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Plenum 2022-03-15 Minutes

Venue​

20:25 Open​

Credentials​

  • Present: Kheng Hui, Huiren, Joyce, Jen, Samuel, Valentine
  • Apologies: Junhao

Reports​

Regulatory (Valentine)​

  • ACRA Annual Report: Up to date. Next due 30 Apr 2022.
  • IRAS tax filing done for YA2021; next one is due 30 Nov 2022 for YA 2022.
  • IRAS: ECI: Up to date: Next due 31 Dec 2022.
  • Jen asked Corp Sec whether we are up to date with the ECI filing.
    • Corp Sec has replied; may need to check on the specifics re: ACRA.

Finance (Jen)​

  • Hard to predict where finances are going based on current input.
  • Would have been better without the move.
  • Chasing down membership payments will help fix our deficit somewhat.
  • Grant would help, or something else, e.g. selling Bitcoin.

Cash​

  • $21.3K in the StanChart+PayPal as of 1 March 2022.

    • Actually $6.3K, because we took a $15K interest-free loan.
    • (Jen) Statements imported into QuickBooks have never tallied with our bank account.

  • $2.22K* in GitHub Sponsors as of 15 March 2022.

  • 0.66914519 in BTC.

  • Pending claims from Valentine

    • M1 ($300), SP ($600) bills since Jan.
    • Fire extinguishers ($120).
    • Renovation and move stuff to be claimed:
      • e.g. Tables and chairs.
      • Details to be retrieved from Valentine's Google Pay transaction log.

Accrual (up/down $?/month)​

  • Including predicted upcoming costs amortised monthly, we are down $0.5K a month.

Significant changes to regular expenses (if any)​

Regular ExpensesAmountFrequencyMonthly Cost (amortised)
Rental250012$ 2,500.00
Utilities (est'd)45012$ 450.00
Internet9912$ 99.00
CorpSec2402$ 40.00
Accounting/Corp Services (est'd)30001$ 250.00
Aircon9801$ 81.67
Cleaning (est'd)8026$ 173.34
Income Tax (est'd)6001$ 50.00
$ 3,644.01
  • Aircon cleaning contract discontinued, will request for ad-hoc cleanings moving forward.
  • Cleaner needs more specific tasks (see below).

Space electricity consumption (Valentine)​

  • 674kWh total in February 2022, for a total of ~$183.46.

  • Approximately ~$6.55 a day.

  • In light of rising oil prices, should we enter into a fixed-price contract with a 3rd party supplier?

    • (V) Used to have wholesale prices, but new contract went back to standard prices.
    • KH is in favour but we need to shop around.
    • (Samuel) Fixed % off tariff might be more worthwhile; fixed $ price might not be a good idea at this point.

  • Air-conditioning efficiency:

    • (Huiren/Joyce) Main space air conditioning is quite inefficient.
    • Front room Daikin air conditioning is more efficient.
    • (Huiren) Building a partition along the HW room side was suggested for further renovation work.

Memberships/Contributions (Valentine)​

Update on new members and contributions​

  • New members
    • Samuel
    • Fiq
    • Shi Ling
  • Downgrades
    • 1 x 256 -> 0
    • 2 x 64 -> 0
  • Upgrades

Current membership/contribution breakdown by tiers​

TierCount
168
320
6414
12813
2560
5121

Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors​

  • New avenues for one-off/regular contributions.
  • GitHub US$ Sponsors: open to random donors and members as well; only in US$.
    • Monthly sponsors on GitHub not many: ~S$60 after conversion from US$.
  • Open Collective S$ subscriptions: probably start of the month; Stripe transaction fees (3.4% + S$0.50).
    • (Samuel) Months may have more than 4 weeks; is there a discrepancy?
    • Many payments seem to come in on 2nd of each month. (Jan 6, Feb 2?)

Old Hardware Pattern (Jun Hao)​

  • Ref: Google Sheets
  • Still happening.
  • Chairs among the next to go.

Further adjustment of membership tiers (Valentine)​

  • Put on hold for the time being due to lack of other opinions.

Website revamp (Valentine)​

  • Need to keep up to date with JavaScript for website.

House rules (Valentine)​

  • To be put up on website.
  • Open to change proposals next plenum.

Large group gatherings in a COVID-endemic Singapore (Valentine)​

  • Mar 15 changes to guidelines open the way for meetups again.
  • Space needs to be further prepared before we are ready for meetups.
    • Projector and speakers still not mounted.

