Lunch meeting November 27, 2012

Summary of our November 27, 2012 lunch meeting

Prepared by Pres Dr Low Cze Hong and Rotarian Luis Coronado

Attendance: 17

We welcomed visiting Rotarian PE Renga Rajan of Granville, Sydney, Australia and Rotarian Mangala Karnik from Grape City, India with her daughter Shweta.

We congratulated Judy Tan L.S. upon her induction as new member of RCRC by PP David Ong Choon.

Our speaker was US Marine Corps Sergeant Winston who spoke on his long march (8,000 kilometers!) through South East Asia to raise awareness and fund raising for cleft palate patients and International Children’s Surgical Foundation (ICSF). His presentation covered:

• Background on clefts in general
• How Smile Trek came to be
• Complications associated with clefts
• What makes ICSF different from many other cleft charities
• Before/after photographs illustrating the scope of the charity's work
• A quick tour of smiletrek.org

Please be reminded of the RCRC Charity Film Show

Film: Les Misérables
Time/Date: 9.15 pm Friday 28/12
Cinema: Lido Cinema

This film is an adaptation of the hugely successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Helena Bonham Carter.
The beneficiaries are Crohn's & Colitis Society and the SunLove Home for the intellectually-disabled.
The film costs have been kindly sponsored by our own RCRC members, Lim Hua Min’s PhilipCapital and President Low’s C H Low Eye Surgical Centre. So all proceeds from the ticket sales will go to our beneficiaries.
Tickets were distributed at the luncheon meeting on 6 Nov. PP Wee Koon San is coordinating the distribution of ticket booklets. The Community Services Committee looks forward to your generous support of this fund raiser.
PP Mohan Pillay - Community Services Director

2012 Charity Film Show

RCRC Charity Film Show


Film: Les Misérables
Time/Date: 9.15 pm Friday 28/12
Cinema: Lido Cinema,

This film is an adaptation of the hugely successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Helena Bonham Carter.

The beneficiaries are Crohn's & Colitis Society and the SunLove Home for the intellectually-disabled.

The film costs have been kindly sponsored by our own RCRC members, Lim Hua Min’s PhilipCapital and President Low’s C H Low Eye Surgical Centre. So all proceeds from the ticket sales will go to our beneficiaries.

Tickets were distributed at the luncheon meeting on 6 Nov. PP Wee Koon San is coordinating the distribution of ticket booklets. The Community Services Committee looks forward to your generous support of this fund raiser.

PP Mohan Pillay
Community Services Director

RCRC Steps Up Vocational Service Projects

October was the Vocational Service Month and in a move to

revive the tradition of the club for being at the forefront of

this Rotary service,the Vocational Service Director Thomas Graf unveiled the plan on Vocational Service for the current  Rotary Year.These include organizing:

·  Seminar : 

   "Developing Leadership Stature of Emerging Leaders" for Rotaractors: 27 October  2012,conducted by PP Tengku Sri Indra for 20 Rotaractors and Interactors. 

·  Visits to DAS: 

·  Career Symposium : 

   17 November for about 300 to 400 students at TPJC involving both Interactors and Rotaractors

·  Vocational Visits: 

Vocational visits to institutions such as the Supreme

Court,the Regency Hospital in Johor.Participants would also

be Rotarians,Interactors and Rotaractors.

     Leadership Seminar for Rotaractors and Interactors

  “Clear presentation is the result 

of Clear Thinking.” says Tengku Indra

      A total of 20 Rotaractors and Interactors turned up at the seminar organized by the Club's Vocational Service held at the DAS Training Center,Bukit Timah Road on 27 October 2012. Led by PP Tengku Indra,the seminar covered a specific topic on "How to develop Leadership Stature for Emerging Leaders"with focus on the Art of Making Effective Presentations.

Seminar Leader Tengku Indra

    
  The main thesis of Tengku's seminar was "Clear presentation is the result of clear thinking." With this underlying message,Tengku outlined five common mistakes made by leaders when communicating with a group.These were:

         1. Lack of Preparation
        2. Too Much Information were presented
        3. Lack of Structure in the presentation
        4. The abuse of Power Point slides
        5. No SPARK  to excite the audience

Participants were made to conduct extemporaneous

presentations and received feedback from Tengku on their

strengths and areas for improvements when making an

extemporaneous speech.

The seminar was also attended by PP Ron Pereira and Rtn 

Corina Lai who had sponsored the use of the venue on 

behalf of DAS.

MEETING OF TUESDAY 30 OCTOBER 2012

Reported by PE Jeffrey Chan

In the absence of President Cze Hong who was in Melbourne, PE Jeffrey Chan rose to the occasion and took the helm of the meeting. He not only chaired the event but also, in a “pau-kow-liao” manner welcomed the visitors and guest speaker, led the toasts and delivered the vote of thanks – all on the advice and at the insistence of IPP Aaron. We were most happy to be joined in our fellowship by Rtn Harish Sekhseria of R C Calcutta Yunis and Rtn Nick Hollingsworth of R C Hastings, UK. Hasting was of course the location where in 1066 history was changed. Rtn Nick corrected our mistaken view of history and clarified that on the fields of Hastings, the French defeated the English, not the Norman defeating the Saxons as our former colonial masters taught us.

Our guest speaker was Dr William Wan, General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement. He was introduced by PP Russi who is on the Council of the Kindness Movement. William had a remarkable career – starting of as both a practising lawyer and a clergymen (he was called Reverend William Wan in his early days of legal practice –so PE Jeffrey recalled), he went on to be a psychologist and a businessman. Along the way he picked up numerous awards, including winning the Active Ager award in 2011. In an excellent and well structured presentation, William addressed the Indicators of Happiness, linking kindness with happiness. So those who are kind are also those who are happy. And how to know if one is happy, well there are some clear indicators. Foremost would be self-control. Without being in control of one’s self, one just cannot be happy. Next is self-esteem. This goes without saying. Examples were given of how when a person is constantly put down, especially by his loved one, this can destroy self-esteem resulting in an unhappy person. But one key indicator is the gap between aspirations and achievement. The lesson here is that when one keeps aspiring for more and more, whatever your achievements are, you just cannot be happy. And if you are not happy, how can you be kind to others.

