Road Trip – Rotaract Club of Kota Melaka and Johore Bahru Installation

All set and ready to go! Two of our members Rtr. Dawn and I set off from Singapore on Friday (10 August 2007) to attend Rotaract Club of Kota Melaka (RAC KM) and Rotaract Club of Johore Bahru (RAC JB) installation. We are prepared for a hectic but entertaining weekend as both these installations will be held one after another.

Upon our arrival to Malacca at about 6 p.m. we were greeted by our host Vice President Eugene Tan and he brought us back to his humble home were we washed up and had a short rest. Patiently waiting for our dinner, we were introduced to a visiting guest from Holland which Eugene met during his GSE trip to Holland. His name is Peter and he just finished his studies and is travelling the world to experience the different places and cultures. His journey includes countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Dubai.

Dinner came and we were brought to eat my favourite seafood paradise. I do not know the name of the place but I really enjoyed the “ikan bakar” and the fried calamari they served there. It was heavenly. After dinner, we proceed to Jockers’ walk were we explored the “pasar malam” atmosphere in Melaka. I was overwhelmed with the various items that was sold at the “pasar malam” but I did not buy much items as I was on a strict budget.

Thou it was closed to midnight, the Rotaractors from RAC KM was still energized and insisted that we try the “satay celop”. Since I had tried this unique cuisine, I allow Rtr. Dawn to experience first-hand. We then headed back to Eugene house for a good rest.

The next day we woke up and proceed for breakfast, Dawn went to try out the famous chicken rice balls and later joined me and Peter for a tea. We ate “Roti Chanai” or better known as “Roti Prata” in Singapore. Next came their installation and their theme this year was tropical Paradise. It was indeed “Tropical” (hot) but a paradise? Hmmm…The install was full of laughter and we truly enjoyed ourselves. However we had to rush down to RAC JB install which was schedule to start at 7 pm the same day. We had approximately 3 hours to reach there. Fortunately, we had members from Rotaract Club of Batu Pahat( RAC BP) to drive us down to JB.

During our drive down to JB, one of the RAC BP members, Shawn, could stop talking about “Geylang” and singing our National Anthem “Majulah Singapura”. The trip south-wards was a blast but we only manage to reach the installation venue at about 8pm.

Lucky for us the event has not started. We sat together in one table and were joined by RAC JB members, Zoe, Keh and Xiao Fen. Our table was the very cheerful and bubbly. At about 10.30 pm, dawn and myself had to rush back to Singapore as we are afraid of not catching the last public bus to Singapore. Thou it was a rush trip, we tryly enjoyed ourselves. One behalf of Dawn and myself, I would like to convey my thanks to Rtr Eugene for providing homestay for us, Rotaractors from Melaka, Batu Pahat and Johore Bahru for their warm hospitality. Lastly, I would like to congratulate Pres Peggy (RAC JB) and Pres Sujen (RAC KM) for a successful installation and all the best for the upcoming Rotaract year.

Till our next trip to Malaysia, I would like to say TERIMA KASIH DAN JUMPA LAGI.

Reported by Club Service Director Zack

Thank you for attending Installation 2007

Installation event TAJ MAHAL was successfully held on 14 July 2007.

Thank you all for turning up and we hope you had fun!


Guests decked out in Indian finery

Club members and Installation organizing committee

Installation event photos can be found HERE

Installation 2007 - TAJ MAHAL

Namaste!

RAC Singapore West is proud to present our 27th Installation event - TAJ MAHAL!! YOU are cordially invited to join us to say farewell to our out-going Board of Directors and welcome our in-coming President Eileen Tiang and her new Board of Directors.

It will be a night full of excitement, laughter and lots of curry while we celebrate love and friendship.

Taj Mahal - "A Celebration of Love & Friendship"

Date: 14th July, Saturday

Time: 6.00pm (Registration), 6.30pm (Arrival of GOH)

Dress code: Exotic India/ Smart Casual

Venue : Chandni North Indian Dining (122 Arab Street, opposite Golden Landmark Hotel Taxi Stand)

Price: S$25.00 per person

Ample parking space can be found at Golden Landmark Hotel.

Do RSVP by email to racwest@gmail.com now! Queries can be directed to this email address as well.

See you soon!

Presenting the new Board of Directors!

We are pleased to announce that the Annual General Meeting was successfully held on 26 March 2007 at the Rotary Family Service Center, and that the new President and Board of Directors has been appointed for Rotary Year 2007-2008!

Here is the new team!

