Petition to URA sent

Hi All,

The petition that was signed last week as sent to URA earlier this week. Here is the content for those of you who have not seen it. After the text below, there are two images for you to print out and sign, if you would like to participate. Once signed, please scan and email to me @ goo.nguyen@gmail.com

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Petition to the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore
And the Singapore Heritage Society
By the Members of The Legends Fort Canning Park
15th October 2008

Description/Background:

On the 25th of September 2008, the Management of The Legends Fort Canning Park sent notices to its members (“Members”) regarding “Member’s Conference on Club Renovation”. This conference was to be held on the 6th of October 2008, and the Management plans to share with the Members “the plans for the Club, new facilities and improvements”.

At the Member’s Conference on the 6th of October 2008, the Members were informed that:

1) The current building, a heritage structure, will be converted to a 82 room boutique hotel with up-market restaurants;

2) Members’ facilities such as gymnasium, lounge, spa, and changing areas will be moved to a new 3-storey glass building to be constructed on top of the current tennis court, and these facilities will be shared with hotel guests;

3) Except for the Ballrooms and Function Rooms, the Club will be completely closed from 16th October 2008 to 1st April 2009 (save for the Café which will remain open until 31 October 2008), and members will have no access to the Club during that period. ;

4) It was also stated that one of the main factors in this decision to change the Club was a result of a survey in which one of the facilities Members wanted the most was guest rooms. Do note that this survey took place 2 years ago and no recent survey on whether Members agree to the proposed renovations was ever undertaken;

5) These plans have the approval of the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Petition:

We, the undersigned Members of The Legends Fort Canning Park, hereby declare that this change of use of the current building does NOT have our endorsement or support. We have all paid joining fees and monthly subscription fees to the Club, housed in a historical building, fully furnished and with all its present amenities, historic charm, ambiance and space. We do not want to be moved to a smaller building, and we would like to have continuous use of the current facilities without any interruption due to any renovation. We respectfully request the Urban Redevelopment Authority to halt the commencement of any renovation that it has permitted or approved until the Members and the Management has worked out an agreement. All work should be put on hold indefinitely until the Management and the Members come to a fair consensus on any changes to the Club. We request that the Club remain open during the entire period from 16th October 2008 to 1st April 2009.

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An image of the petition is below along with the page for signing. Please click on each image and then print them out and sign and send back to me. Thanks!

My comment on StraitsTimes

Go here and comment. Link back to this blog if you can.

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Main Issues:

1. Short notice given to members

URA preliminary approval was issued months ago but the management did not update the members at that time. URA final approval was issued in early Sept but members only got a letter on 25 Sept 08 inviting us to attend a meeting on 6 Oct 08 and stating that use of all facilities will be suspended with effect from 16 Oct (today!!!). IT IS UNREASONABLE TO GIVE LESS THAN ONE MONTH'S NOTICE BEFORE SUSPENDING ALL FACILITIES.

2. No consultation process or feedback dialogue with members

Members were never consulted on the construction of the new 3-storey glass building. Many members bought into the membership because we love the colonial architecture of the main building but under the proposed renovations, the building is going to be converted into a hotel and members are squashed into a glass building. THIS INDICATES THAT MANAGEMENT DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT MEMBERS' FEEDBACK AND ARE DETERMINED TO PROCEED WITH RENOVATIONS NO MATTER WHAT.

3. Why couldn't the renovation be done in stages?

The management obviously could not care less for the members. Members buy the membership because we wish to enjoy the facilities with our families and friends. Why couldnt the management stagger the renovation, ie build the glass building with the necessary facilities and thereafter renovate the colonial building for the hotel rooms?

4. No buy-back scheme

Members feel short-changed. It is one matter to renovate the club to spruce up the facilities but it is DRASTIC matter if members are shifted out of the beautiful heritage building and squashed into a tiny glass building. Management is however not offering any buy-back scheme for members who are aggrieved.

