CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 47

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22nd

June

201

2“Closing Speech of the 2011-2012 Rotary year”Speaker: Tapan Rao, President of the Rotary club of Singapore

Lunch meeting of the 20th June 2012

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Introductory remarksPresident Tapan welcomed members to the last meeting for Rotary year 2011/2012 and called the meeting to order.

ToastRtn. Florian Edelmann invited visiting Rtn. Keith Bryant to address the Club. Rtn. Keith advised that his club was the 33rd Rotary Club to be established and was the 4th largest club in the world with 530 members. He added that the club would be celebrating its 100th year anniversary since it was founded in Rotary year 1911/12. Rtn. Keith informed members that San Diego was home of the largest military base in the USA, and in fact, many of the military leaders were Rotarians. He also added that his club members included a number of CEOs of NGOs such as the Girl Scouts, American Cross and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Rtn. Florian called on members to join him in raising a toast to the Club 33 San Diego coupled with the traditional toast to Rotary International.

Happy Birthday !

President Tapan called upon Sergeant-at-Arms, Rtn. Gerald Abeyawardena who celebrates his birthday on 21st June, to come forward and cut the birthday cake.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guests

Rtn. Dr. Rupesh Agrawal welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians

- Guests :Ms. Wendy Koh and Ms. Ng Leng Leng (Allianz)Ms. Monica LimMrs. Susan Bryant

Visiting Rotarians :Keith Bryant – Club 33 San Diego, USA

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Major Project

President Tapan called upon PP Raymon Huang, who was standing in for Rtn. Joseph Chia , Chairman of the Club’s Major Project Committee. He noted that the beneficiary of the Major Project was Boys’ Town, an Institution, which has been looking after “boys at risk” since 1968. He added that the Major Project was a worthy project and called on members who have not contributed towards it, to do so quickly.

PP Raymon recounted that at one Vocational Service Committee meeting, members were informed of the Major Project, and Rtn. Dr. Mark Eger, unhesitating said that he would see if his company could “do something”. He added that “something” turned out to be a magnificent donation of $25,000 from his company, Allianz S E Reinsurance Branch Asia. PP Raymon invited Rtn. Mark to present his company’s cheque, to the Major Project Committee, which he would then hand to President Tapan. Upon presenting his company’s cheque, Rtn. Mark took the opportunity to inform members of Allianz’s strong social engagement around the world, including the two Trusts established to support culture and the environment.

President Tapan’s Closing Speech

It was an unforgettable experience to be the 77th President of this club. This was the first year that the club adopted the "Club Leadership Plan" (CLP) suggested by Rotary International a few years ago. We had to tweak the organisational structure recommended by RI to suit our club's traditional method of operating. So it would be probably more appropriate to say that we have adopted a modified CLP or MCLP. In this structure certain traditional sub committees have been transformed into well defined Board positions with specific responsibilities and deliverables. We are now aligned with the way District 3310 functions. The club's performance assessments at the District level is based on deliverables defined as per the CLP system. A shift in focus was therefore inevitable for the President. There is now enhanced thrust and importance accorded to Membership, The Rotary Foundation (TRF), PR, (Admin & Finance) & Service. With the Modified CLP in operation during the year, all reporting at the Board meetings were based on functions as defined by the new system. Being in its first year of implementation, the President & Board members were constantly in a beta mode to evolve best practices. Even though the club as a whole functioned very effectively, there are a lot the still needs to be done to strengthen all thrust areas. The Rotary Foundation Chair has such a challenging task in the years to come. During my year in office, I could not delink TRF from International Service Committee. Paul Harris Fellow contributions (PHF) in our club is entirely associated with matching grant projects. Our contribution to non-designated PHF during the year was in the region of only 5000 USD. The expectation from RI under the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) is minimum 100 USD per member per year and for the size of our club we are expected to contribute

