Bulletin Issue 32 / Mar Lunch Meeting on 4 th Mar 2014

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1 Chartered 13 August 1980 Meeting: The Singapore Cricket Club, Every Tuesday 12.45pm RI Calendar / MARCH: Rotary Literacy Month Bulletin Issue 32 / Mar 2014 Lunch Meeting on 4 th Mar 2014 The feeling in RCRC over the last few meetings has definitely been upbeat; enhanced very much by the flurry of classification talks & induction of new members! For this week s lunch meeting, Pres Jeffrey Chan had the distinct pleasure of inducting Rtn Shigenori Ezaki & inviting Rtn Andrew Schleider to present his classification talk which he entitled as Being a Foreign Lawyer in Singapore. PP David Ong in his customary immaculate way conducted the induction ceremony. As a nice touch, Rtn Shigenori was introduced to the rest of the members by his sponsor, Rtn Judy Tan. Incidentally our latest member revived the presence of Japanese membership representation in RCRC. He happens to also hail from the city of Nagoya where we have a sister club association with RC Nagoya Meihoku. Rtn Andrew introduced to us his law firm of Sherman & Sterling LLP. Established in Wall Street in 1873, the firm is currently a leading global law firm with about 850 lawyers spread over major commercial centers of the world. The Singapore office was set up in 1995 with expertise in project financing, capital markets, international arbitrations & mergers and acquisitions. While the firm does not practice Singapore Law; in year 2013 lawyers & trainees in the Singapore office completed almost 600 hours of pro bono work to continue the firm s commitment to low income individuals and organisations whose circumstances require pro bono representations.

2 Rtn Andrew joined the law firm in 1989 and relocated in Singapore in 2011 to head the Capital Markets Group here. He shared the several advantages of working in Singapore particularly as our business hub provides easier access to multinational financial institutions & companies. He frequently co-operates with very competent local law firms where Singapore law advice is needed. For members who do not know, Rtn Andrew was actually introduced to RCRC for membership by his father-in-law, PP Chad Tan of our sister club RC Makati North. We wish him many good years in Singapore & continued fellowship in RCRC! Another joyous occasion was the celebration of our AG Johnson Tan becoming a rather young grandfather recently. His joy was shared with members by the provision of wines & whisky. In addition, AG Johnson topped up the meeting Sunshine Box contributions of $260 plus with a matching $300! Your editor has been informed by grandpa that the wines & whisky sponsorship will be continued for the forthcoming Tues lunch meeting. So if you were not present for this last meeting, do turn up to share the joy this week! The bumper crop of new members continues with the induction of Rtn (soon-to-be) Eddy Chng. Photos of meeting on 4 Mar 2014 Toast led by PP David Lee Visiting Rtns from RC Melrose, USA Free flow of celebratory drinks Induction by PP David Ong Pres Jeffrey inducting Rtn S Ezaki Classification talk by Rtn A Schleider

3 Welcome to RCRC! Sunshine Box contributions President s Column PRESIDENT S BLOG Week of 24 FEBRUARY 2014 Dear Members, We are now in the month of March. March is Rotary Literacy Month. Some may wonder why we have a Rotary Literacy Month. The answer may not be that well known. Since 1945, Rotary has focused on promoting international understanding. Every Rotary Club has an International Service Director whose responsibility is to promote international understanding and goodwill. This has a direct relationship with World War II. Towards the end of that war, the international community sought to avert another similar war. To do this, they sought to create an international body of states that would address the causes of human conflict. These include misunderstandings, prejudices, poverty, uneven development, hunger and illiteracy. At that time the US, the clear victor in WW II, was an isolationist country with few international links. Rotary was among the few US organisations that had an international outlook. So it was not surprising that many Rotarians took the lead in establishing this body which we now know as the United Nations. At the San Francisco Conference which established the UN, 49 Rotarians served in 29 of the delegations there. Till today, Rotary has a special status in the UN and has Observer status in all UN meetings. In line with the objective of ensuring world peace, at the 1943 London Rotary Conference, Rotary promoted international cultural and educational exchanges. That conference was attended by numerous ministers of education from all over the world and was chaired by a Rotary International Past President. It led to the establishment of UNESCO in The main objective of UNESCO at the time it was established was to abolish illiteracy. This would facilitate greater mutual understanding among mankind and thus reduce the possibility of conflicts. Rotary thus has to this day a strong focus on promoting literacy. So during this March, the Rotary Literacy Month, let us all resolve as Rotarians to do what each of us can to promote literacy, which is

