"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.