Those members who were at Monday's meeting with the Management were told that the renovation would cost the owning company $30million. However, in the Business Times article and their own press releases, the figure given was $70 million. So here are a few theories on the other $40 million:
1) $40 million will be used to buy back the membership from the 1200 current members. This would mean we each get $33,333. Dream on....
2) They expect that the renovation may be delayed for an additional 6 months and cost twice as much at $60,000,000 total. The remain $10,000,000 is set aside to buy back our membership in 6 months time when we are all going to raise hell because of the delay. This would mean each member gets $8,333. A more realistic figure and scenario.
3) The last theory is that the cost is actually $30million and there is a lot of grandstanding and chest huffing. It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite X-Files episode entitled "Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate."
I am undecided between 2) and 3). How about you all? Any theories?
Friday, October 10, 2008
Buy Back Scheme & Guest rooms don't mean hotel
Comment left by Lyn - a member:
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I had explained to the management (through Amy) that the basis upon which we had subscribed as members to the club has changed and management should consider a buy-back scheme. Her reply was that management is not offering any buy-back scheme for the time being.
I am aghast firstly at the short notice given to members and secondly the fact that members are not consulted on the upgrading process. There is no survey done recently on the facilities which members would like to be retained and there are no updates given to members. It appears that management will go ahead with renovations whether members like it or not. In that case, I would think it reasonable that management considers a reasonable buy-back scheme for members who no longer want to be part of this so called “exclusive” club.
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I also wanted to add that all the statements in the press and to us regarding "a survey of members showed guest rooms were one of the things they wanted most" is a complete misrepresentation of the facts:
Just because we wanted guest rooms does NOT mean we want a hotel to take over the whole original building!
It should not be represented in the press or otherwise that the membership support or endorse this hotel. We have never been given the chance.
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I had explained to the management (through Amy) that the basis upon which we had subscribed as members to the club has changed and management should consider a buy-back scheme. Her reply was that management is not offering any buy-back scheme for the time being.
I am aghast firstly at the short notice given to members and secondly the fact that members are not consulted on the upgrading process. There is no survey done recently on the facilities which members would like to be retained and there are no updates given to members. It appears that management will go ahead with renovations whether members like it or not. In that case, I would think it reasonable that management considers a reasonable buy-back scheme for members who no longer want to be part of this so called “exclusive” club.
====
I also wanted to add that all the statements in the press and to us regarding "a survey of members showed guest rooms were one of the things they wanted most" is a complete misrepresentation of the facts:
Just because we wanted guest rooms does NOT mean we want a hotel to take over the whole original building!
It should not be represented in the press or otherwise that the membership support or endorse this hotel. We have never been given the chance.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Response from TLFC RE: $80 Monthly Fee For "Golf" Members
As Mr. Hofer is away, Amy Cheong has kindly responded to my open letter on his behalf. Excerpt below - followed by my response:
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From: Amy Cheong
Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Subject: RE: Open Letter to GM Herbert Hoeffer RE: $80 Monthly Fee for "Golf" members
Dear Joe,
Thank you for your email to Mr Hofer dated 7 Oct 08. Mr Hofer is currently out of the office and will be back on Monday, 13 Oct 08, so I am replying on his behalf.
The Management is willing to allow members who wish to convert their Golfing Membership to Social Membership, and they will then pay the Social Membership subscription fees when the sub fees are reinstated. As Social Members, they are still welcome at The Legends Golf & Country Resort, and may play golf there at the Member’s Guest rate, which is what the existing Social Members are doing. Please note, however, that this conversion is a one-time process and is irreversible. Should the member wish to transfer his membership at a later stage, it will be as a Social Membership. Also, this conversion must be formalized by the member signing the Membership Conversion Form (which we are currently working on and which would be available from the Membership Department next week) in person.
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My response is as follows:
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Hi Amy,
This does not answer my queries. This was what you have already told us all verbally on Monday evening. So there is nothing new there.
Can we have confirmation that $80 of our $125 fees are actually going to subsidize the Golf Club and that the Legends Fort Canning is only currently getting $45 from our fee?
Also can you help us reach out to other Golf Members to get a discussion and understanding on the above? As I mentioned, most people do not know that they are Golf Members and are required to pay this fee. This would only be good membership service to let them know before the next bill comes. It is already in the press today that "Because of the closure, members will not have to pay subscription fees from Oct 16 this year to April 1, 2009." The same was said in Mr. Hofer's mail on the 25th of September. This is obviously not the truth.
Joe
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From: Amy Cheong
Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Subject: RE: Open Letter to GM Herbert Hoeffer RE: $80 Monthly Fee for "Golf" members
Dear Joe,
Thank you for your email to Mr Hofer dated 7 Oct 08. Mr Hofer is currently out of the office and will be back on Monday, 13 Oct 08, so I am replying on his behalf.
