Bulletin Issue 17 / Nov 2013 Lunch Meeting on 5 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 17 / Nov 2013 Lunch Meeting on 5 th Nov 2013 Our RCRC recent lunch meetings have been pleasantly well attended. This lunch meeting attracted 17 members & 8 guests. Visiting PDG Willy Wiguna (RC Jakarta) addressed us by relating the colourful history of his club where initially members spoke to each other in Dutch, being closed during Japanese Occupation & later again by President Sukarno to its current status as one of the earliest Rotary Club founded in Indonesia in Pres Jeffrey Chan reviewed the several forthcoming events on the busy calendar for Nov & Dec. The main highlights are the Charity Film Show on 16 Dec & Annual General Meeting on 17 Dec. Our guest speaker was Colonel Lyndon Buckingham from the Salvation Army. Members were impressed by the vigor of our speaker who spoke about the origins of his organisation & the various social centres catering for as many of the needy public at large. Their professed aim of touching hearts, inspiring minds and nurturing souls resonates very much with the core mission of our Rotary movement. The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 by a London minister, William Booth and his wife who hit the streets to reach out to the poor, homeless, hungry & destitute. In Singapore, it was through the invitation by the Rotary Club in 1935 that the Salvation Army arrived focusing on relief & rehabilitation work. Col Buckingham as an officer in the Salvation Army is the equivalent of an ordained minister hails from New

2 Zealand and serves the combined territories of Singapore, Malaysia & Myanmar. He enthusiastically shared with us their following component social centres in Singapore: Gracehaven Nurtures young people in trouble with the law reintegrate with their family The Haven - Cares for abandoned & abused children Peacehaven Nursing Home Focus on low intensity rehabilitation over 6-12 weeks for short term debilitating conditions Peacehaven Bedok Multi-Service Centre Day centre for senior citizens Family Support Services One stop community based centre to help the needy Prison Support Services; Kids In Play Outreach program targeted at children of imprisoned parent(s) & their caregivers; with the aim of reconnecting families Youth Development Centre Reaches out to latch-key young people from low income to guide them Red Shield Industries Social enterprise arm to utilize donations-in-kind to generate income through their Family Thrift Store The Salvation Army tries very hard to be efficient with the monies they collect. In FY2013 for every dollar spent from Social Fund, 89 cents was spent on social programmes to help their beneficiaries. Overall it was an uplifting talk which attracted many questions from our members. Sunshine Box donations amounted to $75. Photos of meeting on 5 Nov 2013 Visiting PDG Willy from RC Jakarta Pres Jeffrey Chan COL Buckingham from Salvation Army

3 Sunshine Box collections Special thanks to guest speaker, Col Buckingham of the Salvation Army

4 PRESIDENT S BLOG Week of 4 NOVEMBER 2013 Dear Members, We have had a busy week so far this week. Firstly we had a most enjoyable Board meeting hosted by Vincent Chen at his home. Then we had a most interesting meeting on Tuesday 6 November where we heard from COL Lyndon Buckingham of the Salvation Army. He was a most passionate speaker and his passion about his work and his beliefs was infectious. Then this week we commenced our fund raising for our Major Project, which is the Charity Film Show ON Monday 16 December 2013 with the Simei Care Centre as our major beneficiary, in addition to the Dyslexia Association of Singapore and the Crohn and Colitis Society. The film this year is the much anticipated blockbuster THE HOBBITS: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. Venue is Lido 1 and the screening commences at 9.00 pm. The major project of a Rotary Club is the most important activity of any Rotary year. It is always for the benefit of a worthy cause. It can take many forms. Previously, the yearly major project of Raffles City took many forms, including fund-raising dinners, musical concerts, car rallies and even Chinese opera. But for quite a few years now our major project has been in the form of charity film shows to raise funds for worthy causes. This has proved to be an efficient means of raising funds for worthwhile causes. Raffles City, or at least a small group of our members, has excelled in this and we can proudly say that we have a core of expertise in this activity. Our thanks must go to this dedicated core of members who, for quite a few years, have almost every year put in the effort to organise our major project. We also would acknowledge and thank our member who is bearing this year's cost of renting the film and the venue so that all receipts from ticket can be applied to the beneficiaries. However, the efforts of these dedicated Rotarians do not ensure the success of our club major project. The purpose of the activity is to raise funds and this can only be achieved if we are able to meet our financial targets. This is only when all the tickets issued for this event, and there are 500 of them are to be sold. So all members of Raffles City must put in the effort to sell (or buy) all the tickets that has been issued for this charity film show. This will require effort, and some expenditure, on our part. But that is what being a Rotarian is all about. So I would once again call on all members to take one or more books of tickets for this Charity Film Show and persuade your friends to make the donations for these tickets to come and enjoy the show. Of course, all members should themselves be taking tickets and making the requisite donations to come and join everyone else in enjoying this movie on the evening of Monday 16 December 2013 at the Lido 1 cinema Jeffrey Chan President s Column President, R C of Raffles City

5 PP Jimmy Daruwalla Safari photographs Safari symbiosis shared by PP Jimmy: Members Column (Photo by Dr Jimmy Daruwalla) Events Report Board of Directors Meeting Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 Venue: Residence of PP Vincent Chen 43 Poole Road, off Tanjong Katong Road

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7 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 Rotary Fun Fair Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2013 Time: Whole day Venue: 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 stalls 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) Guest Speaker for lunch meeting Date: Tues 12 Nov 2013 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: Rtn William Wan

8 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 Deepavali Fellowship Dinner Date: Fri 22 Nov 2013 Time: 7.30pm 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

9 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 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 12 Nov Speaker, Rtn William Wan. Topic to be announced Tues 19 Nov proposed speaker from Simei Care Centre 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)

10 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) Month Next Week: 12 Nov 2013 Desk Duty Sami Midani 19 Nov 2013 M. Rajaram 26 Nov 2013 Alfred Ong 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

11 The Arab Sheik Before We End An Arab Sheik was admitted to Hospital for heart surgery, but prior to the surgery, the doctors needed to have some of his blood type stored in case the need arose... As the gentleman had a rare type of blood, it couldn't be found locally, so, the call went out. Finally a Scotsman was located who had the same rare blood type. The Scot willingly donated his blood for the Arab. After the surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman, as appreciation for giving his blood, a new BMW, diamonds & $100,000 US dollars. A couple of days later, once again, the Arab had to go through a corrective surgery procedure. His doctor telephoned the Scotsman who was more than happy to donate his blood again. After the second surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman a thank-you card and a box of Quality Street chocolates. The Scotsman was shocked that the Arab did not reciprocate his kind gesture as he had anticipated. He phoned the Arab and asked him: "I thought you would be generous again, that you would give me a BMW, diamonds & money, but you only gave me a thank-you card and a box of Quality Street." To this the Arab replied: "Aye laddie, but I now have Scottish blood in ma veins!" Contributed by Rtn Chris Mertz End of Bulletin