My dear Rotarians, As I prepare myself to close the Rotary year 2014-15 at the end of June, please join me to welcome DG Philip Chong & District First Lady Len Nyuk on board as they begin this wonderful journey of walking and working with all of you to Be a Gift to the World. DG Philip has been working very hard. Together with DGE Michael Yee, they both joined me in some of my club official visits in August and September 2014. DG Philip has made many observations along the way and I am sure he has fine-tuned many policies and practices to be rolled out in the new Rotary year. While we have achieved much successes in 2014-15, it does not mean we should be complacent. We should take those successes and build more successes along the way. Thank you for allowing me to work with you to 'Light Up Rotary' for the past 12 months. It has been an inspiring and fulfilling journey that has left many fond memories in my heart and soul to become one of the most memorable times of my life. Many club presidents & Rotarians joined hands with me to do good in the local and overseas communities. We witnessed, acted and passed many difficult times together such as: 1. The flood in Kelantan & Sabah 2. The earthquake in Nepal and Ranau (Sabah) 3. The passing of many good Rotarians Several fund raising activities were initiated and Rotarians never failed to contribute. Several Rotary Days were organised and the first one was held in Singapore jointly done with National University Hospital Singapore to perform eyes screening. It was a good turnout. Guest of honour was Mayor Low Yen Ling. Thanks to club president Jona Pang of RC Tanjong Pagar, the organising chair.
We celebrated World Understanding & Peace Day with a different approach the Rotary Day across Johor and Sabah. JB Rotary Day
KK Rotary Day For the first time we commemorated Vocational Service month by having a TED style event called Walk the Talk at Fusionopolis in Singapore where several speakers gave interesting talk to about 100 attendees. It was organised by PP June Jonet, the District Vocational Service Chair.
The five speakers at Walk the Talk sitting at the background during Q&A PUBLIC IMAGE: It was also the first time that the district designed its own Rotary vest that is now worn by many Rotarians across the district whenever they attend club activities and projects. This gives us a uniform image to members of the public. The Rotary vest
Name badges were also made to all club presidents and district chairs so as to allow those outside of Rotary circle to recognise them during club activities. This also helped them to be recognised easily within the Rotary circle outside of their respective clubs. Example of a name badge CELEBRATION WITH RI PRESIDENT GARY C. K. HUANG: We celebrated Inter-City dinner with RI President Gary Huang with a good turnout of over 380 attendees on 22 December 2014. Thanks to club president Elsie Chua of RC Pandan Valley who was the organising chair.
RI President Gary Huang & First Lady Corina trying out the District 3310 Vest Prior to the Inter-City dinner, a luncheon meeting with Past District Governors of D3310 & DGN Michael Yee was held at the Tanglin Club.
First Lady Corina with spouses of our Past District Governors & Helen (left) who is spouse of DGN Michael Yee. At 3pm on the same day, a group of us comprising of RI President Gary Huang and First Lady Corina; Chairman of the Council of Past District Governor PDG Dr Wu Dar Ching & spouse Lorna; Aide to RI President Gary Huang, PDG Fong Hoe Beng and spouse Phyllis; IPDG Chew Ghim Bok & spouse Phyllis, made a courtesy call on His Excellency President Tony Tan at the Istana
A courtesy call on H.E. President Tony Tan. Thanks to PDG Chew Ghim Bok for making the arrangements. My thanks to PDG Fong Hoe Beng and spouse Phyllis for accepting to be the aide to RI President Gary Huang and First Lady Corina throughout the visit to District 3310. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION ACT COMPLIANCE: The introduction of Personal Data Protection Act in Singapore and Malaysia warranted the district to look into this matter with great concern and commenced its implementation for clubs and Rotarians in Singapore which is still ongoing. This was assisted by IPP Derrick Wong of RC Marina City who gave a briefing at one of the Joint Club Presidents Meeting held in Singapore.
Some of the club presidents, Assistant Governors, district officers & DGE Michael listening
MEMBERSHIP: We started with 1,703 Rotarians on 1 July 2014 and ended with 1,823 Rotarians (an increase of 120 Rotarians or 7.1% versus target of 10% growth) as of 30 June 2015. The 1 st July 2015 membership currently stood at 1,812. A drop of 11 Rotarians. This is probably the smallest drop we have experienced in many years. The last time we crossed the 1,800 mark was on 30 June 2012 with 1,811 Rotarians. But it dropped to 1,778 as of 1 July 2012. A total of 59% of the 63 clubs in our districts registered a net growth of at least 1 member while 19% of the clubs were stagnant (zero growth) and 14% registered declined in total membership.
