On the Mark

Quarterly Newsletter by the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Consumer Cooperative Society Limited

October 2012 *Issue 3 of 2012

This issue
Editors Desk P.1 Whats New? P.2 Promotions/Events P.3 Coops History P.4 whats Past P.5

Editors Desk
The start of the new semester is just around the corner and already we can feel the buzz of energy and excitement as students are coming back to campus for their activities, school projects and their co-curricular activities. This October semester sees NP Co-op introduce our retail incubation concept: CuBiz. This is part of Co-ops effort in providing students with a convenient and affordable means of testing their retail ideas on campus. Students can tap on Co-ops location and infrastructure to put their retail products on display to the campus crowd to see if there is interest in what they have to offer. Details are given in the following article. NP Co-op is also currently in discussion with a student start-up for a potential collaboration. Our investment in E4PID (Employment for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities) Coop is bearing fruit now that the logo design competition organised by e2i club will be unveiling the winning entry that will be the new logo for E4PID. Our storefront for the retail outlet @ 5 has been spruced up with the introduction of CuBiz as well as the Smart LED TV. This will provide students with an additional avenue to reach out to the campus community in addition to the display of their products in the CuBiz. We wish all our student and staff members as well as the campus community a great Oct 2012 semester.

Whats New? CuBiz

The CuBiz is an acrylic showcase partitioned into shape of boxes for products to be displayed for sale. Each box will have a lock at the back for safe-keeping the products on display. There are currently 16 boxes available for rental if you have products / services that you want to sell or display. Bizbox naming contest NP Co-op has held a naming contest for our bizbox @5 Outlet. Many names were submitted and reviewed by NP Co-op management. We would like to congratulate Wei Liat for winning the "Name the Bizbox" contest

His suggestion of "Cubez" for the name of our Bizbox or Retail Incubation boxes was the name selected by NP Coop Board and the Co-op has decided to name the project, "Cubiz" (with "i" substituting for "e") to denote the retail business incubation nature of the acrylic cube boxes you see now in our @5 Outlet.
Interested students can approached the cashier counter for more information on as well as the application forms. CuBiz rental is on a first-come first-served basis There are only 16 boxes available so do book your box now if you have retail products that you think would be suitable for the campus crowd. NP Co-op is a social enterprise where your needs is our business.

I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers. There arent enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision. -W. Clement Stone
NP Co-op members will enjoy a discount for the rental fees of the CuBiz. If you are not yet a member, do grab a form from NP Co-op General Office at Blk 8 #01-12. As a NP Co-op member, you can enjoy benefits such as discounts off non-offer items, door gifts for AGM; member rates for activities/events which NP Co-op organizes regularly, scholarship/bursary/grants and much more.

Promotion/Events
Launching Promotion!!!

October 2012

Back to School Promotion

Together with the launching of our CuBiz, NP Co-op has installed a Smart TV at our outlet @ Blk 5. Each rental of our Cubiz will come with a first month free advertising services for students. Just submit a soft copy of your 1 min videos/photos (max 8) to NP Co-op general office and count on our Smart TV to advertise your product during office hours Mondays to Fridays. Terms and conditions apply.

M&M chocolates Original Price-$1.45 Offer Price-$1.20

Writing Pad Original Price-$2.70 Offer Price-$2.00

Super Ring Original Price-$0.90 Offer Price-$0.75

Lexus Mini Original Price-$0.90 Offer Price-$0.80

Lucky draw contest

A big shout out to everyone. We will be having a lucky draw contest for those who rented our Cubiz upon our launch. There will be a $30 capital mall voucher to be won. Dont miss this chance! Rent your box now! Nerds Original Price-$1.60 Offer Price-$1.30 Ovaltine Original Price-$0.50 Offer Price-$0.40 Pop Smile Popcorn Original Price-$1.70 Offer Price-$1.30

Corn Chips Original Price-$2.60 Offer Price-$2.30

Mentos KIDZ Original Price-$1.60 Offer Price-$1.00

Swees Potato Chips Original- 1 for $0.80 Offer- 3 for $2.00+Free Swees Chewing Candy

Co-ops History
The NP Co-op has been set up since 1971. Some of our younger staff and our students were not even born when the Co-op was set up. Digging through the Co-op's annual report 2000-2001 revealed the interesting timeline of key milestones from 1971 -2001: Since then, the Co-op has undergone developments and grown along with Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Knowing a little bit about our history allows us to reflect upon what has gone in the past and allows us to consider what to plan for the future. We will not know what the future will hold but we know that with the support of staff members, student members as well as the Co-op staff, it will be an interesting time going forward.

Time Line
1971 -- Incorporation of Ngee Ann Technical College Co-operative Bookstore Society Limited. 1982 -- Renamed as Ngee Ann Polytechnic Consumer Co-operative Society Limited 1988 -- Official opening of Blk 5 1991 -- Setting up of the Bookshop, Deli (Splash and Decker), PC centre and shop 73 1994 -- First issuance of Co-ops newsletter On the Mark 1996 -- Launch of Co-ops Web page 2011 -- First issuance of Co-ops digitalized newsletter On the Mark. Launch of NP Co-op Facebook and Twitter (@NgeeAnnCoop) pages

2012 -- Participation in Singapore National Co-operative Federations Co-opaliciouz Family Day @ Marina Barrage
and meeting President Tony Tan 41st Annual General Meeting Bizbox naming contest International Year of Co-operatives 2012 Conference@Suntec Rock Auditorium Launch of CuBiz retail incubation project @ 5

Whats past
Past events

41st Annual General Meeting

The 41st Annual General Meeting took place on the 11 September at Ngee Ann Polytechnic LT 76. A total of 148 members attended the meeting. Lunch was served after the meeting and members had an enjoyable time with one another.

One of the highlights of the 41st AGM is the election of the Board of Directors. With a total of 148 members present, votes were casted. We would like to thank our director, Mr. Chua Tji Leng for his contributions and efforts. We would also like to congratulate and welcome Mr. Shib Nath Mukherjee and Mr. Ong Teck Soon for being elected to our new Board as Directors.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle

International Year of Co-operatives 2012 Conference @ Suntec Rock

Auditorium
Organized by the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF), the IYC Conference was held on the 4th of October at the Rock Auditorium@ Suntec. A total of 900 local and overseas delegates were present. The guest of honour was Mr. Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. The theme for this conference was How Social Capital drives Profits, Growth & Sustainability. NP Co-ops director, Mr. Yoong Ee Chuan was also one of the panelists and presenter to introduce NP Co-op to the delegates.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic Consumer Co-operative Society Limited

535, Clementi Road, Singapore 599489 Ngee Ann Polytechnic NP Co-op General office Blk 8 #01-12