PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Rotarians need a break too. From the 3rd to the 5th of April, more than 10 Rotarians participated in the RCPJ Closed. It is a golf tournament and it attracts many members who are golfers. But this time, it’s different. It was held in Tawau, Sabah. Apart from golf, we had great fun tasting all the seafood. Of course, I wasn’t one of the connoisseurs. The great ’buaya’ Woon Hud won the OSS Trophy and this time round he could keep it permanently because he has been the champion for three occasions. We discovered that Kamarul, our in-coming Rotarian, is a great golfer.

Our Golden Child Project, one of our pet projects, will be scheduled at A’Formosa from the 10th to the 12th of April. We would like as many Rotarians as possible to support it. Rtn Pua Boon Yee and his team of Rotaractors are at hand to assist in this project. It is a joint project among the RCTampin, RCHKISW and our RCPJ. I understand that the members of the RCHKISW will be coming for this project. The project is to reach out to the terminally-ill children from HUKM, UH and GH. The children will be accompanied by their mothers. There will be a weekend of fun and food.

Penny and I wish all Christians a happy Easter.

In the world of global health, success builds on success, and Rotary, in its commitment to eliminate polio, is unique. Rotary has taken a very strong leadership role, and we knew, based on Rotary’s track record, that they would obviously be the key partner. My father is (an honorary Rotary club) member, and lately I’ve been earning more about Rotary and its geographic reach and its commitment to help on polio. I’m more and more impressed, the more I learn.

So much potential money is bound up in the corporate sector. How do you motivate the business community to adopt humanitarian issues as a core value?

Bill Gates’ answer: I’ve talked broadly about what I call ‘creative capitalism. The vast majority of the power, innovation, and ability to execute in the world is in business. The drug companies understand drugs and vaccines; the cell phone companies have the communications infrastructure; the food companies, through their buying and formulation and labs, understand seeds and things. If each company can think about how 5 percent of their innovative power could focus on the needs of the poorest and how we could tap more scientists, more resources, more abilities, it would be great.

Rotary is one of the best examples. They took on polio, and it drew them together. I wish we had more organizations and businesses taking on challenges like that. Businesses can match the gifts their employees give – such as (when) someone has given to the Rotary polio campaign. O they could donate their expertise or supplies. Each business has to pick a particular theme. I think this can be very energizing. 

Aviation refers to activities involving man-made flying devices (aircraft). There are types of aviation. Civil aviation includes all non-military flying, both general aviation and scheduled air transport. Air transport has major manufacturers such as Airbus (based in France), Boeing (based in the US, Bombardier (based in Canada) and others. Boeing and Airbus concentrate on wide-body and narrow-body jet airliners. In Malaysia, there are 3 companies that service the aircraft and they are Airod, MAS and one in Singapore.

Military aviation is identified with military aircraft that have been built to meet the ever increasing capability requirements. Fighter aircraft’s primary function is to destroy other aircraft. Bombers are used generally against more strategic targets such as factories and oilfields. Cargo transport aircraft are used to transport hardware and personnel such as the Hercules. Surveillance aircraft are used for reconnaissance. Helicopters are used for assault support, cargo transport and close air support.

Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of earth and surrounding space. The term is typically used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates and maintains vehicles moving through air and space. Aerospace is not the same as airspace, which is a term used to describe the physical air space directly above a location on the ground.

Thank you Shashi for the very technical information.