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Chairman's New Year Address (2011)
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In the Chinese horoscope, Year 2010 was the year of the tiger. Like the tiger which symbolises danger and all its perils, Year 2010 was fraught with natural disasters such as the Pakistani floods and Icelandic eruptions, rumours of war between North and South Korea, economic instability in the USA and its global contagious effects, airport crunches in Heathrow, and so many other adverse, worldchanging events.

Likewise in Year 2010, Sengkang Punggol Football Club (SPFC) faced a year of great challenges. Our football team did not perform up to the Executive Committee's expectations. We still remained second bottom in the S. League table for 2010 (same standing as Year 2009 when I first took over the club in the middle of the year). But one important consolation was that the goal difference for 2010 has dropped by 25%. Also, SPFC's gap from the bottom club has been improving since its inception in 2006 as proven by our increment in points in the S. League on a yearto- year basis. Another consolation was that our football field at Hougang Stadium was officially announced as 'The Best Maintained Pitch' by SSC amongst all the S. League stadiums for the second consecutive year.

On top of that, the Club has also registered an 'Official Fan Club' which would be led by Jonathan A. Francis under their previous name of 'United 4 United'. To all SPFC's fans, I would like to pay tribute to them for their vociferous support and undying passion in turning up for each and every of our matches in the final stages last season. We genuinely look forward to working closely with them in the near future, especially with upcoming and exciting plans aiming to create a vibrant matchday experience for our supporters / fans and a greater community involvement from the Club as well as increasing the level of football exposure to our youths and beyond.

Going with this optimistic perspective, I am also pleased to announce that SPFC has signed a Brazilian, Diego Gama De Oliveira (Forward) and an Argentinean, Carlos Alberto (Midfielder) to play for the Club in the 2011 S-League season, on top of a list of other promising local talents. I promise all SPFC's die-hard fans that our brand of exciting, flowing football is going to bring us to a new level of football sensation in 2011.

There is a constructive aspect to our football which I would like to make a small note of. At SPFC, we believe in committing to a development culture whereby we are often under-credited for. I would like to mention the examples of our players (past and present) like Nor Azli, Kenji Arai, Elias Duncan David, Fadhil Salim and Mamadou Diallo to further my point.

Nor Azli, our captain for the 2010 season was previously released by Gombak United. SPFC took him in and groomed him over the course of last 2 seasons to be a solid, consistent Centre Back who is always ready to lead the line. This year, he will be moving on to Home United, a top side ready to mount a serious title challenge now. I am happy for his continued progress and wish him all the best in his career. I believe his performance there will surpass even his performance with us in 2010.

Joining him in a similar transfer movement to Home United is Kenji. When Kenji was looking for a club to play with after his stint in India, SPFC had the honour of having such an assured asset in the team. Although Kenji spent only half a season playing his heart out for SPFC, I am proud to have overseen his steady progress and underlying confidence when he was playing for our Club in 2010. To have facilitated his eventual movement to a top club like Home United is something in line with our development culture.

Likewise for Duncan, previously he had been in and out of our starting lineup, spending most of his time in the Prime League as an Attacking Midfielder (AM). For the past season however, a transformation for him has occurred, when our head coach Aide Iskandar possessed the foresight to utilize this gem of a left foot in the Left-Back position. Duncan's cultured placement and unquestionable work-rate has seen him progressed by leaps and bounds since the AM we first knew languishing in the Prime League, and he is defining himself to be one of the key members of our squad to date.

Fadhil, our first-team Goalkeeper (GK) now, first came to us as a substitute GK from Gombak United. Yet for the past season, he has truly exemplified his tremendous work-rate and outstanding potential. Fadhil has put in some amazing performances for the Club throughout the past season and is constantly proving his former critics wrong. I hope he remains focused and continues to build on his good performance in line with the Club's ambitions. He could realistically be 'national team material' for the years to come.

Mamadou, our 20-year old striker who has played with us for 2 seasons, his dribbling ability and technical mastery has seen him nominated into the position of S. League's Young Player of the Year Award for 2 years running, and this is no mean feat judging by how he plays for the Club as a Prime League player as well. He has undoubtedly improved at a phenomenal rate since signing with us 2 seasons back. He is another example of our development culture, and hopefully Mamadou will serve as an illuminating beacon of the Club's commitment in consistently contributing to Singapore's football landscape.

