Association or the Committee, to be Honorary Advisor or Honorary Patron. Such person shall not hold office and have no voting rights.

FINANCE

24. All moneys received by the Association shall be issued with receipts which shall be signed by the President and the Treasurer and stamped with the Association's official seal.

DISMISSAL

25. The Committee may censure or expel any member for the breach of the Constitution of the Association or for any misbehaviour which in the opinion of the Committee is injurious to the character, interests or reputation of the Association. Any member so censured or expelled may appeal against such censure or expulsion at the next General Meeting.

PROHIBITIONS

26. This Association shall not indulge in any political activity or allow its funds and premises to be used for political purposes.

27. The funds of this Association shall not be used to pay the fines of members who have been convicted in Court of law.

28. This Association shall not attempt to restrict or in any manner interfere with trade or prices or engage in any Trade Union activity as defined in any written law relating to Trade Unions for the time being in force in Singapore.

29. The promotion or conduct of a private lottery in the Association's premises is not allowed unless it has been permitted under the Private Lotteries Act, Cap 250. The introduction of materials for drug taking and of bad characters into the premises is prohibited.

30. This Association shall not hold any lottery, whether confined to its members or not, in the name of this Association or its office-bearers, Committee or members.

AMENDMENT OF ARTICLES

31. No alteration or addition to these Articles shall be made except at a General Meeting, and they shall not come into force without the prior sanction of the Registrar of Societies.

INTERPRETATIONS

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

DISSOLUTION

33. (A) This Association shall not be dissolved, except with the consent of not less than 3/5 of the members of this Association for the time being resident in Singapore expressed, either in person or by proxy at a General Meeting convened for the purpose.

(B) In the event of this Association being dissolved as proved above, all debts and liabilities incurred on behalf of this Association shall be fully discharged, and the remaining funds will be contributed to charitable institutions.