PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

From the Worldwide Rotary Club Member Demographics published in the January issue of the Rotaryworld, 2% of the worldwide membership comes from members who are less than 30 years. And between 30 and 39, only 9%. This means that only 11% of the membership is identified with the younger lot of Rotarians. In contrast, 24% of the membership is derived from the 60 to 69 range. And 15% of the members are more than 70 years. And worldwide, 39% of the members are between 60 and 70 years of age. To digress a little, only 15% of the Rotarians are female.

The statistics do somewhat show the trend of the membership of our Club of 46. I believe only 4 are below 40 and this makes a percentage of 8.6%. On the older membership, 26 members, I believe again, are 60 and above and this makes a percentage of 56.5% that is much higher than the international statistics. The writing is on the wall. We need to recruit more young professionals into our fraternity. What makes the membership tick? Various views have been expressed. Some clubs have meetings centred round what is appealing to the younger potentials. One Rotarian remarked, “If you want to have younger members, you will have to look at activities younger members are interested in – more family oriented, probably somewhat more community oriented – because you can include kids, wives, and husbands.” This view is quite similar to the view expressed by our younger Rotarian Ryan Ho at the recent Membership Meeting. He used the word ‘lifestyle’. “To attract members, our projects and activities must be associated with their lifestyles,” he said. “In this way, Rotary becomes meaningful and relevant to them.” Lifestyles are the manifestations of their work experiences, values and habits that they enjoy and practise. They sound varied.

The younger people today do things that they deem relevant to them. They do not usually follow the ways of the older generation. Because of this, it is difficult to get the masses of younger people into our midst. The ones that we have got them in, unfortunately not too many, are those who are genuinely ready to serve. We are fortunate then. Perhaps at the next interest meeting, the Committee could address and expand on the idea of ‘lifestyle.’

Sometimes the younger Rotarians face ‘obstacles’ in their ideas. Whatever attitude, whether positive or negative, the older Rotarians tend to project themselves as the custodians of clubs. This is my observation of some clubs in the Klang Valley. Fortunately, not all of them are. The more senior Rotarians are prepared to listen and welcome the ideas and do things the younger ones want to do. This is indeed progressive for the club. We need to look at how younger people do things today. But the older Rotarians should not be seen as stumbling blocks to any progress or any ideas. They should be seen as good advisers to gently remind and inform the younger ones the traditions and practices of the club over the years.

Our Club’s membership is slowly but surely increasing, thanks to the great effort of the Membership Committee. We are now 46 and we have 4 more to go before we hit 50. Remember ‘50 before 50.’ There’s a probability that a lady member will join us soon. 

This is the festive season. Let us join hands together to work for the less fortunate. They deserve a better place to live in when we have more caring people like Rotarians and Anns. It is also a time to forgive. Let us not harbour any grievances against each other. Let’s try to forgive and forget.

IRENE AND I WISH ALL CHINESE MEMBERS ‘KONG HEE FATT CHOY’ AND TO THE OTHERS A DELIGHTFUL HOLIDAY.

The first was from Rtn Loo Kit Choong and I quote “ Hi seng chuan, I won’t normally join in a ‘melee’ but there are too many emails exchanges already on this. And honestly we are just running around in circles leh. This is voluntary work, yes its important, our 50th, BUT this is still frikkin voluntary work. My take, just call the meeting, you are the chair after all, those who come, come, those who don’t, will need to be followed up upon.”

The email attracted a reply from PP Teo Woon Hud and I quote “Dear Kit Choong, My dear friend, let me give you my 2 cents worth on the subject of “voluntary work.” What I am going to comment is not meant to point fingers at anyone or Rotarians. It is merely my general observation on the misconception of “Voluntary or Volunteer.”

To me, voluntary work is just as important, if not more important, than paid job/work. Volunteers, of course, enjoy certain rights when they donate their time but they must also have to accept specific responsibilities to the Organisation where they volunteer. As a Volunteer, he or she is free to set his own time schedule, but must be prepared to fulfill the confidence entrusted to them. They must perform the tasks assigned to them to the best of their ability and not just walk-out anytime or don’t care attitude because it is voluntary. He or she has to be sincere in the offer of service and believe in the value of the job to be done otherwise do not take up the responsibility. Remember, Volunteer also has to maintain the dignity and integrity of the Organisation, be it charity or otherwise with the Public.”

This was followed by PP Chris Ng forwarding PP Teo Woon Hud’s email to a few Rotarians titling the email “Argument on meaning of volunteerism” at 5.30am in the morning. Doesn’t Chris sleep? Woon Hud responded by telling Chris : “There was no argument on the meaning of volunteerism. You made it up yourself. As mentioned on my earlier email, I am only expressing my own view and please don’t start a problem.” 

Chris had earlier forwarded an email from PDG Jimmy Lim to some club members and got told off by Rtn Margaret Soo. Perhaps he will also remember he sent out some emails on PP Shou Kong and had to apologize later on. I hope PP Chris will learn something from these events.

