SINGAPORE: Tanglin Club’s” dangerous” work society is facing scrutiny by people after an incident of workers abuse that contributed to the withdrawal of the team’s general manager.
Founded in 1865, the exclusive members ‘ team has more than 4, 000 users and about 200 employees.
A part of the Tanglin Club’s general committee reportedly verballyabused another member on June 28, 2023, according to a report from the Tanglin Club’s general manager David Brightling.
Mr Brightling resigned on Sep 27, 2023. He said that” a dangerous job culture” was the primary “push” issue, according to internal documents seen by CNA.
The general manager was also hired and fired from Hong Kong’s private members ‘ club.
After a ballot called by the team’s leader Chong Zhi Cheng on October 16, 2023, the participant involved was removed from the standard commission.
The vote was called on the grounds that his alleged verbal altercation was in violation of membership rules that no club member should “reprimand or overuse” any associate of the staff.
On January 30, 2024, a commissioned separate assessment committee was established to examine the removal of the member in question.
After investigating, the review committee found that the alleged misuse did take place, according to its document dated May 23, 2024.
According to Mr Brightling, he sent an internet on Jun 28, 2023 about the league’s treadmill. The assessment agency’s report , indicated , that this was because a part had been seen “moving the practice bike around”.
The member in question finally called Mr. Brightling to schedule a meeting later that day after receiving a call. The representative allegedly had an issue with being named and accused in the internet.  ,
The review committee found that Mr Brightling was apparent in his proof that the part used the words “evil”, “incompetent” and” stupid” towards him at this meeting.
The basic director was even yelled at over the telephone, and the member in question “banged down” the phone on him.
The review committee made up of three regular team members and determined that this constituted “plainly aggressive conduct” together with the rhetorical abuse.
In a legal charter, the public administrator stated that in about three decades working at the league, he had come across “many occurrences” of harassment and bullying.
He said the Jun 28, 2023 affair was “certainly the most severe case” in his whole career.
Mr Brightling’s study of a” dangerous” work society at Tanglin Club was also supported by people the committee interviewed, who said that staff, including management, were “afraid” of people.
If a club member misbehaved, staff had apparently tend not to make a proper complaint, but tell their head of department and allow their manager handle the matter, or just resign.
According to the assessment committee, this negatively impacted staff morale and caused the club to lose staff members.
They suggested that the team’s general committee establish a harassment policy for both employees and members, as well as a procedure for employees to report misuse without filing a strong complaint against a member.
They also suggested creating a common method to handle administrative complaints against team members to confirm “fairness and transparency” and establish expected timelines.
The review committee also pointed out that it was a problem to “get the correct folks” into the common council, as just about 300 out of 4, 000 people voted in elections.
Members of the general committee “tend anecdotally to be male and older”, in their 50s and 60s, so there was a need for more emphasis on diversity.
According to the report, “work needs to be done” to encourage female and male members to run for president and, in doing so, contribute to the club.”
The review committee noted that “factions, cliques and political in-fighting” were affecting working relationships within the general committee, and between the committee and the club’s president.
Members of the general committee may take into account mediation “or other efforts to heal divisions, rather than exacerbate them,” according to the report.
Finally, the review committee suggested looking into the suitability of a code of conduct” to set the right tone and improve the dynamics underlying the relationships at the club.”
CNA has reached out to Tanglin Club to ask about the implementation of the review committee’s recommendations.
Before, there have been controversy-filled disputes involving Tanglin Club members.
Yeoh En Lai, the club’s former president, resigned in 2022 amid concerns about his academic credentials, according to the Straits Times report.
Mr Brightling, then the general manager, reportedly made a police report over this.
A member sued Tanglin Club and its general committee after going through disciplinary proceedings after being subject to disciplinary proceedings in 2018, TODAY reported.
According to reports, this occurred after he was accused of sending “offensive and disrespectful emails and WhatsApp messages.”