4 the first step to promoting understanding among our fellow men. These are the small steps needed to prevent conflicts and ensure peace for our world. Jeffrey Chan President Rotary Club of Raffles City Members Column Personal details of new member: Rtn Shigenori Ezaki Name: Shigenori Ezaki Date of Birth: 11 Mar, 1979 Family: Mahoko Ezaki (Wife), Mana Ezaki (Daughter 3 years old) Hobbies: Playing sports, reading novels, travelling and watching movies EDUCATION: Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan Pepperdine University Malibu, CA PROFESSIONAL: Kapilina Capital Pte Ltd (Singapore) Oct 2013 Present; Managing Director Toyo Keito Co Ltd (Japan) May 2010 Present; CEO Rtn Shigenori Ezaki hails from Nagoya, Japan. He handles asset management for clients with specialization in real estate investment

5 Events Report Installation Dinner Organising Committee Meeting Date: Fri 7 Mar 2014 Venue: Singapore Swimming Club RI / District Announcement District Training Assembly PE Corina Lai request RCRC members to join in the training for club secretary, club treasurer, Rotary Foundation Committee, Service Projects Committee, Public Relations Committee, Club Admin Committee, Membership Committee and Youth Service Committee.

6 Date: Mar 2014 Time: Starting at 1.00pm on 27 Mar 2014 Venue: KSL Hotel & Resort, Johor Bahru Link to online registration & payment: Speaker for lunch meeting Club Announcements (in Mar 2014) Date: Tues, 11 Mar 2014 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: First Lady Susan Chan on Compulsory Education in Singapore Sue has held a variety of appointments in our schools and the Ministry of Education including Head of Department, Director of MOE's Language Proficiency Centre; Head of Public Affairs of MOE, Principal of Tampines Junior College; School Superintendent and, at the time of retirement, Deputy Director of Schools. Presently she is a Senior Consultant to the English Language Institute of Singapore and is also involved in the accreditation of pre-school centres with the Early Childhood Development Authority. As you all know, she is an active Rotary spouse and strongly supports our Club events. For the lunch, the Cricket Club among other dishes will be serving its signature Hainanese Chicken Rice (Sue is Hainanese) and for dessert there is nonya kueh (Husband, Pres Jeffrey is a Peranakan). Induction of new member Date: Tues, 11 Mar 2014 Time: Venue: New Member: 12.45pm Gilmour Room, SCC Eddy Chng (introduced by AG Johnson Tan)

7 Speaker for lunch meeting Date: Tues, 18 Mar 2014 Time: 12.45pm Venue: Gilmour Room, SCC Speaker: Dr Hans Jaeger, President of the R C of Queenstown "Secrets of low youth unemployment - A reference to the Swiss Educational Model" Visit to sister club RC Taipei North East Date: Mar 2014 Venue: Puli, Central Taiwan Visit on invitation for the 32nd Anniversary and Installation Dinner of sister-club the Rotary Club of Taipei North East. PP Dr Chin Koy Nam assisting with liaison. RCRC Events to note APRIL 2014 Club Announcements (beyond Mar 2014) Tues 1 Apr 2014, guest speaker for lunch meeting is HE Rogelio Granguillhome, Mexican Ambassador to Singapore. Tues 8 Apr 2014, guest speaker for lunch meeting is Ms Marina Wong, General Manager of the Straits Time Pocket Money Fund Tues 15 Apr 2014, guest speaker for lunch meeting is Pres Daisy Irani, RC of Marina City speaking on "Being an India Indian Singaporean" Tues 22 Apr 2014, lunch meeting classification talk by Rtn Judy Tan Apr 2014, Annual Golf Friendly with RC KL DiRaja in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia MAY May 2014 District Conference (Bayview Beach Resorts, Penang)

8 31 May-4 Jun 2014 RI Convention 2014 at Olympic Park, Homebrush Bay, Sydney Australia Month Next Week: 11 Mar 2014 Desk Duty Steven Teng 18 Mar 2014 Tengku Indra 25 Mar 2014 Mohit Varshney Members Celebrations in March Birthdays Wedding Anniversaries 1 st Brian Tan 15 th Lim Hua Min 13 th Chris Mertz 21 st William Wan 28 th Jaya Prakash 24 th Low Cze Hong

9 Before We End Friends A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-ofpearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?' 'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked. 'Of course sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open. 'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveller asked. 'I'm sorry; sir, but we don't accept pets.' The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book... 'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?' 'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.' 'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog. 'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man. They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself and then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked.

10 'This is Heaven,' he answered. 'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.' 'Oh, you mean the place with the Gold Street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.' 'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?' 'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.' Soooo. Now you see, sometimes, we wonder why Rotarians enjoy their good friends at weekly meetings End of Bulletin