Back to the subject of volunteerism. Wikipedia defines volunteering as the practice of people working on behalf of others or a particular cause without payment for their time and services. People also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contact, to have fun and a variety of reasons that could be considered self serving.

Another important factor in voluntary service is consensus or majority vote in decision making. In a voluntary group like the Rotarians of RCPJ there are bound to be differing opinions and self interest in most issues. Hence the majority view must be the basis of all decision making and action. And once that decision is made no one can reverse it except the committee that made it. Any member of the committee with a new proposal must bring it to the committee for it to be discussed and voted upon if a consensus cannot be reached.

The President of the club and Chairman of committees only preside over the meetings of the club and committee. Whilst certain privileges are usually extended to the chair it does not give them the right to reverse decisions of the committee. In theory this is possible in the private sector and sole proprietor companies, but in practice it is also not so. It is consensus or majority decision that usually prevails.

There are 4 million people living in the Klang Valley which works out to about one million families. Each family uses about 150 plastic bags for marketing and shopping. This means that 150 million plastic bags are used each year in the Klang Valley alone. These bags end up as uncollected rubbish, landfills and incinerators.

In Penang after extensive campaigning by the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) there are two NO PLASTIC BAG days per week. In Selangor we have only one NO PLASTIC BAG day per week. She then gave a demonstration of a large variety of reuseable bags for marketing and shopping.

Her parting words “The earth is a friend to us and provide for all the things we need. Thank you earth.

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

The world’s first Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Chicago was formed on 23 February 1905. Its first President was Silvester Schiele. Paul Harris went on to become the first President of Rotary International in 1910.

There were only 16 Rotary Clubs when the National Association of Rotary Clubs which later was renamed Rotary International was formed in 1910.

ATTENDANCE: 20/41 = 48.78%

RI President John Kenny’s February Message

My fellow Rotarians,

Each of us has, at one time or another, been asked the question, what is Rotary? There are many ways to answer, depending on the questioner, the context, and the time available. The shortest and simplest answer is that Rotary is the world's oldest service club organization. This is, of course, an accurate but necessarily incomplete response, for any true understanding of Rotary must include an explanation of how we in Rotary strive through our service to achieve more than the goal of each individual project. By working together in our clubs, our districts, and internationally, we strive to establish the simple foundations of a better society: friendship, trust, honesty, and hope.

The structure of Rotary, along with our international club projects, helps make friendly connections between Rotarians in different countries. Our emphasis on ethical and honest behavior works to build strong and open relationships between people and nations. Our service projects in water, health and hunger, and literacy help eliminate many of the practical obstacles to peace. And our Rotary Foundation and Rotary Youth Exchange programs go a step beyond by training the leaders of tomorrow to be active builders of a more peaceful world.

These programs help shape responsible citizens of better communities -- people who will have a broad and nuanced perspective, enhanced by opened eyes and open minds. They will be indelibly marked by their experiences, and throughout their lives -- both now and in their later careers -- they will not keep the benefits of these experiences to themselves. These are the people who will help build the kind of future that we as Rotarians strive to create through our every action.

What is Rotary? It is a network of people who care -- people who are both realists and optimists. We recognize the challenges before us and our own limitations; we also recognize our abilities and our responsibility to use them to the fullest. If we are ever to realize Paul Harris' vision for Rotary as an organization that promotes goodwill among nations, then, as he wrote, "the hearts of men must be so touched and molded that mutual understanding and goodwill will take the place of fear and hatred." In this, World Understanding Month, we do well to remember these words -- and to remember as well that in all of our service, we reach for the larger goal of fellowship, understanding, and peace.

John Kenny 
President, Rotary International 

Chairman, The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees February Message

Building bridges through service 

On 23 February, Rotary will celebrate its 105th anniversary. On that day, we also mark World Understanding and Peace Day, for in Rotary, part of our mission is working for peace - not through military might, but through our humanitarian work. Rotarians understand very well that the causes of war and strife are often the same: poverty, inequality, deprivation, and a lack of hope.

Rotary works to restore that hope by bringing health, education, and the promise of a better future. We do this through the locally based club and district projects for which we are known, and through larger projects run internationally and with the support of our Rotary Foundation – projects that support schools, build wells, improve quality of life, and bring us ever closer to our goal of a polio-free world.

The years that we have been working together through PolioPlus have been years of steady determination, of lessons learned, of confidence built. Where government representatives and health organizations have been refused entry, Rotary has been allowed in, because our local service and our international reputation have earned us the trust of others. Through our work, we have helped build bridges of cooperation between governments and communities. With every one of those bridges, and with every drop of polio vaccine, we come closer to the better, healthier, and more peaceful world that we know is possible to build. 

Glenn E. Estess Sr. 

RCPJ Dutch Night, Tuesday 23 February 2010

My Fellow Rotarians,

The key features for this Dutch Night are:

And of course we will ensure some good entertainment for the evening.

The cost per table of 10 is RM1,050, (western sit down dinner) or per pax is RM105.

The dress code for the evening is Batik or Jacket.

goh seng chuan