PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

This was in conjunction with District Governor Dr. Joe Rajendran’s Official Visit to our Club. He was accompanied on both days by his diligent Group 4 Assistant Governor, PP Yap Swee Fatt.

It started with the DG having a luncheon meeting at 1.00 p.m. with the Principal Officers of the Club in Sri Thai restaurant. We provided the DG with a frank and an inner glimpse of our Club. The invaluable advice and experiences gained from his visits and observations, thus far, to the other Clubs in District 3300 were well received by all the Principal Officers in order for us to move ahead with greater vigour and conviction.

This was followed with a high-tea meeting at 3.00 p.m. whence the DG addressed the Principal Officers of the 6 Interact Clubs sponsored by us, viz. Interact Clubs of Assunta, La Salle, Catholic High School, Bukit Bintang Boys School, Sultan Abdul Samad and Sri Aman Girls School. The Interactors were impeccably dressed in their Interact Uniforms and eloquently made their presentations on the projects executed in their year of office.
IPP Yung Seng Fook then announced the Awards for RY 2006-07 and accordingly Trophies were presented:

Most Improved Interact Club : Sultan Abdul Samad

Best Quarterly Bulletin : Sri Aman

Best Interact Club : Assunta

All in all, the District Governor was most impressed with our Interactors.

Then at 4.00 p.m. the Rotaractors trooped in. They provided a report of their activites and projects. A frank Q & A session developed where several of their queries were answered by the DG and vice versa.

After which, we were off to Woon Hud & Karen’s residence for the Third Club Assembly at 5.30 p.m. and Fellowship at 7.30 p.m.

But more of this in the next Newsletter.

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.

NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS 1 March 2008

ATTENDANCE – NOTICE OF MAKE-UP

For clarification to all members and for ease of reference, the attention of all members is drawn to the provisions of the Club Constitution relating to make-up for non-attendance at weekly meetings of the Club:

"Article VII Section 2 : Notice of Make-up. In the cases set out in sub-section (a)(ii) & (a)(iii) or section (b) of section 1 of this Article, the member shall only be counted as being in attendance if notice of the fact is given by the member personally to the club. In cases set out in sub-paragraphs (a)(i) and (iv), such notice may be given by the member personally or by the secretary of the club visited."

(Section 1 of Article VII sets out the various opportunities for make-up)

INTERPRETATION

1. It is the duty of the absent member to notify the Club (viz. Attendance Chairman or the Secretary). It is NOT the duty of the Attendance Chairman or the Secretary to chase an absent member for make-ups. No notice received by the Club means no make-up.

2. To constitute a valid make-up, the notice must contain the (i) name of the event claimed to be a make-up, (ii) date of that event and (iii) the date of the missed weekly meeting.. These particulars are to determine whether there is a valid make-up. If either (i) or (ii) is not given, there is no valid makeup. If (iii) is not given, but (i) & (ii) are given, it will be assigned to the missed meeting nearest to the make-up date. The prior practice of the absent member just writing “make-up” in the attendance book will no longer be acceptable. Notice (in writing or verbally) given by an absent member stating MERELY that he has made-up for any missed meeting or for any period of time is not valid notice and hence not a valid make-up.

3. To avoid disputes, the notice must be in writing, which can be by letter (typed or hand written), faxed to or by post or by eMail given or sent to the Attendance Chairman or Secretary.

4. The 2 week rule applies for make-ups, meaning it is a valid make-up if it is within 2 weeks before or after the missed meeting. If the absent member is out of the country for more than 2 weeks, this rule is waived as long as the make-up is done out of the country and during the absence out of the country.

(Note: An absent member is one who has not physically attended one or more of the club’s weekly meetings.)

Liew Shou Kong
Hon. Secretary RCPJ

Why I am a Rotarian: Dr Vimal Hemani

MARCH 2, 2008

It is aptly said that destiny beckons.

Before I became a Rotarian, my idea of a club was a place one visited to have a good time. When I returned to Rajkot from Mumbai, I thought it would be nice to have fun and meet people every week. And what could be better than to join Rotary - an ideal platform to meet the cream de la cream of society.

I joined when Dr Vibhakarbhai Vachhrajani was the president. He casually asked me to come for a medical camp. Witnessing the cheerful, selfless services opened the door of service for me. On that day, I stopped being just a member and became a Rotarian.

Little did I realise that this one decision of mine will have far reaching impact on my life. Within days of joining Rotary club of Rajkot Midtown, I realised what a motivated lot we were...! Never had I seen such dynamism, optimism and enthusiasm in people doing social work for purely selfless motives. I started looking forward to meeting such wonderful people week after week. Slowly I started realising the very wide spectrum of activity that our club is doing. More I came to know, greater became the joy of participation. I had opened the hidden treasure of service and satisfaction that is MIDTOWN. Never had I dreamt that Rotary would take precedence over my profession as it does sometimes today.

I am also grateful to Rotary for giving me many local and international friends whose friendship I shall cherish for life and who are a constant source of inspiration. I shudder to imagine how empty my life would have been without my wonderful friends from Rotary. It is indeed humbling to see very busy people doing so much service quietly and incessantly. And I am happy to be an integral part of this group.

I am today a truly proud Midtowner.

Dr. Vimal Hemani
Rotary Club of Rajkot Midtown
RI Dist.3060
India

These are from a book called 'Disorder in the Court', and are things people said in court, taken down word for word, and now published by court reporters - who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

Q: Are you sexually active?
A: No, I just lie there.

Q: What is your date of birth?
A: July 15th.
Q: What year?
A: Every year.

Q: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
A: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
A: Yes.
Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
A: I forget.
Q: You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?

Q: How old is your son, the one living with you?
A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
Q: How long has he lived with you?
A: Forty-five years.

Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke up that morning?
A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
Q: And why did that upset you?
A: My name is Susan.

Q: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?

Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?

Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?

Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?

Q: How was your first marriage terminated?
A: By death.
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?

Q: Can you describe the individual?
A: He was about medium height and had a beard.
Q: Was this a male, or a female?

Q: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?
A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.

Q: All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
A: Oral.

Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.

Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?

Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for blood pressure?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for breathing?
A: No.
Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
A: No.
Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Q: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.