Invariably the subject drifted to Rotary and Rotarians with William complimenting all of us for being members of this great movement, our fellowship and our positive outlook of life. The fact that we can think of helping others means that we must be happy as otherwise we cannot be so  kind.

William confessed that he, being a believer in kindness and happiness, has often wondered why he has not joined Rotary despite being asked on numerous occasions to do so. On hearing this we spontaneously issued to him an invitation to join RCRC as a member.  His immediate response was that he would do so if PF Jeffrey, whom he has known since university days, would sponsor him. To this PE Jeffrey’s quick response was “Consider it done”. So we look forward to in a very short time, welcoming Dr William Wan, General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement, a most kind, and by his own definition, a most happy person, as a member of RCRC. As PE Jeffrey said in his Vote of Thanks, Rotarians are most happy when we make others happy. We look forward to William making us happy in the same way as we hope to make him happy, and together we look forward in the spirit of Rotary to making others happy. In that way together we can spread the message of kindness.

Toast to the Red Cross

PE Jeffrey informed that the day before, i.e. 29 October 2012, was the 150^th Anniversary of the 1^st Geneva Convention. That international treaty recognized the Red Cross Emblem and marked the official establishment of the Red Cross Movement. Over the next 150 years, the Red Cross has been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in both war and peace. In so doing it has ameliorated the brutality of warfare and made for a more humane world order. The contribution of the Red Cross to world peace and humanity has been recognised by, among other things, the fact that it has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 3 occasions. Separately, the founder of the Red Cross, Jean Henri Dunant was the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

In what he said was an unusual move for RCRC, PE Jeffrey led a club in a toast to the Red Cross on the occasion of its 150^th Anniversary.

(PE Jeffrey was until 2010 Vice-Chairman of Singapore Red Cross. He is now the Chair of its Legal Committee.)

Rotary Flag Day

The Rotary Flag day in aid of the Rotary Foundation is on this Sat 10 Nov 2012. RCRC has been allocated the area in the East which included Parkway Parade and Katong I12. PP Eugene who is in charge of this event for RCRC called for volunteers to assist in selling the flags, attending to the numerous administrative tasks and also supervising the Interactors and Rotoractors who wil be assisting in the sale of the flags.

At the suggestion of PP Ron, a Sunshine Collection was made for the Rotary flag day. Rotarians who are unable to assist were asked to contribute in cash instead. Even Rotarians who are going to assist were asked to consider contributing. The Sunshine Collection raised $137 for the Rotary Flag Day.

Career Symposium for school-leavers

Rtn Thomas Graf reported that all arrangement have been completed for this Vocational Service project. This wil be held at the Tampines Junior College on Saturday 17 November from 10 am. The participants are JC 1 students and also our Interactors and Rotoractors. Tengku Indra will begin with a presentation on basic skills such as writing a resume and preparing for interviews. Thereafter there will be short introductions to various career options. The symposium will then break out into specialised sessions for various career options. Among those speaking are PP Ron (Marine Services); Brian Tan (Hospitality); Rtn Karen Tan (Banking); PP Koy Nam (Medical Services); Rtn Tengku Indra (Human Resources); PE Jeffrey (Public Service); his spouse Susan (Education), PP Mohan (Law); PP David Ong (Management); PP Eugene (Accountancy)  etc. As this is a major Vocational Service project of the Club, members are urged to attend to support it.  

Charity Film Show

PP Mohan reminded that our Club’s major project, which is the Charity Film Show will be on 28 December 2012 at the Lido at 9 pm. The film featured is the musical “Les Miserables”. Tickets are priced the same as previous years and will be issued shortly. The beneficiaries are the Sunlove Home and the Crohn and Colitis Society.

MEETING OF TUESDAY 22 October 2012

Reported by PE Jeffrey Chan

In the absence of our guest speaker, the Nigerian High Commissioner, who was called away on an urgent matter, Joao Lucas, our member-designate took us on a pictorial and musical tour of his native Portugal. This is where the next R I Convention is to be held– in Lisbon from 23-26 June 2013. Joao’s slides took us all round Portugal, especially its wine districts, with spectacular views, great histories, fine wines, delicious foods (such as Portuguese egg tarts) and friendly and helpful people. The presentation culminated with views and description of Joao’s own home district – a spectacular beach resort where he enjoys sweeping vistas of the sea right in front of his own balcony. The historic city of Lisbon, which has many connections with us here in Malaya and Singapore, beckons. That was sufficient temptation for quite a few to pledge to attend the R I Convention. President Cze Hong has signed up and is hoping to form a group of at least 10 from RCRC. Joao promised that he will make arrangements for the group to go on a short tour of the most interesting parts of Portugal.

Installation Dinner: to inject a dose of reality to the Portuguese euphoria among those present, PE Jeffrey Chan reminded that all going to the Convention must make sure that they are back in Singapore in time for the 34^th Installation Dinner. This will be on Saturday 6 July 2013 at the Grand Ballroom of the Singapore Island Country Club.

Lisbon - Here we come !

(Update from PP C hin Koy Nam on 24 Oct : Re: 10 days trip to Lisbon and RI Convention in June 2013.The tentative dates are from 22 June 2013 Saturday to 1 July 2013 Monday or 15 June 2013 Saturday to 24June 2013 Monday. RI Convention is from 23 to 26 June 2013 but we may not attend the entire convention, more likely just for the opening ceremony on June 23 Sunday.

President Cze Hong shall lead the RCRC group. So far, Cze Hong, Elizabeth, their son Jonathan, Sigrid, Aaron and I are interested. The forthcoming new member Joao Santos Lucas (Portugal national, now resident in Singapore) will provide a unique tour itinerary, which is not going to be where the tourists normally go. Joao has not yet indicated if he will join us on the tour.

