Vol 20 Number 23

FEBRUARY IS WORLD UNDERSTANDING MONTH

Rotarys 107th anniversary
Throughout the week of 23 February Rotary clubs and districts will also be illuminating iconic landmarks around the world with the End Polio Now message to raise awareness of Rotarys pledge to rid the world of the crippling disease. The landmarks include the Trevi Fountain in Rome; the parliament building in The Hague; the soccer stadium in Cape Town, South Africa; a gate at the Lantern Festival in Taiwan; Kanazawa Castle in Kanazawa, Japan; the government building in Karachi, Pakistan; the planetarium in Seoul, Korea; the Globe of the Mall of Asia in the Philippines; and the Charminar in Hyderabad, India. Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland sold and planted 4.6 million crocus bulbs across the region in October so their purple blooms would flower around Rotarys birthday. The Rotary Club of Hitchin Tilehouse, Hertfordshire, England, earned a Guinness World Record for the most people (636) simultaneously planting flower bulbs during an event at Butts Close Park in Hitchin. Honor Rotarys anniversary by planning an event in your community.

SELAMAT PAGI

11 February 2012

Presidents Message
This presidents message comes following a whack on the head by the editor! It appears Im one week late, however there must have been a reason! On Sunday 6th I had my first experience of interviewing one of the REF candidates with Dr. Kong. This was closely followed by a second candidate interview with Angie Ng, our erstwhile treasurer. Let me share the second of these meetings. We arrived at a very run down block of low cost flats, we queued at the lift next to a lady with 2 buckets of water! It turns out that not many residents had paid the water bill to the office responsible for collections, so the office had not paid the authorities, so the water company cut of the water to the entire block. The local council then installed two very large tanks with 2 taps on each tank. Now the lift took a really long time because one of the two lifts is no longer in service, actually for about 5 months now! Same problem, families who cannot afford to pay the service charge, means that there is no maintenance done on the block. Subsequently the water has been turned on and the top half of the building now has water, the lower half has a faulty pump and has no water. Uh Huh, no problem, because we now have the large tanks outside and thus there is no rush to repair the pump. All of this in an advanced city such as KL, but I suspect we could find similar situations elsewhere!. And so while we complain of an hour in a traffic jam to get out of KL, just spare a thought for those who spend an hour waiting for the lift! Despite all this we received a very warm welcome, entered a very clean home, were seated & offered a cold drink. We were met by supportive parents, and an eager child. The proud parents had pictures of their children on the wall, the discussion was open and informative, the aspirations clear. What an opportunity for our club to be helping children such as these by helping with an education we really are helping dreams come true. It was an absolute honour to be present in these homes & I hope that through other clubs we can extend the REF program. I also encourage all members to dip your toe into these waters if you have not done so already. You put a toe in or dive in headfirst, every little counts. This is International month for Rotary, and you just never know what international roles these children will take in their future lives. This is a longer than usual February, more holidays have passed and now its back to work. By the way, thank you to everyone who stayed and shared their ideas during the Club Assembly 2 weeks back. We will be reviewing the outputs next Thursday 16th in our monthly BOD meeting. Take care and many thanks to all members who held social activities and fellowships over the past months CNY celebrations.

Yours in Rotary President Steve

ATTENDANCE
Guest: Willa Wong, guest of Kong Junie, guest of Kong Attendance: 52% Fines: $54.00