5. URA Guidelines – Members are entitled to at least 50% of the covered area.

Further to the meeting with URA on 15 Oct, members understand that we are entitled to EXCLUSIVE USE OF 50% of the covered area of the current development. We are not even aware of this fact! The point is that the ball rooms and functions rooms are being constantly leased out for weddings and events and members have NO priority in booking such facilities. Members have lodged a formal complaint with URA to look into this matter as we take the view that our rights have been infringed and we do not have exclusive use of 50% of the property.

Secondly, URA has told us that members are entitled to EXCLUSIVE use of the 3 storey glass building after renovations. According to the management, the 3 storey building comprise of a café on the first level, a spa on the second level and the gym on the 3rd level. Management has however told us that public can have access to the spa and that hotel guests can have access to the gym. Members need to understand from management which 50% belongs to members exclusively so we can enforce our rights, but management has been tight-lipped.

6. The misleading verbiage of a supposed survey that none of us recall pertaining to the desire for "guest rooms" by members, which is quite different than the complete conversion to a hotel. The club management misleading stated and attempted to make the public believe that their renovation in converting the main building to a hotel was favored by the members, when in fact, nearly every single member of the club DOES NOT SUPPORT turning the main building into a hotel.

7. The issue of the 2 tier subscription fees which most of the earlier members are not aware of. And the $80/- fees for the next 6 months with not even the use of the parking facilities at the club.
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Sunday Straits Times: "The Legends' members irked"

Yay! We are heard in the Sunday Times. I did ask for the URL to be posted, but that did not happen. It was just a wish in any case.

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Oct 19, 2008

The Legends' members irked

By Gracia Chiang

IT BEGAN as a gripe that The Legends Fort Canning Park's colonial-style club building was to be converted into a hotel. Members would be moved to a new glass building, one-quarter the size of the original clubhouse. After a blog was started by a member, another grouse surfaced: that the management did not properly tell members that the club will be closed for six months. Now, some members have signed a petition against the temporary closure, protesting that they have been left out in the cold. The closure, from Oct 16 this year to April 1 next year, is for a $70 million renovation project to turn around the ailing club, which has a membership of 1,200 - just 10 per cent of its target. Members like regional manager Joe Nguyen, 37, protested that they were given short notice about the closure. He said: 'We feel like we're being kicked out. We were never consulted.' The club said it had sent out a letter to members on Sept 25, informing them about the closure date and inviting them to a presentation briefing on Oct 6. Its public relations director, Ms Amy Cheong, acknowledged that while the 1,200 members were not given 'exact details', they had been told as early as January in their newsletters that they should expect upcoming renovations. She explained that the club had been waiting for plans to be approved by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) before releasing details to members. Mr Nguyen was among some 250 members who attended the Oct 6 briefing. He set up a blog the same day, giving members a platform to air their concerns. Some 40 members have since visited the website and left their contact details. They also aired other gripes. 'When we bought our membership, we really liked the colonial-style architecture,' said Mr Nguyen. On the hotel project, club CEO Oh Chee Eng explained that unless members were willing to pay a substantially higher monthly subscription, the club needed the new business model to stay viable. He stressed that as a proprietary club, it had every right to make changes to the club's facilities. During the briefing, the club's management also cited a survey it conducted two years ago, in which members said they would like to have guest rooms. But member Jerry Barisano, 55, chairman of a media company, was not convinced. 'Guest rooms are very different from turning the building into a hotel,' he said. Some members also took issue with the fact that hotel guests would have access to facilities in the members' new glass building. This was disclosed to them at the briefing. When contacted, Mr Oh called this 'a mistake' and said the management had since come to an agreement on Thursday that all facilities in the new members' block would be exclusive to members and their guests. Separately, the URA also met five club members earlier last week. They had wanted to seek clarifications on its consideration of the proposed renovation work. The URA told The Sunday Times it was able to support the management's proposal to partially convert the club for hotel use as it proposed to keep the predominant floor area of the development for sports and recreation use for the club members. During the renovation period, monthly subscriptions will be suspended except for golf members who will pay a reduced fee for the continued use of facilities at The Legends Golf & Country Resort in Malaysia. Golfing members, who currently pay a monthly fee of $125 for families and $105 for individuals, will now pay $80 and $60 respectively. Social members have been paying $105 for families and $85 for individuals. Mr Barisano is resigned to the fact that the hotel conversion will go ahead, but he hopes the petition will persuade the URA to advise the club to carry out its renovation work in phases. He added that there are now some 100 signatures to the petition and he intends to submit it to the URA this week. Not all club members are so vexed. Ms Julinn Siah, a 32-year-old manager, felt that the issue has been blown out of proportion. She said: 'My main worry is that these unhappy people will push the owner too far. If this goes on, the owner might just say since people are so against it, let's just close the club. All of us will suffer then.'