President - Eileen Tiang

Vice-President - Dawn Cheong

Secretary - Kwek Ke Yuan

Treasurer/IPP - Chia Yi Ling

Community Service Director - Abdul Wahid Bin Wahinudin

Club Service Director - Muhammad Zakir

Professional Service Director - Lim Tse Siang

International Service Director - Winnie Wong

We look forward to more exciting activities in the new term!

Ravenscroft, charity play by The Ghar Project

Tickets for Saturday Matinee show on Saturday 14 April 2007 still available!
Date: 14 April 2007
Time: 2pm
Venue: DBS Arts Centre
Ticket price: $20 / 25 / 30 / 40

To purchase tickets, please email racwest@gmail.com immediately!


Read more about Ravenscroft and The Ghar Project HERE http://www.thegharproject.com/

The Ghar Project

The Rotaract Club is proud to work with The Ghar Project to raise funds for Habitat For Humanity, Nepal. The target is to build 100 houses in East Nepal for the homeless and those living in poverty housing.

Activities by The Ghar Project include the production of a charity play, Don Nigro's Ravenscroft, a darkly funny whodunit that promises a night of mystery, humor, insanity and seduction; corporate and public sponsorship drives.

All members of the committee will be involved in putting together both the charity play and working to meet the donation target of S$100 000.

The intention is for the final collection to go into designated funding for Habitat for Humanity Nepal.

More on The Ghar Project HERE http://www.thegharproject.com/

More on Habitat for Humanity HERE http://www.habitat.org/ap/

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

RAC Singapore West wishes everyone a Happy Lunar New Year!




Chinese New Year gathering at Yi Ling's house on 20 Feb 2007.

Yong Chuan visits Singapore!

RACSW inactive member Yong Chuan came back to Singapore for an early Chinese New Year visit. He had been studying in the United States, and currently works in New York. A few of us met him over a very late drinks session on 6 Feb 2007 in Coffee Club at Orchard.


It was fun catching up with him and we hope to see him again soon!

Survival Rotaract @ RDC 2007

Fun! Fun! Fun! Are the word I could think of to describe the Rotaract District Conference that was held over the weekend of 19 Jan 2007 to 21 Jan 2007. Rotaracts from all the 4 different zones in the district came to participate in this event. Having the theme "Survival Rotaract", it really gives a different twist to an event such as the RDC by making the event fun and interesting to be in as well as informative to newer members.

Six tribes were 'formed' at the beginning of the conference namely Orang Asli, Batek, Kadazan, Orang Ulu, Orang Laut and Ibans. The interesting part is that each tribe were asked to make their own flag or trademark. And this is where the bonding between Rotaractors from different zone starts. And this is one quality that I believe to be important that need to be developed within a tribe which is needed throughout Rotaractors.

Throughout the event of 2 days and 2 nights, we learned how to cook using limited resources, learned to brainstorm ideas in short period of time and stand in the gap for each other. Hard work? Yes, definitely but it pays off well at the end of the day. Memory and experience from this conference is something to cherish and remember. Whatever is being learned here is not to forget or kept aside.

Overall, it is a success as many enjoyed themselves to the end. Many wished for it to be longer and many wanted more. But all can't deny but agree that the organizing committee did a great job in putting all the logistics, itinerary and programs together. Applause to them and not to mentioned the caterer, Keyuan, for proving all of us with savory and mouth-watering meals. Definitely will go for another of such conference again.

Survivor Rotaract? Yes! We will survive through time, trial and challenges. No mountain to high to conquer, no ocean too deep to explore. Keep it up!!!


Report by
Simon Lee

RAC Thammasat University Hosting Report

RAC SW sister club visit (29/10/06 – 5/11/06)

The building that is situated along the roadside will no longer be “just” a building to me. This is the place where friendships are forged and fond memories originated. This is the place where my sister club from Thailand stayed during their short trip here, to meet up with all of us.

In anticipation of their visit, we had a crash course in Thai language, conducted by Dawn, our Secretary. All of us enjoyed ourselves, laughing and repeating after her. While we know that our sister club do speak basic English, we feel that it might be good to “arm” ourselves with some phrases of Thai.

Tan, Fern, Som, Puii, Amp, Wah & Hope arrived in Singapore on a Sunday. Like a long lost friend, we warmed up to them in no time. We realised that our fears were unfounded as they have a good grasp of English language. Besides that, Hwa & Hope speak Mandarin with ease. Tan, a pettie and quiet lady, impressed us all when she told us that she is learning German language. In a blend of Mandarin and English, all of us mingled with ease.

