AGM Minutes and Financial Statement

• Confirmation of 2008/2009 Minutes
  
• Constitutional Changes 2009
  
• Programs Completed in the Year
  
• Funding
  
• Upcoming Initiatives
  
• Passing of the Accounts
  
• Constitutional Change 2010
  
• Housekeeping and SOP
  
• AOB
  

• 70 River Monster Programs were conducted with an outreach of 3,500 students
• 60 Youth programs involving 350 youths was done
• 15 Assembly talks were held with an audience of 3,000 students ( a drop in numbers due to the H1N1 epidemic)
• 20 Corporate programs were run with more than 600 participants
• WWS volunteers conducted tours of the Marina Barrage galleries in partnership with the
• Hippo environment tours with schools and corporate groups
• 4 camps were held during June and December with a total of 100 participants (new camp model run by undergraduates/JC students with new highlights like campfires and a river raft race)
• WWS took part in several fairs and carnivals, including SSC Green Paperless Fair, ACJC
• Volunteer Fair, EnviroFest at SP, Talk at SP, NEA Networking Fair and Placebased education at Raffles Institution
• WWS participated in the YOG 2010 event under the Culture and Education Program (Environment). There were 2 rehearsals held in Dec 2009 and Mar 2010. 6 WWS volunteers were also very honoured to take part in the torch relay in the main YOG event.
• Since Q4 2009, WWS has been doing weekly appraisals of the cleaning contractors in Kallang Riverside Park under the Park Management Program.
• NParks has also approved WWS’s concept of the Community in Bloom (CIB) garden. Thanks to Annie and Mary-Ann who initiated this project.

• Funding remains a challenge as WWS relies on sponsorships and donations to operate
• PUB is partially sponsoring the River Monster programs, while NEA helps with the funds for the bike patrol youth programs
• WWS is grateful to friends/corporate groups like Veolia and Scherling Plough that helped with ad-hoc funds
• WWS is also privileged to have Fairmont sponsor WWS 1 and 2 for a year

• WWS is looking to engage stakeholders like Gmax, Segway, Marina Bay Sands and Esplanade in some of the society’s activities.
• The education and awareness programs would be enhanced to include water testing on the permanent pontoon outside WWS premises, due to the lack of beaches at our current location now.
• For the tertiary students, WWS is looking at structured kayak patrols as well, to engage the students in environmental awareness.
• WWS will be looking at having more structured kayak patrols that will go up to Rochor, Geylang and Kallang rivers on a monthly basis.
• WWS volunteers who are keen to get certification to do kayak patrols need to have a minimal 1 star qualification. Those who are interested can inform the Administration team.
• As highlighted in the previous AGM, WWS is considering applying for IPC status. As this would help encourage corporations to give, WWS is looking into it if it could help in terms of benefits to donors. Things will change should this happen, including a tightening of finances and regulations, and the engagement of auditors to go through our finances more stringently.
• Night bicycle patrols (1900-2300 hrs) are currently being organized with the police. The frequency of the patrols might be increased to twice a month.
• WWS is also looking into having a new patrol – on the Segway. This project is still in its exploratory stage, as the expenses involved would be substantial.
• There are some new school tie-ups (AJC, ACJC, ACS), and that will allow WWS to reach out to different audiences

• Income has gone up marginally for the society, with the main donor from Fairmont Singapore. While PUB still contributes to the education programs, this has been reduced by 40%. The rest of the majority income comes from service events and donations from other corporations.
• However, expenses have increased more than the income, leading to a net deficit of $18,752 for the year. One of the major contributors is the inaugural AWS event that WWS organized in 2009.
• On average, WWS needs about $120,000 to $150,000 per annum for its operating expenses. WWS will have to continue to look at different ways to bring in more income to cope with the rising expenses, in order to be sustainable. Queries were also raised on the increased Professional Fees. This was due to a late payment of $5000 to PA Water Ventures for our water and electricity.
• Other concerns were highlighted on the increased Premises Expenses. The increase was largely contributed by stationery, hardware and household expenses. Some of the other bigger expenses are printing of banners and signage, purchase of water testing kits as well as kayaks. These correlate with our increase in activities and events that we have organised.

• Eugene proposed that the society change the constitution so that the committee could have more flexibility in the signing of cheques. Double signatures are still required, but to allow more flexibility between the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Asst Treasurer now. There is a $10K per month limit on the signing of the cheques.

• Eugene stressed that when volunteers are on duty, they are reminded that they should not speed on bicycles and boats.
• Eugene also reiterated that the premises be kept clean and volunteers should not leave their belongings or litter behind. If caught, each offence would mean a $1 fine, which will go to the society’s funds.
• Volunteers are asked to respond to the admin staff when emails are sent out and request for help are needed.

• Many reservoirs are now located in urban populated areas, but not all reservoirs are adopted. PUB has asked WWS if any of her members are interested to start up a ‘child’ WWS group at the Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs. Some members indicated their interest.
• Eugene ended by giving special thanks to all the volunteers for their help and hard work in their various specialty areas – Annie Young, Joe Low, Morgan Wu, Mary Ann, Edward John, Hon Wai, Shiang Nee, Kang Li, Joey, Nicole, Tricia, Ping Ping, Xing Juan, Tun Phong and Ivan Teo.