The Management is willing to allow members who wish to convert their Golfing Membership to Social Membership, and they will then pay the Social Membership subscription fees when the sub fees are reinstated. As Social Members, they are still welcome at The Legends Golf & Country Resort, and may play golf there at the Member’s Guest rate, which is what the existing Social Members are doing. Please note, however, that this conversion is a one-time process and is irreversible. Should the member wish to transfer his membership at a later stage, it will be as a Social Membership. Also, this conversion must be formalized by the member signing the Membership Conversion Form (which we are currently working on and which would be available from the Membership Department next week) in person.
====
My response is as follows:
====
Hi Amy,
This does not answer my queries. This was what you have already told us all verbally on Monday evening. So there is nothing new there.
Can we have confirmation that $80 of our $125 fees are actually going to subsidize the Golf Club and that the Legends Fort Canning is only currently getting $45 from our fee?
Also can you help us reach out to other Golf Members to get a discussion and understanding on the above? As I mentioned, most people do not know that they are Golf Members and are required to pay this fee. This would only be good membership service to let them know before the next bill comes. It is already in the press today that "Because of the closure, members will not have to pay subscription fees from Oct 16 this year to April 1, 2009." The same was said in Mr. Hofer's mail on the 25th of September. This is obviously not the truth.
Joe
====
Latest Picture of Proposed Renovation for The Legends Fort Canning
Found the latest picture released on the newly proposed club. What do you think? Give us your comments!
Click to see a larger image.
Click to see a larger image.
Today Newspapers: "New building, new problems"
We are heard!A journalist for the Today newspaper from MediaCorp came by to the club yesterday to look around and interview some members. The article is in today's edition on page 6. "The Legends Town Club. New building, new problems". The online version is here; I also put it below for easy reading.
She quoted me a few times in the article, but I feel she sensationalized it a bit. Getting the juicy parts. I guess this means my family and I will likely be booted from the club, and our membership will be summarily dismissed.
Wait!!! My wife says that they quoted a "John Nguyen" and not me (Joe Nguyen). There are lots of Nguyens around - half of the population of Vietnam are Nguyens. Must be another member. I am innocent. Don't kick me out!
Then again.. I could use "John Nguyen" as my alias... It kinda sounds like "John Wayne".Too bad, they did not give the URL of the blog. I hope this spreads the word, but from my experience, word of mouth works better - so please get other members on this site.
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New building, new problems
Plan for hotel draws ire of some members
Thursday • October 9, 2008
Ong Dai Lin (dailin@mediacorp.com.sg)
A TOWN club set amid the lush landscape of Fort Canning Park will be turned into a luxury boutique hotel as part of a multi-million dollar revamp — but some club members are unhappy about the change.
Mr John Nguyen, a member of The Legends Fort Canning Park, said: “We will lose the feeling of being in a spacious, colonial setting. We will lose the ambience and charm of the place.”
The building was built by the British in 1926 and housed the British Far East Command Centre during World War II.
Under the $70-million renovation plan, the club building will be converted into a boutique hotel, while the club itself will be housed in a three-storey glass building constructed on the space that the present tennis court currently occupies.
Mr Nguyen added: “If the hotel is built here, we (club members) will become second-class citizens.”
The 37-year-old was “quite upset” — enough to set up a blog about the renovations after attending a members’ briefing session on Monday.
“I set up the blog after the meetingbecause I wanted to get members of the club together and use it as a forum of discussion to see how other people felt and for the management to see it,” said Mr Nguyen.
Some members were also unhappy about the suddenness of the announcement. Mr Ken Low, director of a trading company, said: “We are not happy to be rushed into a deal that they planned — a lot of things are hanging in the air and we want to know more about our rights as members.”
Ms Amy Cheong, director of marketing of The Legends Fort Canning Park, said the club knows about Mr Nguyen’s blog and is replying to its members’ queries and is considering their comments.
Ms Cheong said the club had to revamp its business model because it is making losses. “The club was built for 10,000 members but right now we only have 1,200. There is not enough economic use of the space.”
When asked about the short notice given to club members, she said: “Since January, we have informed members in our bi-monthly newsletter that there will be renovations to the club, although no details were given.”
For now, Mr Nguyen hopes to get enough support from the club members to have a conference “to decide what we want, like maybe a petition and have a dialogue with the management”.
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008
It's Now Official: There are press releases and articles
There is an article in today's Business Times: Singapore News section titled "Legends Fort Canning to undergo $70m revamp". The online version is here. This may be a paid section and will require log-in. There is a "reprint" of the article here.
There is also a press release by the PR agency (McGallen & Bolden) with those artist's impressions that we all saw on Monday. Click on the images below to see a larger version. (Check out the last one.)
There is also a press release by the PR agency (McGallen & Bolden) with those artist's impressions that we all saw on Monday. Click on the images below to see a larger version. (Check out the last one.)
(Sorry, I just couldn't resist this imagery. Hahahhaah!)
What is the most important issue for you because of the renovation?
See the poll on the right column. Please VOTE!
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