President’s Message

Dear Members,

On 24 May 2022, the Club conducted a dialogue session on the lease renewal and possible redevelopment options. The presentation focussed on the lease renewal with reference to the potential cost and the timelines. The salient points in this regard are that the current lease expires on 11 September 2026 and the latest date to make an application for the lease renewal is 10 September 2023. Members should note that we have been given an in-principle approval for a 30-year lease by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

In addition, a presentation was made of the General Committee (GC)’s proposal to consider the permanent roofing of the very popular Stumps and Gilmour Terraces and the Courtyard in tandem with the lease renewal provided; given the conservation nature of our building, we are able to obtain the approvals from the relevant authorities.

Several members had proposed for the GC to also consider more significant development options e.g. an underground development or an additional site. The GC’s view is that these should be considered after a detailed strategic review of the SCC has been undertaken and not necessarily in conjunction with the lease renewal given the tight timelines to effect the lease renewal.

Details of the dialogue session will be shared with the Members; we are currently in the midst of consolidating all feedback received and will put together a paper for presentation to the membership in due course.

The project to convert the former Jackpot Room to a MultiFunction room is underway. Demolition works have started and upon final approval of the design, the room should be available for members by mid-September. The room will house a golf simulator and additionally cater to member activities (e.g. Bridge, Chess, Mahjong etc), member work spaces and could also cater to small-group member functions.

After a two-year hiatus, we were very excited that we were able to organise the SCC Soccer7s 2022 Tournament from 10 – 12 June 2022 on the Padang and host more than 60 teams across six categories – Open, Masters, Legends, Women, Youth and Corporate; this also included five teams that flew in from Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

The tournament also welcomed its marquee player Dietmar “Didi” Hamann - the German international defensive midfield legend who has played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle, Manchester City, and Liverpool. Didi was the VIP at the tournament’s gala dinner on 10 June, conducted a special coaching clinic for more than 30 kids on 11 June, and eager fans flocked for meet-and-greet sessions with him during the tournament weekend. Our SCC WNFL A team won the Women’s Cup Championship, while our SCC NFL team come in as Plate runner up in the Open category – well done to our teams! Team SCC also performed splendidly for the Padang Shield Games 2022 which SCC hosted our neighbour Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) to. Our Golf Section competed first against SRC on 15 June, while Tennis, Snooker, Bridge, Balut, Hockey, Football and Cricket played on 18 June. The final score was SCC 5 – SRC 3, and we celebrated the camaraderie between both clubs with a glorious feast at The Padang Restaurant. Well done to our teams! The return of events and activities have brought members back to Club in full force, so much so that we now have issues trying to meet demand; our kitchens are at full capacity, and we are operating with very lean culinary and F&B service teams. These are good issues to have, but they are issues nonetheless that we are trying to resolve. At the same time, food and beverage prices as well as utilities costs are still steadily increasing and economic forecasts predict this trend will continue for a long while; this is something not within our control that we still somehow need to manage.

While we plan and strategise to ensure the smooth operation of the Club, we will also be working on renovating our Clubhouse to create an even better environment for our members and guests. Due to the deteriorating condition of the SCC Clubhouse building windows, the Club is embarking on a windows replacement project that will be implemented in phases to minimise inconvenience to our members. However, this also means that during the different phases of renovation, some F&B outlets will need to be closed. Please refer to the Club Notice on pg 5 for more information.

As things continue to improve, new challenges will also present themselves – these are opportunities for improvement and positive changes. I ask for your patience as we look to boost our manpower to levels that can adequately handle demand and tackle the challenges we are facing, while also preparing for our near and not-so-near future.

See you at the Club!

President, Singapore Cricket Club