Luis has signed on to the RI Convention and arranged a tour for his former RC members from Germany. We will arrange to meet Luis and his friends in Lisbon and possibly outside Lisbon.

Please ask the RCRC members to begin talking to their spouses and children .I will provide the tour details on 10 November Saturday so that the RCRC members can come back with a definitive answer by 17 November Saturday.)

(Update from Rtn Chris Mertz on 24 Oct: Chris &Jean are interested in joining in. Chris will try to get special airfares from Emirates).

Visiting Rotarians: The meeting of 22 Oct saw PDG Graham Jones of the R C of Southport, Gold Coast, and PP Oliver Hennedige of R C Singapore joining us. They were warmly welcomed and participated fully in our fellowship during the meeting. PDG Graham issued an invitation to all of us to visit his club which meets at one of the golf clubs on the Gold Coast. So anyone for golf and make-up a the same time?

Coming events: PP Russi, the Club Secretary reminded that this weekend is the Rotary Foundation l Seminar at Guild House, organised by the R C of Suntec City. The Family of Rotary Retreat at Desaru will be from 23-25 Nov. Also, our charity film show featuring the musical “Les Miserables” will be on 28 December at the Lido Cinema Hall 1. Members are urged to support these events.

Board Meeting: A Board of Directors Meeting was held at the residence of PP Chin Koy Nam on 21 October 2012. Dinner following the meeting was “Muthu’s curry” . It was hosted by Pres Cze Hong. A number of decisions were taken. Foremost were the approvals of budgets for the various committees of the Club. As the Club finances are poor, having incurred a deficit for the Installation Dinner, the Board approved a transfer of $ 7000 from the Club reserves to the operating budget for this year to fund the Club’s programmes. The Board also decided that henceforth all cash gifts from the Club to sister-clubs must first be approved by the Board. Also, the Club is not to be committed to any programmes or initiatives of other clubs unless the Board first approves.

Rotary Flag Day: the Rotary Flag Day is on Sat 10 November. RCRC has been allocated the area of Parkway Parade and Katong I12. Our Interactors and Rotoractors are assisting. Members are urged to volunteer to assist in selling the flags and also supervising the sales by the young people. Those who can please contact PP Eugene Lim.

.

"Good meeting starts with good house keeping" says President Low

MEETING OF TUESDAY 09 OCTOBER 2012

Reported by PE Jeffrey Chan

President Cze Hong arrived very early to set up the room for the meeting, including laying out the club desk, checking the seating arrangements and the food to ensure that all went well. These are usually the duties of the Sargeant-at-Arms and well over and above the duties of the Club President. Just as well that our President put in the effort as our guest speaker, Rtn Rewa of R C Singapore, arrived early as well. Rtn Rewa was no stranger to our club. A Rotarian since 1967, he has been involved in many facets of Rotary work. Significantly for the day, he has written 3 books on Rotary Humour  which has sold over 130,000 copies with the proceeds being applied to Rotary causes.

Rtn Rewa’s talk was on the 4-way test  which was formulated by Herbert Taylor in 1932 as ethical yardsticks for his employees.  Rewa  challenged us to think whether the test can be applied in all situations. When applied to specific fact situations, it became obvious from the examples he referred to that the 4 limbs of the test are mutually exclusive. Telling the Truth may not be Beneficial to All Concerned, and it may not always be the case that Building Goodwill and Better Friendships  translates to being Fair to All Concerned. Thus while the spirit of the Four-way Test is unquestionable, the test itself cannot be blindly applied.

Rtn Rewa’s entire talk was peppered with humorous anecdotes and jokes, leaving it beyond doubt that his books are good company for stressful evenings. He brought some along and sold them all, donating $2 from each book to our Sunshine Box. It was a true pity that so few RCRC Rotarians were present for this most enjoyable talk and the fellowship that followed.

Visit to RC Pasir Gudang and Johor Baru

President Cze Hong announced that he and PP Chin Koy Nam will be visiting the RCs of Pasir Gudang and Johor that evening. They will be exploring the possibility of joint projects.

Board Meeting

The next Board Meeting will be held at 7 pm on the evening of 15 October 2012 at the home of PP Chin Koy Nam at Rochalie Road. President Cze Hong will host the meeting. All Directors are to prepare their reports to the Board. Also, Board Members are invited to propose agenda items for discussion. These should be sent to the Club Secretary and President Cze Hong before the meeting.

Rotary Weekly Meetings Summary for September 25 and October 2, 2012

SEPTEMBER 25 - Prepared by Jeffrey Chan and Tengku

An initial hiccup over the availability of parking at the SCC after the F1 races led to contradictory messages to RCRC members as to whether the meeting was or was not cancelled. Thankfully, with the efforts of PP Koon San and Sigrid, this was clarified and 13 members turned up. There were no guests or visiting Rotarians. The numbers meant that the club will have to pay from Club funds for 7 diners as the Club’s commitment to SCC is for a minimum of 20 persons at each lunch meeting.


Rotary Flag Day

Club Treasurer PP Ron announced that the Rotary Flag Day in aid of the Rotary Foundation will be held on Saturday 10 November 2012. RCRC has been allocated the Katong area for the sale of flags. This area includes major shopping destinations such as Parkway Parade and Katong I12 shopping centres.

'PP Eugene Lim will be in charge of our effort, assisted by Ron'

We will have the assistance of our Interactors and Rotorators. But there is still need for RCRC members to be involved, both as supervisors and also to sell the flags. A number of RCRC Rotarians present volunteered right away. But more will be required. Those able to volunteer can contact PP Eugene. This can be for the entire day or just part of the day.

DAS Fund-Raising Dinner

PN (Designate) Corina reported that the Fund-Raising Dinner for the Dyslexia Association of Singapore on 8 Sept raised $1.3 million. RCRC Rotarians alone contributed around $300,000. These figures are a record. The report generated a cheer and claps from the RCRC members present.

