Bulletin Issue 18 / Nov 2013 Lunch Meeting on 12 th Nov 2013

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1 Chartered 13 August 1980 Meeting: The Singapore Cricket Club, Every Tuesday 12.45pm RI Calendar / NOVEMBER: Rotary Foundation Month Bulletin Issue 18 / Nov 2013 Lunch Meeting on 12 th Nov 2013 The club meeting on Tuesday 12 November took place very shortly after Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan was the strongest storm in recorded history. It caused massive destruction with thousands dead and millions without food and shelter. President Jeffrey had immediately contacted our sister-club the RC of Makati North and offered the assistance of our club. He also announced a special Sunshine collection for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. From the 21 members and guests present a total of $2,625 was raised, $1125 in cash and pledges of $1000 and $500 by PP Vincent Chan and VP Thomas Graf respectively. That was a record sunshine collection for our club. Much more has been pledged by our members following President Jeffrey's subsequent online appeal to the general membership. RC North has since informed us that all monies thy raise will be forwarded to the Red Cross. Our Rotary District 3310 is also raising funds for the Philippine Rotary District. Accordingly President Jeffrey announced that all contributions by our members for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan will be forwarded to our District and the Singapore Red Cross. The Singapore Red Cross has just launched a massive relief operation in the affected areas together with the Philippine Red Cross. At the meeting of 12 Nov we welcomed Howard Henshaw, a past member of our club and his friend PP Rob, both of whom are now Rotarians in England. Also

2 present were our potential members Florian Weidinger, Jacky Wong, Andrew Schleider and S Ezaki. Florian will be inducted this coming Tuesday. The meeting was a "fellowship meeting" with no external speakers. So the speaker was our own member Rtn Dr William Wan. William spoke on "The Ideal of Vocation". William recalled that originally it was said that there were only vocations, I.e. The clergy, medicine and law. But as the understanding of vacation extended, vocation came to known as a calling. This was much more than the means to earn a living. It is fundamentally important that one enjoys one's vocation. And if you enjoy your vocation this in fact means that you will never henceforth need to work since enjoying yourself is then your vocation. William then shared his personal journey recalling his childhood when his family was poor. This notwithstanding, he graduated as a lawyer, practiced law, then was ordained as a Methodist Minister; ran a church; then went into management consultancy and, in his senior years chose to return to Singapore to take up the post of General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement. He believes in living his life in chapters. Thus he has had different vocations throughout his life. He enjoyed every one of them and this has enabled him to to apply his different skills for the benefit of others. President Jeffrey in his closing remarked that as a member, William was not entitled to a vote of thanks. But given the excellent content of his presentation it would be remiss of the club not to express our appreciation to him and say how happy we are to have him as a member. Photos of meeting on 5 Nov 2013

3 President s Column PRESIDENT S BLOG Week of 11 NOVEMBER 2013 Dear Members, November is Rotary Foundation Month and it is only right that we focus on the Rotary Foundation (TRF) during this month. TRF is the charitable arm of Rotary International. It is through TRF that RI carries out its humanitarian activities. All the contributions that Rotarians world-wide make in the form of Paul Harris Fellowships (PHFs), Major Donors and Every Rotarian Eery Year(EREY) are all made to TRF. The monies are kept for 3 years and the interest earned on these monies then pay for the admin expenses of administering TRF. After the 3rd year, every single cent is then applied for the programmes of TRF. These include providing Rotary Clubs worldwide with Global Grants for their Joint Projects; providing Rotary Districts worldwide with District Dedicated Funding for worthwhile humanitarian projects in the District, and funding international initiatives such as the eradication of Polio and the promotion of World peace and understanding. The rules governing the application for funding from TRF were very complex and difficult to understand. They have since been simplified. But they are still challenging to the uninitiated. That is why we have asked PDG Wu Dar Ching, our

4 District Rotary Chair, to come to our club and enlighten us on these. PDG Wu will speak to our club at our club luncheon meeting on Tuesday 26 Nov Rotary Clubs worldwide and especially in developing countries such as India have always availed themselves to funding from TRF for their projects. But Raffles City has never done so. This was despite the fact that we have in the past undertaken very major projects such as building the lift for the Red Cross Home for the Disabled and renovating the premises of the Assisi Home. Even for very major club long-tailed programmes such as the establishment of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, we have relied on our own members and our very generous Government for the assistance required. We felt proud in this. But having over the years contributed nearly USD $250,000 to TRF, this also means that we have not received back any of our contributions made over all these years, even though this was the intention of the TRF structure. Is it not time then for us, Raffles City, to begin thinking of one or more projects which substantially impacts the community that we can apply to TRF for at least partial funding. This then would be our own project with outcomes that we can identify with. Simply raising money to fund various charities achieve their outcomes is not really a humanitarian outcome that we can say is our own. Jeffrey Chan President Rotary Club of Raffles City Jeffrey Chan President, R C of Raffles City

5 PP Jimmy Daruwalla Safari photographs Members Column Menacing cat shared by PP Jimmy: (Photo by Dr Jimmy Daruwalla) RI / District Announcement Rotary Foundation Seminar Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 Time: 11.30am-5.30pm Venue: Singapore Polytechnic Guild House Cost is $45 per person. (November is Rotary Foundation Month) Please indicate your interest or enquiries to PP Vincent Chen. I n absence of PP Vincent registrations can be made through President Jeffrey. Rotary Fun Fair Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2013

