Bulletin Issue 42 / May Farewell Dinner for VP Thomas Graf on 12 th May 2014

Transcription

1 Chartered 13 August 1980 Meeting: The Singapore Cricket Club, Every Tuesday 12.45pm RI Calendar / MAY: Promote Int l Convention Month Bulletin Issue 42 / May 2014 Farewell Dinner for VP Thomas Graf on 12 th May 2014 The monthly Board of Directors Meeting as customary in this Rotary Year is held on the first Monday of the month. The BOD Meeting on 12 May 2014 was held at the Jayleen 1918 Hotel. The highlight however was the post meeting dinner held in honour of a tireless member of our club who would be departing Singapore & RCRC. About 20 members & their spouses turned up to bid VP Thomas Graf farewell with a sumptuous dinner held at the roof terrace of Jayleen 1918 Hotel. The view, food and fellowship was splendid. Behind the backdrop of the city night skyline, tributes were paid to VP Thomas by members lead by Pres Jeffrey Chan, Rtn Dirk Lenz, PE Corina Lai, IPP Low Cze Hong & PP George Abraham. Pres Jeffrey remarked that VP Thomas was a valuable gift from our sister club of RC Peninsula of which he was a member during his previous working stint in Hong Kong. Among the snippets were the common observations of how committed and conscientious a Rotarian, VP Thomas had been to our club since his landing in Singapore in A regular stalwart of Installation organising committees, club directories & Vocational Services among several of the club activities; VP Thomas s solid presence will be missed. PP George in his humorous observation commended VP Thomas for being a wonderful student after his past talk to our club on how to tell jokes. He would now have to look for another effective disciple! VP Thomas in his response reflected on his time in RCRC where he gained much more insights of Singapore through co-operating with fellow members in RCRC. He apologised for any inadvertent

2 hurt feelings due to his eagerness to accomplish the many tasks at hand. RCRC and Singapore will always have a place in his heart and he promises to visit us whenever he returns to Singapore. The members of RCRC who attended the farewell dinner as well as those who could not attend wish VP Thomas & his family all the success on his return to Switzerland. Editor s note: In the last bulletin issue no.41, it was incorrectly stated that VP Thomas Graf & spouse Vivian have two sons born in Singapore. They are of course proud parents of a son & daughter both born in Singapore. Photos of dinner on 12 May 2014 City skyline on the roof terrace of Jayleen 1918 Hotel

3 Tribute to VP Thomas Graf VP Thomas Graf with his RCRC friends

4 President s Column PRESIDENT S BLOG Week of 12 May 2014 Dear Members, Last Monday evening we had a most enjoyable farewell dinner for Thomas Graf, our Vice President, who is being posted back to his home country, Switzerland. Immediately prior to that, we had our Board Meeting in the same venue which is the Jayleen Hotel at Carpenter Street. We are going to miss Thomas. When he came to us, he was a Past President of our sister-club, the Rotary Club of Peninsula, Kowloon and thus already an experienced Rotarian. We benefited during the 6 years that he was with us from his Rotary knowledge, his commitment to Rotary, his generosity, his very Swiss methodical approach to issues and systematic organising of club activities, and even his occasional outbursts when we have not done things right. Finding time and venue for the farewell dinner was very difficult given Thomas and our own schedules. So it was with some reluctance that we scheduled this farewell dinner immediately after the Board Meeting on Monday evening. That was about the only available time. We thank the many members for their suggestions as to when this event could be held and ask for understanding why many of the suggestions simply could not be applied. We should thank PP Gerald Lim who was to have hosted the Board Meeting that same evening but very generously agreed to bring the booze and also make up for any financial shortfall resulting the farewell dinner. Hopefully, that did not cost him too much. It is a given that our Rotary Club, like other Rotary Clubs, will continuously lose good people. This is because Rotarians are very likely to be persons of standings in their respective professions and talents of such persons are often required at different times in different places in this world. So we must expect to see good people leaving our Club when their skills and talents are needed elsewhere. The challenge, however, is to find good people to replace those who have to leave the Club. This is the responsibility of not just the President and Board members but all other Rotarians in a Rotary Club. All of us should be on the lookout for good people who can be invited to join us. It is only by continuously bringing in good people who are committed to the same values as ourselves that our Club, and the Rotary Movement as a whole, can continue to exist, and hopefully grow, and move forward successfully into the future. Jeffrey Chan President Rotary Club of Raffles City

5 Events Report Photo taking session incoming BOD & Installation Dinner organising committee (28 April 2014 at the SICC Island location clubhouse) More photos: 23 rd District Conference for RI District 3310 Date: May 2014 Venue: Bayview Beach Resort, Penang First hand report of ongoing District Conference by our President: The 23rd District Conference of Rotary District 3310 is currently taking place at the Bayview Beach Resort, Penang. Nearly 400 Rotarians, family members and guests are at this Conference. The R C Raffles City delegation comprised President Jeffrey, Club First Lady Susan; IPP Cze Hong and spouse Elizabeth; AG Johnson; PE Corina; PN Sigrid: CP Siew Joon; PP Jimmy Daruwalla: PP Koy Nam and PP Ron. PP Vincent had registered but was unable to attend. The Conference began with the District Leadership Seminar on Friday afternoon. This featured sessions on Communication Skills; Strategic Planning and issues such as Time Management, Motivating Volunteers, Goal Setting and Rotary Ethics. During this time a separate programme for spouses and those not participating in this seminar was arranged. This featured visits to some interesting venues in the vicinity.