In order to let us appreciate their rich culture, they prepared a powerpoint presentation- showing us projects they had done as well as a short video clip of their well-respected king. A cultural dance was also performed by them. We, the audience, were simply charmed by their performance. On our part, we filled them in - on Singapore’s multi-cultural society, HDBs, National Service, etc.

For the days that followed, we took them to places like Sentosa, NeWater Plant, Zoo, Bird Park, Clarke Quay, etc. One thing we learnt is that they are “professionals” when come to taking photos. Posing is a piece of cake to them.

Do you know? They actually came “fully equipped”- with laptops and thumbdrives to upload all the shots! Another thing that we learnt was - alertness. Without us knowing, flashes “came our way”, our most candid and vulnerable states were captured, by our Thai friends. Thus, a smile on our faces was a constant must. You never know when a shot of you will be taken.

Once, we got “high” on photo-taking and went on a ‘photo-spree’, taking a series of candid shots at the roof top of Esplanade. After an hour later, we “shifted” base to Merlion Park only to find ourselves dancing and singing in front of the Merlion.

On another occasion, we went to the zoo with some elderly from a home and took them around on wheelchairs. Along the way, we would point to one animal and say, “Hey! That monkey looks like Puii!” or “Hippo! Puii!” Puii would pout her lips and retort back “Monkey! Fern!” while Fern replied in mock anger, “Fern more beautiful than monkey!” => As we walked towards the majestic white tiger, which was taking a slow stroll in the waters and posing with each measured step, I was exclaiming to them, “Look! Cat walk!” They giggled and chorused “Cat walk!”

Time seems to slip through your fingers when you are happy. On the eve of their departure, we continued our “tradition” of photo taking inside one of the hotel rooms. All of us were tired but wanted to squeeze the most out of the remaining time left. No one complained about fatigue. Even though tiredness could be seen through a glance at our eyes, everyone was happily taking photographs. To capture onto film - the happy moments into eternity .....

The next day, we sent them off at the airport with a heavy pang in our hearts. As they were passing through the customs, the ever fun-loving Fern came running towards the glass panel and “plastered” herself” onto it ^.^ It brought laughter from both sides and made us more reluctant to part with them. Yet, strong friendships and fondness had been fostered. I know that whenever I miss them, I could “find” them - deep down in my heart.

All of us continued to contact each other through electronic means. Till to date, I had received several calls where I get little updates on how they are getting on. One call was made specially as one of my sister club members got to know that I fell ill. On the eve of my exam, I received a sms wishing me good luck, another call on my birthday itself. Such is the bond that had been built. All 7 of them charmed us in their unique ways.

We look forward to meeting them again, our beloved sister club- Thammasat University ^.^

[Hereby, on behalf of my club, I would like to express our gratitude to all those who had attended the hosting and helped us in one way or anything. Also, I would like to also appeal to everyone to help us in the collection of soft can rings. The rings are meant for a community service project undertaken by our sister club- where the rings collected will be used to manufacture artificial limbs.]

Reported by:

Rtr Winnie Wong of RAC Singapore West

DHT

Zonal Bowling Competition 2006

The Singapore West family came together to take on the challenge of the 2006 Zonal Bowling Competition on 23/12/2006 Saturday afternoon at Kim Seng Plaza Bowl.



Two Singapore West teams consisting of Rotarians, Rotaractors and guests competed for the trophy. One of our teams came in 2nd runners up!

The triumphant team consisted of Rotarian Tay Wei Lian, Rotarian spouse Feeling, Rotaractor Wahid and guest Adrian.



The other team consisting of Rotarian Loh, Rotarian Karen, Rotaractor Dawn and guest Mustafa also did very well, upping the ante of the competition. The practice sessions that the bowlers invested in prior to the competition definitely paid off.



The team from Rotaract Club of Northwest took the champion title.

Well done bowlers and we look forward to next year's performance!

For more photos from Zonal Bowling Competition CLICK HERE.

Christmas cum year-end potluck party

Members and friends gathered on 16/12/2006 Saturday evening for an early Christmas and year-end celebration - a potluck dinner!






Everyone chipped in with either home-cooked or purchased food and gathered at Yi Ling's house to feast. Notable items were pasta made by Dawn, salad made by Winnie, fried rice made by Wahid, fish fillet bought by Too Tien, chicken wings bought by Diane and more.

