CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 22

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12th

Dec

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Joke of the week“A kiss is a strange thing. A small boy gets it for nothing. A young man has to steal it. And an old man has to pay for it.”From the book of Humour compiled by Rewa MirpuriHAVE MANY LAUGHS AND HELP THE NEEDYhttp://www.rotary.org.sg/bookofhumour.html

“Gathering Support for a wonderful short film, Cahaya”SPEAKER: Ms. Jean Elizabeth LeeLunch meeting of the 7th December 2011

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Introductory remarks

President Tapan Rao warmly welcomed members to the first meeting for the month of December, which was designated by Rotary International as “Family Month”. He further welcomed the Guest Speaker, Ms. Jean Lee to the meeting.

Welcome back and Thank you

Sergeant-at-Arms, Rtn. Robert Craiu warmly welcomed back Rtn. Suresh Keerthi, whom he added, upon arriving at the meeting, pledged to be a Paul Harris Fellow in support of The Rotary Foundation.

Happy Birthday

President Tapan was pleased to extend the Club’s best wishes to PP Bhagwan Melwani for his birthday on 13th December 2011. President Tapan requested PP Bhagwan to come forward to cut his birthday cake.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guestsRtn. Suresh Keerthi welcomed our guests and visiting rotarians.

- Guests :Mrs. Abigail Han (wife of Rtn. Jeremy Han)Ms. Angelo OhMs. Neo Siew KhimMr. Tony CompagninoMr. James Lee

Visitors :Charter President Byram Arai – Karachi MidtownManohar S. Ahuja – Bombay WestMeril Motha – Bangalore Cault, IndiaDr. Annie Chen-Green – Phnom Penh, CambodiaAlexander Knipp – Stuttgart-Fernschturm, GermanyElsie Chua – Pandan Valley, Singapore

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Toast

Rtn. Robert Craiu called upon visiting Rtn. Alexander Knipp, who is the Secretary of his club, Rotary Club of Stuttgart-Fernschturm, to address members. Rtn. Alexander advised that his club has 44 members and was formed in 2009. He added that his club was trying to work with other older clubs in Stuttgart to undertake more projects.

Cahaya, a short film

President Tapan invited Rtn. Suman Aggarwal to introduce the Speaker, Ms. Jean Elizabeth Lee. Ms. Lee is the writer and director of “Cahaya,” is a Korean American second year MFA film student at NYU Tisch Asia. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. In 2008, she made her first short film, “We Do Not Exist,” a documentary about the local and international sex trafficking industry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2009, Ms. Lee was chosen as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to create a multi-media project in France. Afterwards, Ms. Lee worked for the International Justice Mission, an international human rights organization that uses media and law to advocate on behalf of victims against police brutality and gender violence, particularly in Southeast Asia.Ms. Lee gave a synopsis of her film, whose main character was an 11-year old girl, named Cahaya. She added that the film would “fuse elements of magical realism and documentary style filmmaking in order to cinematically present the contrast between Cahaya’s dream world and the reality of poverty and suffering in the slum community”. She highlighted the film’s support from the likes of Academy Award filmmaker, Oliver Stone.

Ms. Lee also advised that she would be working with Hope Worldwide Indonesia, an NGO working with women and children in slum communities to provide health education programmes. She sought members’ support, offering a way to get involved with the local arts community in a meaningful way. She advised that their goal was to raise S$8,230SGD in order to bring this film into fruition. Ms. Lee advised that her school, NYU Tisch Asia, has IPC status, so sponsors, wouldl receive a 250% tax break based on their contribution. In his vote of thanks, Rtn. Uttam Kripalani noted that Ms. Lee was probably one of the first film directors and writers to have visited and spoken at the Club. He added that the arts community was always looking for “Angels” a term for those individuals and corporations that have an interest in the arts and were prepared to risk money into artistic ventures. Rtn. Uttam warmly thanked Ms. Lee for her delightful speech and wondered how many members would look at being an “Angel” for her film activities.

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Rtn. Dr. Irina Francken gave a presentation on the Patrick Hernon Trust Fund, starting with the historical information on the Trust’s formation. She advised that the current trustees of the Fund were Rtn. Joseph Chia (Chairman), PP Raymon Huang and herself. She added that she was selected by the Vocational Service Committee to replace Rtn Philip Mason as a trustee of the Trust, as Rtn Philip Mason had resigned and would be re-locating to Penang soon.Rtn. Irina spoke of the Trust’s work with Boys’ Town for the past 25 years in providing scholarships. She also highlighted the Boys’ Town’s programmes and how the Club could assist this organization. Rtn. Irina noted that to understand better how and in which areas the Club could help, she invited member to participate in the visit to Boys’ Town on Friday, 9th December 2011.

Patrick Hernon Fund

President Tapan recognized the presence of Rtn. Dr. Annie Chen-Green from the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, which was promoted by our Club, and with which many projects were jointly conducted. He invited Rtn. Annie to address the Club. Rtn. Annie acknowledged the close relationship of both clubs and sent greetings from her club’s President. Rtn. Annie added that she was asked by her President, to approach our Club for Matching Grant assistance to provide mobile dental/medical facility for the underserved peripheral group of villagers.

Rotary Phnom Penh

President Tapan called upon Rtn. Elsie Chua, who is the Vocational Service Director of the Rotary Club of Pandan Valley. She gave a brief overview of her club’s fund-raising project which produced a collection of original music for charity, community and vocation service. She advised that the funds raised from this first album entitled 'Reach within to embrace humanity' would be contributed to Assumption Pathway School and support the development of life skills for needy students. Each CD is priced at $25 and for orders of 50 pieces or more, it is priced at $20 each. Order Forms are available from the Secretariat.

Rotary Rocks !!!!

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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: December 13 – PP Bhagwan MelwaniDecember 14 – PP Mansoor Hassanbhai & Garry Taylor December 19 – Haider Nawaz

Anniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants: December 15 – PP Sajjad & Ruby AkhtarDecember 18 – Adam & Roshan Moledina, Paul & Janet Phua

This weekDecember 14th 2011

Reception Desk duty: Dr. Albert Wee, Wilson WidjajaSunshine Box duty: Noshir Mistri, Roland Jossi

Speaker: Ms. Jutta OdenwaelderTopic: Emotional Intelligence and Creativity Training in Modern Life

Next week December 21st 2011

Reception Desk duty: PP Dr. Yap Lip Kee, Dr. Ekkehard WiekSunshine Box duty: VP Brigitte Holtschneider, Louis Lim

Speaker: Rev. Kenneth Huang from Faith Methodist ChurchTopic: To be advised

COMING ROTARY EVENTS DecemberFamily Month

December 15thChristmas Fellowship Dinner

JanuaryRotary Awareness Month

January 19thClub Assembly

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?

COMMITTEE MEETINGSMeetings of the Community, Vocational, International & New Generations Service Committees will be held on Thursday, 15 December 2011, at 41 Chee Hoon Avenue, S299762 at 6.00 p.m. sharp, after which, members will adjourn for the Annual Christmas Fellowship dinner.

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