Gourmet Fine-Dining Charity Event

PP Aaron reported that the total collection for the Gourmet Charity Dinner at Prague Microbrewery which was helmed by celebrity chef PP Jeffrey Tan of RC of Manningham, Victoria, Australia, was $11200. The cost (food ingredients, airfares and hotel for the 3 Australian celebrity chefs) was $5615. The amount raised for the charity, the Sunlove Home, was thus $5585. Our thanks to PP Jeffrey Tan and his team for the excellent meal and their contributions to the charitable cause, and also to Prague Microbrewery for the generous donation of the use of the whole of their premises for this event.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE !!

The speaker for the meeting was none other than our own Rtn Tengku Indra. He spoke because he wanted to speak – on a subject that is dear to us all. Reflecting on his life’s journey, he recalled that he was born in Istana Kampong Glam in District 7. This was where the good food was in old Singapore - mouth-watering mutabaks, thosays, soup tulang, mutton soup, numerous kinds of nasi padang and the ubiquitous nasi beryani. These he relished with great and complete abandon for 23 years of his early life. Then he went on to the corporate world and lived the good life, high-flying all over the world and enjoying great business meals at every opportunity. At age 42 he ventured out on his own and for the first time, since he had no more medical insurance cover, he bought medical insurance.

Then he came down hard – very hard. He had to undergo a triple by-pass due to coronary heart illness. Just as well he had medical insurance cover then. But that changed his life. He had to become more serious about what he consumed. But as time went on, he slipped back and just last month, he complained of angina discomfort that laid him low. He landed at Mt. E for a few days. Most seriously, he was unable to attend the RCRC Hari Raya/National Day Fellowship at Mamanda Restaurant which he organised. That was most sad.

Former RCRC Rtn Baldev, his good friend and cardiologist, made it clear that if he wants to continue enjoying life as he does, his weight must come down. That means exercise. Also giving up the pleasures of copious eating. Similar advice was doled out by PP Jimmy when he visited. The choice was stark. He had no choice. So he went on a strict regime. In just over a month, he lost 6 kgs. He looks better, feels better and is all charged up again to plunge into Rotary work. Next month the will be conducting a training programme for our Interactors and Rotaractors on public speaking. He will also be the keynote speaker for the forthcoming New Generations/Vocational Service Committee’s seminar on employment opportunities.

Tengku’s message was clear. We have 4 stages in our lives, viz; the “shiok stage” (conscious unhealthy lifestyle); the “alamak stage” (unconscious unhealthy lifestyle); the “paranoid stage” (conscious healthy lifestyle) ; the “okay stage” (unconscious healthy lifestyle). He has gone through at least 3 of these stages. We, like him, need to progress to the “okay” stage as early as we can. The cost of non-compliance can be dear. We may, again like him, suddenly find ourselves missing out on Rotary Fellowships. This means missing out on some truly great meals.

Tengku’s message was somewhat distressing to Rotarians - given that it was delivered in the midst of a delicious buffet lunch at the Cricket Club. Some Rotarians (PE Jeffrey?) suddenly found their chicken curry and gula melaka not tasting as nice as they normally do. Maybe RCRC as a club needs to move quickly through Tengku’s 4 stages of life. Maybe we should try to reach the “okay” stage, even now. The jury will have to be out on whether that actually takes away one of the great experiences of Rotary. But maybe the compensation is that we can savour the joys of Rotary for a longer period of time.

R C Pasir Gudang

President Cze Hong will be attending the Installation Dinner of the R C of Pasir Gudang this weekend. They have approached us to support one of their projects and President Cze Hong has agreed. He informed that he hopes to strengthen ties with this club as it is nearer to us and it would be easier to do projects with them rather than with clubs further away.

Rotary District 3310 Conference 2012-2013

The 22nd Rotary District 3310 Conference will be held at the Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa, Patong Beach, Phuket from 24-26 May 2013. It is hosted by the Rotary Club of Garden City. The theme is “Making a difference: Peace through service”. This conference will give Rotarians the opportunity to broaden our understanding of Rotary both locally and overseas, establish social networking with other Rotarians and hence meet our fellowship expectations. It may also allow other Rotarians from the host country Thailand to attend our conference to share their experiences with us and to learn from other one another.

Registration forms can downloaded from the District 3310 website. President Cze Hong has already registered. He informed that accommodation is severely limited and late registrants may have to stay in hotels away from the venue. He urged RCRC Members to register for this conference and to do so early.

Family of Rotary Retreat 2012

The District Family of Rotary Committee is organising a Family of Rotary Retreat at the Lotus Desaru Beach Resort, Johor on 23rd - 25th Nov. 2012. The Retreat aims to bring together all members of the Family of Rotary which include Interactors, Rotaractors, Rotarian & family members, Rotary Foundation Alumni and spouses of the deceased Rotarians in one single event.

This will be a time of great fellowship, fun and good food.

President Cze Hong urged RCRC Rotarians are urged to participate in this event together with their families. The dates fall within the year end school holidays. Registration forms are available at the District website.

OCTOBER 2 -  Prepared by Luis Coronado   The session started with a BOD meeting at noon. No guests attended our lunch today. His Excellency Dr. Simeon Selby Ripinga joined us informing of his forthcoming relocation from Singapore back to South Africa. Our meeting was presided by Dr. Cze Hong Low who also prepared an interesting video on how to prevent and treat Dry Eye Syndrome.

Sigrid Zialcita reminded all Rotarians that we can still join the every year/every Rotarian contribution of USD 100 to the Rotary Foundation. Anyone wanting to make the contribution should email Sigrid and/or our treasurer Ronald Pereira.

Sigrid also reminded participants of the Nov 23-25 Family of Rotary Retreat. Rotary Foundation Seminar on Oct 27 and Malacca trip on Oct 20 to coincide with visit to Dr. Koy Nam Chin’s clinic.

