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.