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"We are making some progress"

Jerry sent in an email with an update:

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Hello All,

Some good news to report. It looks like we are making some progress.

It has come to my attention, that via conversations between the URA and the Legends Fort Canning Club Management, it is now CONFIRMED that the Management has agreed and committed to the Urban Redevelopment Authority that the new clubhouse at the club will be FOR MEMBERS ONLY, and will not be used by hotel guests.

Our next move is to work with the URA and make sure that we do receive the 50.9% of the covered space for the club members "Exclusive" use, as we still have not received confirmation as to exactly how much of the 50.9% of the allocated space will be counted in the new clubhouse, and how much would be in the main building or any other building as part of the new renovated facility. This was not clear in the drawings that we saw at the URA office, so this needs to be clarified.

We need to follow up with the URA on Monday and Tuesday of next week, to try to clarify issues that we perviously discussed. I also look forward to receiving input back from them. I will also be faxing all of the petition signatures that I have to the URA on Monday.

On another note, I spoke to Herbert Hofer last night as I was having tea in the lobby of the Legends, prior to dinner. From our brief conversation, it sounds like the Management is realizing that they could have given the members more input prior the the construction and final plans. Nevertheless, Mr. Hofer guaranteed me that all of us members will like the new facilities much better than what we now have. He insisted that the new renovations would definitely increase the value of our memberships. I told Mr. Hofer that I will believe it when I see it, that we were happy with what we had. I also told him that most of us did not join the club as an investment, but as a place of recreation, a haven from the pressures of work, not for profit. I also told him that a lot of these problems could have been avoided had the club management been more up front with us on all developments, and had us actively involved in the process. He told me that if it had been possible to do the work in stages they would have done so. I then told him that with about 2,400 members including corporate, and with all of the brilliant minds that we have, that I really felt that together we could have figured out a way to accommodate everyone, or at the very least, come up with a compromise that would prevented or at the very least, greatly reduced all of the bad feelings that are out there right now. I also told him that he should at least be happy that they had put together a club, which although was not perfectly run, was something that all of us felt was worth fighting over. At least we cared. It was a cordial discussion, and the fact that he approached me first is a good sign.

At this point, I think that barring a miracle, it is impossible for us to put a halt to their construction plans, and the renovation. What I do suggest, is that in about two weeks time, when all of the bad feelings have blown over a bit, that we investigate forming a Members Association. I would serve in the association if requested. We should have a group of six people (a manageable number) that meets with the club management on a timely basis as part of the group, to keep the rest of our members updated on the progress of the renovation, and more importantly, to make sure that our interests are protected.

In the interim, we can also have our "LEGENDS IN EXILE" group, to meet time to time at various venues throughout Singapore over the next six months. We need to start collecting e-mail addresses as soon as possible via our web site www.legendsfortcanning.blogspot.com so that we can continue keep our members informed of what is going on, and to get as many people as possible to any functions or gatherings that we may want to have over the next 6 months or more.

Joe, please place the enclosed information of this e-mail on the web site. If anyone needs to reach me, I have a BlackBerry on me at all times, and can get back to you within minutes.

