Singapore Cricket Club members vote against renaming Men’s Bar at special general meeting

SINGAPORE - For most of its 173 years in business, the Men’s Bar at the Singapore Cricket Club admitted, as its name suggests, only men.

This changed in 2006 when it opened its doors to all patrons 10 years after women were granted voting rights at the club, located at the Padang.

The name has since become a point of contention among some members. Different groups in the past few years have pushed to change it to something new, or to change it back.

Most recently, a group of 53 members called for a special general meeting on Sept 23 to rename the bar. They wrote a letter to the club’s president to request the session, some five months after the annual general meeting.

Led by Mr Suresh Shankar and Ms Zaibun Siraj, the group felt that the name Men’s Bar was not inclusive and did not reflect the equality and progress of Singapore today.

They tabled a resolution for the name to be “immediately replaced with a new and neutral name to be chosen by members”, suggesting “1852” – the year the club was established – or “Captain’s Bar”.

In the end, 53.49 per cent of those who were registered for the meeting voted against the change.

Speaking to The Straits Times after the meeting, Ms Zaibun, 78, a motivational speaker and social activist, as well as a founding member and past president of Aware Singapore, said the name Men’s Bar spoils the image of the club.

“The name does not reflect the values of Singapore today. Neither is it in keeping with the values of sports. It does not show fairness and respect to the women members who have equal membership status as the men.”

This latest attempt to rename the bar comes after a successful attempt at the 2024 annual general meeting in April was reversed at the 2025 annual general meeting a year later.

In 2024, following consultations with members, the club’s general committee tabled a resolution to have the bar renamed 1852-The Heritage Bar.

Some 51.98 per cent of registered members voted in support.

But this name lasted for only about a year, before a resolution was tabled by 23 members in 2025 to have it reverted to Men’s Bar. It passed with 68.77 per cent of the vote.

In the results of the resolution available on the club’s website, it said the original name was “historically significant” and “steeped in heritage”, and had come to “represent a distinctive and valued aspect of the club’s identity” over the years.

The fact that women had already been patronising the bar before the name change in 2024 also showed that the original name was “not a practical barrier to inclusion”, it added.

Moreover, the renaming had not “resulted in a noticeable increase in female patronage”, it said.

The change prompted Ms Zaibun and her group to launch the recent attempt. She had previously tried and failed to get the bar renamed in 2019.

This time, her group also tabled two other resolutions: to enshrine a rule that “no facility at the SCC shall be or can be named on the grounds of race, religion or gender”, and to have the club “display a plaque acknowledging the historical origins of the Men’s Bar at or near the entrance to the newly named room”.

While the first resolution on the general rule did not pass, the other resolution on the plaque passed with 58.31 per cent of the vote.

Ms Zaibun, speaking after the defeat of the resolutions, said: “In this day and age, you wouldn’t have expected anyone to say, ‘What’s wrong with Men’s Bar, it’s just a name’.”

She added: “Not all traditions should be preserved, especially if it is discriminatory in any way. While women are allowed to use the Men’s Bar now, the name is still restrictive and doesn’t reflect the values of Singapore.”

She said she would attempt the name change again at the club’s 2026 annual general meeting.

The Singapore Cricket Club, which has an active membership of just over 4,000, was started as a men’s-only sports club. It started officially accepting women as members in 1938, and granted them full voting rights on club matters in 1996.  

Asked to comment on the name change, a Singapore Cricket Club spokesperson said in an e-mail that the club “prides itself on being an inclusive institution, embracing members irrespective of race, religion, gender or age”.

“All members are allowed to participate in all activities at the club and be represented in all the club committees without restriction. The Men’s Bar has been an outlet in the club since the 1970s and has been open to all members since 2006.”

The spokesperson added: “The club reaffirms its unwavering commitment to actively champion equal participation and access for all members, ensuring our enduring legacy as a premier sports and social club in Singapore.”