Day 1:
We were treated to a welcome dinner at a penthouse of an apartment across the road from Manila Bay. We were treated to lots of good food and obligatory singing together with a live band.

Day 2:
Lunch and free day for shopping, etc. In the evening, there was an Official Welcome Fellowship dinner.

Day 3:
Project visit to the Gawad Kalinga project in South Sector A, Las Piñas City, about an hour’s drive from Manila. The Rotary Club of Gombak, together with our Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Tanglin, Singapore, has provided the funding for the construction of a house. This year, we aim to raise enough funds to build another house.

This was followed by lunch.

In the evening, we all attended the Installation and Handover ceremony, which was held at the famous Peninsula Manila Hotel’s ballroom.

Day 4:
Final lunch before heading off to the airport. Part of our delegation left earlier in the morning.

GUESTS

• Eric (Service Chair Shanti Clement)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The Rotary Foundation Chair, Past President James Emarievbe reported on the District TRF Seminar, which was held on Sunday 7 September 2008. District Governor Elect Leslie Salehuddin, President Elect Jeff Ho, Vice President Joyce Lim and himself, attended the seminar. He gave us a quick run-down on some of the major changes happening in TRF.
• Service Chair Shanti Clement appealed to members to contribute to the duit raya collection for our project to buka puasa with the children at the cancer ward of Universiti Hospital on Tuesday 23 September 2008.
• Past President Veiven Goon announced that there will be a ICC meeting at 9am on Saturday 13 September 2008 at SMK Jalan Ipoh Girls’ School. Those involved with New Generations are to attend.
• Sergeant-At-Arms Dr. Kieran McClanahan encouraged the Club’s Caring Committee to continue with their work in informing members of any incidents to do with members and their families, and to show these members that the Club is thinking about them.

SPEAKER
Mohamed Hanifah Salih

TOPIC
Lip Trainer Patakara
Hanifah shared with us his experiences with Lip Trainer Patakara, a patented Myofunctional Therapy Device which originates from Japan. It helps improve natural health and beauty lost due to lack of facial muscles. By training four times a day for three minutes, the device can help rehabilitate synapse in brain and improve IQ and behavior. The device can help mouth breathing, snoring, sleep apnea (OSAS), bad breath, blocked nose (sinus), bleeding from gum (periodontal disease), among others.

INTRODUCED BY Service Chair Shanti Clement ¤ THANKED BY Past President James Emarievbe

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

• President Peter Pek gave a quick report on the Club’s delegation of nine to attend the Installation of the Rotary Club of Makati South, Manila, the Philippines the week before. He said there will be a full presentation of the trip at the following week’s meeting.
• President encouraged members to support the Universiti Hospital project.
• He supported Past President Veiven Goon’s call for support for the ICC meeting on the weekend.

FINEMASTER Past President Vincent Ng ¤ FINES COLLECTED RM61

]]> http://rotarygombak.org/meeting-of-11-september-2008-%e2%80%93-improving-facial-muscles-and-snoring-problems/feed/ http://rotarygombak.org/meeting-of-4-september-2008-%e2%80%93-membership-development-and-retention/ http://rotarygombak.org/meeting-of-4-september-2008-%e2%80%93-membership-development-and-retention/#comments Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:34:50 +0000 Gombak http://rotarygombak.org/?p=193 Past President Dr Raveendra Kumar Saravanan, the Chairman of the District Membership Development and Retention Committee spoke to the Club on the importance of membership in Rotary.