6 Time: Venue: Whole day MDIS Campus at Stirling Rd, Queenstown Rotarians and families, plus Interactors, Rotaractors and all friends of Rotary are encouraged to attend. There will be food and games stallss and stage shows throughout the day. This is not a fund- raiser. It is a bonding / fellowship event in conjunction with the Rotary theme for December which is Family of Rotary Month. Kindly let PP Vincent Chen posted if you are able to participate. Club Announcements (in Nov 2013) Kindness Conference; Are you the bochup kind? Information courtesy of Rtn William Wan. Organised by Singapore Kindness Movement Date: Sat 16 Nov 2013 Time: 9.00am-1.00pm Venue: Bugis+, Joyden Hall Please RSVP by Nov 6 via this link Annual Golf Tournament Date: Fri 22 Nov 2013 Time: 1.00pm Venue: Sime Course, SICC Please confirm your participation with PP Eugene Lim. The plan is for golfers to adjourn after the game to RCRC Deepavali Fellowship Dinner on the same evening. Deepavali Fellowship Dinner Date: Fri 22 Nov 2013 Time: 7.30pm

7 Venue: Gayatri Restaurant, 122 Race Course Road RSVP attendance to PP Russi Ghadiali. Guest Speaker for lunch meeting Date: 26 Nov 2013 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: PDG Dr Wu Dar Ching on Rotary Foundation and Global Grants Club Announcements (beyond Nov 2013) Charity Film Show; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Date: Mon 16 Dec 2013 Time: To be confirmed; between 9.00pm-9.30pm Venue: Lido 1 cinema, Orchard Road The cost of the show is fully sponsored and tickets are being given out for donations of $50 per ticket. Please follow link for publicity on film Mon, December 16, 2013 Lido 1 Annual General Meeting

8 Date: Tues 17 Dec 2013 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Highlight will be nomination & election of Board of Directors headed by PE Corina Lai in RY RCRC Events to note NOVEMBER Tues 19 Nov proposed speaker from Simei Care Centre Fri 22 Nov RCRC Annual Golf Tournament at Sime Course, SICC Fri 22 Nov RCRC Deepavali Fellowship Dinner at Gayatri Restaurant, Race Course Road. Tues 26 Nov Speaker, PDG Dr Wu Dar Ching on Rotary Foundation and Global Grants DECEMBER: Tues 3 Dec Speaker, PP George Abraham. Topic to be announced 6-8 Dec: Taipei Rotary Zone Institute, Taipei Grand Hotel, Taipei, Republic of China (register online) Tues 10 Dec Speaker, Mr Patrick Ng, Chief Executive of the Industrial and Services Cooperative Society Ltd (ISCOS) on Welfare of prisoners & their families Mon 16 Dec Charity Film Show, Lido 1 cinema The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Tues 17 Dec Annual General Meeting Fri 20 Dec RCRC Christmas Fellowship at the residence of PP Dr Chin Koy Nam MARCH 2014: March 2014 PETS & District Training Assembly (KSL Resorts Hotel, JB) MAY May 2014 District Conference (Bay view Beach Resorts, Penang)

9 Month Next Week: 19 Nov 2013 Desk Duty M Rajaram 26 Nov 2013 Alfred Ong 3 Dec 2013 Eugene Lim (leader) 10 Dec 2013 Ron Pereira 17 Dec 2013 Mohan Pillay Members Celebrations in November Birthdays Wedding Anniversaries 4 th K Kesavapany 4 th Corina Lai 15 th Nidhi Swarup 4 th Aaron Tan 8 th M Rajaram 16 th Chris Mertz Elderly gentleman receives an ipad Before We End Trust this does not happen to any of our members with ipads given to us Video clip is in German. Translation service by Thomas Graf, Dirk Lenz may be sought but don t think it matters Daughter is visiting her father.

10 She asks: Tell me dad, how are you managing with the new I-Pad we gave you for your birthday? This is in German but no subtitles needed: Rotary Quote Without goodwill no system can succeed; with it even an imperfect one can scarcely fail." Rotary on the March - Whither?, THE ROTARIAN, July 1933 End of Bulletin ROTARY CLUB OF RAFFLES CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC Immediate Past President: Rtn Low Cze Hong President Elect: Rtn Corrina Lai Vice President: Rtn Thomas Graf Treasurer: PP Ronald Pereira Asst Club Secretary:: PP Percy Jeyapal Directors: Rtn Dirk Lenz (Vocational Service); : PP Russi Ghadiali (Club Service) PP Gerald Lim (Community Service); PP Steven Teng (Youth Service); Rtn Luis Coronado (International Service); Rtn Judy Tan (Publicity) PP David Ong (membership); PP Vincent Chen (Rotary Foundation) Assisting Directors: PP Eugene Lim (Club Service); PP Aaron Tan (Community Service)

11 Sargeant-at Arms: Rtn Chris Mertz; PP Wee Koon San; PP Mohan Pillay Club Bulletin Editor: PP T C Phua Club Website: PP Russi Ghadiali; Rtn Tengku Indra Assistant Governor (District 23310): PP Johnson Tan