We grew by having one new conventional club & a satellite club in the name of RC Singapore Heartlands & Rotary Satellite Club of Sibu Sarikei respectively. The latter represents the first satellite club in D3310. Training was organised in early June 2015 in Sibu for the satellite club members. PP Dr Tarrek Abdel-latiff of RC Miri has been appointed as the Governor s Special Representative for Rotary Satellite Club of Sibu Sarikei while PP Henry Tan of RC Singapore has been appointed as the Governor s Special Representative for RC Singapore Heartlands. In the pipelines are more new clubs: 1. RC Kota Kinabalu Pearl (which had been registered with Malaysian Registrar of Societies on 2 June 2015 but yet to register with RI. They had 36 members as of 30 June 2015. 2. Rotary Satellite Club of Tebrau Leisure Farm 3. Rotary Satellite Club of Johor Central Iskandar 4. Mandarin speaking club in Kota Kinabalu 5. Mandarin speaking club in Johor We could have reached our membership growth target of 10% had the above 5 clubs been registered in time. But it does not matter. It is better that these clubs are formed with solid foundation than to rush registering them only to crumble on shaky grounds thereafter. For the first time we conducted a 3-in-1 seminar for The Rotary Foundation, Membership & PR with good responses in Singapore, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. The details are as follows: 1. Singapore, 30 th August 2014 (115 participants) -Organising/Host Club: RC Singapore West
2. Sabah/Labuan FT, 6 th September 2014 (105 participants) - Organising/Host Club: RC Kinabalu Sutera 3. Sarawak/Brunei, 13 th September 2014 (74 participants) - Organising/Host Club: RC Kuching 4. Johor/Melaka, 4 th October 2014 (88 participants) - Organising/Host Club: RC Kulai 5. Total participants: 382 participants The general feedback from the participants who had attended the 2-day seminar format was that they like this 3-in-1 format. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIONS: We increased the district dues by 50% and I think it was the biggest increase in the history of the district. We hired an Executive Director, by the name of PP Dr Ho Loon Shin, commencing 15 March 2015. He is on contract until 30 June 2017. I have had several discussions with him and guided him the various reports from My Rotary which are essential in order to help assist DG Philip prior to making the official club visits. We have also formalised the employment of Office Manager by the name of PP Joseph Chua. ROTARY FOUNDATION: Total contributions to The Rotary Foundation stood at USD474,327.00 (as of 30 June 2015 ) versus a target of USD300,000. Out of this amount, USD240,462.00 represented contributions to the Annual Fund. There were 39 clubs (62% participation versus 78% participation globally) that contributed to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund. We excelled in the actual club participation for Paul Harris Society at 49% versus 29% globally. The breakdown of the contribution to the Annual Fund is listed in the chart below.
POLIOPLUS: Contributions to PolioPlus started off very slowly at the beginning of the Rotary year but escalated immediately after the Kuching District Conference. Probably many Rotarians were moved by the life testimonial of PP John Soe of D3410 who was our guest speaker at the conference. He suffered from Polio. MAJOR DONORS: We exceeded our target for Major Donors contributors making a total of 12 Major donors comprising of the followings: 1. Major Donor level 1: nine persons
2. Major Donor level 2: one person 3. Major Donor level 3: one person 4. Major Donor level 4: one person The names of the individuals are as follows: My utmost thanks to everyone who contributed to the Rotary Foundation especially the 12 Major Donors. They received the Major Donors recognition at the Kuching District Conference. VOCATIONAL TRAINING TEAM (VTT): For the very first time the district participated in the VTT (Vocational Training Team) with District 2760 (Nagoya, Japan) as the inbound team. Our outbound team comprised of Matron Halina Thomas, Sister Stella & Dr Gayathri from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu. The team leader was PP Dr Ho Loon Shin, the Executive Director of RI District 3310 Bhd who took unpaid leave for his participation. The cost of the outbound team was borne by D2760 except for the team leader which was self funded. Thanks to IPDG Kondo, Rtn Tetsu and D2760. The participation in VTT represented the continuing efforts put by the late PP Alfred Sii of RC Kota Kinabalu. It was a tribute to him.
