PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The Chinese New Year Cheer was held at SJK (C) SUNGAI WAY.

It was well attended by prominent dignitaries in the likes of YB Dato’ Donald Lim, YB Datin Seri Paduka Chew Mei Fun, YB Dato’ Dr. Wong Sai Hou, several of our well-meaning Rotarians & Anns, 56 members of the School Staff and 1185 Students.

The initial display of the Lion Dance at the Basketball Court was enthusiastically received by all present, especially the students.

We then adjourned to the Main School Hall where the students received us with a musical presentation. I must commend the students and the staff concerned for the well rehearsed and entertaining songs & dances that were staged. A lot of time and effort must have been put in to ensure that all these items were executed to our satisfaction.

The Headmistress, Madam Lee Kim Moi, in her welcome address, expressed her gratitude to RCPJ for making this happen in her school, year after year for so very many years now. The Parent Teacher Association Chairman, Mr. Yew Eng Soon, voiced similar sentiments and mentioned that the needy students do look forward to occasions like this. YB Dato’ Donald Lim in his address espoused on the various benevolent projects undertaken by RCPJ.

In my address, I thanked the Head mistress for providing us the platform to allow us to bring CHEER to those who need it and ALL WHO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Witnessing the smiles, laughter, gaiety and enthusiasm amongst the children generated by people who care is a rich & rewarding experience.

It is interesting to note that when we add another ‘o’ and ‘ness’ to God, we have Goodness.

And with that we have a subject of infinite capacity upon which we can make an endless number of services.

SERVICE ABOVE SELF and ROTARY SHARES.

Attendance Make-up events/activities 

The Board at its recent meeting has declared effective immediately the following event/activities of the Club as attendance make-up events & activities namely:

1. Interactors Leadership Seminar
2. ICC Charity Concert on 22 Mar 08 at HGH Sentul
3. Super Camp (Interactors) from 24-27 May 08 at Trolak
4. Golden Child Project on 8 Apr 08 at Sunway Lagoon
5. CLE (Concentrated Language Encounter)

Resulting from the above declaration attendance at any of the above events and activities qualifies as a make-up for absence from a weekly meeting, if it is within two weeks before or after the said weekly meeting. It is nevertheless the duty of an attendee who wishes to claim a make-up to notify the attendance chairman accordingly.

[Q] President-elect Lee, what would you hope to accomplish next year as president? 

I would like to see progress made in polio, both in terms of meeting the Gates [Foundation] challenge grant and in reducing the number of polio-endemic countries. I would also like to see child mortality, the terrible tragedy of preventable deaths of children, become something that every Rotarian is aware of. Every day, 30,000 children under the age of five die, most of them from preventable causes like measles, malaria, and pneumonia. I want people to realize that every day, a disaster of this size is happening. But it is also important to remember how much we have already done, and how far we have come. Children do not die of smallpox anymore, and soon they will not have polio. With the challenge grant from the Gates Foundation, we have a real chance of ending polio completely in the next few years. I see the work of eradicating polio as a key part of my focus on child mortality. 

Many of the projects that Rotarians are already involved in, in the areas of water, health and hunger, and literacy, already save the lives of countless children every year. I believe that by focusing our efforts on decreasing child mortality through work in these three emphases, we will be able to make a real difference in the number of children who survive to adulthood. 

[Q] What image of Rotary should be projected today? Should the emphasis be on business networking potential or on humanitarian projects? 

I do not think it is a choice between one and the other. Rotary has to be seen as a whole. Rotary was founded as a business networking tool, and service came after that. Service is now our primary focus, but that does not mean Rotary's role in business should be minimized. Rotarians should be in Rotary because they want to give, but we can and should also acknowledge the many benefits to Rotary membership. 

[Q] Why do you feel the Rotary Youth Exchange program is so important? 

It helps young people comprehend the world better. For young people, especially when they are living with host families, it is a kind of experience - an immersion experience - that cannot be duplicated. It brings rewards that are lifelong and benefits that reach far beyond that one individual. 

When I was a young man, I spent two years in California. I was a student, and I also worked as a busboy on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. You could not imagine anything more different from my home village in Korea. Everyone was different, everything was different - the food, the people, the language. It completely changed how I saw the world, and it formed who I became in later life. I think I would still have joined Rotary, but I would not have understood it as well. 

[Q] What inspired your choice of Make Dreams Real as the RI theme? 

Part of why Rotary is so exciting for me is that we are able to do more through Rotary than we could do alone. We can do more as a club than we could as an individual, we can do more as a district than we could do as a club, and when you look at all of global Rotary, you can really dream big dreams. No one individual or even one government, no matter how powerful, could have done what we have done in polio eradication. In this year, my dream is that together we will be able to save the lives of children. That is my own dream. Part of that dream is knowing that children will be able to survive, to grow up healthy, to have better chances, to be able to see their own dreams become real in their lives. 

Source: Rotary International News

Putt or Put

A teacher was taking her first golf lesson. "Is the word spelled 'p-u-t' or 'p-u-t-t'?" she asked the instructor.

"'P-u-t-t' is correct," he replied. "'P-u-t' means to place a thing where you want it. And 'P-u-t-t' means a vain attempt to do the same thing."

Reverse Psychology

Edwin went to see his doctor. He wasn't feeling well at all. He felt tired, run down, and generally suffering from exhaustion.

"My diagnosis is simply that you are worn out," said the doctor. "I believe you have been playing too much golf."

"Too much golf?!" exclaimed Edwin. "What can I do?"

"You need to get some time off and relax," said the doctor. "For a start, you could spend more time at the office."

The Buggy Track Club

Two guys of equal ability decide to have a round together and to 'play it as it lies' on all shots. Both hit their tee shots on the par-5 No.1 hole about 250 yards down the middle.

They drive up for the second shot, and the first gentleman hits his shot down the middle for an easy approach, but the second guy slices his over the trees and it ends up on the buggy path of the adjoining hole.

"Guess I get a free drop from the cart path", he says. "Oh no," says guy 1, "We agreed to play it as it lies."

So guy 2 drives guy 1 up to his ball in front of the green, drops him and his bag of clubs off and drives over to his ball on the cart path. Guy 1 watches in amusement as sparks fly from the practice swings of his opponent, then, in amazement as a perfectly struck shot lands on the green and roles to within three feet of the pin. Guy 2 drives back to the green.

Guy 1: "Great shot back there! What club did you use?"

Guy 2: "Your seven iron."

The Dentist

A man was sitting in his dentist's chair, when the dentist asked him to scream loudly as if he were in great pain. He asked, "Why? I'm not in any pain."

The dentist replied, "There are too many people in the waiting room, and I have a 2 o'clock tee time."

Easy to be brave

The man said to the dentist, "Doctor, I'm in one hell of a big hurry! I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf. So forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it-- I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!"

The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness--this sure is a very brave man, asking me to pull his tooth without using anything to kill the pain." So the dentist asked him, "Which tooth is it, sir?"

The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show the doctor which tooth hurts."