CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 37

1

16th

Ap

ril

2012

“Kampung Culture = Sustainable Future = Happier Life”SPEAKER: Mr. Tay Lai Hock, Founder and President of Ground

Lunch meeting of the 11th April 2012

Find your bulletin on the Facebook page of “Rotary Club of Singapore”

Joke of the week !“At Church : come early if you want a back seat.” From the book of Humour compiled by Rewa MirpuriHAVE MANY LAUGHS AND HELP THE NEEDYhttp://www.rotary.org.sg/bookofhumour.html

2

Introductory remarks

President Tapan Rao called the meeting to order and noting that April was designated by Rotary International (RI) as “Magazine Month”, and the Club has an award-winning bulletin, that this was enough reason to celebrate Magazine month.

Toast

Toastmaster, Rtn. Jamshid Medora was pleased to call upon Rtn. Ulrike Hauser-Hirth from the Rotary Club of Stuttgart International. Rtn. Jamshid advised that Rtn. Ulrike is married to our former member, Rtn. Dr. Sascha Hirth, whom members would remember for his quirky sense of humour. Rtn Ulrike stated that she was very pleased to be at the meeting and for the warm welcome. She recalled how she enjoyed the warmth and fellowship when attending the Club’s evening meetings with Rtn. Sascha. Rtn. Ulrike advised that there were many international companies in Stuttgart and there was a need for the foreigners to join a Rotary Club which conducts the meetings in English, thus her club was formed a year ago. She added that there were 34 members, half of whom were foreigners. Rtn. Ulrike advised that she would be most happy to receive members to her club should they be visiting Stuttgart.

Happy Birthday !

President Tapan invited Rtn. Paul Phua to cut the birthday cake on behalf of the other birthday celebrants who were not present at the meeting.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guests

Rtn. Ronald Wong welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians

- Guests :Mr. Tay Lai Hock Ms. Tan Chia ChiaMr. Tai Xu Hong (GUI)Mrs. Lillie Wong

Visiting Rotarians :CP Albert Wong – Tanjong PagarUlrike Hauser-Hirth – Stuttgart International, GermanyPeter Clements – Melbourne, Australia

3

Speaker of the week

President Tapan called upon Rtn. Joseph Chia to introduce the Guest Speaker, Mr. Tay Lai Hock.Mr. Tay shared how a Singapore model of 21st Century Kampung Culture was creating connected communities and nurturing grounded leaders to tackle some of the biggest global challenges. He was pleased to advise that the story of Ground-Up Initiative (G.U.I.) has travelled afar and made many sit up to reconsider their current approach to a sustainable future. He gave a summary of the volunteer-driven non-profit community beliefs in a sustainable future which must include a Kampung Culture honed for the 21st Century. He spoke of GUI redefining the relevance of Kampung Culture as it shapes its Sustainable Living Kampung (SL Kampung) in Bottle Tree Park, Yishun, which has physically grown more than 12 times since it started in April 2009. Mr. Tay elaborated on GUI’s expansion of programmes aimed at tackling modern challenges in our fast changing world through a hands-on approach, teamwork and active leadership. He added that this developed creative problem solving, personal responsibility and social accountability.

Mr. Tay spoke of the Kampung Spirit which powered a diversity of activities — organic farming, appropriate technologies, arts and culture, social and humanitarian projects. Through it, Mr. Tay added, GUI fostered beautiful connections among members, volunteers and the many other people it touches, from children to CEOs. Perhaps more importantly, Mr. Tay advised, it was nurturing social entrepreneurship by transforming a small but growing community that was learning to care more deeply about humanity and the Earth. Mr. Tay graciously answered questions posed by members and invited members to participate in the visit to the Kampung which was being organized by Rtn. Joseph. (For more information on the Heritage Kampung, members are invited to view their website www.heritagekampung.com)President Tapan invited Director Rtn. Peter-Paul Nijsten to extend the Club’s vote of thanks to Mr. Tay.

VisitRtn. Joseph reminded members of the visit to the Heritage Kampung at the Bottle Tree Park, Yishun on Sunday, April 22nd at 11.30am, followed by lunch at 12.30pm.

Exchange of banners

President Tapan exchanged banners with Rtn. Ulrike. He presented the Club’s banners to Charter President (CP) Albert Wong from the District’s newly formed Rotary Club of Tanjong Pagar, and to Rtn. Peter Clements, from Rotary Club of Melbourne. Rtn. Peter took the opportunity to remind members to contact him should they be interested in his club’s projects in East Timor.

4

Club announcements

Sergeant-at-Arms, Rtn. Gerald Abeyawardena reminded members of the final Club Assembly which would be held on Thursday, 12th April at the Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre. He further reminded members of the coming Rotary International Convention which would be held in Bangkok from 6th to 9th May 2012. President Tapan added that about 40 members would be attending this RI Convention and would be staying at the Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel. Should members be interested to participate, please contact PE Jimmy Ooi, however registration for the Convention should be made directly with RI.

Major Project

President called upon Major Project Chairman, Rtn. Joseph Chia to brief members on the Club’s major project for the Rotary Year. Rtn. Joseph advised that the beneficiary was Boys’ Town, which the Club has supported for many years through the Patrick Hernon Trust Fund. He advised that the Club has negotiated for the funding of a gym, amounting to approximately S$100,000 which would give it naming rights. He called on members to donate towards the Major Project and advised that the Club would welcome partners as well.President Tapan advised that the Board has accepted the Boys’ Town as the Club’s Major Project for the members’ approval. He advised that there were already pledges for the Major Project and was calling members to make their donations. He added that there were two partners for the Major Project – the Patrickv Hernon Trust and Allianz SE Reinsurance.

5

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 this week:April 17 – Shalini SharmaApril 18 – Robert CraiuApril 19 – Dr. Kevin ChuaApril 21 – Dr. Melvin Tan & Matei Iurascu

Anniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants this weekApril 20– Vijai & Kala Parwani April 21 – PP Dr. Winston & Julia Oh

This weekApril 18th 2012

Reception Desk duty: Joseph Chia, Dr. Thomas Perkmann

Sunshine Box duty: Noshir Mistri, Suresh Hathiramani

Speaker: Ms. So-Young Kang, Catalyst/CEO from Awaken GroupTopic: ‘How to design innovative solutions?’

Next week April 25th 2012

Reception Desk duty: Haider Nawaz, Perlita Tiro

Sunshine Box duty: Kavita Singh, Zahidi Abd Rahman

Speaker: Mr. Simon KahnCMO of Marketing, Asia Pacific, GoogleTopic: ‘Transition from traditional to digital marketing”

COMING ROTARY EVENTS AprilMagazine Month

April 19th NGS Briefing Session at 7.15pm at The Tanglin Club

MayCommunity Service Month

May 6th – 9th Rotary International Convention in Bangkok

JuneRotary Fellowships Month

June 30th Installation Dinner

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 for the month of April in view of the final Club Assembly held on April 12th 2012