President’s Message for June 2024

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Time flies. Rotary Year 2023-24 is fast coming to an end. From 1 July, a new Rotary Year commences to show the world “The Magic of Rotary”.

I must thank all our Club members, especially my fellow Board members and Chairs of the Club Leadership Plan (CLP) Committees, fellow Rotarians from other Rotary Clubs, the many friends of Rotary, and volunteers who rallied around us, worked hard together with us through the year. You have made it possible for our Club to successfully implement meaningful projects to “Create Hope in The World”.

We are a relatively small Club. With only 28 members, we lack the resources to undertake mega projects. But we passionately embraced the principal spirit of Rotary: “Service Above Self”. Our projects have made a difference in the lives of the vulnerable and less privileged we reached out to. We have created Hope, demonstrating kindness and warmth, assuring them they are loved, not abandoned, even when they are facing challenges in life.

I am very happy to report that Rotary E-Club of 3310 has clinched the 2023-2024 Governor’s Citation Gold Award. We will also be receiving the RI Citation Award.

We recruited a total of 5 new members, including a founding member of the Club who took time off Rotary for a while. However, we also lost some existing members. I will not be able to share on all the projects our Club has, and will continue to implement. However, I would like to take this opportunity to share on a few of our key projects.

The “My Wish” project set up in 2008 is an on-going signature project of our Club that I am especially proud of. Dr Mark Hon and his wife, then members of our Club, together with a group of passionate Rotarians raised funds as the seed money for the “My Wish” fund. Lodged with the Foundation of Rotary Clubs of Singapore (FRCS), all Rotarians and friends of Rotary can donate to the “My Wish” project anytime, with option for tax rebate. This provides the Club with a ready source of funding that can be used to fulfil the wishes of patients wanting to create a final, beautiful memory for themselves and their loved ones before they die.

A standing “My Wish” Committee of the Club reviews and approves all grant applications received. The Club reaches out to social workers in public hospitals and hospices to get them to identify and assist patients certified as terminally ill by their doctors who need financial assistance to fulfil a final wish, and not currently receiving financial assistance from other sources, to submit applications for grants from the “My Wish” fund.

Currently capped at S$800 per grant, only one wish will be granted per patient. Wishes granted so far include simple requests like having a portrait photograph taken of the patient as a lasting memory, to replacing malfunctioning appliances such as a refrigerator, cooking stove, etc for the family home. These small grants enable dying patients to feel love and warmth that enrich their human experience, providing closure so that they can leave the world peacefully, with fond memories for their loved ones.

In December 2023, our Club used S$4,800 from the “My Wish” fund to organise a Christmas Lunch for the patients and their care givers at the Oasis@Outram Day Hospice (by HCA). We engaged Dignity Kitchen, a social enterprise providing training to the differently enabled and disadvantaged to enhance their employment prospects, to prepare the special meals for the terminally ill patients attending the Day Hospice. In so doing, we killed two birds with one stone – bringing joy to the patients and their caregivers during the festive season, and contributing to Dignity Kitchen’s mission in restoring dignity to their target clients.

Our Club together with 7 other Rotary Clubs – Changi, Marina City, Pandan Valley, Singapore East, Singapore West, Shenton, Tanjong Pagar – collaborated with Hao Ren Hao Shi (HRHS), a charitable organisation, to conduct a Mobile Charity event at Keat Hong Close on 17 February 2024 to commemorate Rotary Community Service Day and to bring festive joy to the residents during the Lunar New Year period. We raised S$4000 to fund the cost of a total of 100 packs of essential supplies and provisions, such as rice, cooking oil, instant noodles, toothpaste, amongst others, distributed to low-income families living in the vicinity.

Going forward, I wish incoming President Stephanie Song and her Board of Directors a fabulous year of achievements. May the “Magic of Rotary” bring our Club to ever greater heights in our service to the community.

President Tan May Yan
Rotary E-club of 3310