CHINESE NEW YEAR FELLOWSHIP 4 February 2012 By IPP Poay Lim

SIMPLY RED was the theme that Karen identified for us for the CNY Fellowship night at Alvins home. It was after all in line with the Chinese tradition. So, suitablydressed, about 20 of us members with a good number of spouses, children,relatives and friends made our way to Alvins part of town. What a pleasure to have our newest and youngest member, Willa, there with us. James Cheong had earlier circulated a link for a google map to the address. Those of us with access to a GPS system found the place without any trouble. Some missed the remarks I posted about the link from James and got themselves a longer route to the venue. But all else went without a hitch. First of all, Alvins home is splendidly done and located at the very convenient end of a cul-de-sac convenient except for car parking and retrieval. The convenience was that the children had the run of the place in safety. The road outside was occupied with tables and chairs and a big spread of food catering to the neighbours who joined in the celebration. This was the overflow from Alvins compound in which we had more tables, chairs and food. Then the breeze, too, rose to the occasion. It was balmy and the big fans went further to make it a night to enjoy our potluck al fresco. The assortment of drinks and food distracted all of us from our new year resolution to watch the waistline. All night long, Mona and Alvin kept us busy with our plates and cutlery. From vegetarian cutlets to eggy pavlovas [I can only guess; I was too late to get any], there was something for every palate, not confined to Chinese New Year fare. At one point we were taking turns cutting delicious green mangoes. We owe Fang Keong a vote of thanks for the wealth of photos he has sent us from the evenings outing. This despite running off before the rest of us were ready to go. For the kids, the vast space around the house was an invitation to explore. As if that were not enough, they invaded Alvins neighbours houses as well. Which goes to show what a neighbourly community they have. To crown it all, we had a few rounds of fireworks through the evening. The best part of that is it was free being set off by Alvins neighbours in the distance. But it thrilled us all just the same. Thank you Alvin and Mona for putting up their home for our party. We look forward to many more such parties!

Announcements
- The 3rd Youth Leadership Camp will be held from 13 to 15 March 2012 at Casa Rachado, PD. Need volunteers to stay over at the camp. For more details see Graham. - Sister club RC Chungli Chung Shing anniversary is from 9 to 11 March 2012. For more details, pls see Fang Keong. - There will be a tree planting project at Raja Musa Forest Reserve on 21 April 2012 in conjunction with World Earth Day. More details to follow. - The 78th District Assembly will be held in Syuen Hotel, Ipoh from 30 March to 1 April 2012. The new Board of Directors are encouraged to register. - There will be a joint meeting with RC Seremban on 1 March 2012. The guest speaker is PP Yoke Leong on REF. More details next meeting. - The guest speaker was PP Graham on 'Membership Development & Retention'. He is a member of Distirct 3300 Membership committee and he presented a power point presentation on the membership status in various Rotary clubs.

Words to Grow By
Since 1905, Rotarians have been torchbearers, lighting the way to a better life for many people in many countries. Like Olympic runners, we received a torch from those before us a torch of service that brings light to the shadow areas of mankind: intolerance, ignorance, disease, and hunger. . . . Let people know that Rotary cares and acts. 1979-80 RI President James L. Bomar Jr.

A Rotary Family Photo

Today's Programme
Mr Alvin Ung 'Barefoot Leadership' Mr Alvin Ung is a writer, facilitator and coach who embraces his calling to grow leaders with depth and purpose in their lives. Over the past ten years, he has conducted workshops and taught graduate courses for leaders in the corporate and social sectors in Asia and North America. Ung is the co-author of Taking Your Soul to Work. As Vice President at Khazanah Nasional, he led a team that worked with CEOs and HR Heads from twenty government-linked companies to design and build a pioneering talent management programme that has been written up as a case study by the renown IMD business school. Born in Georgetown, Penang, Ung read English Literature at Middlebury College and obtained an M.A. in non-fiction writing at The Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, he was conferred the Walter C. Wright Leadership Award by Regent College, the top-ranked graduate school of theology in North America, for his outstanding contribution to mentoring community leaders. Ung lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and son.

NEXT CHANGE
18 February(Sat) 7.30am Speaker: Tan Su Cheng Topic; Income Explosion 25 Februart(Sat) 7.30am Speaker: PP Paul Lam Topic: China Today

CALENDAR of EVENTS
Joint meeting with RC Seremban Date: 1 March 2012 3rd Youth Leadership Camp Date: 13 - 15 March 2012 Venue: Casa Rachado, Port Dickson 78 th District Assembly Date; 30 March - 1 April 2012 Venue: Syuen Hotel, Ipoh Tree Planting @ Raja Musa Forest Reserve Date: 21 April 2012

Club NEWS
RCBKS welcomes Willa Wong
We had the pleasure of witnessing the induction of Willa Wong at our regular meeting last Saturday 4 February 2012. Willa holds the classification Real Estate Agency. Why you wish to join Rotary Club, she replied,' To meet new friends, learn new things and get involve in Rotary and understand how a non- profit organisation works.'

