On 21 May 2026, around 130 members and partners gathered at Samsung Regional Headquarters for the 45th Annual General Meeting of the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS). It was also the night we elected the 23rd Term Management Committee — the group of people who will steer this Association through what is, by most measures, the toughest year our industry has faced since COVID.
If you missed it, here is what happened, what was said, and who is now in the driver's seat.
Let's not sugar-coat it. F&B is having a hard year. Costs are up across the board, revenue is down for the majority of operators, and the gap in the middle is where most of you are living right now.
In April, we ran a rapid-response pulse survey across our membership. The numbers were sobering. Nearly 95% of operators reported higher operational costs. Almost 7 in 10 saw business revenue decline. Of those, two-thirds saw sales drop by more than 11%. On ingredients alone — the thing you cannot run a kitchen without — 89% of operators are absorbing price hikes of over 10%.
That is the backdrop the AGM took place against. And yet 130 of you still showed up.
We got through the proper business of the night.
Mr Lim Kok Hong, Assistant Honorary Secretary, presented the RAS Annual Report 2025 and confirmed the AGM 2025 minutes. Ms Diana Teo, Honorary Treasurer, walked the room through the RAS Financial Report 2025 and the appointment of auditors for 2027. Both were proposed, seconded, and passed.
Mr Edwin Fong, Executive Director, then took everyone through the year ahead — Excellent Service Awards 2026, the China Mission Trip, Restaurant Asia and the Leadership Symposium in July, and the Epicurean Star Award & Gala Dinner in September. A packed calendar, and one we are genuinely excited about.
After the election, we are pleased to introduce the 23rd Term Management Committee of the Restaurant Association of Singapore.
President's Advisor
Andrew Kwan — Commonwealth Capital
President
Benjamin Boh — Domino's Pizza International
Vice Presidents
Andrew Chan — The Soup Spoon
Keith Chua — ABR Holdings
Honorary Secretary
Wei Chan — Pine Garden's Cake
Assistant Honorary Secretary
Aaron Yeo — Waa Cow!
Honorary Treasurer
Lim Kok Hong — Guzman Y Gomez Singapore
Assistant Honorary Treasurer
Ali Abbas — The Landmark Group
Management Committee Members
Andrew Ing — OUE Restaurants
Andrew Lee — Seoul Garden
Yong Yi Sung — Grain / Atlas
Paul Liew — Keng Eng Kee Seafood
Jake Chia — Wok Hey
Kelly Lim — Starbucks Singapore
Shaun Leong — The Hey Co
Mustaffa Kamal — The BlackHole Group
To everyone who served on the previous committee and is stepping down at the end of this term — thank you. Whatever your role, whatever the hours, you showed up for this industry when it needed people who cared. The Association is in better shape because of you.
To the new committee members joining us — welcome. You are stepping up at the toughest moment our industry has faced since COVID. You did not have to. You have your own businesses, your own teams, your own pressures, and you put your hand up anyway. That tells us something important about who you are.
President Benjamin Boh's opening address was the moment that landed hardest. He did not stand at the lectern and pretend things were fine. He named the double compression — costs going up, revenue coming down — and then talked about what gives him hope despite it.
What he said, in essence:
Hard years are the years where the industry sorts itself out. Where operators who really care about their craft, their teams, and their guests find ways through. Where new ideas get tried because the old playbook is not working. Where partnerships get stronger because nobody can do it alone anymore.
He thanked the members who shared suppliers with people they would normally consider competition. The chefs who collaborated on menus none of them could have pulled off alone. The operators having a tough quarter who still showed up to mentor younger ones. That spirit, he said, is not something every industry has. We do. And it matters.
He also thanked the partners — the suppliers, the associate members, the people who make it possible for us to run our businesses. The ones who stretched payment terms when they did not have to. Who absorbed cost increases they could have passed on. Who picked up the phone at hours nobody should be working.
You can probably tell I am quoting him liberally. That is because he said it better than I could paraphrase.
The President set out three broad directions for the new term, with the specifics to be worked out at the MC retreat in two months' time.
First, policy. Off the back of the pulse survey, we have put forward a clear set of asks to government — emergency rental relief, targeted energy cost support, expanded CDC voucher eligibility, joint procurement frameworks, flexibility on PWMS timelines, and liquidity support for SMEs. These are not a wishlist. They are the breathing room our operators need to stay viable. We will keep pushing for them in the rooms where decisions get made.
Second, infrastructure. The Association exists to make your business stronger. So the programmes, the resources, the partnerships we build have to translate into something you can feel on your P&L. Not nice-to-haves. Real impact. That is the test we will hold ourselves to.
Third, voice. F&B is one of the most visible industries in Singapore but we do not always speak for ourselves with the weight we should. We employ a lot of people. We define a lot of what makes Singapore, Singapore. The new committee wants this industry to carry that voice with confidence — and this Association to be the platform that lets us do it.
#onevoiceforfnb. That is the goal.
We also presented certificates to new RAS members on the night. A warm welcome to: All About O Pte. Ltd., Hungry BBQ Pte Ltd, Java Grill & Fry Pte. Ltd., KHL Printing Co. Pte Ltd, Modu K Pte. Ltd., Ristorante Pietrasanta, SGO CTP Pte. Ltd., Surrey Hills Holdings Pte. Ltd., Tofu G Pte. Ltd., and Technics Communication & Electronics Pte Ltd.
Glad to have you with us. We will be in touch.
Eleven sponsors and partners set up booths at the AGM and made the evening what it was — Grab, NPE Print Communications, Info-Tech Systems, Aptsys, IEG, Samsung, Kranji Countryside Association, BEWTR, Baristart Coffee Singapore, Wine List Asia, and Wine to Style. Thank you for showing up for us.
And to Le Rainbow Catering — the buffet was excellent. Members ate well. That is the highest compliment we can give.
The year ahead will not be easy. We will not pretend otherwise. But we will work for you. We will fight for you where it matters. We will build the things that make your work easier. And we will keep showing up the way you have all shown up for each other.
Here's to the 23rd Term and the next two years!
To all our attendees, thanks for coming and you may find the official event images via the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hs9B7OhGUCPHmwQGwRx4crxc-a6wrn-R?usp=drive_link
If you are a member with questions for the new committee, or you want to get involved in any of our 2026 programmes, email me at james.chan@ras.org.sg