The inbound VTT team with Rtn Tetsu (standing 5 th from right) as the inbound team leader The inbound VTT team receiving memento
The outbound VTT members upon arrival in Nagoya
The outbound VTT from D3310 comprising of (left to right) Dr Gayathri, Sister Stella, Matron Halina Thomas and Team Leader PP Dr Ho Loon Shin My thanks to the District VTT team members comprising of PP James Jupinon of RC Kota Kinabalu (chair), PP Darren Jee of RC Likas Bay (deputy chair), incoming District VTT Chair PP Emily Chong of RC Kinabalu Sutera and every Rotarian of the seven clubs in Kota Kinabalu who played a part for being a good host to the inbound VTT members from Nagoya, Japan. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE During the year we encouraged clubs to establish sister/friendship clubs relationship and for clubs who already have sister/friendship clubs, they were encourage to strengthen their relationship by doing joint projects or renew contacts to visit each other. But the highlight was the special focus with Rotary clubs in Indonesia. Through the dedication of District Friendship Liaison Chair, PP Abdul Halim Egoh and his committee. On 23 rd November 2014, the committee, in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate General Kota Kinabalu, organised A Night of Friendship and Culture to commemorate the signing of Friendship/Sister Club agreement between
District 3310 and Indonesia District 3410 and 3420. It was held the night after a successful 2014 Kota Kinabalu Rotary Institute (18 th -23 rd ). A total of 9 clubs in D3310 participated in this initiative with 8 of them doing the signing in Kota Kinabalu while RC Labuan formalised the agreement at the Joint D3410 & D3420 Conference in Yogyakarta in May 2015. The name of the clubs that participated in this initiative are: 1. RC Kuching Central & RC Bandung (D3410) 2. RC Muar & RC Bali Kuta (D3420) 3. RC Batu Pahat & RC Surabaya Timur (D3420) 4. RC Kluang & RC Bandung Selatan (D3410) 5. RC Tebrau & RC Solo Kartini (D3420) 6. RC Tanglin & RC Bali Canggu (D3420) 7. RC Luyang & RC Bali Denpasa (D3420) 8. RC Penampang & RC Surabaya Kaliasin (D3420) 9. RC Labuan & RC Yogyakarta (D3420) Among the VIPs in attendance were: RI Director Guiller Tumangan (Convener for 2014 KKRI); Mr Rofumi Morikawa Consul General of Japan; Bapak Akhmad Daya Handasah Irfan, the Incoming Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia to Sabah; Datuk Amirkahar bin Tun Datu Mustapha (Sabah Ex-State Assemblyman); Bapak Fauzi Acting Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia; Yang Mulia Tuan Hj. Zamani bin Hj. Razali, Consul General of Negara Brunei Darussalam. Rotarians and RI Directors in attendance were Sang Koo Yun of RC Sae Hanyang, Korea; RI Treasurer Holger Knaack of RC Herzogtum Lauenburg- Molln, Germany and spouse; RI TRF Trustee Ian H.S. Riseley of RC Sandringham Victoria, Australia and spouse.
Exchange of memento. From left DG Hanny Arianto D3420; DG Herman Gani D3410; RI Director Guiller with the gracious host, Bapak Fauzi, Acting Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia. The happy event ended with a group photo with the host Bapak Fauzi; Guests, Rotarians and spouses.
NEW GENERATIONS: We had the biggest ever participation in RYLA that was held in Kuching with over 200 participants. It was organised by the four Rotary clubs in Kuching namely: RC Kuching,, RC Kuching Central, RC Kuching South and RC Kuching Jaya under the chairmanship of PP Frankie Yang from RC Kuching Central. Thanks also to PP Chandran Pillay who was the camp commandant as well as to members of the organising committee for making RYLA Kuching a great success with participation from Brunei, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Johor. RYLA in Kuching
The following Interact Clubs have been chartered: 1. SMK Tebobon Interact Club was chartered on 1 Oct 2014 with 27 members (Sponsored by RC Likas Bay) 2. St Maria Doretti Interact Club was chartered on 9 August 2014 (Sponsored by RC Kota Kinabalu South). This was the first community based Interact Club in D3310. Two new Rotaract Clubs were chartered. They are the Rotaract Club of Segi College in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (sponsored by RC Kuching Central) and the Rotaract Club of Singapore Institute of Technology (sponsored by RC Bugis Junction).
With charter president Racharla Varun Kumar (left) & Chantel Koh (District Rotaract Representative) at the charter ceremony of Rotaract Club of SIT ROTARY INFORMATION EVENING (RIE): The Rotary Information Evening (RIE), which initially started by RC Singapore, was extended to all clubs in Singapore where they can bring potential members to get to know more about Rotary. The first RIE was hosted by the committee with speakers from RC Singapore & RC Sentosa. Key Rotarians such as club president Perlita, AG Brown Pereira, PP Karen Kang, CP Michael Quek, PP Henry Tan and PP Dr Yap Lip Kee were involved in formulating the RIE. This is a good way to consolidate efforts in promoting Rotary to prospective members especially for smaller clubs who may be constraint with resources to conduct sessions like this.
