Clubs Redux

Aun Koh and Wee Teng Wen Are Defining a New Generation of Private Members’ Clubs With Straits Clan.

- Grace Tay

With champagne and cocktails in hand, conversation starts to flow among the guest list of six – some friends, some strangers – selected for their shared interests or experiences. Dinner begins. A four- to six-course affair personally crafted by the host, followed by dessert made by the hostess. Whisky is poured and everyone swirls a dram or two, as the conviviality stretches into the night.

Welcome to a typical Saturday night dinner party at the home of Aun Koh and Tan Su-Lyn, co-founders of strategic brand communications agency The Ate Group. Preparations for the menu would have taken the 45-year-old Koh, popularly known as food blogger Chubby Hubby, more than two nights. But this month, he will be taking his host-with-the-most savoir faire to a new level, welcoming a much larger and more diverse group to a new adoptive home, and fostering connections among a new generation of kinsmen.

After six months of renovations to a building that was once a boutique hotel, private members’ club Straits Clan has opened its doors. Its stylish four-storey, 22,000 sq ft den is designed by local design firm Takenouchi Webb to include terrazzo flooring, custom-made rattan furniture, and walls mirroring elements from 1970s Singapore. Brass palm trees in the entertainment room pay a cheeky homage to Tropicana, a now-defunct 1960s entertainment complex in Scotts Road best known for its topless revues.

Straits Clan has taken over the heritage shophouse premises of the former New Majestic hotel in Bukit Pasoh Road, which sees it nestled amid numerous clan associations, many of which were founded as welfare organisations for Singapore’s early immigrants. But, unlike its neighbours, whose members are united by lineage, the club endeavours to gather individuals from diverse industries, all underscored by a common passion for change and creativity.