Current Committee Members
Past & Current Presidents of SABA
Hoang Tran 陳璧環
SABA was established in 1987 by the founding President, Mr Hoang Tran, with an objective to act as a liaison agent between traders and the local government, as migrants from South East Asia started to settle in Springvale in the late 1970s, the demographic character of the city started to change. Regular meetings were set up with the Council (the former City of Springvale) and other levels of governments, local Police and other local community organisations.
Martin Lee 李沛溢
Mr Martin Lee was the president from 1991 – 1993, during his term, SABA launched the first Springvale Lunar New Year Festival in 1991. The festival exceeded all expectations with an estimated crowd of more than 30,000 on the day of the event. The festival helped to promote the City in trade and tourism as well as further enriching the already rich multicultural community of Springvale.
Sin Cat Lieng 梁善吉
Mr Sin Cat Lieng (deceased) took over as the third president from 1993 – 1995 and presided over a period of consolidation for SABA. The annual festival grew from a crowd of 30,000 to an estimated 50,000. Mr Lieng also promoted SABA among many other ethnic Asian community organisations in Melbourne.
Guang Hong Ong 翁光雄
The President that followed, Mr Quang Hung Ong, for three terms from 1996 to 2002 continued the tradition of open communication with the Council and expanded into the international scene by forming trade delegations to visit China and Vietnam, and later helped to foster the sister city relationship between Greater Dandenong and Xuzhou of China.
Stan Chang 張顯揚
Stan Chang became the President for two terms from 2002 to 2006 and successfully repelled a State Government attempt of setting up an injection room in Springvale, as well as working closely with Council on more local matters such as footpath trading and street beautification.
Tom Huynh 黃肇聰
Tom Huynh, became the President from 2006 – 2009, and was elected again to be the President from 2011 to 2014. Within his term, SABA managed to purchase a property, and the subsequent sale of the property put SABA in a healthy financial position for following successors.
Frankie Chen 陳富基
Frankie Chen became the youngest President from 2009 to 2011, and initiated the Asian Gateway project, which was completed in 2015 and became a landmark for Springvale, as well as for the region and the community.
Daniel Cheng 鄭國勇
Daniel Cheng became the President in 2014 to present and officiated the official launch of the Asian Gateway in April 2015. Daniel also took up the fight for the removal of parking meters in Springvale and gained widespread support from the local business community. In the 2017 Springvale Lunar New Year Festival, Daniel spearheaded of having fireworks display in the evening as part of the Silver celebration the first time in SABA’s history.
SABA will continue to be a trade and liaison body, contributing its effort to promote trade, prosperity and harmony for the local business community within Greater Dandenong and will be working closely with Council in the coming major projects, ie. the Post Office laneway, the Boulevard and the need to improve street lighting for the Springvale commercial precinct.