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It is with his purpose that the BOD for 2011-2012 approved that the SPC continued for the year 2011-2012. The incoming BOD may consider approving their tenure for yet another year. The final report from SPC is awaited and it needs to be on the agenda of the incoming Board to adopt the SPC report and propose the resolutions required to make amendment to the constitution to formally incorporate the MCLP. As of now the MCLP is only a Beta versions. At this point I would now like thank my Board members who devoted their time and effort to make things happen during my year as President. I deem it appropriate to acknowledge specially those floor members whose efforts made a perceptible difference to the Club. I attended all SPC meetings as a PE & my takeaways from these meetings were valuable to the Presidency. Thank you, PDG Philbert Chin and members of the SPC namely PP Paliath Mohandas, PP Sajjad Akhtar, PP Mansoor Hassanbhai, PP Stan Low, Rtn Robert Craiu & Rtn Suresh Hathiramani. On another dimension, Past President Stan Low put a lesson plan in place and brought me up to speed on the forms and formalities of the president’s office. This started early during my year as president elect. Meticulous as he is always, he ensured that I had planned out the entire year’s calendar of events right at the beginning of my year. This allowed me to plan my business commitments and travel. PP Stan also devoted substantial time and effort to help the Vice President & Membership Chair, Ashi Sarwal. He designed a standard system for imparting basic information about Rotary and the club for prospective members. All the 19 new members were personally met by PP Stan to brief them about Rotary movement & the history and heritage of Rotary Club of Singapore.The guest speakers’ at our club’s regular meetings were eminent leaders in their profession and the Rotarians enjoyed listening to each one of the 47 weekly speakers. Rotarian Joseph Chia coordinated the entire speakers’ program. He worked so silently behind the scene that it seemed as if the

a minimum of 15 PHFs i.e. 15000 USD per annum to TRF. These would have to be non-designated and 50% of such funds will be returned to the district in 3years and like in some districts we can probably work out a permanent understanding with the district to draw on these funds for our projects. 2011-2012 was a difficult period in recent economic history. The economic uncertainties, austerity measures and mergers and acquisitions affected the life style of many and they affected our Board members too. Many of the Board members were no longer in a position to plan their schedules to suit Rotary responsibilities. They travelled at short notices and were invariably held up at work for longer hours. Hence as a President one was compelled to schedule one to one meetings at mutually convenient times apart from the monthly Board meetings scheduled a year in advance. My purpose of highlighting this is to suggest that we have to accept a paradigm shift in the way Rotarians will interact, discuss and conduct meetings in the immediate future. If we are enlisting younger and successful businessmen in our club and nominate them as Board members than we will have to redesign our meeting system to involve those who are constantly on the move. We have to consider upgrading our online capabilities to include Webiners and SKYPE conferencing facilities. This is the only way that we can involve the next generation of high fliers to accept positions in the Club. May be the incoming team of office bearers will study this need in detail. RI is already conducting several experiments in this area. In the previous Rotary year, (now) IPP Bala put together a group of knowledgable members & PPs to redesign the club SOP and put it in line with the MCLP structure. This committee was called the "Strategic Planning Committee". PDG Dr. Philbert Chin headed this committee. It was my recommendation that the SPC should be in place for 3 years.

program was on auto pilot and needed no Rotarian intervention. Yet it is a fact that to find a speaker & coordinate the dates and schedules of 47 important men and women, including requests for last minute rescheduling is some task! Rtn. Joseph, ensured that there were no hitches at all.Rotarian Paul Phua’s passion for New Generations Service is indeed commendable. As always he worked tirelessly to guide the NGS in its efforts to develop the youth of today to assume the responsibilities of tomorrow. He was present at every installation of all Interact Clubs. He guided me on all matters of New Generations Service. Dedicated floor members like him make a great difference to the club. Thank you Rtn Paul Phua. All Board members were active professionals who were constantly on the move. They were not in control of their schedules in the current economic uncertainties. Yet they were available whenever I cried “help”. The service committee Directors made necessary efforts at every stage to ensure that their committees met regularly as planned and executed projects as scheduled. Their dedicated contributions resulted in the Club being recognised and awarded in practically all spheres of a Rotary Club activity. It is my pleasure to list these recognitions and awards, received during the year from District 3310, along with the credits due:1. Outstanding Club : Thank you all.2. Outstanding President : Thank you Board. Thank you Executive secretary, Mrs. Bernadette Ng and Ms. Ivy. They made my job so much easier. They met all deadlines from District & RI.3. Membership Award for highest net increase: This credit goes to Membership Chair & VP Rtn Ashi Sarwal, who committed to a plan with District Governor in September 2011 and executed the plan to perfection. His charm and persuasion motivated PP Dr. Oliver Hennedige and PP Stan Low to help him at every stage to achieve what he set out to do. Thank you, PP Dr. Oliver Hennedige and PP Stan Low. Thank you, Ashi.

