Five
SENSITIVE ISSUES
(cont'd - 2)
The controversy over the quality of the Rotarian lunch in turn had some side effects. An increasing number of members found that, while they had the time to attend the weekly meeting, they did not have the time to eat. Since the lunch had already been committed for in advance to the hotel, this trend cost the Club some money, and attempts were made to rectify the situation by asking members to pay for the lunch, regardless of whether they had it or not. This issue occasioned what P.P. Kon Kee San has termed as one of the two major 'hiccups during his tenure of office as President, and it led to the resignation of a senior member of the Club. The second 'hiccup' was even louder, and concerned the admission of ladies to the Club. But of that, more anon.
Looking at the question of poor attendance at the weekly luncheon meetings more deeply, one can see that the problems mentioned above were but the froth on the top of the ale. For, as P.P. George Wismer put it on one occasion when the issue was being discussed in general at a District conference: '...I would say that the reason [for non attendance] - lack of time - is man-made. That is lack of organization of time or you may call it mismanagement of time. I feel that as an executive or leader of your community, you have to organize yourself and being the leader you are a Rotarian. I would therefore say that attendance and even strict attendance is part of a leader, is part of a Rotarian, and should under all circumstances be maintained'. Or as expressed with typical Anglo-Saxon bluntness by Geoffrey Sarjeant, the (English) Special Representative of the President of Rotary International at the same conference: 'It is too stupid for words. Are we not grown-up men who know the requirements of a Rotarian that he should get there as often as he can?'
In other words, the root of the problem lay with the attitude of the individual Rotarian. Since he had been handpicked and was a member of the club by invitation, this raised questions of methods of selection, which in turn brought up the question as to whether new members were effectively briefed as to what Rotary was all about (i.e. Rotary Information), and as to whether the rather rigid classification system was a help or a hindrance. With regard to the latter, the insistence on only one representative from one particular category of occupation could lead to eminently suitable people being excluded. This had happened, as we have seen, to James Peter Chin in Singapore in the case of the journalist classification, and it also nearly precluded the admission into the PJ Club of Dr. Ganesan whose suitability for Rotary service has been more than amply demonstrated, because of a similar situation regarding the medical classification. There was also the problem of what happened when a Rotarian reached the age of retirement in his profession or occupation, and so forfeited his Rotarian classification, but was still in fact perfectly sound in body and mind, and was still active and keen enough to continue as a serving Rotarian. Furthermore, he also had valuable experience which could stand the Club in good stead. Was he, too, to be lost to Rotary because of the classification system?
Fortunately, Rotary has the flexibility to adjust itself to such situations, and the classification system has been modified over the years in order to overcome these difficulties. It is now possible for there to be more than one representative in a particular classification or occupation category under certain conditions (i.e. Additional Active), and also for dedicated Rotarians who have passed their retirement age to continue to serve as Club members, Past Service and Senior Active. This is just as well, otherwise the PJ Club would have long lost its veterans, including such stalwarts as Ganesan, Michael Teh, Wong Nang Dick, and the Pope himself.
In casting around for remedies, the question of regular attendance at the weekly lunch sessions was, as P.P. Abu Mansor once said, but the tip of the iceberg. What about, for example, those hundred percenters who religiously turned up to every Tuesday lunchtime, but who were not to be seen at any other Club activity, such as, above all, the various committees? Such Rotarians fell in reality just as much into the category of 'deadwood', or in the locally-minted acronym which some visitors from England found so amusing and apposite, 'RINOs' (i.e. Rotarians In Name Only), as those who rarely showed up at all. P.P. James Peter Chin and other PJ representatives raised the matter more than once at District gatherings. There were also those who favoured 'executive action with extreme prejudice', but Rotary International always turned the soft cheek and counselled patience and persuasion.
