At the time of writing this message I have already served 4 months as a District Governor.
It has been a great journey and learning process for me as well as my spouse as she has accompanied me in visiting 64 Rotary cubs so far.
Although this journey to serve and do good to humanity has been exhausting it was very rewarding and fulfilling as in all our visits we have come across Rotarians and their spouses who are indeed wonderful friends.
Along the way I have shared my experience and offered advice which have been received very positively. I can see and sense that many Rotarians especially the Presidents are motivated to try their best to make a difference to the communities they serve.
I have placed great emphasis on strengthening clubs through teamwork and the adoption of a sincere and motivating approach by senior Rotarians for clubs which have new Rotarians in their midst. New Rotarians need to be given a role to play and to participate in their club activities because they join Rotary to serve. Recruitment of new members is another key area of emphasis to strengthen clubs especially those clubs whose membership are declining as well as those experiencing “aging” membership such that they encounter difficulty in finding candidates to fill the post of President-Elect.
As at 20 October 2017 our District membership statistics has risen from 1,964 when we first started the Rotary year to over 2,020 members and our membership is still growing as most clubs are targeting membership growth. Our District goal is to close the Rotary year with an unprecedented figure of 2,100 members and this can be achieved with all your support in seeking out new members. Furthermore, through the chartering of new clubs our membership growth rate may even be higher.
The recently concluded 1st Mandarin Conference in Johor Bahru provided a much needed boost in our efforts to attract more Mandarin speaking members. In the Conference we went out to correct the public perception that Rotary is mainly for English speaking members.
It is my fervent hope that more Mandarin speaking clubs will be chartered especially in certain areas of Johor such as Johor Bahru, Batu Pahat , Kluang and Muar. Even Singapore can reach out to this group of Mandarin speakers when planning their annual membership growth. To accomplish this, we need a change of the mindset of the club members in these locations. With a change in mindset and enthusiastic support of this approach, the clubs will grow and clubs will then have the means to make available more Rotary services to their communities.
Another area which I have placed strong emphasis on is the contribution to The Rotary Foundation. All the clubs that I have visited have confirmed they will do their best to support The Foundation and they said they will encourage members to do so in various ways such as being Major Donors, Paul Harris Fellows, Paul Harris Society members or at least through the EREY scheme.
The campaign for raising funds for Polio Plus has been going on very smoothly. One of the area that we are seeing success is the sale of 200 special edition Polio Plucas watches and this is in addition to other activities such as End Polio Walk, Run and others which are being organized by the clubs and coordinated by the End Polio District Committee chaired by PP Dolly Yeap and the Regional Chairs.
PP Vicky Soo is spearheading the Paul Harris Society and is reminding PHS members to continue making their contribution this Rotary year.
AG Dato Thomas Ngu is our District Fund Raising Chair.
All of them together with PDG Datuk Zainie A Aucasa as the District TRF Chair and in addition to your strong support will help to make our District contribution to the Rotary Foundation to be another great year.
Finally, I am pleased to report that the month of October ended with a great “BANG” with the presence of Rotary International Past President Gary Huang and his spouse Corinna who graced our 1st Rotary Mandarin Conference as our special guests. Their presence in this conference has greatly assisted our District’s effort to boost our membership, to raise contribution to The Rotary Foundation as well as to share Rotary knowledge to all our members who attended the Conference. Gary has played an important role towards the success of the Conference.
I also wish to record my thanks to the AGs, Regional Chairs and RLI Chair for organizing the various regional seminars and all those who participated to make these events a success.
Once again please continue the good work because the journey has just picked up momentum and reaching the finishing line is what counts.
Best regards
Datuk Lee Chuen Wan
D3310 District Governor