Former plenum items to close (open)​

  • OHP amplification

    • To be closed: need for reminders before junking things is accepted.

  • Storage boxes

    • To be closed: is on website.

  • Back room water issue / Shifting of Hardware Room

    • To be closed: see new issue #12 below.

  • KGB premises lease renewal / Potential reboot

    • Retain: reboot ideas.

  • Governance reboot

    • To be closed: move to membership/restructuring discussion.

  • Re: Reboot ideas:

    • (Jen) Amendment: ad-hoc unlock code for temporary members?
    • Rebranding as social enterprise can be done, but qualifying for grants needs work
    • Rename: move to Social Enterprise / Non-profit Model vs. Pte Ltd.
    • Valentine (and Roland?) seemed to be most keen about this.
    • Long-term issue of attracting new membership should take priority.
    • Discuss in BAMF Telegram group?

Events (open)​

  • Upcoming events that HackerspaceSG could take part in.
    • Need to confirm if FOSSAsia is virtual or in-person (Apr 4 – 7)
    • Impact Festival Jurong Spring CC (Mar 18 – 20)

New business​

Ink spill in hardware room (Huiren)​

  • Some sort of large ink spill on the floor found dried when clearing stuff; did not come from printer.
    • (Huiren, Valentine) Need to prevent recurrence; could use a tupperware or plastic box for ink bag.
    • (Joyce) Could be a leak from a bag which Joyce found.
    • (Valentine) Cleaning it up may be impossible.

Roof water ingress again? (Huiren)​

  • Ref: https://github.com/hackerspacesg/KGB/issues/12
  • Water on the floor found in November; may be a recurrence but not sure.
  • Try to find out whether the leak is a current issue using inkjet print test.
  • (Joyce) Fire exit has an area where paint has been damaged by water.
    • May need to check that area as well; fix may not have been completed properly.

Clean desk policy (Huiren)​

Holes in the front rooom (Huiren)​

Gloomy/dark lighting in the main area (Huiren)​

  • Ref: https://github.com/hackerspacesg/KGB/issues/16
  • Difficult to read even with the lights on; may be an issue if meetups are to resume.
  • (Joyce) Suggested plan is to program all lights to be white; see if that improves the ambient brightness.
    • (Joyce + KH) Main room lighting to be fixed before aircon; should be able to fix it by end of the month.
      • (Clarification from Huiren after) The above point might have been a misunderstanding; there is nothing wrong with the aircon.
    • (V) May need to change lighting to brighter LEDs or fluorescent lighting, which could take much longer.

Smoking in front and back stairwell (Huiren)​

  • Ref: https://github.com/hackerspacesg/KGB/issues/17
  • (Huiren) Adhesive door sealers as suggested in issue.
  • Seems to be observed once every two days whenever Huiren pops by (noticed by Junhao, Valentine as well)
  • Smell stays in main area.
  • Leaving balcony door open for ventilation will let birds and insects in.
  • (KH) Check if sealers work.

Tasks for hired cleaner (Valentine)​

  • Ref: https://github.com/hackerspacesg/KGB/issues/13
  • Lists of tasks assigned but not done? Seems to only mop the floor.
  • Much of the slack has been picked up by Huiren.
  • Someone (who?) to inform cleaner of updated task list before she resumes.
    • Cleaner did a lot less work since moving to 336D.
    • (Valentine) She helped picked up the slack of the other pre-move cleaner recommended by Min.
  • (Jen) Cleaning has been observed to be done, but observations incomplete.

Membership referral scheme (Valentine)​

Carousell account (Valentine)​

  • (Valentine/Junhao) Create one for items which we can sell, e.g. beanbags.

Membership marketing (Valentine)​

  • Discussion postponed to next plenum.

344B to 336D move and renovation debrief (open)​

  • To schedule for a future date, need not be at a plenum.
    • Maybe early April?
  • Discuss more on HSG Telegram and mailing list (KH, Valentine to prod)

Facility maintenance and issues (open)​

Miscellaneous HSG administrative matters (open)​

Any Other Business (AOB)​

  • (Joyce) Workshops to be held in the space? Still KIV.

Next meeting​

  • 2022-04-19 20:00 tentative (tentatively scheduled for 3rd Tuesday of every month, but subject to change depending on the schedule of key people)

22:32 Close (approx)​