Luis Coronado reminded the participants of the 2013 Rotary International Convention in Lisbon, Portugal. He has already registered and mentioned that there is a discount if registrations are made prior to December 31. Hotels are also being booked fast. Side trips could be organized to Oporto once the group is confirmed.

Thomas Graf mentioned that the date being considered for 2013 installation is July 6. He also reminded everyone that Tengku Sri Indra will be giving a presentation to the Rotaractors on public speaking on October 27 with venue to be confirmed.

"Grow beyond 50 with quality" 

DG Lee tells RCRC Club Assembly

VISIT OF DISTRICT GOVERNOR OF ROTARY DISTRICT 3310

Raffles Room, Tanglin Club, Tuesday 18 September 2012

Report by PE Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck

The annual DG Visit is always an important feature of the calendar of a Rotary Club and RCRC is no exception. This year, our DG, Lee Kong Hwee and his spouse Nana visited our club on the evening of Tuesday 18 Sept. The occasion of a DG visit is also a club assembly and fellowship and more than 40 RCRC Rotarians and spouses, plus an incoming member, as well as representatives of the Interact and Rotoract Clubs of RCRC, turned up at the Tanglin Club to meet DG and his spouse and to hear from him.

In line with the usual protocol, the evening began with a private meeting between DG, the Club President and Secretary with the PE in attendance, while the other members and spouses enjoyed the fellowship. Thereafter President Cze Hong officially delivered the club report to DG, highlighting the strength of the club and its completed as well as proposed activities and directions. He reported that RCRC now has 43 members and has a slew of programmes all lined up for this year. Additionally we have sponsored 2 Interact and 2 Rotoract Clubs all of whom are strong and enthusiastic. The oral report was supplemented with a most enjoyable slide presentation of the many club events this year.

 President Cze Hong officially delivered the club report to DG,            
highlighting the strength of the club and its completed as well as 
proposed activities and directions.

Following this were reports made by the Treasurer and the Directors. The Club finances are good, although PP Ron, the Treasurer gave notice that members who have open accounts after the end of September can expect love calls from him.

Treasurer PP Ron Pereira promising  his "love letters."

Other Directors reported on various programmes and plans. Highlights were the fact that the club has so far offered 10 PHF to RI so far this Rotary year and has raised nearly $200,000 for the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, which was established by the Club in 1991. There are plans for a charity film show on 1 Nov in aid of the Sunlove Home and the Crohn and Colitis Society, although the intended file (“Skyfall”) must now be changed as the distributors have disallowed that film from being used for charitable fund-raising. There are also firm plans for a medical mission to Sabah in March next year.

The dinner that followed was a sumptuous affair. Tanglin Club has never failed RCRC in the fare that it lays out and that evening was no exception. During the dinner, the New Generation group delivered reports on their activities. Entertainment during the dinner was provided by President Cze Hong’s slideshow of his recent Northern Italian holiday.

Listening attentively to the DG

In his speech, DG Lee congratulated RCRC on our stability and the quality of our fellowship. He urged RCRC to grow beyond the planned 50 members and bring in good quality Rotarians who can render good service. 

Chairman of Membership Development PP David Ong calling for high quality
and compact membership around 50

He informed that he has set out 4 priorities this year, viz. Rotary Information, Fellowship, Rotary Foundation and Publicity. The latter is linked directly to membership. He urged RCRC members to regularly refer to the information posted on the District website. In relation to Rotary Foundation, DG urged RCRC to consider taking the lead in a matching grant project. This can be used as a learning experience to understand the operations of the matching grant scheme. It will also be good if RCRC can produce at least one major donor for this Rotary year. Donations can be designated to the DDF (“District Dedicated Funds”). The DDF provides future DGs with the resources to assist clubs who would like to engage in District Matching Grants Projects.

To responses that there are hardly any opportunities for charitable projects in Singapore, given the very active role by the government in social assistance, DG  expressed understanding but urged RCRC to continue to try. He noted several times the excellent fellowship in RCRC, which was very evident and urged that this should be preserved. He mentioned that he has been urging every club in the District to have a member in charge of publicity. This is necessary to ensure proper recognition of Rotary’s good work which in turn would attract good people to join the movement.

DG at the VIP Table

International Service Director PP Johnson Tan wearing his
favorite Presidential Turquoise Blazer

The evening ended with DG distributing Rotary pins to all RCRC members and many group photographs.

September 11, 2012 Lunch Meeting


Fellow Rotarians today we had the meeting presided by PP Aaron Tan. Guests attending from Holland Frank Geerdink and from U.K. Alan Hawkes. Our guest speaker Amit Kumar presented various ideas regarding our website with the focus of having more RCRC members return to visit the page with relative frequency.

PP Jimmy also gave us a detailed report of the DAS event and the funds collected.

Please be reminded of the DG visit to RCRC next Tuesday for dinner at the Tanglin Club.

PP Tengku after some absence returned to our lunch meeting today and had a good briefing with the webmaster as well as our bulletin editor.

Meeting of 4 September 2012


Our guest speaker Rtn Dr Leonard Bernstein (not the composer) spoke on “The Imperatives of Early Childhood Education” to a gathering of 21 members and guests. Among the guests are 2 potential members, Joao Luca and Arun Shennai. Tony Weldon from Melbourne joined us as guest of Leonard Bernstein. Rtn Bernstein presented numerous research findings to make the point that early childhood education is an imperative if future problems in adult life are to be avoided. Central to early childhood education are the words that the child hears from his family as these words shape his ability to view the world. He traced the co-relation between socio-economic status and early childhood education, noting that high SES families tend to use more positive words when speaking to their young children e.g. “good”, “well done”, “now clever” etc. Lower SES families tend to use more prohibitive language such as “don’t”, “stop”, “come back” etc. Rtn Leonard also stressed that one important learning in early childhood education is self-control. Additionally, children need to learn through play, not formal teaching. Statistically, lack of access to early childhood education can result in serious issues in adulthood, such as greater propensity to criminality.