Eileen bought a logcake for dessert that was so rich and chocolatey it would win the approval of any chocoholic. And Keyuan brought his signature chocolate eclairs that left everyone drooling and a party pack of cakes from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.






We also celebrated the birthdays of December babies Choon Kiat and Winnie.



All in all it was a fun night and a great start to the year-end festivities!

For photos from the party CLICK HERE.

President’s Cup Bowling Challenge

On 25/11/2006 Saturday afternoon, club members Dawn, Wahid, Keyuan and Yi Ling participated in the President’s Cup Bowling Challenge organized by the Rotary Club of Singapore West.   This bowling competition was held at Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild.



Competition grew keen as Rotarians, Rotaractors and family members bowled their best.  Even children got in the act!



While we did not win any prizes, Rotaractor Dawn won a lucky draw prize.



The event ended with a dinner sponsored by the Rotarians. 

Completed projects and latest photos

It's been a busy week!

We have successfully hosted our sister club from Thailand RAC Thammasat University from 29/10/06 - 5/11/06. I think most of us would agree that the visitors were a lovely bunch - lively, vivacious and a wee bit photo obssessed @_@"



A great time was had by both hosts and visitors. I believe strong friendships were built and fond memories were captured during the week. I'd like to thank all members and guests who have taken time out to bring our visitors around the island; I'm sure you've had fun exploring your own little island too!

The Club has also successfully held the community service project Zoo Trip with residents from Bo Tien Home for the Aged on 4/11/2006. It was a fun day-outing for the elderly residents who do not get to go on trips often. Thankfully the weather held and haze stayed at a reasonable level for everyone to enjoy themselves. Congratulations to Jasmin for a project well done!

While we wait for the respective official project reports (ahem hint hint), some photos for these and earlier activities have been uploaded!

Please go to our photo album:

http://photos.yahoo.com/racwest

to view the latest photos on our trip to RAC Ampang Installation, Basic Thai language class, and RAC Thammasat University hosting. Happy browsing!

Rgds,
Yi Ling

Basic Thai Language Class

Sawade kaa!

On 14 October 2006, Hon. Sec. Dawn Cheong gamely invited everyone to her house for a Basic Thai Language Class. This was in preparation for the arrival of our Thai guests from our sister club RAC Thammasat University.

Having taken Thai language lessons herself, Dawn taught us some basic phrases - a survival's guide to the Thai language.


Armed with a list of phrases, English translations and pen in hand, we repeated words after her. Soon everyone was trying to introduce themselve in Thai. "Dichan chu Yi Ling!"

After about an hour of hard work, we all trooped off for some fellowship in Orchard.

More photos from this event HERE

Eye Screening Exercise during AMD Awareness Week

On the morning of 23rd September 2006, 10 rotaractors from different Rotaract clubs in Singapore, including 4 from RAC Singapore West, volunteered their serviced to Alexandra Hospital for AMD Awareness Week.

What is AMD? it stands for Age-related Macular Degeneration. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in our world today and is related to increasing age. Alexandra Hospital had been holding seminars, workshops and eye screening exercises on AMD since 17th September.

We - President Yiling, Secretary Dawn, Rotaractor Wahid, and I - made ourselves available on that faithful Saturday to help out at the AMD eye screening exercise. We saw about 200 elderly coming for the eye screening. It was an orderly morning as we have volunteers situated at every station to assist the crowd. Wahid was required to receive the crowd from the registration counter and made sure they gotten their turn to screen their eyes. Yiling, Dawn and I, were each staying in the doctors' room to translate whatever our eye doctors were saying to the elderly.

We really had a good time finding out Mandarin terms for AMD, cataract, and even glaucoma! And all those Mandarin words for eye drops, dilation...you name them! And not only in Mandarin but different chinese dialects at times.  I could hear Wahid going "zhou zhou" (sit sit), "deng deng" (wait wait) too... hahaha.

We were kept so busy with the crowd that the morning ended fast. We were also very happy that each of the elderly got their chance to screen their eyes and consulted about how their vision were doing. With satisfaction, we brisk to Burger King at Ikea Shopping Mall to have our lunch.

Report submitted by VP Eileen Tiang 

RAC Ampang Installation

We were thrilled to make the trip up to KL, Malaysia to attend our sister club's Installation on 16 September 2006, and also to make it a fun weekend trip! The verdict - we had plenty of fun and fellowship, but it definitely was NOT a trip for R&R!

Below is report by IS Director Ke Yuan.
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Report RAC Ampang Installation 2006

When: From 15 sept to 17 sept

Objective: To attend Rotarct Club of Ampang installation, to build and maintain bonds between the two sisters club.

