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Singapore. Singapore Island Country Club (SICC), arguably the country’s most prestigious club, has sacked its general manager J. P. Schneider just two weeks before his two-year contract was due to end.

The 52-year-old was also dismissed as its secretary, according to a notice issued by club president Tay Joo Soon to members on Tuesday.

It added that Schneider had failed to produce his master’s degree in corporate management which he claimed to have when he applied for the job in March 2010. “More details will be given in due course,” said Tay in the notice.

Schneider, a Swiss national, when contacted on Wednesday night, said he was disappointed this had to happen just two weeks before he was due to retire. He is seeking legal action to clear his name.

The move to oust Schneider comes in the wake of last September’s election of a new management committee. Members had then voted in nine new faces to 10 positions in the committee, which included Tay, an accountant by training, as president.

The annual general meeting then had been preceded by an extraordinary general meeting where no-confidence motions had been carried against two persons, the then treasurer and chairman of the tender committee.

In the notice, Tay said the club had found that Schneider displayed “grave misconduct” in relation to the participation of a company called Motion Capture Golf (MCG) in a tender process.

He had breached not only his employment contract but also the club’s code of ethics, added Tay.

MCG currently runs the pro-golf shops and manages the driving ranges and golf training for the more than 18,000 members at SICC’s two golf-course locations in Sime and Thomson roads.

It is understood that prior to MCG being hired, two contracts were given out to two companies for the two locations. Schneider was brought in to help the club achieve its mission to "re-establish SICC as the leading and most prestigious club in Singapore,", said then club president Jimmy Yim in March 2010.

Schneider had served in the food and beverage, hotel and golf service industries for almost 30 years before joining SICC, including a stint at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok where he was general manager for 13 years.

Yim, in an introductory letter to members, had said Schneider held a renowned professional diploma from Geneva and a master’s degree in corporate management from the Swiss Hotel Association.

Gordon Seow, 79, a club member of 52 years, said the news came as a surprise. “Usually, there are rumors which precede things like this. This time, there was none,” he added.

Other SICC members said the club had seen a high turnover in that position in recent years. They were not certain if the reason was that the job was too tough or whether the club could not find the right man.

Schneider said, as far as the MCG issue was concerned, he had been cleared by an audit committee last October.

“Where the master’s degree was concerned, yes, technically they are correct but the diploma I obtained 25 years ago was the equivalent of a master’s degree by the Swiss Hotel Association. This has been explained clearly before and I was hired for my work experience and background,” he said.

Schneider said his confirmation was brought forward from six months to four when he joined, and that he was paid $30,000 a month. This was based on his good work in helping to turn things around, he said.

“I had no plans to stay on after my two-year contract and was aiming to return to my base in Thailand for retirement plans,” he added.

The general committee has named retired lawyer Yau Meng Fai as acting general manager.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.