PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

In this message, I would like to extract excerpts of what RI President wrote in the October 2007 issue of Rotary’s Magazine “ROTARIAN”:

“It sometimes comes as a surprise to new Rotarians that they are not members of Rotary International…… Rotarians are members of their clubs, which are the entities holding charters with RI. The fundamental building block of Rotary’s organizational structure is not the members, but the club

This aspect of RI’s administrative design is much more than a matter of semantics. In fact, it’s an essential reflection of the nature of Rotary service. That is why, early on, our Rotary predecessors developed the classification system – a means of ensuring that each club would always contain a wealth and diversity of expertise, ability and talent.

…..What does it mean to serve well in our vocations? To me it means, very simply, doing our best at everything we attempt and keeping the The Four Way Test at the forefront of everything we say, think and do. ……

To me, ethical standards are part and parcel of our humanitarian service. Whenever we pin a Rotary emblem on our lapel, we tell the world who we are: people who are honest, forthright and caring. A Rotary emblem is a public message and declaration of ourselves. ….

Rotary is a force for peace and friendship. ….
But Rotary is only as strong as each one of its clubs, and our clubs are only as strong as their members. ….”

Please note the bold highlights are entirely my doing.

In my message to you next week, I shall elaborate on MY JOURNEY IN ROTARY and what I discovered.

ROTARY SHARES.

The PM “wants students to start thinking as Malaysians, not as Malays, Chinese or Indians”. This statement is indeed a reality, especially after Malaysia has clocked 50 years of nationhood. But the more important strategy is how to achieve this state of mentality. It is definitely not apparent in our national policies and the school system. We need leaders who do not look at self-interest and parochial ethnic support. They need to look beyond race and focus on people – the Malaysians. Malaysians will be the common denominator. But what about the general public? It’s sad that in every part of the world, we cannot depart from our ethnic identity. Every thing for these people must be seen from their own religion and culture. We definitely need a different mindset. To change this, we have to start by doing our bit in changing for a better generation.

By Dean Golemis 

Rotary International News - 15 October 2007 

Zone committees have nominated eight Rotarians from six countries to serve on the RI Board of Directors. If elected at the 2008 RI Convention, the director-nominees will take office on 1 July 2009 and serve two-year terms. They are: 

Zone 1: Masahiro Kuroda, Hachinohe South, Aomori, Japan

Zone 6: K.R. Ravindran, Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Zone 9: Kyu-Hang Lee, Anyang East, Gyeonggi, Korea

Zone 14: Ekkehart Pandel, Bückeburg, Germany

Zone 19: Antonio Hallage, Curitiba-Leste, Paraná, Brazil

Zone 23: John T. Blount, Sebastopol, California, USA

Zone 27: Thomas M. Thorfinnson, Eden Prairie Noon, Minnesota, USA

Zone 29: Frederick W. Hahn Jr., Independence, Missouri, USA

Letters were sent on 15 October from RI World Headquarters to the clubs in all the above zones, informing them of the name of the person selected by the nominating committee. In each zone, the clubs will be reminded of the opportunity they have (and the procedure they should follow) to propose challenging candidates for director. Only names previously suggested to the zone’s nominating committee may be submitted.

If clubs do not propose other candidates to the RI general secretary by 1 December, the RI president will declare the person selected by the nominating committee to be the sole official director-nominee from that zone. 

If the general secretary receives one or more challenges from clubs in any zone (with the concurrence of at least a majority of the clubs in the district) by 1 December, the clubs will then ballot by mail to select a director-nominee following the procedures in RI bylaws section 12.030. Results of any balloting for director-nominee will not be known until shortly after the deadline of 1 March 2008.

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish."

"Me first! Me first!" says the admin. clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone.

"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone.

"OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say.