VISITING ROTARIANS

• Past President Dr Raveendra Kumar Saravanan, Chair, District Membership Development and Retention Committee (RC Seremban)
• Past President Anthonysamy Francis, Member, District Membership Development and Retention Committee (RC Seremban)

GUESTS

• There were no guests for this meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Immediate President Ridzuan Yang briefed members on the International Youth Exchange programme to India this year. If members have interested students who wish to participate, please contact him. For the long-term exchange programme, he has arranged for Chris Harvey, who is hosted by RC Kota Bharu, to be transferred to the Club, subject to Board approval.
• Service & Community Chair, Shanti Clement reported that she has sent two emails to members regarding the Community Service Project to visit the children cancer patients at Universiti Hospital on 23 September. She appealed to members to assist her in getting donations for goodie bags, as well as to personally donate duit raya for the children.
• For the Mozziesafe project, she appealed to members who wish to serve on that committee to make themselves known to her.

SPEAKER
Past President Dr Raveendra Kumar Saravanan, Chairman, District Membership Development and Retention Committee

TOPIC
Membership Development and Retention
PP Dr Ravee spoke to the Club on the need for membership development and retention. He praised the Club for having achieved the District goals halfway, despite it being just being two months into the Rotary Year. Membership development and retention is the responsibility of every single Rotarian. He urged members to invite new potential members to Rotary, and suggested ideas of how this can be achieved.

INTRODUCED BY District Governor Elect Leslie Salehuddin ¤ THANKED BY Past President Sen Gupta

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

• President Peter Pek thanked Past Presidents Dr. Ravee and Anthony for making the effort to visit the Club from Seremban. He reported to the District Chairman Dr. Ravee that the Club has made good progress in Membership Development so far, with two new members to the Club.
• President formally greeted Past President Shahar Noor, who was unwell, and wished him well in his recovery.
• President reminded members to pick up their personal copy of the Governor’s Newsletter, which was distributed to members at the meeting.

FINEMASTER Immediate Past President Ridzuan Yang ¤ FINES COLLECTED RM85

VISITING ROTARIANS

• Past President VG Chandran (RC Pudu)

GUESTS

• Jamellah Kamaldin (Service Chair Shanti Clement)
• MV Deson (District Governor Elect Leslie Salehuddin)
• John Anthony (District Governor Elect Leslie Salehuddin)
• Wan Ahmad Sufian (District Governor Elect Leslie Salehuddin)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The Rotary Foundation Chair, Past President James Emarievbe encouraged members to support the Foundation by actively participating in the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) programme. He is planning for the Club to achieve 100% EREY again this Rotary year.
• President Elect Jeff Ho, who is also Organising Chair for the Golf Fellowship for the 2010 District Conference reminded members of his committee that there will be a meeting immediately after our regular meeting.
• Immediate President Ridzuan Yang briefed members on the International Youth Exchange programme to India this year. If members have interested students who wish to participate, please contact him.

SPEAKER
Amer Hamzah Arshad, Zain & Co.

TOPIC
Refugees in Malaysia – To leave or not to leave
Amer spoke to the club on the plight of refugees in Malaysia. He gave us a brief introduction to the definitions and laws regarding refugees in Malaysia, as well as internationally. Legitimate refugees are often unfairly perceived as economic migrants, when they are in fact in a situation where their lives are at stake. He argued that we have a responsibility to protect these refugees, as ensure that their basic rights as human beings are defended. Amer’s presentation gave members a much better understanding of the situation of refugees in Malaysia.

INTRODUCED BY Membership Chair Aimee Liew ¤ THANKED BY Past President Yeo Soon Teck

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

• President Peter Pek reminded and encouraged members to attend the District “The Rotary Foundation” Seminar, which will be held on Sunday, 7 September 2008.
• He reported that so far, nine members have committed to attend the Installation of the Rotary Club of Makati South in Manila. Members who still wish to join in may do so.
• President reported that he attended the Installation of President Kassim Arif of the Rotary Club of Damansara West on Saturday.

FINEMASTER Past President Sen Gupta ¤ FINES COLLECTED RM54

Following is an email I sent to the Club after the event last year:

28 September 2007

Fellow Gombakians,

Yesterday’s meaningful and touching project reminded me of why I joined Rotary.

