Magazine Aug-Oct 2020

FROM THE ACTING GENERAL MANAGER

Dear Members, I hope that you are making the best of the summer break, and that Club programs and offerings have enriched this period for you and your family. In the coming weeks, we look forward to rolling out even more new and exciting vir tual events. Following the successful launch of vir tual cooking classes, we will be adding a series of bread making and fermentation classes. Also, lookout for publicity on Pub Night, Comedy Night and Celebrating Women, a wonderful combined vir tual event with Strategic Par tners and sister organizations like the American Association of Singapore, the Canadian Association of Singapore, the American Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Our digital transformation journey extends beyond program offerings to back-of-house operations too. Keep abreast of our effor ts as we share highlights of this journey in this and upcoming issues of the magazine. The digitalization of Club programs and operations enhances our resilience in a crisis such as the current pandemic, and strengthens our response as a community. It also bodes well for The Club’s sustainability effor ts, improves operational efficiency and yields expense savings. In June, we shared our commitment to care, safety and cleanliness. In line with Singapore’s SG Clean campaign, we have submitted our application for the SG Clean quality mark, which is a premises-based sanitation and hygiene indicator. The SG Clean quality mark requires organizations to commit to sector-specific sanitation and hygiene checklists, to safeguard public health in Singapore. Owners of premises adopting the SG Clean quality mark reflect their commitment and ownership for maintaining high standards of environmental public hygiene at their premises. On July 21, the National Environment Agency completed its audit of

our Club premises and we look forward to receiving the SG Clean accreditation. Prioritizing the safety of our community, many Club staff have stepped up beyond their core duties, to be trained to implement and uphold Safe Management Measures around The Club. To-date, close to 50 staff have been trained as Safe Management Officers and in-house training has been conducted for about 30 Safe Distancing Ambassadors. Rigorous processes have been developed. This includes Risk Analysis and Daily Inspection Checklists for each outlet, as well as scheduled Club rounds for Safe Distancing Ambassadors to ensure that Safe Management Measures are upheld all around the Clubhouse.This is a big under taking and we seek the suppor t of all Members and staff, to cooperate fully with our Safe Distancing Ambassadors as they perform their role of reinforcing Safe Management Measures to keep us safe. June 30 marked the end of our fiscal year. We are pleased to have closed the year ahead of the approved budget. This was the result of multi-pronged expense control effor ts, as well as generous government suppor t through the Resilience, Solidarity and For titude Budgets. Initiatives like the hiring freeze, staff re-deployment to enable a reduction in variable payroll, expense savings, greater centralization of kitchen processes for staffing and payroll efficiencies, as well as leveraging on technology and new equipment to improve productivity, have yielded effective results in cost management. Read more about our effor ts in the series of `Through the Lens’ ar ticles in the Club magazine. Have a wonderful summer and see you around The Club! Best wishes,

Patricia Au

2 THE AMERICAN CLUB SINGAPORE