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which resulted in greater involvement in club projects.Rotary Club of Singapore organised the World Understanding and Peace Day celebration on behalf of all the Rotary Clubs of Singapore. It was supposed to have been RC Singapore West but they regretted last minutes. The Diwali Nite jointly organised with Inner Wheel Club of Singapore was a hit with 160 participants. It attracted the largest participation in recent times.Sister Club Visit – A team of 13 volunteers of Rotarians and spouses from the club visited sister clubs in Japan to express their solidarity and also spent a week volunteering to clear children’s playground of bits of glass and other debris left by the Tsunami. The team also provided physical labour to off load supplies from trucks for the Tsunami affected areas.This was reciprocated by a visit of 15 Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Osaka Semba. Rtn Mohan Vaswani & Rtn Shoichi sponsored and organised the dinner at Tower Club. Thank you. Our club members also attended a fellowship organised by RC Bangrak in Bangkok. Major Project – Boys’ Town is this year’s beneficiary of the Major Project. The club is raising a sum of S$100,000 to provide equipment for a new gym. We are thankful to the two partners in this project – 1) Patrick Hernon Trust Fund and 2) Rtn Dr. Mark Eger, whose employer, Alliance Reinsurance Asia Pacific pledged an amount of S$25000. I also wish to acknowledge Rtn Irina Francken for conceiving and assuming responsibility for the completion. Honorary Membership – I am pleased that both Past Presidents J. M. Jumabhoy and Koh Choon Hui have accepted to be the Honorary members of our Club. The club has 15 Honorary members.Secretariat Relocation –On 30th September 2011, the secretariat moved to its current location at 1A International Business Park #12-02, Singapore 609933. We are indebted to our member, Rtn. Mohan Vaswani, who has made available office space for the Club’s use.

4. Vocational Service Award – Rotary Youth Social Enterprise Challenge. Congratulations, RYSEC Project Convenor, Rotarian Sirish Kumar.Rtn Sirish practically worked full time for 3 months to organise mentoring sessions for young aspirants to develop business plans and launch their social enterprises. He also ensured that a 150 member alumni was put together & were in constant engagement with Rotary Club of Singapore and had access to a pool of experts put together by the RYSEC committee. A great responsibility, well delivered!5. International Service Award – Mega Free Eye Camp, India. Approximately 982 cataract (IOL) surgeries were conducted. Congratulations Director of International Service Committee, Rtn. Gary Goh. The gift of sight is probably the best gift one can give the elderly, weak and the underprivileged.6. Club Bulletin Award. Congratulations to Rtn Jean-Philippe Lionnet who is probably the newest Rotarian in the 2011-2012 team of office bearers. Thanks to his effort, we will have 47 issues of the Crossroads in our archives.7. New Generations Service Award – Raffles Institution (Year 1 to 4) Day-Out project to bring 25 disadvantaged children beneficiaries to Universal Studios Singapore. A big thank you goes out to NGS Director Koh Juay Meng. Under his leadership NGS continued to flourish. He organised an exceptional leadership camp at NACLI for all the Interact office bearers early in the Rotary year. KJM as I call him is a great leader and a great help!8. Public Relations Award – Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2011 was covered and broadcasted extensively by CNA. Project Convenor for Rotary ASME Entrepreneur of the Year Award, PP Stan Low needs a special round of applause for a great job done.Fellowships Programmes – Hon Secretary Rtn Goh Bock Seng organised an evening fellowship meet every Tuesday which was attended by many of the newer Rotarians. A warm camaraderie developed among older and newer Rotarians,