After visiting the children and listening to Mona, who told me many stories of the children and parents who had to visit the ward, I was certainly impressed and affected by the humanitarian work done at the ward by Mona, Sen and all of the staff there. We all get caught up with our own daily lives and once in a while, we are reminded that we are indeed very lucky, and all our stress and worries are nothing compared to the pain and suffering of others around us. Yesterday was one of those moments for me.

I must thank Mona and Sen especially, and everyone else who helped to make yesterday’s project a success. I wish to continue this project next year, and I am sure that many members will agree with me that it is indeed a worthwhile cause for us to support.

I trust that members will join us once again this year, for this extremely wonderful and heart warming project. This is a great part of what Rotary does, and it does indeed remind us of patience, sacrifice and humility. To our Muslim friends, Selamat Berpuasa.

Our theme for the night – “ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE” was specially designed to bring all things happening into one organization (Rotaract) under the leadership of President William Kim leading the Club and his fellow members. It is the first time ever for a Rotaract installation that everyone came together, feasting on steamboats as a family, which is always the foundation of Gombakianz!!

The night saw Immediate Past President Amanda Lam install President William Kim as the new President of the club, followed by the installation of his new Board of Directors for RY 2008/2009. The night was not just for the formal side of the Installation - it also included a very sentimental farewell – “A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed” for our lovely Past District Rotaract Representative Jamie Tan as a retired Rotaractor and also a birthday celebration for our President Elect Calvin Khoo. The cake cutting ceremony did not end there, but the fellowship continued into the night in Wong Kok Char Chan Teng in SS2. We were very glad to have our Guest of Honour joining us in the celebration.

Our heartfelt gratitude and utmost appreciation to President Peter Pek, Rotarians, Rotaractors, guests, well wishers, sponsors and friends for making this night a successful yet memorable one! Thank you once again!

For more pictures or information about the Rotaract Club of Gombak, visit their website.

We have had another week of activities, including our monthly Board meeting, and it was a very busy one indeed. A lot of plans and issues were discussed, and things are running along nicely. As far as our regular meetings are concerned, we have had great speakers week after week, and I am confident that this will continue.

In terms of projects, I have been working behind the scenes with our Service Chair Shanti Clement. There is a lot to do and we want everyone to be involved in order to Make Dreams Real. Watch this space as you will be hearing from us soon on our projects including MozzieSafe and also a visit to the children’s cancer ward at Universiti Malaya.

I have been encouraging members to come with us to the Installation of our Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Makati South, early next month. So far, I am pleased with the response, and I hope more of you can join us for what should be a fantastic trip. It will also be a great opportunity to experience the internationality of Rotary, and the fellowship and friendships that can be gained by being a Rotarian. If you have been thinking about coming, it is still not too late. Come and join us, and return with memorable experiences that will enrich your Rotary and personal life.

This message will reach you just before the country’s independence celebrations. To those who are traveling, do stay safe and drive carefully. In addition, the month of Ramadan will soon start. To our Muslim members, we send out best wishes for a meaningful fasting period. Happy Merdeka!

Photo: President Peter with celebrity photographer Jen Siow

GUESTS

• Jen Siow
• Ms Chan (Jen’s staff)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Hon. Treasurer, Douglas Brown reminded members that invoices have been sent out and the Club would appreciate speedy settlement of all accounts. He then presented President Peter with various banners from different Clubs brought back from the Rotary International Convention in Los Angeles.
• President Elect Jeff Ho announced that the Club will be in charge of organising the golf tournament for the District Conference in 2010. Members of this Committee will be Past Presidents Robert Ng and Wan Mokhtar, Secretary Leong Leng Mun, and himself. The Secretary for the Committee is Rotarian Poonam.
• Immediate Past President Ridzuan Yang informed members that his Committee in the District for World Community Service will be organising short-term exchange visits for students younger than 17 years of age. Those who have candidates or are interested please contact him for more information.

SPEAKER
Jen Siow of Jen Studios.