Number of pax attended: 10 Rtrs, 1 Graduate Rtrs, 1 Guest and 2 Rtr Family members

RAC SW
1. Zack
2. Yi Ling
3. Dawn
4. Jun Jie
5. Eileen
6. Keyuan
7. Simon
8. Jimmy (Graduated)

RAC NAFA
1. Celine
2. Paul

Guest
1. Siew Leng
2. Dawn’s Parents

Summary of the trip:

Day 1
• Breakfast with RAC Ampang Rtrs (IPP Mun Wai, Caryn and Andrew)
• Visit of KL Twin Tower and Shopping at KLCC
• Split into 2 groups
o “A” lunch at the famous Ampang Yong Tou Hu, check in apartment and R&R around the area.
o “B” went for Hair Cut and Shopping.
• RAC Ampang Installation at Ampang Jaya
• Fellowship at apartment.
• Home sweet home

Day 2
• Breakfast with Rac Ampang Rtrs (IPP Mun Wai, Caryn, Andrew and Joanne)
• Return to Singapore

The trip to KL was both fun and enjoyable; the Rtrs from both clubs had a lot of fellowship and interaction. But however the schedule was very packed, thus not much time to do shopping or explore KL.

The installation was filled with unique and fun activities. The in-coming Prez Alex is not present at the Installation due to work commitment. The “short speech” by IPP Mun Wai. Thegames by game master Andrew. The presence of 3 DRR from RI 3300 Chandra, 3310 Zack and 3460 Ruby. And lastly the over whelming turn out by RAC SW Rotaractors.

In short the trip was fun and will look forward for future interactions with RAC Ampang Rtr.

Submitted by IS Director Kwek Ke Yuan

More photos from this trip HERE

District Governor’s Visit

Members Yi Ling, Dawn and Simon attended the annual District Governor’s Visit on 24 August 2006, hosted by the Rotary Club of Singapore West.

District Governor Dr Wu Dar-Ching met with representatives from all Interact and Rotaract under the Singapore West umbrella and heard their club’s activities and plans for the year. It was an interesting sharing session.

DG Dr Wu addressed us with a reminder that while we are actively involved in comunity service, we must not forget to serve ourselves and improve ourselves, for only then can we serve others effectively.

The day was rounded off by a dinner hosted by the Rotary Club of Singapore West.

RAC Ampang Bowling Championship

Our sister club Rotaract Club of Ampang is organising a Bowling Championship on 25 August 2006. We wish them every success for their event!

==============
Invitation from RAC Ampang

Dear Fellow Rotaractors,

Stress at work? Looking forward to an enjoyable weekend?

Well then, does TENPINS, LANES, STRIKES, SPARES, SPLITS and TURKEY sound familiar to you???

Head to Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort,Bukit Jalil where fun, prizes and LOTSA games awaiting for you!

Your FAQs answered:
In case u still can't guess what is it.........it's BOWLING!

How the game is played?
You will be divided into group of 4. We'll do the grouping for you (A group will consist of a mixture hunkies and pretty gals)
Winner will be decided not only by the numbers of pins dropped, but also by the total points collected (during quizes and games in between)

How much am I to pay?
We will be charging RM 30/pax for 3 games

When shall I be there?
Be there on the 26th August at 5.30pm

Whom shall I contact?
Waste no time, email rac_ampang@yahoo.com

Getting To Know Our Rotarian Advisors

"Getting To Know Your Rotarian Advisors" Dinner and Post-Installation Celebration

August 16, 2006 saw our club meeting with our Rotarian advisors over dinner at Rice Table, an Indonesian restaurant tucked neatly along antiquated Chinese shophouses at Cuppage Terrance in the heart of Orchard. Rotarians PP Tan Kay Hui and PP Henry Tan graced the occasion with amiable smiles and goodwill, amidst the aroma of good food, a pleasant ambience and great company.

Pleasantries and greetings were exchanged, as Rotaractors and Rotarians sat together and chatted over the spread of dishes on the table. Jokes, laughter, ideas, experiences and advice from our Rotarians flowed seamlessly across the table while Rotaractors listened intently, not forgetting to enjoy the scrumptious food all at the same time.



Before ...

After!

As dusk falls we bid our farewells, leaving satisfied and happy, only to look forward to the next gathering, for this was only the first of many more to come. =)

Photos of dinner can be found HERE


Reported by Rtr Lim Tse Siang, Club Service Director