62nd Annual Business Meeting

With the experience of virtual ABM over the last 3 years, the Church and ECB have found the method of voting by proxy prior to the ABM and announcing the results of the resolutions through virtual platforms on the day of ABM to be more effective with a wider reach to members. We observed that other organisations such as banks have continued to use proxy forms for their ABM.

We have also noted that when hybrid options were offered, there is a greater preference for online than onsite attendance, as members generally prefer the convenience that the online option offers.

We have planned for a hybrid Townhall this year, catering for both online and onsite options to meet the needs of members and to better engage in any questions that members may have 3 weeks prior to the submission of their proxy forms. This arrangement allows members more time to deliberate on their votes as opposed to an onsite setting where they are to vote on the spot after responses to any queries.

With the Townhall and proxy form approach, the actual ABM will be more concise. It will be better use of members’ time to have them attend it online vis-a-vis travelling down all the way for an onsite session that could be relatively short in duration. Local organisations such as supermarket chains and management committees have also continued to use online ABM modality.

With the amendments to the Constitution allowing for online and hybrid settings for the ABM, the Church is poised for this change. The change to allow for ABM to be held by end of May has also allowed the Church and the ECB more time to engage members through Townhalls for questions and answers, as well as for members to deliberate before casting their votes.

We will continue to improve the operations on the conduct of ABM and we welcome your suggestions, if any. You can email them to abm@graceaog.org.

Similar to last year, there will be NO voting carried out at the virtual ABM on 19 May. Voting members will cast their votes in advance via the proxy forms, and they must submit their completed and endorsed proxy forms digitally or by post, by 14 May 2023, 11.59pm.

The proxy forms received by the Church will determine the quorum. If the quorum is not met, we will not be able to proceed with the virtual ABM on 19 May, and we would need to reconvene another ABM two weeks after 19 May 2023.

As mentioned in the earlier question on why ABM is not held onsite, we have determined that proxy form is a good method in allowing members time to think through the issues and to engage more members in ABM. By completing and endorsing on the proxy form, either digitally or hardcopy, voting members are able to exercise their rights by appointing the Chairman as proxy to represent them at the virtual ABM on 19 May 2023, even if they are unable to attend the session themselves.

A Townhall was held on 29 April, prior to ABM, to update members on past resolutions and to answer any queries members may have so that one can make an informed decision when casting their vote. The Townhall was planned with members in mind, to allow for a longer and deeper engagement separate from the pressure of time with the usual ABM proceedings. We believe that through this approach, the Board is able to engage voting members more effectively through the Townhall to provide voting members with the information needed for an informed choice.

By way of voting through proxy, the Church would also be able to count the votes prior with less resources, for the results to be announced during the ABM itself. All these will be carried out in the lead up to ABM, hence negating any need to vote at the actual ABM.

While the team has been sourcing for potential IT solutions for live online voting, there has been challenges in finding one to customise to our needs as most are catered to corporate AGMs. We are also mindful of the ease of use for our multi-generational congregation particularly for the elderly who are a big part of our Grace family. Other considerations for security and PDPA are also factored.

All questions related to the virtual ABM must be received by the Church via email or post by 5 May 2023, 11.59pm. These questions will be attended to and may be published on the Church website subject to the questioner’s permission or ECB’s discretion.

Voting members who wish to change their votes after submitting their proxy forms, may submit another proxy form, before 14 May 2023, 11.59pm.

The latter proxy form, if it is valid, will supersede the voting member’s earlier submission, and will be accounted for quorum. The earlier proxy form submitted by the same voting member will then be made void.

Selected staff are authorised to access the proxy forms that come in electronically or hand delivered. Hardcopies will be kept secured.

Each of these authorised staff has signed a non-disclosure agreement to keep the contents in the proxy forms received, confidential.

Authorised staff will only check for the validity of the proxy forms i.e. to ensure they are duly completed and signed, upon receipt. Proxy forms that are incomplete, improperly completed or illegible, or where the true intentions of the registered member to whom the form is addressed to, are not ascertainable from the instructions specified in the proxy form, will be rejected.

Only valid proxy forms will be included to account for quorum. Votes are not counted at this point.

Proxy forms received via email are printed out and checked for validity. All valid proxy forms will be kept in a sealed box. The sealed box will only be opened for the counting of votes cast for the various resolutions including the election of the Executive Church Board 2023 – 2025 indicated in the proxy forms, after the submission deadline on 14 May.

The tabulation of votes will be done by a team, in the presence of the Returning Officer and two scrutineers in a room that is under surveillance of security cameras.

Everyone involved in the counting of votes will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep the contents in the proxy forms received and the vote counting proceeding and results, confidential.

The results of the Election of the Executive Church Board 2023-2025 will be announced by the Chairman at the virtual 62nd Annual Business Meeting (ABM) on 19 May 2023. The results will be published on the Church website the following day on 20 May 2023.

So far, we have taken a prudent approach towards investments and we have only invested in 6-month Treasury Bills issued by Singapore Government Securities since July 2022 with yields ranging from 2.63% to 4.16% which were higher than fixed deposit rates or the equivalent tenor at the time of placement (as reported in page 39 of the Annual Report). Of late we have begun to redeploy our excess cash back into fixed deposits with better yields as the Treasury Bills’ yields have declined in comparison.

The jump in prepayments in 2022 were largely due to the deposits made for Grace Retreat 2023 amounting to $98,000, as well as advance payments made to various vendors for cybersecurity, insurance and licenses before the close of the year, to avoid the increase of GST from 1 Jan 2023.

For a start, individual members will be assigned an account to which they can log into to access their own personal details, much like the profile page of a shopping site. You would be able to view and update your personal details without having to go through the Church administration. When you sign up for activities or attend Grace Group, you would also be able to log into the system to mark your own attendance.

Grace Group Leaders will be able to maintain your Grace Group members list, as well as to take attendance for their members.

At the moment, only data of registered church members who have done the Membership Update exercise is captured in the database. In the days to come, only relevant and necessary data will be requested for event/activity registration, in compliance with PDPA.

An access-control list will be in place and reviewed periodically to ensure the confidentiality of members’ data. Access will be granted only on a need-to-know basis and it will be tiered. For e.g. Members will only be able to access their own profile page, while Grace Group Leaders will only be able to view limited details of their Grace Group members.

Security features such as two-factor authentication (2FA), WebApp Firewall, encryption and 24-hour monitoring of suspicious traffic will be in place. In the unfortunate event of a breach, the data is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access to the actual data.

A Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) is also being done on the system to ensure that prior to our system launch, it will meet the industry standards in terms of data security.

We are cognizant of the wide ranging and differing skills of Gracians. The Church will continue to provide the support and cater to the needs of those who are unable or learning to utilise the iCMS. Just as how many have come to use common apps such as WhatsApp, familiarisation will come with time and practice. Support in the form of training guides and videos will also be made available.

The lease on Grace@BukitBatok will be due in 2034. There will be 10years left on its lease as of 2024. While we are waiting on the results of the ongoing review on religious sites, the Board is making plans to look into areas for refresh at Bukit Batok to inject a fresh look and feel, and to rectify some areas to create a more conducive space for Gracians and guests for the next 10 years.

The Media Upgrade Project Committee is mindful of the remaining lease on Bukit Batok and the typical lifespan for media infrastructure and equipment planned for the upgrade in Bukit Batok is between 5 to 10 years. Hence it would still make sense for us to continue with the plans for Sanctuary in Grace@BukitBatok to improve its capabilities for broadcast and productions in the years to come.