TOPIC
A presentation of professional photography
Famous fashion and celebrity photographer Jen Siow gave a fantastic presentation to the Club. He started by giving us a better understanding of his background and how he got into photography. He then presented a wide range of his work and creations, from explaining to us what 360-degree virtual world was all about, to a show of his extensive portfolio. He also explained many of the techniques used in creating special effects and tricks of composition. He ended by showing us several painted photography potraits.

INTRODUCED BY Hon. Treasurer Douglas Brown ¤ THANKED BY Past President Dr. Chin Kui Sang

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

• President Peter Pek reported that he attended the Installation of President William Kim and his Board from the Rotaract Club of Gombak on Saturday. Club members in attendance included New Generations Chair, Past President Veiven Goon; Rotaract Chair, President Elect Jeff Ho; Past Presidents Ridzuan Yang, Chandran Nair and Yeo Soon Teck; and Treasurer Douglas Brown. Members who attended the event had an enjoyable evening. The event included a farewell to Past District Rotaract Representative Jamie Tan, who retires from the Rotaract movement.
• President thanked all those involved with assisting with the Joint Meeting with the Rotary Club of Damansara the previous week.
• President encouraged members to attend the Installation of our Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Makati South, the Philippines, on 8 September 2008. Members who want more information should contact Past President Vincent Ng.
• The Rotary Foundation Chair, Past President James Emarievbe presented the Paul Harris Fellow award to Membership Chair Aimee Siew. Congratualtions Aimee!

OTHER MATTERS

• The final Governor’s Newsletter from 2007-2008 was distributed to members.

FINEMASTER Vocational Chair Lee Jia Ping ¤ FINES COLLECTED RM65

]]> http://rotarygombak.org/meeting-of-21-august-2008-%e2%80%93-a-feast-for-the-eyes/feed/ http://rotarygombak.org/extending-friendships-in-rotary/ http://rotarygombak.org/extending-friendships-in-rotary/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:02:57 +0000 Peter Pek http://rotarygombak.org/?p=181 It has been another fruitful week for the Rotary Club of Gombak. Last week, we had a successful Joint Meeting with the Rotary Club of Damansara at the Royal Selangor Club. It was a nice change from the usual, and I would like to thank President Usha Rajasingam for initiating the meeting and also for all her assistance in helping to “Make Dreams Real”. Members who attended the meeting appeared to enjoy the change of scene. We also learnt how other Clubs run their meetings, and it was a good experience for everyone concerned.

On Saturday 16 August 2008, I was the Guest of Honour for the Installation of the Rotaract Club of Gombak. [Full report soon]. Congratulations to President William Kim and his new Board for a nice event, which was well attended by the Rotaractors. Congratulations also to Immediate Past President Amanda Lum and her Board for their work in the past year. Organising Chair Jacqueline Mak also did a great job. Rotarians who joined me that evening were Treasurer Douglas Brown, New Generations Chair PP Veiven Goon, Rotaract Advisor PE Jeff Ho, IPP Ridzuan Yang, Interact Advisor PP Chandran Nair, and PP Yeo Soon Teck. Everyone had plenty of food and the casual theme suited the event very well.

August is still Membership and Extension Month. Membership Chair Aimee Liew has proposed a few things which we will soon be implementing to support our membership programme, so stay tuned for more of this in the near future. In the meantime, do think about bringing a friend to our meetings. There is much to be gained in sharing Rotary.

The Installation of the Rotary Club of Makati South is fast approaching. As you are all well aware, RCMS sent a large delegation to our recent Installation. It would be great to return the visit. I am pleased to confirm that I will be attending the function in Manila, and I hope as many Gombakians can come and join us for what should be a very enjoyable trip.

Ramandan is also fast approaching and a very meaningful service project for our Club the last few years, has been the visit to the children’s cancer ward of Universiti Hospital, where we try to bring some joy and cheer to the children. We will be doing the same again this year. Dates and details will be announced soon, so stay tuned for this touching and meaningful event.