PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

As our Editor has pointed out in the last issue of our Peejay Pos, January is Rotary Awareness Month. From my encounter with the ordinary people on the street, most of them have not heard about Rotary, let alone what Rotarians do. This seems to be the reality of the Rotary world. It is time we need to project and promote Rotary. Let the man on the street understand a little about Rotary. Of course, the professionals and the educated who know about Rotary could help us spread the good work of Rotary. This is the importance of the Standing Committee of Public Relations under the Club Leadership Plan (CLP). This committee has to sell Rotary by going to companies and give talks about Rotary and the work Rotarians do. At the same time, publicity must be given to our projects in the press. This is to create awareness about Rotary as an NGO in serving humanity. The Public Relations Campaign, organized by the Rotary Club of Central Damansara, has moved in the right direction to provide strategies in making our Malaysians know about Rotary. The Club has secured a matching grant from RI and has also local sponsors in this significant project that is going to take Rotary to a different level. We, as Rotarians of our Club, should also do our bit and publicize ourselves. To acquaintances, just say “I’m a Rotarian,” in the course of a conversation and then anticipate some questions about Rotary.

On 14th January, our Club together with LDS Charities presented 53 wheel chairs to the Beautiful Gate Foundation in SS2, Petaling Jaya. The wheel chairs were donated by LDS Charities but we sponsored the transport cost and the refreshment. It is the first time we are working with this organization. Dr Richard Smith and his wife Norma of LDS Charities are also interested in the Kampung Chawang Project. They are thinking of coming in to assist us in sanitation and education. The next day, the presentation of the wheel chairs received some publicity in the Nanyang Siang Pau. At the press conference, the CEO of the Foundation, appealed for safety seat belts for the vans and also computers. They need new computers very urgently. Please spread the word round. We will also help them in spring cleaning the home before Chinese New Year. PDG Dato’ Dr Low Teong, who was present, suggested our Interactors could be approached to help. I will speak to Dato’ Kevin at the next New Generations meeting. We would like to provide some cheer to the home during Chinese New Year. Rtn Rianne Chin suggested a pot luck lunch from Rotarians and Anns. Rianne is eager to organize it. The date will be confirmed soon. There will be a sing-along as well. We have started a Disabled Band in their centre in Kepong. This was initiated by PDG Low Teong. The musical equipment has been purchased and the band is undergoing training under the direction of former Rotarian Johnny Thien. The musicians are very enthusiastic to play for us on our 50th Anniversary. This is indeed an aspect that we often overlook. Being disabled also requires musical appreciation and emotional development. Most of the time, sponsors only think of physical and materials needs for the physically challenged. We must remember they are also humans like any one of us.

This is the first month of the year 2010. I pray that the projects that we have talked about will take off soon. We need to work harder in the next few months to achieve what we have set out to do. Thank you.

What about the promotion of goodwill and peace in the world? Again, Rotary International provides guidelines for Rotarians on how this can be achieved:

Rotarians should

1. Look beyond national patriotism and share responsibility for the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace
2. Resist any tendency to act in terms of national or racial superiority
3. Seek and develop common grounds for agreement with peoples of other lands
4. Defend the rule of law and order to preserve liberty of the individual so that all may enjoy freedom of thought, speech, and assembly; freedom from persecution and aggression; and freedom from want and fear
5. Support action directed toward improving standards of living for all peoples, realising that poverty anywhere endangers prosperity elsewhere
6. Uphold the principles of justice for humankind, realising that these are fundamental and must be worldwide
7. Strive always to promote peace between nations and be prepared to make personal sacrifices for that ideal
8. Urge and practice a spirit of understanding of every person’s beliefs as a step toward international goodwill, recognising that there are certain basic moral and spiritual standards that, if practiced, will ensure a richer, fuller life
9. Exercise appropriate caution in conducting activities and programmes where international tensions exist between countries.

The month of January is observed worldwide by Rotary as Rotary Awareness Month and as Rotarians we should make an individual contribution to help create a better-informed public perception of Rotary, that Rotary is much more than a service organisation providing humanitarian service but it is an organisation that also encourages the practice of high ethical standards and helps in the promotion of goodwill and peace in the world.

Editor’s Note

Thank you PDG David for your two part Editorial on Rotary Awareness. At the start of the Rotary year all members of the club were issued an invitation to write something for the PeeJay Pos.

Unfortunately ONLY PDG David Ho, PP Dr Tarcisius Chin and PP Balram Menon have responded. 

I would like to extend another open invitation to all members of RCPJ to write something for the PeeJay Pos which is your club’s newsletter.

The main objective of incorporating the district is to make it a legal entity with the right to hold meetings, open bank accounts, collect money and so on. The name of the company is Rotary International District 3300 (Malaysia) Bhd and it is a company limited by Guarantees under the Companies Act 1965 and that all Rotary Clubs in District 3300 shall be the members of the company. 

The Directors are the District Governor, who is also the Chairman, the DG Elect, DG Nominee, the Immediate Past District Governor, the District Secretary and District Treasurer.

The Memorandum and Article of the Company has been emailed to all members of the club separately.

Rotary information of the day presented by PDG Dato Dr Low Teong: 

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International was established in 1917 as an Endowment Fund. It was named The Rotary Foundation by the 1928 Convention.

President of RI in 1917 : Arch Klumph; RI Convention of 1928: Minneapolis, USA

ATTENDANCE: 25/41 = 60.90%

Dear Fellow Rotarians

January is the month the Romans associated with their two-headed god Janus: one head looking backward to the year that has just passed, and the other looking forward to the year ahead.

In Rotary, January is the halfway point of our year of service, and it is also a time for us all to look at both the past and the future. It is the time of year to take stock, to review the goals that we have set for ourselves, and to evaluate how well we have fulfilled those expectations. It is a time to look honestly at our progress and our challenges and to consider the steps we will need to take to complete our planned service successfully.

I am sure there is much you can be proud of achieving in the last six months. In my travels, I have already seen how much Rotarians can accomplish when they are determined to do so. You have helped bring safe, pure water to those who lacked it, provided food and shelter to those who needed it, and assisted in the educations of those who could not read or write. You have promoted the ideal of service within a context of fellowship, friendship, and high ethical standards. 

Rotarians are able to make changes that will shape the course not only of the months but of the years and decades that lie ahead. This is our privilege. It is also our duty as Rotarians - as caring members of society who are in the fortunate position of being able to help those living in conditions we can barely imagine.

So there is much to be done these next months. Do not waste a moment of that most precious commodity: time. 

We are all volunteers serving in a volunteer organization. None of us was compelled to become a Rotarian; each of us chose, and was chosen, to become a member. Every year, every day, each of us chooses to continue the task we have begun, and to continue to put Service Above Self. It is not always the easy path, but I know it is the right one.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for the Rotary service you have given, the service you are giving, and the service I know you will continue to give in the future.

The Future of Rotary Is in Your Hands. 

John Kenny 
President, Rotary International