KUCHING DISTRICT CONFERENCE: We had great response for the Kuching District Conference with record breaking attendees. It was also the first time that we had everyone wearing the specially designed Rotary batik for the official opening of the District Conference. It was also the first time we had 10 Rotary clubs from D3300 & 3 Rotary clubs from D3410 (Indonesia) attending the D3310 conference. Official opening of Kuching District Conference by RI President s personal representative Dr Keith-Barnard Jones who came with his spouse DG Judy. The conference was preceded with an End-Polio Walk that raised nearly US$30,000. The walk started off in Sibu on Most of the contributions were made after many Rotarians listened to the life testimonial of PP John Soe of D3410 who shared with us how he was treated by his own family until he was given away to an orphanage in Medan, Indonesia. He was subsequently adopted by the late Rotarian Ted De Ponti of RC Singapore West. The End Polio Walk was also to commemorate the last mile of walk by the End Polio walkers who walked over 420KM in 11 days from Sibu to Kuching. The walkers were AG Tay Wei Lien, PP Dr Angamuthu Rajoo and a non-rotarian by the name of Melvin.
From left to right: RI President s personal representative Dr Keith-Barnard Jones, PP John Soe, AG Tay Wei Lien, PP Dr Angamuthu & Melvin at the closing ceremony in Kuching. At the completion of the End Polio Walk at the historical Old Court House in Kuching The highlight of the conference was the Governor s Lectures on Values that was delivered by YBhg. Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.
YBhg. Datin Marina Mahathir receiving a token of memento I could not be more than happy with the presence of RI President s Personal Representative Dr Keith and spouse Judy. We were fortunate to have them. They were such a nice couple to know. Heaps of praises were conveyed to me and PE Ng Yaw Hua (the conference organising chair) by the couple upon their return to England telling us how much they have enjoyed being with us and that in so many district conferences that they have attended, they have never attended a district conference that was so well organised in terms of contents, fun and the warmth fellowships. They were amazed and awed when many of us sent them off at the airport. In the words of Dr Keith, We are used to being welcome by many Rotarians upon our arrival but we have never had such an entourage to say good bye to us.
Dr Keith & DG Judy enjoying themselves at the House of Friendship after the Governor s Banquet (above) and a grand send-off at Kuching International Airport (below).
Many thanks to PE Ng Yaw Hua and the organising committee members as well as the spouses of members of RC Kuching Central for making it possible to create an impactful and memorable District Conference. D3410 & D3420 DISTRICT CONFERENCE IN YOGYAKARTA: I had the honour to lead a delegation of 17 Rotarians and spouses from D3310 and 12 Rotarians and spouses from D3300 to attend the Joint D3410 & D3420 Conference in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on the third week of May 2015. With Rotarians from D3310. Also in the photo were DG Herman Gani (D3410) & DG Hanny Arianto (D3420), DGE Philip Chong & DGN Michael Yee
With Rotarians from D310
A fun photoshoot at the Joint D3410 & D3420 Conference in Yogyakarta In summary, I am really touched and awed with mixed emotions to see many club presidents still being active even until the last day of June. RC Penampang was still inducting new members on the 30 June 2015. My personal observation is that many Rotarians in District 3310 have become so gelled and united like never before.
I urge everyone of you to keep up with your enthusiasm and momentum. Make it contagious to those who crossed your path. May you be blessed for all the good things you have done and continue to do. Thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to work with you and for getting to know many of you beyond the Rotary world. Thank you to all the Rotarians who have made this district more vibrant. My most sincere apologies should my actions and words have hurt or offended you along the way. It was never intended to be that way. May our friendship continue to blossom. To the world, you and me are just like any other human being. To the people who are in need, you and me can mean the whole world to them. Our mission is not yet completed and it will never be complete. So go forth to serve. Thank you with all my heart to all Past District Governors, all incoming Governors, Assistant Governors, District Chairs & their respective committee members, club presidents, Rotarians and spouses. Rotary has been a part of my life since 1986 when I joined RC Kuching Central. I benefited tremendously since I ve been a Rotarian, especially in areas of leadership development, public speaking skills and people management. Prior to becoming a Rotarian, my view of the world was often narrow. Rotary has changed me to be a better person and above all, a better leader. Let us join hands with incoming DG Philip Chong to walk and work together to make this district bigger, better and bolder. So that together we can Be a Gift to the World. My most sincere thanks once again.