Three
TEETHING PROBLEMS
(cont'd - 2)
It was a distinguished gathering. The meeting was called to
order by the Sergeant-at-Arms, Rev. Ralph Kesselring, a well-known educationist.
Then, after the toast to the Yang diPertuan Agong had been proposed by Albert
Abel, H.M. Shah, whose bowling alley and 'village', let alone his petrol station
in Jalan Gasing, were early landmarks on the PJ scene proposed the health
of the Sultan. He in turn was followed by T. Sivapragasam, one of the new
club's principal sponsors, who in his capacity as special representative of
the District Governor proposed the toast to Rotary International. The highlight
of the evening was the presentation of the Charter itself, which was performed
by Haji Mustapha Albakri, followed by appropriate speeches made by himself,
Abel and Sivapragasam. Finally it was the turn to propose the health of the
guests present, which was done by Foo Yeow Yoke, the University of Malaya's
first Registrar in Kuala Lumpur, the reply to which was wittily given by the
University's Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alexander Oppenheim.
The thirty-five Charter members were as representative as could
be of the new township and the industries which were rapidly springing up
along either side of the Federal Highway. They hardly reflected, it is true,
the ethnic ratios of which the nation is composed - the Malay members only
constituted some 8 per cent of the total membership, over half of which was
made up of Chinese, while Indians and Europeans accounted for the other 17
and 20 per cent respectively. These were ratios which were only to shift marginally
over the next thirty years. On the other hand, these figures were a fair reflection
of the facts of urban and commercial life in Petaling Jaya as
it then was. The ratio between the commercial and industrial sectors for one
part and the professional sector for the other was quite extreme, four-fifths
of members belonging to the former. Thirty years later the balance had evened
out somewhat, with the professional side amounting to over one third of total
membership.
Amongst the professionals education was strongly represented.
There were two high-powered professors, both from the University of Malaya
(which was then the sole university in the country), in the persons of Professor
Chin Fung Kee, the Head of the Engineering Department and the country's most
distinguished engineer, and of Professor C.J. Eliezer, a Sri Lankan, who was
Head of the Mathematics Department, and destined to become the Club's second
president. There was also Ralph Kesselring, who, as mentioned above, was a
well-known American educationist with the Methodist Mission, shortly to
be transferred to Ipoh to become headmaster of the ACS there. There were also
an auditor, Michael Teh Khoon Heng - today the Club's sole remaining Charter
member, an accountant (K.L.J. Chong), a lawyer (T. Selvarasan) and the evergreen
Sam Abishegam who was already playing a major role in the development of management
science in the country. Clarence Thurman, another American, was an evangelist.
Notably absent was a representative of the medical profession. In other words,
there was (then) no doctor in the house.
The industrial and business sectors effectively mirrored the
state of the art in the emerging worlds of PJ's industry and commerce. The
whole range of the town's new manufacturing industries - concrete, matches,
soap, paint, pharmaceuticals, rubber, beverages and the building industry
had a presence. There were also representatives of the printing and publishing
trades, retailing and catering (H.M. Shah et al.), finance, insurance and
real estate.
But this bright dawn did not prove to be the herald of a sunny morning. The Club's initial years were an uphill struggle. Over the first three years membership dropped from 33 to 28, although, as the annual report for 1963 put it, 'We, in Petaling Jaya, although a small club... are very enthusiastic'. By 1966 only 3 from the original 35 Charter members remained and Club membership stood at 27. The turnover rate of members was high - the average length of a Rotarian's membership at the time was two years. Another sign that things were far from easy at the beginning was the fact that it was not until 1965 that the Club was able to hold its first regular installation dinner.
There were a number of reasons for this shaky and unstable start. One was obviously the high rate of transfers, not unusual in a new community and particularly endemic amongst expatriates. Kesselring, for instance, was transferred to Ipoh in his second year, Eliezer, soon after his stint as President, moved off to Australia, and John Chow, likewise, to Canada. There was also the problem of those who failed to attend four times in a row and so forfeited their membership. The limitations imposed by the classification system formed another inhibiting factor. But above all, no doubt, was the lack of a satisfactory venue for the Club's weekly meetings - a problem which directly related to PJ's own limited facilities in the early 1960s. As has already been noted above (Chapter 2), the Club's Charter Dinner of February 1961 was not held in PJ itself at all but at the newly-built Second Residential College in the neighbouring territory of the University of Malaya in Lembah Pantai. This was, no doubt, because of the facilities which Foo Yeow Yoke was able to make available to the Club. But its already established venue of the PJ Club for the weekly Tuesday lunch meetings did not prove convenient, so that at the end of the first six months the meetings were transferred to the Station Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which in 1961 was still the city's leading hotel.