Thanks folks! Hang in there. It's only been a couple of day, but I miss our club and you guys and gals already.

Best Regards Always,

JERRY BARISANO
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Misuse of Ballroom & Other Areas?

For those members who were not on the email list, we were informed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday that the Ballroom is designated for use as a Member's Only area. On the same day, we wrote to the URA with the following:

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Dear Mr. Han,

As per our meeting today, we would like to formally report that the Management of the Legends Fort Canning has been misusing the Ballroom facilities.

As you told us today, that Ballroom is supposed to be for member's use only. However Management has ALWAYS used this Ballroom for the public to hold weddings and events. Members do not even know that this was supposed to be for members only. Also even if members want to book this space, they have no preferences over the public and must compete with the public for the space.

Please check into this misuse and also request that they also stop using that facility during the next 6 months when they are planning to shut down the rest of the club.

Regards,

Members of the Legends Fort Canning
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I further quote the Club's own website:

"Park Level Function Rooms - Legends Ballroom / Lavender 1 and 2 / Bridal Rooms

The Grand Ballroom can accommodate a banquet of up to 500 people of 50 tables. These rooms can be booked by members, their guests as well as the public for a wide-range of social and corporate events."

What about the Function Rooms on second floor? Essentia Spa (formerly on the 3rd Floor) - was that also in space that was designated as Member's Only? And the area that was formerly rented out to Savaskool Enrichment on the Ballroom floor next to the Management Office? Member's Only?

Misuses aside, what really annoys me is that we are not treated with respect as partners and members. And there has not been transparency to the membership from the Management and Owners. The message has always been: "It will be done this way. Take it or leave it."

Why do we have to resort to speaking to the URA to find out the truth? It did not have to go down like this.

To the Management and Owner: You have our email addresses, contact numbers, and billing addresses. Would you care (or dare) to hold another Members' Conference? The Ballroom should be available for member's use - unless of course some non-member has already booked the space. They are more importantly than us lowly members, since the Ballroom remains open in the next 6 months while we are in the streets.

Peace. Out.
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Joe Nguyen
A Loyal Legends Member in Exile without a Gym, Pool, Lounge ...

Meeting with URA today!!!

A big "Thank you!" to all those members who have contacted the URA to tell them about our displeasure at what is happening to our Club. URA has heard us!

They are meeting us today. See below from Lyn:

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ALL LEGENDS MEMBERS,

URA has finally heard our voice and is inviting us to attend a meeting
this afternoon (15 OCT 08) AT 3PM.

1. If you are interested in attending the meeting, pls call Siok Kheng
from URA at 6329 3308.

2. The meeting is held on the 7th floor of URA Center at 45 Maxwell Road
(next to Maxwell Food Center).

3. This is very last min (I got the call only this morning) but do try
to attend if you can.

4. A director from URA will address our queries and we will have a
chance to look at the plans.

5. An update from Jerry - The Historical Society is against the
renovation works proposed by management and Jerry will update us with
the details in due course.

6. For those with friends in the press, pls highlight this matter. We
will need all the support we can get. Thanks
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Meet and sign petition

Dear Members-at-large,

There has been much going on in the last few days. Several members have spoken to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and have expressed our views concerning the renovation plans. It seems that the URA was under the impression that the renovation plan submitted to them had the endorsement and support of the membership. We have told them that it definitely does NOT.

We are putting together petition to URA to state the above and request a halt in any further work.

We are organizing a meeting at the Bin Sale tomorrow 5-9pm to finalize this.

PLEASE COME AND SHOW URA THAT WE DID NOT AND DO NOT SUPPORT THIS RENOVATION PLAN IN ITS CURRENT STATE!

Please tell other members and get them to come. If you can not come, please let me know (goo.nguyen@gmail.com) and I will get the Petition to you for your support.

The time is now, and this is the last chance you will be seriously heard on this matter. Act now to protect the rights and privileges that YOU HAVE PAID FOR! ... Be 'kiasu'!

Best Regards,

Joe Nguyen