With a new vision for the football team and the club as a whole for 2011, I hereby announce, and as officially released to the media previously, that the club's name would be changed to 'Hougang United Football Club' and the club's mascot would be changed to 'Chester the Cheetah' effective 01 January 2011. I hope that with the change of name and mascot, our football team’s performance in 2011 would be able to create a brand-new experience to all our supporters and fans; because here at SPFC we understand that the end-product of football ultimately owes its drive and success to all its fans.

With the turn of this millennium's first decade, SPFC went through a major overhaul in terms of its name, logo, and mascot which will represent a watershed in our proud history in football; a symbolic turning point both on and off the pitch. Our decision to be renamed 'Hougang United Football Club' is firstly and obviously to be able to identify better with the community around our base of operations - we do pay close attention to the feedback from our fan base at Hougang Stadium. Yet more importantly, this name change affirms an inherent commitment from our part to continue to improve our standards as a football club. It represents the dawn of a new era for SPFC; to forgive and forget past sagas, and to embrace the future of constant changes which I believe the S-League likewise needs to undergo too.

Change is a big word in digital world. Change can sometimes be troublesome, or even painful. As Charles Darwin once prophesized: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change". For the first time since time memorial, a Black President now rules the White House. In fact, Change is what we need to thrive in and leverage upon. Change, is what I believe is the key in constructing a modern and sustainable football landscape for Singapore, and for SPFC.

The Cheetah as our mascot embodies our thrive for excellence and thirst for agility. Bear in mind, in biological terms, the Cheetah is currently the world's fastest land animal, reaching speeds of up to 120 km/h in short bursts, coupled with the ability to accelerate from 0 to 103 km/h in three seconds, faster than most supercars. The Cheetah is also able to vary its diet according to its habitat and environment, once again a reflection of our versatility when faced with many different and difficult situations. Due to its speed, the Cheetah has few predators; it lies at the very top of nature's living chain. With its superior, competitive and subtly aggressive characteristic, we sincerely believe that the Cheetah presents a more accurate symbol of the Club's ambitions.

The Club will also be welcoming a change in the boardroom as well. I am proud to welcome Mr. Alex Tan from Westcomb Financial Limited and Mr. Ivan Leong from a reputable hotel corporation to the Executive Committee team. These 2 top professionals will certainly give a big boost to our management lineup. We are sure that they will bring along their invaluable expertise and experience from their respective fields in the finance and service industry respectively, to professionally infuse into our new entity. We look forward to a tight-knitted and effective management team for 2011, on top of further financial firepower.

As for the financial outlook of the Club, since the beginning of Year 2010, the Club has increased the number of fruit machines as well as manpower in face of the opening of the two local casinos. With respect to Resort World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, the club has predicted (and experienced) a significant drop in its revenue when both casinos opened their doors for business in February and April 2010.

Collections from the fruit machines were volatile then but we managed to maintain and stabilise the collections in the later part of the year. Our Club's cash flow has improved greatly and is getting less dependent on FAS' subsidies. The Club has also returned its external debt by 33% since I took over the Club's books. Therefore, I wish to share that the Club's ultimate target is to be self-sustainable by the end of 2012, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

But there were rumours circulating around that somewhere in second quarter of 2011, a new turnover tax will be implemented (in the region of 9% to 12%) to all private clubs in Singapore. If this tax is being implemented, we have mathematically calculated that every S-League football club, including SPFC, will not be able to survive financially for more than 6 months. This is a worrying scenario for 2011 and a great challenge for all clubs to tackle should it come to reality; for now it is the only potential flashpoint to take note of in the New Year 2011.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere heartfelt thanks to all players, coaches, management and staff for their hard work and efforts being poured into the Club in 2010. I hope all of you will continue to cooperate fruitfully and put in your best efforts to work hard for the future success of the Club. Let us look forward to what we want to achieve collectively and ultimately; that is how we are going to unite as one and work for the future development and expansion of the Club.

Thank you very much for your time and I wish all players, coaches, SPFC's Executive Committee team, all Club's staff and including all S. League Clubs, a happy, healthy and prosperous new year in 2011.




Yours Sincerely,
Bill Ng
SPFC Chairman




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