6 DG gave out the first of the series of Awards at the the Welcome Dinner on Friday evening. RCRC was among the Clubs conferred the Rotary Presidential Citation for Engaging Rotary and Changing Lives. PP Vincent Chen was awarded the District Service Award for promoting The Rotary Foundation while PP Jimmy Daruwalla was awarded the Club Builder Award. Additionally Presidential Citations were also conferred on our Rotaract Clubs of Raffles City and Ngee Ann Polytechnic as well as our Interact Club of Tampines Junior College. The District Conference will continue until Sunday afternoon. More District and RI Awards will be presented at the District Governor's Banquet on Sat evening. RCRC and more of our members have been informed that we will be receiving Awards during this event. A fuller report on the District Conference will be presented to the Club and a written report will be published in next week's Bulletin. Report by Pres Jeffrey Chan Members Column I always read your bulletin irrespective of whether I have attended the lunch meeting or not. PP Jimmy Daruwalla Editor: Comment in response to that RCRC members tend to read the weekly bulletin in more detail only if they did not attend the prior week's meeting. Thank you PP Jimmy for your support! You are doing a great job. Thanks. This bulletin will cost you on the Thomas does not have 2 sons, but one of each gender! Sgt-at-arms Chris Mertz Editor: Guilty as charged. At least I got the number of children correct RI / District Announcements Event: Rotary International Convention 2014 Date: 1 st 4 th June 2014 Venue: Olympic Park, Homebrush Bay Sydney, Australia

7 Rotary Theme Song with District 3310 phonics Club Announcements (in May 2014) Guest Speaker for lunch meeting Date: Tues 20 May 2014 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: Max Everest-Phillips, Director of the United Nations Development Programme Global Centre for Public Service Excellence UNDP centre is located in Singapore. He will speak on the objectives and activities of this UNDP centre and also his experiences in running its programmes. Classification Talk on lunch meeting Date: Tues 27 May 2014 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: Rtn Eddie Chng

8 Installation Dinner Souvenir Magazine The 35th installation dinner of our Club will be held on Saturday 5th July 2014 at the SICC Grand Ballroom, Upper Thomson Road. PE Corina Lai is appealing to members for support by attending this dinner event & take up advertisement to help fund the event. She hopes every RCRC members will help fund this event by taking up a minimum 1/4 page advertisement. If there is a surplus due to your strong support, the surplus will be channeled to the Sunshine Box and it will be used for a good cause. Advertisement Cost: Free dining for: 1 / 4 page two $ / 2 page two $ Full page B/W two $1, Full page colour two $1, Front inside page two $1, Back inside page two $1, Back page two $2, Dinner cost one $ It would be appreciate if members could let PP Wee Koon San know of your commitments. He will record the numbers as he has been doing in the past years. To ease Koon San work load, we propose to do this by exception i.e. we will assume you are agreeable to the quarter page advertisement then no further action is needed from you. Otherwise, please write to Koon San by Wednesday 30 April and inform him of your choice. Club Announcements (beyond May 2014) RCRC Events to note 14 Jun 2014 (Sat) RCRC Family Day 2014 at the British Club. From 12 noon 3.00pm Note: Organised by the new members recently inducted into RCRC for members & their children. Free parking (car license no. need to be pre-registered before event day). Free use / access to swimming pool, jackpot, spa and dining outlets on Jun 14. There is also waiver of corkage; so members may like to bring their own wines. Kindly RSVP attendance numbers to PP Aaron Tan who is assisting. 5 July 2014 RCRC Installation Dinner to be held at SICC Island location Ballroom

9 Month Next Week: 20 May 2014 Desk Duty Dirk Lenz 27 May 2014 Jaya Prakash 3 June 2014 Vincent Chen (Group Leader) 10 June 2014 T C Phua 17 June 2014 Ron Pereira 24 June 2014 Percy Jeyapal Members Celebrations in May Birthdays Wedding Anniversaries 19 th T C Phua 14 th Thomas Graf 20 th Sigrid Zialcita 15 th Sorinder Singh 26 th Corina Lai 18 th Alfred Shee 27 th Billy Lee 25 th Nidhi Swarup 31 st T C Phua

10 Before We End What Retired People Do End of Bulletin