PE Jeffrey, who chaired the meeting in the absence of President Cze Hong delivered a vote of thanks

District Governor’s Visit

The DG visit is confirmed for 18 September 2012 at the Tanglin Club, commencing at 6.30 pm. This is a Club Fellowship and all members and spouses are urged to attend. Please confirm your attendance with Sigrid.


All Directors are to prepare their presentation to be made to DG and the Club.

Manila Flood Relief

PP Wee Koon San, who is also the District Treasurer, reported that the Sunshine Box collection last week yielded $420 for the District’s initiative to provide relief to the victims of the recent floods in Manila. To this PP Russi, PP Jimmy Daruwalla and Rtn Percy and other members pledged additional amounts which brought the amount raised to just under $1000. PP Koon San proposed that the Club make up the amount to $1000 which can be sent to the District for the District 3310’s Manila Flood Relief Fund. PP Ron had suggested that part of the $1000 donated by Rtn Ho Kok Koh on the occasion of his cessation of membership be applied to this. There was wide support from those present for this proposal.

Reported by: President-Elect Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC

Meeting of Tuesday 28 August 2012

Report by PE Jeffry Tan

In a departure from the Rotary norm of no proselytising during Club events, PP Eugene Lim put on his hat as an employee of Trans-World Radio (TWR), a Christian broadcaster, as the speaker for this week’s meeting to speak about the work of TWR. PP Eugene showed video clips of TWR’s work in spreading the work of God and its humanitarian work to save souls for Christ. He also provided a tutorial to us all on the beginning of our world. The unabashedly Christian message about Salvation did resonate with the 18 members and guests present, quite a number of who are already Christians of different denominations. Thus the departure from Rotary norms can be forgiven in the same spirit that the Almighty forgives all us sinners.

Among the guests present was Joao Lucas, guest of PP Chin Koy Nam. Joao was previously a guest speaker at our club and has expressed interest in joining the club. We look forward to welcoming him as a member.

Collection for Manila flood Victims

President Cze Hong proposed that the club support the District’s initiative to collect funds for the relief of victims of the recent floods in Manila. Some members wondered aloud whether this would mean additional burdens on the club if our sister-club, RC of  Makati North, also makes an appeal to join in their efforts for flood relief. It was noted that our club finances this year are weak compared to previous years. Club Treasurer PP Ron replied to a suggestion that the contribution to the District be taken from the Sunshine Box by informing that there is no money in the Box and the amount presently there would not be sufficient for the Club’s charitable commitments so far this year. Pursuant to a suggestion that a Sunshine Box collection be made for the District ‘s Manila flood relief initiative, over $450 was collected from the 14 club members present. President Cze Hong declared this as a record Sunshine Box collection for our club at any one meeting.

National Day / Hari Raya Fellowship

The club’s annual Hari Raya Fellowship this year was conjoined with the club’s National Day celebrations. This was on Saturday 25 August and the venue was the Mamanda Restaurant at the “Rumah Kuning” (Yellow House), the official residence of the Bendahara (Chief Minister) of the old Johore-Rhio-Lingga  Sultanate. This was part of the Istana kampong Glam, the ancestral home of our Rtn Tengku Indra. 35 members and spouses attended this Fellowship which was arranged for by Tengku Indra. However, most unfortunately, he took ill that day and was unable to attend.

The fine fellowship of the evening was facilitated by the excellent Malay food and salubrious surroundings with all its trappings of royalty in a completely sans alcohol environment.

Tengku Indra, as heir to the Sultanate, had promised to confer datukships that evening. In his absence President called on all grandfathers present to identify themselves and then proceeded to conferred datukships on each and every one of them (the Malay word for grandfather is “datuk”).

To round off the evening and to add meaning to the event and its surroundings, PP Jeffrey gave an impromptu talk about the Johore-Rhio Empire, tracing its origins to the Fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, the establishment of Singapore as a British possession, the end of the Sultanate and the tragic story of the Kampong Glam area and its Istana, all of which are now State land.

Visit to the Jamiyah home

A group of Rotarians accompanied by Interactors and Rotoractors made the annual Hari Raya  visit to the Jamiyah Home for aged persons on the afternoon of 25 August 2012. As in previous years, the group performed for the residents, had tea with them and then distributed “zakats” (cash gifts) from the club to the residents. The Jamiyah Home is operated  by the Jamiyah Society which is an Islamic missionary society. Its residents come from all the races in Singapore. Most of them were admitted to the home because they were destitute.  The residents look forward eagerly every year to this annual visit by our club.

District Governor’s Visit

This is a major club event and is a Club Fellowship. All members and spouses are thus encouraged to attend. The visit is now confirmed for the evening of 18 September 2012 commencing at 6.30 pm. The Venus is the Tanglin Club. All directors are to prepare to make presentations to DG about their plans for the year. In the light of this DG’s Visit the club meeting scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday 18 September is cancelled. Please inform Rtn Sigrid  if you are attending and whether your spouse will also be attending.

Club Major Project

As previously announced the Club’s Major Project for this Rotary year is the charity premiere of the latest James Bond film “Skyfall”. This will be held at the Lido cinema on the evening of Friday 1 November 2012. Further details and the tickets will be issued in due course. The proceeds of this film premiere will benefit the Sunlove home and the Colitis and Crohn society.

Club Meeting of Tuesday 22 August 2012

16 Rotarians and guests were present at this meeting. Guests who joined us were Rtn Angus Scott-Walker of the RC of Footscary, Melbourne and his spouse Kathy; Yvonne Kok and Lisa Lee of Cellermaster and Mathias Greier, guest of Rtn Dirk Lenz.

The guest speaker was scheduled to be our very own PP George Abraham who was supposed to speak on the art of telling jokes. He decided to beat the retreat when he realised the extent of polite company present.