It is customary for a President to buy gifts for all those who contributed to make his year successful. So I will contribute two PHFs in recognition of all help and guidance I received during the year. Thank you.“

Vote of thanks

Sergeant-at-Arms, Rtn. Gerald Abeyawardena called upon PP Bhagwan Melwani to extend the Club’s vote of thanks. PP Bhagwan stated that he had wanted to acknowledge the list of achievements acknowledged by the District, however this was already described by President Tapan in his speech. PP Bhagwan noted that President has been actively involved in all the Club’s projects and his presence was felt in all the committees and on overseas visits. He added that it has been a wonderful year for the Club and President Tapan would be remembered for his personal involvement in all the activities. PP Bhagwan also added a vote of thanks to Mrs. Prabha Rao, he noted that without the help of his wife, the President would not be able to do much. He noted that Prabha was very much involved in person and gave her support which was very appreciated. PP Bhagwan called on members to join him in extending a standing ovation to President Tapan for his good work.

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Last bulletin of the Rotary year

To wrap up this bulletin, I would like to thank all the persons that made this year’s bulletin possible, reliable and as neat as possible.Thank you Bernie for your notes and updates, Ivy for the constant support, Rtn. Xavier for the initial design and helping me to start smoothly, PP Raymond for his articles and Rtn Rewa for all the jokes that I have been constantly using and reading.Thank you Tapan for giving me the opportunity to get to know more of our club.

For the other Rotarians, thank you for reading the bulletin, spreading it, forwarding it.I encourage you to make use of the bulletin for your future projects, announcements etc.

Wishing you all the best to PE Jimmy for the Installation night.

Rtn Jean-Philippe LionnetEditor of the bulletin 2011-12

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The Guide to Daily LivingBefore doing the things we want to do, consider first, the precept of the guide. Ask ourselves these 4 questions and act upon them:First: Have I spent some time in self-examination?Second: Have I spent quality time with my family?Third: Have I given my best to my work?Fourth: Have I given some time to someone near and far?The Guide, in fact, encompasses the 4 parts of the Object of Rotary.

MARK YOUR DIARYBirthday celebrantsRC wishes Happy Birthday to celebrants this week:June 28th – Edward LoyJuly 4th – PP Dr. Yap Lip KeeJuly 6th – PP Philip LeongJuly 7th – Rudi AckermannJuly 9th – Yong Poh Shin

Anniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants this weekJune 27th – Kaustubh & Wrushali BodhankarJuly 5th – PP Dr. Patrick & Lillian ChinJuly 6th – PP Alfred & Joyce Wong, Vicki Chan & MauriceJuly 8th – Dr. Irina & Nico Francken

This weekJune 27th 2012

Meeting cancelled in view of the Installation Dinner on Saturday 30th June at 6.30pm (cocktails) at :Joyden Hall, 7th floorBUGIS+ (formerly known as Iluma) 201 Victoria Street, S188067

GET YOU INSTALLATION DINNER TICKETS FROM THE

SECRETARIAT!

Next week July 4th 2012

1st Club Assembly for Rotary Year 2012/2013

Community Service Date: Thursday, 5th JulyTime: To be advisedVenue: To be advisedHost: To be advised

COMING ROTARY EVENTS

JuneRotary Fellowships Month

June 27th Meeting Cancelled in view of the Installation Dinner on June 30th

June 30th Installation Dinner

JulyJuly 4th 1st Club Assembly for Rotary Year 2012/2013

July 12th Visit to the Singapore Garden Festival with the residents of the Sree Narayana Home for the Aged

Queries, comments and articles request can be sent to bulletin@rotary.org.sg

The Four-Way TestOf the Things we think, say or do:* Is it the truth?* Is it fair to all concerned?* Will it build goodwill and better friendship?* Will it be beneficial to all concerned?