President’s Message for September 2023

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August flitted past. September has woken up from its slumber. How time flies. We are now into the third month of the 2023/24 Rotary year.

Our Club’s monthly physical meeting on 10 August to celebrate Singapore’s National Day with the theme “What Rotary Means To You” was a resounding success. 18 members were present, including 2 honorary members, PDG Philbert Chin and PP Vincent Chen. AG Angela Chin also graced the occasion. We had 15 guests, including 6 potential new members.

Rtn Cindy Yen, our Community Services Director, shared our Club’s approach to engage new members and get them onboard the Rotary journey. PDG Philbert Chin, PP Vincent Chen and PP Jimmy Oei took the lead in sharing what Rotary means to them. The Rotary values have shaped their perspectives on life – how the Rotary Motto “Service Above Self” and embracing the concept of Rotarians as “People of Action” have, over the years, fostered enduring friendships with fellow Rotarians and friends with whom they worked together to bring joy and hope to the old and frail, a fresh start in life for the young and vulnerable as well as the marginalised in our community, and revival of our ravaged environment for better health and productivity of the communities served.

The immense joy of seeing the twinkle in the eyes, smile on the faces of those touched by the acts of kindness, and/or the results of collective efforts put in to address and alleviate key educational, environmental, economic, health, and/or social concerns to bridge the gaps between the “haves” and “have nots” have kept the Rotary fire burning in their hearts. They called on all fellow Rotarians to fully embrace the Rotary values and act to improve the well-being of the communities we serve. PDG Philbert Chin, PP Vincent Chen and PP Jimmy Oei inspired us to do even more for the less privileged amongst us.

The evening rounded off with all members present sharing on what brought them to Rotary and EClub of 3310 in specific; and their experience in the Rotary journey so far. All guests and potential new members shared on who invited them to the meeting, what were their expectations before, and during the session. The excitement and animated sharing by all present were exuberating!

PP Richard Ong has been flying the Rotary eClub 3310 flag high by reaching out to fellow Rotarians, friends of Rotary and community partners, especially small and medium food and beverage businesses, to raise funds in support of the on-going Happy Meals project. Every Sunday, the Happy Meals Community team serves lunch meals for the elderly and vulnerable at Waterloo Street to warm their stomachs and their hearts. Working in collaboration with the Club’s partner, Hao Ren Hao Shi (HSRS), a private community charitable organisation, members of the Happy Meal team distribute non-perishable food items to residents of rental flats in a designated heartland HDB estates on a monthly rotation basis. Thank you, PP Richard, for this on-going project to bring joy, and show kindness to those often neglected and ignored, among us.

PP Richard Ong and I attended the installation dinner of President Amy Goh of RC Pontian (RCP) on 19 August. Chartered on 30 November 1982, RCP was a small Dialysis Centre to meet the urgent needs of patients with impaired kidneys who otherwise would have to travel out of town for dialysis. This was a leap of faith and true to the Rotary spirit as “People of Action”. The business community in Pontian rallied in support of RCP to collectively raise the funds needed to establish and operate the Dialysis Centre. Today, RCP is a thriving vibrant Club overseeing the operations and expansion of its Dialysis Centre to incorporate physiotherapy services, and more recently took on the provision of palliative care for patients.

Our fellow Club member Rtn Dr Doris Ang is the key driver of the initiative to set up the palliative care services at the RCP dialysis centre. She funded the transfer of the palliative care services operated under her establishment in Pontian to RCP as a joint project of our Club and RCP. Rtn Doris is continuing to fund part of on-going operational costs of the palliative services provided to patients under our Club’s banner.

Will RC eClub of 3310 be bold enough, as a relatively small Club, to initiate a long-term sustainable project in partnership with partners and well-wishers in the community to meet the needs of under-served target beneficiaries within the community in Singapore and the region?

I see the pilot Ray of Hope project currently implemented in phases to identify, diagnose and prescribe coloured lenses to students with visual perception disorder to enable them to overcome their visual and associated physiological challenges that impede their learning capability as a deserving potential. The Rotary Club of Singapore established the Dyslexia Initiative to help dyslexic children and their parents that evolved into the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) of today.

I was scheduled to take part in the Flag-off of the Step Up to End Polio Challenge at the Kallang Wave by DG Dr John Chan on 20 August morning. Regrettably I was indisposed that morning, and missed the opportunity to join fellow Rotarians from across all D3310 RCs for this EPN walk. I am heartened, though, that PP Richard Ong was there to represent our Club, and members of our Club, like Rtn Cindy Yen, our Community Services Director, have registered to take part in the Step Up to End Polio Challenge.

Onward to October we must.

President Tan May Yan
Rotary E-club of 3310