CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 18

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14th

nov

. 201

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Joke of the weekSign in a Budapest Zoo“Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.”From the book of Humour compiled by Rewa MirpuriHAVE MANY LAUGHS AND HELP THE NEEDYhttp://www.rotary.org.sg/bookofhumour.html

Speech of the week“What We Do Not Know About Wildlife Reserves” by Ms Serene LawLunch meeting 9th November 2011

News : Find Your bulletin on facebook – and you can download it

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Introductory remarks

President Tapan Rao opened the second meeting for the month of November, which is designated by Rotary International as Rotary Foundation Month, with a warm welcome to members and to the Guest Speaker, Ms. Serene Law from Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

Happy Birthday

Members joined President Tapan in wishing and singing a “Happy Birthday” to Rtn. Shoichi Ishizaki, as he cut his birthday cake.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guests

PP Peter Tan welcomed our guests and visiting rotarians.

- Guests :Ms. Sandra Chui (WRS)Ms. Felicia ChiaMr. Tony CompagninoMr. Tamim IbrahamMr. Matei IurascuMr. Justus Krause-Harder

Visitors :PP Ian Petersen – Kowloon North, Hong Kong

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Toast

Rtn. Robert Craiu noted the time honoured custom of the Club to raise a toast to another Rotary Club and invited visiting PP Ian Petersen from the Rotary Club of Kowloon North in District 3450 to say a few words about his club. PP Ian advised that his club was similar to our Club in that there were many different nationalities and with lady members. He added that the current club president was the third lady president. He further advised that the club had undertaken several overseas projects including assistance to children with AIDs in Tanzania. He invited members to visit his club which meets at the Holiday Inn, Nathan Road in Hong Kong.

Speakers of the week

The Guest Speaker, Ms. Serene Law, was introduced by Rtn. Perlita Tiro. Prior to her appointment as Director of Sales of WRS, Ms. Law was with the hotel industry and worked in major hotels. Ms. Law’s forte was managing sales teams. Ms. Law informed members that Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) was owned by Temasek Holdings and Singapore Tourism Board. She presented an overview of the various award-winning attractions of the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the Jurong Bird Park. She highlighted the attractions’ rare and endangered animal and bird species and some of the activities which were available to members of the public to be up and close to the exhibits. Ms. Law’s presentation also featured some the special dining programmes and venues available at each of these attractions, such as the “Gourmet Safari Express and the “Lunch with Parrots” programmes. Ms. Law highlighted the coming attraction in 2012, when a pair of giant pandas as part of an agreement to mark friendly relations between Singapore and China for the opening of the River Safari, the world’s first and only river themed wildlife park.

In his vote of thanks to Ms. Law, Rtn. Jamshid Medora advised that his company was the first auditors for the Zoo in 1974 and remained so, for about 10 years, and recounted some of the special difficulties encountered with zoo valuations and accounting. Rtn. Jamshid noted the similarity of Zoo and the Club with its diversity of characters adding that there were “bulls and bears, no boars (members were all interesting people), no cows only cuddly pussy cats!

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New Member

President Tapan was pleased to induct the 10th new member to the Club for this Rotary year. He called upon Rtn. Uttam Kripalani to introduce his candidate, Rtn. Ronald Wong Kin Wai. Rtn. Uttam advised that Rtn. Ronald came with “Rotary almost oozing out of his veins”, since he grew up listening to and living in a Rotary family. Rtn. Ronald’s father was the 5th President of The Rotary Club of Jurong Town [1979-1980] and was also appointed District Governor’s representative for that year. Rtn. Uttam added that with his father’s active involvement, he felt sure that Rotary goodness would have rubbed off onto Rtn. Ronald.Rtn. Ronald has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accountancy, and is a Senior Manager in Ernst and Young LLP, providing Assurance, Tax, Transactions and Advisory services. His classification is “Accountancy: Financial Assurance.”District’s Seminar on “The Rotary Foundation” which was held on Saturday, 22nd October at The Tanglin Club.

District’s Seminar on “The Rotary Foundation” which was held on Saturday, 22nd October at The Tanglin Club.

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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: November 16 – Kannan Vijayaraghavan November 19 – Narayan “Subbu” Subramanian Anniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants: November 14 – Vaidy & Sumathi Krishnamurthy , Tan Hien Meng & Molly, Kannan & Usha VijayaraghavanNovember 19 – Brian & Dena Jones

This weekNovember 16th 2011

Reception Desk duty: Shoichi Ishizaki, Kannan KrishnanSunshine Box duty: VP Brigitte Holtschneider, Jayant Gadgil

Speaker: PDG Dr. Wu Dar Ching Topic: “How can Rotary Foundation be relevant to our Rotary Club?”

International Service Date: Thursday, 17th NovemberTime: 7.30pmVenue: The Wine Bar, The Tanglin Club, 5 Stevens Road, S257814Hosts: Rtns. Dinesh Sharma, PP Sajjad Akhtar, Haider Nawaz, Rewa Mirpuri

Next week November 23rd 2011

Reception Desk duty: PP Stan Low, Jamshid MedoraSunshine Box duty: Philip Kwan, S “Mali” Malaiappan

Panel Discussion on “The Rotary Foundation” – learn more about Matching Grants and other important areas of the Foundation.

New Generations Service Date: Thursday, 24th NovemberTime: 7.30pmVenue: Multi-purpose Room, 341 Bukit Timah Road, Honolulu Tower, S259719Host: PP Paliath Mohandas

COMING ROTARY EVENTS NovemberRotary Foundation MonthNovember 18th - 20th

21st District Conference in Kota Kinabalu

DecemberFamily Month

JanuaryRotary Awareness Month

FebruaryWorld Understanding Month

February 23rd World Understanding and Peace Day

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?

Queries, comments and articles request can be sent to Jean-Philippe Lionnetbulletin@rotary.org.sg