CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 25

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9th

Jan.

201

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Joke of the week“Golfer : do you think it is a sin to play on Sunday ?Caddy : The way you play, sir, it is a sin on any day”From the book of Humour compiled by Rewa MirpuriHAVE MANY LAUGHS AND HELP THE NEEDYhttp://www.rotary.org.sg/bookofhumour.html

“Boys’ Town and its Services”SPEAKER: : Dr. Roland Yeow, Boys’ TownLunch meeting of the 4th January 2012

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Introductory remarks

President Tapan Rao extended best wishes for a Happy New Year, and welcomed members to the first meeting of 2012 and of “Rotary Awareness Month” celebrated by Rotary in January. He quoted Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee, who stated in his message for the month of January - “Now is the time to focus our energies on our clubs, and on the way people see them. It is time to show our communities that the Rotary of today is not the Rotary of their preconceptions. Rotary is a way to connect, to do more, to be more – it is a way to take our idealism and our vision, and turn them into reality.“ President Tapan thanked Vice President Ashi Sarwal for chairing the last weekly meeting of 21st December 2011.

Banner Exchange

PP Bezan did not have her club’s banner, nevertheless, President Tapan presented her with our Club banner. Our member, Rtn. Roland Jossi was pleased to present to President Tapan with a banner from the Rotary Club of Shanghai, after his recent visit to China. We celebrated Roland’s birthday at the time.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guestsDirector Koh Juay Meng welcomed our guests and visiting rotarians

- Guests :Ms. Sally LowMr. Matei IurascuMr. Antero Makinen

Visiting Rotarians :AG Erich Schneider – QueenstownPP Bezan & Laurence Brandicourt – Paris-Avenir, France

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ToastRtn. Willi invited PP Bezan Brandicourt from the Rotary Club of Paris-Avenir to address the Club. We learnt that the Paris-Avenir club has 30 members and was formed 30 years ago. PP Bezan advised that her club was a mixed club, with an equal number of men and women members. She added that the club conducts an annual concert to raise funds for projects, which were mainly for the handicapped and young adults. PP Bezan warmly invited members to visit her club should they be travelling to Paris.Rtn. Willi called on members to join him in raising a toast to Rotary Club of Paris-Avenir coupled with the toast to Rotary International.

Speaker of the week

Rtn. Irina Francken introduced the Guest Speaker, Dr. Roland Yeow who is the Deputy Director in charge of the Programme Development of Boys’ Town. She advised that in 1992/93, Dr. Yeow stayed in Boys’ Town as his parents were unable to control him. However, with the advice and support from Boys’ Town, Dr. Yeow became a doctor of technical sciences. Rtn. Irina added that Dr. Yeow respected what Boys’ Town had done for him, and returned to Boys’ Town as an example of what was possible to achieve with youths. Dr. Yeow gave a brief introduction of Boys’ Town formation by the Catholic institution of the Brothers of St. Gabriel, which oversees the welfare of boys in the age group of 11 to 18 years old. He spoke of Boys’ Town’s mission, vision and values imparted to the boys. He showed photos of Boys’ Town in the 1950s to its current development. Dr. Yeow highlighted the programmes and services offered at Boys’ Town. He described a typical day at Boys’ Town and invited members to join the boys at 4.30pm in their sports and games activities. He indicated the number of youths and families assisted by Boys’ Town

and provided some statistics on the family backgrounds, admission reasons and other profiles. Dr. Yeow also spoke on the challenges faced by Boys’ Town, particularly for its new building fund and the steps being taken to meet these challenges. President Tapan called upon PP Raymon Huang to extend the Club’s vote of thanks to Dr. Yeow. PP Raymon noted that Boys’ Town had big plans for the expansion of its facilities as well as its various outreach programmes for the boys and their families. He added that the Club had been helping Boys’ Town for a long time, and to this end, he had proposed to President Tapan to adopt Boys’ Town as the Club’s Major Project for this Rotary Year. PP Raymon hoped that the Board and the general membership would support this proposal. He added that President Tapan had also proposed that the New Generations Committee look at forming an Interact Club at Boys’ Town.

