PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Rotarians, this is a reminder about the Mexican Nite on Friday, 6th March 2009 at the Sheraton Subang. Please support the Club for this International Nite. It is significant to know about our international community. A lot of fun has been planned for the evening. Let’s have our hair down. I would like to thank PP Goh Seng Chuan, PP Chris Ng and Rtn Margaret Soo for all their hard work and planning for the evening.

The month of March is round the corner. It is the Literacy Month. We are concerned that despite all the advancement in technology, 137 million school-age children are illiterate. For many in South Africa, literacy is a luxury. Children learn basic reading in school but some never have the chance to read for fun, and many families have no books at home. 13% of people over age 15 are illiterate.

Why is it so important to acquire the 3Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic? Teaching simple vocations and job skills helps convince learners that education is not just a theoretical task but that it is a task for life – and that to read, write and calculate will help open doors for a better life. There are individuals who can’t read and write, so they can’t get a job. They serve their time and they cycle right back into jail. Somehow, we’ve got to break that cycle.

Rotary’s Lighthouse Project reflects the concern about illiteracy. It emphasizes the importance of language in literacy. With the ability to read and write, the world will become an exciting place to know about things. Thailand is very much into the Concentrated Language Encounter. But in Malaysia, our RCPJ spearheads the CLE by conducting the English course and technique nationwide. It is not to remove illiteracy but to provide English teachers with an alternative approach to English language teaching and learning. There’s fun and joy in learning English via the CLE.

There was a lot to learn and remember. But the information was well documented in hardcopies and CDs. The PEs were informed about the types of projects that are identified with human development, community development and environmental protection. Public relations is the responsibility of each Rotarian in sharing the good work of the club and Rotary with non-Rotarians through personal and professional contacts. Public relations strengthens awareness of club activities for the general public and club members.

The seminar was well organized by the RC of Melawati. However, there should be more interaction and sharing among PEs. It’s not very often that PEs have the opportunity to meet. With whatever experiences that they have and also the teething problems that they face, it would have been a good opportunity to think about the views of others. Our RCPJ in comparison with the other clubs is on track. We are among the 3 clubs in Group B consisting of at least 30 that will implement the CLP in the next Rotary year. I do not think that many clubs in the district will do so in the next Rotary year. Our fund-raising from the charity dinner was the highest in the district in 08/09.

A worthwhile seminar.

Rianne suggests investing in Bon Simpanan Merdeka which offers a 5% interest as one option. The other option is to invest in a structured savings scheme with both capital and returns guarantee. Such a scheme is structured to offer a much higher returns rate than will be offered by FDs and is available locally.