In the absence of a guest speaker, PE Jeffrey took the opportunity to clarify that unlike what was told to the club last week, the Red Cross does not take 30% of all donations as administrative costs. Last year Singapore Red Cross booked just over $650,000 as governance and publicity costs out of a budget of over $13 million, ie. just about 5%.. He asked that this fact be made known as it would not be good if Rotarians are seen as putting out wrong information. PP Vincent added that the issue is not so much percentage of administrative costs but the cost of delivering charitable goods or services to beneficiaries. He noted that some charities are very lavish, flying in expensive classes, staying in expensive hotels  and hiring convoys of expensive vehicles accompanied by media, who are all paid,  for,  in order to enhance the image of that charity. This struck a chord will those present.

Highlight of the meeting was the auction of a limited edition Reidl decanter donated by Cellermaster in aid of Sunlove Home. This auction was supposed to be held during the Charity Gourmet Dining on 18 August but was postponed. PP Ron was the auctioneer and PP Vincent quickly put in a bid of $2000. Despite strenuous efforts from PP Ron to encourage more bids none were forthcoming. So the hammer fell on PP Vincent’s sole bid. He immediately declared hat the was donating the decanter to DAS for auction at the coming DAS Charity Dinner in September. Hopefully there would be a better outcome there – and perhaps a better auctioneer.

A rare collection for the Sunshine Box was made which yielded $94.

Charity Gourmet Dinner

The Club’s Charity Gourmet Dinner in aid of the Sunlove Home was held on Sat 18 Aug 2012 at the Prague MicroBrewery. This was an initiative of PP Aaron and Rtn Jeffrey Tan of Melbourne who is a chartered accountant and also a celebrity chef. Rtn Jeffrey and his friends from  Melbourne put out an exquisite 4-course meal accompanied with fine wines for 10 Rotarians from RCRC and about 30 other guests. The venue was donated by Mr Bob Seah of Prague MicroBrewery who closed his premises for this event. Our gratitude to Jeffrey and his team, Bob and his family, and the musicians who played great music that evening, for making the evening memorable and enjoyable.

Charity Film Show

 The annual major project of the Club will be the premiere of the latest James Bond film “Skyfall” in aid of the Sunlove Home and the Colitis and Crohn Society. This will be on Thursday 1 Nov 2012 at the Lido Cinema. The tickets are being printed. Members are urged to keep this date free.

Condolences

We express our deepest condolences to Rtn Sigrid on the recent passing of her father in Manila, Philippines. Sigrid is presently in Manila with her family.

Meeting of Tuesday 14 August 2012
Report by PE Jeffrey Chan

21 members and guests attended the lunch meeting at the Gilmour Room of the SCC. Guests included PDG Fong Hoe Beng; PP Alfred Gremli of the R C of Kusnacht-Zurich and a potential member of our club Arun Shenai. PN (Designate) Corina Lai continued her efforts to members on Facebook by explaining how easy it is to get on to Facebook and upload photos.

PDG Fong Hoe Beng was our guest speaker, informing us of the changes to RI’s Matching Grants Programme that will come into force on 1 July 2013. This simplifies the present procedures for RI  Matching Grants and District funding and will also ensure greater accountability. Districts will have to enter into an MOU with RI to participate in this new programme, while clubs must enter into legally binding agreements with their Districts in order to access the funding. All these will be explained in a Rotary Foundation workshop to be held in Oct and a “Qualifying Seminar” to be held in April 2013.  Attendance at the “”Qualifying Seminar” is compulsory and every club must send at least one member. That member is expected to brief the club on the new programme after attending the seminar so that the club can decide whether or not to enter into a legally binding with the District. This has grave consequences as it means that clubs who breach their agreements with the District can be sued. PDG Hoe Beng offered to answer any request for further information.

Charity Gourmet Dining

President Cze Hong announced that because of some pull-outs, there are seats available for this event. Date is Sat 18 August 2012. Venue is the Prague Microbrewery at the Amara Hotel along Tanjong Pagar Road. Dress code is jacket without tie for men and formal wear for ladies. The food will be prepared by celebrity chef Rtn Jeffrey Tan from Melbourne and his team of chefs from Australia. The beneficiary is the Sunlove Home.

Hari Raya Visit to the Jamiyah Home for the Aged

This will take place on Sat 25 August from 1-4 pm. Several Rotarians have indicated that they will be participating together with our Rotoractors.  PP Ron informed that during this yearly visit, the club would entertain the residents and also distribute “zakats”. These are cash gift to all the residents who usually eagerly look forward to this.  He urged all members of the Community Service and New Generations Committees to participate. Vincent noted that this is a club project and not confined to only the CSC and NGC.  All members should try to participate.

 District Governor’s Visit

The DG’s visit has been confirmed for the evening of 18 September. As the SCC is not available for dinner, another revenue is being identified. More details will be announced in due course.

Paul Harris Fellows

PP Vincent announced that for this Rotary year, 10 members have pledged to be PHFs by contributing US$1000 each to Rotary Foundation. He urges all members to consider being PHFs. We should try to get every member to be a PHF.

Forthcoming Club Events

• The club’s major project which is the charity premiere of the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall” will take place on the evening of Thursday 2 November 2012 at the Lido Cinema. More information will be issued in due course.



Rotary Club of Raffles City 2012/2013 : President Low and First Lady Elizabeth

• The Joint Medical Mission in Sabah to be conducted with our sister club the R C of Luyang has been confirmed for 1-4 March 2013. Members who are able to participate in this medical mission please inform PP Jimmy Daruwalla. You don’t need to be medically qualified to participate. There are plenty of things to do  besides providing medical services.

President Low and First Lady attending Ngee Ann Poly Rotaractors' Installation Ceremony





National Day 

and 

Hari Raya Fellowship Dinner

Date : 25 August 2012

Time : 7.45 PM to 10.00 PM

Place : Mamanda Restaurant,73 Sultan Gate,Next to the Malay Heritage Center,Istana Kampong Glam.

Food : Traditional Malay Cuisine of The Royal Court

Club Meeting of Tuesday 7 August 2012

Report by PE Jeffrey Tan

Nearly 20 members of RCRC and 2 guests attended the meeting. The guests were Arun Shennai, a possible new member of our club,  and Frank Browne, guest of Luis Coronado. President Cze Hong brought his computer and projected numerous slides of major club events where no reports have been filed. These include the Installation activities and recent club visits to Luyang and Hong Kong. He promised that write-ups will be done on these and published in the Club Bulletin in due course.

The speaker was PE Jeffrey Chan who spoke as penance for not being able to obtain a speaker for this meeting. He spoke on “The International Law of Human Rights’, tracing the development of Human Rights from its beginnings until the present day. He underscored that the rules of Human Rights are designed to protect individuals from the power of their own rulers. They define the intersection between governmental power and individual freedoms. But in the international sphere, powerful states have always used human rights as an exception to the principle of state sovereignty in order to intervene in the affairs of other states in order to pursue their own political agendas. These can include destabilising states they see as challenging their own national interests. This can be seen in the actions of the US in pursuit of its present policy of containing the growth of China. Human Rights are claimable rights and were always understood to be protections against governmental power. However, this has changed and now the concept of Human Rights is often used by special interests in a country to obtain entitlements for themselves at the expense of the state. These notwithstanding, there are still many people who genuinely believe in promoting and protecting the Human Rights of others. PE Jeffrey clarified that there is nothing Western about Human Rights. The main drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not from the West. In fact at that time Western nations had little interest in Human Rights since they were colonial powers and had little regard for the Human Rights of their subject peoples.

PE Jeffrey received a polite reception to his talk. His request that, as the speaker, he should not have to pay for his lunch was however unanimously rejected. So he paid for his lunch.

The meeting was followed by a Board Meeting chaired by President Cze Hong

Board Announcements

The Board of the Rotary Club of Raffles City has resolved to terminate the membership of Aravinth Kumarasamy for failing to pay his debts to the club despite numerous reminders to do so. He has also continuously failed to attend club meetings. This decision means that Aravinth will not be able to join any Rotary Club in the world. His debts to the Club remain outstanding.

The Board decided to accept the resignation of the following, all of whom have intimated either orally in writing their decision to resign from the club:  Mark Davis, Nitin Doshi, Chow Nam Kit and Wong Meng Lin. All except for the latter are members in good standing. The Club will endeavour to recover all outstanding debts.

The Board also accepted the resignation of Ho Kok Koh, a member in good standing, and thank him for his donation upon his resignation of the sum $1000 to the Club. He is truly an example of the Rotary spirit. We hope that those who resigned will return to the club when circumstances enable them to do so.

National Day/Hari Raya Puasa Fellowship

The Club’s National Day and Hari Raya Puasa Fellowship will be held at the Mamanda Restaurant at Sultan’s Gate on Sat. 25 August 2012 from 7.45 – 10 pm . All members and spouses are urged to attend to celebrate these events together with their fellow Rotarians. Please inform Club Service Director Sigrid if you are coming. The closing date is 15 August - but a smile to Sigrid can earn an extension of time.

Charity Gourmet Dining

The Club’s fine dining event for charity will be held on 18 August at the Prague MicroBrewery at Amara Hotel. There are still some places available. Cost is $200 per diner. Please contact President Cze Hong if you can come. All proceeds will go to the Sunlove Home.

Dyslexia Association of Singapore 21^st Anniversary Dinner

This is a club project and will  be held on 8 September 2013. It is a fund-raiser for DAS and the club’s contribution up to this time has reached over $180,000. A suitable occasion will be identified for the formal presentation of the cheque from the club to DAS. This will enhance the profile of the Club.

Charity Premiere

The Club’s Major Project for this Rotary Year will be the Film Premiere of the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall”. This will be at 9 pm on Thursday 1 November 2012 at the Lido cinema and will be in aid of the Crohn's & Colitis Society and the  SunLove Home. More details will be made available in due course.

Club Community Service Projects

It has been noted that the visits to the charity homes which are a feature of the Club’s community service projects are often supported by the same few Rotarians. Many Club members have never been to any of these visits which are usually conducted in conjunction with major festivals and involve also our Interactors and Rotoracters. Members are urged to come along and support these visits. Announcements will be made in due course. The next visit is on Saturday 25 Aug 1.30pm-4 pm . This will be the annual Hari Raya Puasa visit to the Jamiyah Home for the Aged at Tampines. Please contact Community Service Director Mohan Pillay for details.

Club Funds

As informed by the Treasurer, the club incurred a deficit for this year’s Installation activities. This affects the resources available to the club to carry out our proposed activities. All committees thus are urged to be mindful of budgetary constraints when planning their activities.

Medical Mission to Sabah: joint project with R C of Luyang

This is planned for the 1^st weekend in March 2013. Details will be made known nearer the date.

District Conference

The District 3310  Conference 2013 will be held at the Graceland Resort & spa in Phuket, Thailand from 26-26 May 2013. Registration is now open. Please visit the District’s website at

< http://www.rotarydistrict3310.org.my/index.php/2012/08/22nd-district-3310-conference-2013-phuket-thailand/> .

There are special offers for early bird registrations.

For more information email to  < reg2013phuketconference@gmail.com 

District Governor’s Visit

Our DG of Rotary District 3310 Lee Kong Hwee will be visiting our club for the annual DG’s Visit on the evening of 18 September. There will be a Club Assembly in conjunction with this visit. All Directors are to complete their plans before the visit and make short oral presentations of not more than 5 mins each to the DG at the Club Assembly. Members are urged to bring their spouses and partners along for this Club Assembly. More details will be make known in due course.

Next Club Meeting

The next Club meeting will be held on Tuesday 14 August 2012 at the Gilmour Room of the Singapore Cricket Club at 12.45 pm. The Guest Speaker will be PDG Fong Hoe Beng. He will speak on “Future Vision Matching Grants”.