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New Member

PP Raymon called upon President Tapan to present to Dr. Yeow a cheque of $2,400 to Boys’ Town. Members were informed that the cheque was from the Patrick Hernon Trust towards two bursaries for Boys’ Town.

Boys’ town collection

President Tapan called upon Director Koh Juay Meng to introduce his candidate, Rtn. Winston Khoo, who is 33 years old and in his family business of freight forwarding. Director Juay Meng added that Rtn. Winston, after some deliberation, advised his commitment to be a member. Rtn. Winston’s classification is “Freight Forwarding: Logistics”. Upon his induction, President Tapan invited Rtn. Winston to address the Club. Rtn. Winston advised that he was the second generation in the family’s business of 27 years. He added that he was schooled in Australia. Rtn. Winston mentioned that he was not previously involved in social work, however after meeting with Director Juay Meng and learning about Rotary, he was interested in joining the Club.

SACA Report : December 2011 at SACA, 81 Dunlop Street, Singapore By Rtn Gerald Abeyawardena

Similar to the previous year, this was a VSC October 2011 (Vocational Month) Project which was delivered in December 2011 to suit the availability of participants. Sergeant-At-Arms Rotarian Gerald Abeyawardena, a Partner & Senior Management Consultant of Leadership Development specialists Sensei International, carried out the programme as a joint project between VSC & Sensei International, assisted by Linda Teo, Manager - Customer Care. The participants were a fresh batch of volunteers, mainly counsellors, on the SACA “Befrienders” programme, providing emotional support & guidance to offenders. Despite the good feedback last year, the second programme was revised to further increase its effectiveness. The objectives were to familiarise Befrienders with coaching skills & give them a practical framework they can apply in their work & personal lives. They saw the application of coaching skills & critical techniques like Active Listening, Non-verbal communication etc. before practising these hands-on in pairs, against the most popular coaching framework, the GROW model. The SACA Programme Coordinator said that participant feedback obtained after the programme was very positive. Participants found the programme useful & relevant, enjoyable & practical.

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The Guide to Daily LivingBefore doing the things we want to do, consider first, the precept of the guide. Ask ourselves these 4 questions and act upon them:First: Have I spent some time in self-examination?Second: Have I spent quality time with my family?Third: Have I given my best to my work?Fourth: Have I given some time to someone near and far?The Guide, in fact, encompasses the 4 parts of the Object of Rotary.

MARK YOUR DIARYBirthday celebrantsRC wishes Happy Birthday to celebrants: January 9 – Suresh Hathiramani, Kawata NobuhiroJanuary 12 – Florian EdelmannJanuary 13 – Suman AggarwalAnniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants: January 13 – Willi & Hannelore HessJanuary 15 – Gerald & Binali AbeyawardenaJanuary 16 – Kavita Sing h & Karam Butalia

This weekJanuary 11th 2012

Reception Desk duty: Joseph Chia, Win Lu Htut Sunshine Box duty: PP Philip Leong, Director Koh Juay Meng

Speaker: Dr. Peter Goh, Advance Surgical Group Topic: “Can Type II Diabetes Melitus be cured?”

Next week January 18th 2012

Reception Desk duty: Haider Nawaz, Brian JonesSunshine Box duty: T K Chew, Jean-Philippe Lionnet

Speaker: Our very own member, Rtn. Rewa MirpuriTopic: To be advised

COMING ROTARY EVENTS JanuaryRotary Awareness Month

January 19thClub AssemblyJanuary 25thMeeting cancelled in view of the Chinese New Year festivities

FebruaryWorld Understanding Month

February 23rd World Understanding and Peace Day

March

March 22nd – 25thDistrict Assembly and PETS at Grand Paragon Hotel, Johor Bahru

Queries, comments and articles request can be sent to Jean-Philippe Lionnetbulletin@rotary.org.sg

The Four-Way TestOf the Things we think, say or do:* Is it the truth?* Is it fair to all concerned?* Will it build goodwill and better friendship?* Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Committee Meetings

There are no Committee Meetings in view of the Club Assembly which will be held on Thursday,

January 19th 2012 at 6.00pm at Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre