Club History
About Gombak - A Brief History
CHARTER
Under the name of ‘Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur North’, Rotary International granted the Club its Charter, dated April 6, 1970, handed out on June 27, 1970.
REGISTRATION
Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur North was registered as a Society under Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966, Malaysia on June 9, 1970 - Registered No: 759 (Selangor).
RENAMING
Authorisation for the renaming of the Club to:
“ROTARY CLUB OF GOMBAK”
was received from Rotary International on December 19, 1972.
The first steps on the path towards Rotary were taken on February 12, 1970 at Le Coq d’Or.
The small group that assembled there for this purpose consisted of nine intending members. The meeting was chaired by Dr. C.K. Cheah, the District Governor’s special representative, with the assistance of Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur Rtns Colin Williams and K.S. Menon.
Although at that time that present name “GOMBAK” was already suggested, it was decided to name the new club “ROTARY CLUB OF KUALA LUMPUR NORTH” as it was assumed that this name would be better understood internationally.
A few meetings followed with guest speakers - mostly from the Sponsor Club Kuala Lumpur - giving Rotary information to all prospective members.
At the installation meeting attended by District Governor Dr. L. S. Sodhy, Sponsor Club President Ramesh Chander, Secretary Rolf Veltema and District Governor’s special representative Dr. C.K. Cheah, charter officers were elected. With a total of 26 charter membership, the application for Rotary International membership was lodged and steps were taken to have the club registered.
Official acceptance into Rotary International as one of more than 14,000 clubs in the world at that time followed on April 6, 1970.
Certificate of Registration No: 759 was received from the Registrar of Societies on June 9, 1970.
On June 27, 1970 at the Charter Night in the Lake Club with the Raja Muda of Selangor as Guest of Honour, District Governor Sodhy installed the office bearers and inducted all members.
Charter members were:
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Club Activities and other Rotary information are recorded weekly in the Club’s Bulletin “SUARA UTARA”.
As a result of confusion among third parties in differentiating between Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur and Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur North, it was decided to adopt the originally intended name: “ROTARY CLUB OF GOMBAK”. Formal approval from Rotary International was received on December 19, 1972 for the change of name.
The spirit of Gombak is one of informal good-fellowship and the Club holds its own in the large family of Rotary International, working towards common objectives while preserving its own style and identity.
The young Club started its weekly meetings in Akbar Restaurant where it stayed until the accommodation - owing to growing numbers of members and visitors - became inadequate. The decision was made to have the weekly meetings at Kuala Lumpur Hilton. The Club then moved to the Kuala Lumpur Merlin for its weekly meetings on August 28, 1980.
In January 1984, the Club moved its meeting venue to Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, at the invitation of the hotel’s marketing manager, who was then a member of Rotary Club of Gombak. The Club has moved to the Corus Hotel (formerly known as Ming Court Vista Hotel) in Jan 2001.
Under its various Presidents, the Club carried out all kinds of projects to benefit the community, with Club members contributing time, effort and money to worthwhile causes.
The Club also gave recognition to those who subscribed to Rotary ideals in the conduct of their pursuits and elected them to honorary membership. They included Tan Sri Yaacob Latiff - Kuala Lumpur City’s first Mayor, Tan Sri Ong Kee Hui - once a Cabinet Minister, Tan Sri Elyas Omar - Kuala Lumpur City’s Second Mayor, Tan Sri Ahmad Noordin PHF - once the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Khir Johari - once a Cabinet Minister and Tun Suffian - once the Lord President.
In encouraging vocational excellence, the Club donated musical instruments to the blind to facilitate their acquiring musical skills. Career guidance programs and talks were also given to the young to acquaint them with the dignity of all vocations. Awards were also presented to workers to recognise and encourage good work ethics.
For the community, the Club spared no efforts. It financed the medical treatment of a girl with a heart problem. It built community halls, playing fields and games courts. It adopted kampungs, arranged for supply of electricity and piped water to deprived communities, presented gifts to inmates of old folks’ homes and donated money to deserving causes.
The Club also carried out deworming programs for children and medical screening for Hepatitis B. Eye testing was also carried out. Club members also donated blood from time to time. The Club also sponsored the Kampong Tanah Lapang Rotary Community Corps, in accordance with a Rotary International worldwide program designed to assist communities to work for themselves to better their own communities.
To foster international understanding, the Club participated in Rotary youth exchange programs and hosted young people from other countries. It also participated in Rotary Group Study Exchange programs in which club members provided accommodation in their homes to Exchange team members. The Club also made goodwill intercity and interclub visits to other Rotary clubs for improving fellowship with members of other Rotary Clubs.
A very important event was the establishment of the first matched club relationship with the Rotary Club of Makati South, Manila, Philippines in the second half of 1985. Subsequently, matched club relationships were established with the Rotary Clubs of Tanglin, Singapore, Hatyai, Thailand and Jakarta Gambir, Indonesia, Taipei Southwest and Shatin, Hong Kong.
The young in the community and schools were not left out in the Club’s programs. Club members made visits to hospitals to cheer up little children; schoolchildren were given vocational guidance counselling; disadvantaged schoolchildren were given food, clothing and shoes, and some were given aid for examination fees. The Club also donated books, television sets and fans to needy schools.
Organised activities for the young were also carried out. The Club sponsored three Rotaract clubs (two of which are now defunct), with membership open to youths aged 18-31 years. The Rotaract Club of Gombak was chartered in August 1979. It produced two Rotaractors, Rtr Roland Ang and Rtr M. Rajoo, who became District Rotaract Representatives, the highest Rotaract office in a Rotary district. The current Rotaract Club of Gombak was re-formed in 2003. In 2005, PP Jamie Tan was elected as the District Rotaract Representative. In 2007, yet another Rotaractor, PP Dinesh Krishnan served as the DRR. In 2009, PP Amanda Lam will become the third DRR from this latest edition of the Club.
The Club also sponsors six Interact Clubs, with membership open to young people aged 14-18 years. These were all school-based clubs. They were the Interact Clubs of S.M. Puteri Ampang (formerly Ampang Road Girls’ School), Convent Sentul, Methodist Boys’ School Sentul, Selayang Baru Secodary School, Seri Ampang School and Ipoh Road Girls’ School.
The Club also had the distinction of organising the first Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) seminar in the District in late 1978, when the program was introduced into the district by a past president of the Club. In 2005, the Club hosted yet another edition of RYLA, the Centennial RYLA.
Over the years, the Rotary Club of Gombak has been an active participant in community affairs doing whatever possible within its means to bring relief to, and contribute to the betterment of the community.