February Celebrations
Happy Birthday

Paul Poay Lim Alvin

4 Feb 15 Feb 26 Feb

Happy Anniversary

Ghaurry & Sunny 10 Feb James & Corinne 14 Feb Fang Keong & Yoke Har 21 Feb

HEALTH Tips
How to fight aging
Did you know that just walking for 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week is enough to combat aging? According to researchers at the University of California, one of the principle causes of deterioration of the human organisms physical faculties is its diminished ability to metabolize glucose. And they showed that even leisurely exercise, like taking a walk, plays an important role in keeping glucose metabolism functioning smoothly. Why not get up occasionally and do a few minutes of physical exercise? In some Japanese companies, it is even become a collective habit. Every twenty minutes a bell sounds, and everybody gets up to do some stretching exercises, after which they sit down again as if nothing had happened. Japanese managers are convinced that their employees are more productive when they are relaxed.

Duty Roster
11 February (New Generation) Sargeant-at-arms D esk Duty Introducer Thank Speaker Fines Poay Lim Karen Sunny Kong Susan

25 February ( Membership) Sargeant-at-arms Desk Duty Introducer Thank Speaker Fines James Karen Steve Ghaurry Teng Yoong

Visit our website @ www. rcbks.org. my

Board of Directors 2011/12

President Steve Robinson 016-2253777 President Elect Ghaurry 23003757(O) Immediate Past President Tan Poay Lim Vice President James Cheong Honorary Secretary PP Graham Bennett 012-2918619 Honorary Treasurer Angie Ng Club Administration PP Karen Chong Service Projects The Rotary Foundation PP Jeremy Ng Membership Development Chin Teng Yoong REF Chairman PP Dr Kong Voon Sin Sargeant-at-arms PP Frances Po Bulletin Editor - Sunny Vocational Service Chair - Mike Community Service Chair -Dr Yee International Service Chair Fang Keong New Generation Chair - Susan

78th District Assembly

The primary purpose of the Assembly is to provide the incoming Rotary club leaders with relevant training to prepare them for their roles next year; so that they will be effective in the roles and at the same time enjoy Rotary. in the coming year in synchronicity with the vision of RI President Elect Sakuji Tanaka so that we can all achieve PEACE THROUGH SERVICE. To all Presidents-Elect, it is incumbent upon you and your Board of Directors to come in full force for the training. It is imperative that you understand the messages espoused by the RI President Elect Sakuji Tanaka and the Presidential Citation that comes along with the message. You will need all these in order to be effective in your year and to enjoy your presidency. The Incoming District Trainer PP Dr Joy Varughese has arranged many topics relevant and interesting topics e.g. Incoming Year RI theme, Rotary Strategic Plan, Roles and responsibilities of respective club leaders, Policies and procedures, case studies and many others that will meet your needs to face Rotary challenges next year. On top of it all, the Organizing Comitteer of the Assembly has lined up a number of interesting programmes to make your presence an experience to remember. To all Rotarians, I urge you all to come to give full support to your club leadership team, to touch base on whats latest on Rotary, and to networking and fellowship. The serenity and the good food of Ipoh will provide you the best ambience for this purpose. Regards, Ananda Sundram Pillai Incoming District General Secretary RY 2012-2013,RD 3300

District 3300
District Governor Dr Raveendra 06-764 7766(O) ravee10067@gmail.com Assistant Governor Siti Subaidah 012-212 9933 sitisubaidah@rccd.org.my Rotary Clubs in Group 7 Bandar Sunway Bukit Kiara Sunrise Central Damansara Pantai Valley Tropicana Damansara

Sister Clubs
RC Bugis Junction [D 3310] Saturday, 08:00 am Hotel Inter-Continental 80 Middle Road, Singapore RC Chiangmai Thinthaingam[D 3360] Thursday, 12.00 noon International Center Chiangmai University, Thailand RC Chungli Chung Shing [D 3500] Thursday, 12.00 noon No 4, Ln 10, Gwo-Ti Street Chungli, Taiwan

Bulletin Committee
Sunny (Editor) Karen (Production) Angie (Speakers Programme)