Quorum at MSSA

Article 9, section iii, of the WMSSA Constitution says that the quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be two thirds of ordinary members for the current year.

Ordinary members defined in Article 5 of the Constitution refer to all Malaysian and Singaporean students or trainees stationed in or around Wellington and also to all members of the VUWSA.

A fair estimate shows that there are around 400 Malaysians and Singaporeans in Wellington and VUWSA members will be around the region of say 5000. Hence, to get two thirds of these members to form a quorum for the AGM will be near impossible It is in this light that I will challenge any claims that the 9th MSSA Annual General Meeting held on September 26 was null and void because of lack of quorum.

We are indeed unfortunate that ignorant and glory seeking people like Ken Lim exist in Wellington His presence at the AGM was not incidental. As an ex-President of MSA, he does not even know how to differentiate the definition of a 'ordinary member' and a 'financial' member. His added ignorance of the VWSA Schedules which led to his frantic attempts to challenge the quorum needed for the AGM should not be excused. Ken may not realise that under VUWSA Schedule number 4, a requisition of 50 members is all that is needed to form a quorum. Ken, sorry to offend you, but please keep yourself up to date with information and procedures of meetings.

To others who might be confused over Ken's highly magnified ignorance, may I point out that the only difference between ordinary and financial members is as far as voting right is concerned. Ordinary members who have not paid their annual subscription are constitutionally legal to form a quorum but no voting rights will be accorded to them.

David Tan