Inside:

President Koh

Kia Heong

shares the

meeting’s

speaker’s topic:

Buidling

Forensics

RI’s new grant

model

And more

RY2012-2013 – Issue # 22, 15 Jan 2013

We had a break of 3 weeks. Most of us were eager to attend the regular Lunch Meeting and catch-up. The Meeting on 15 January, 2013, our first meeting for this year was a hive of activities and laughter. PP Swee Fatt was in top form as Fine Master with total fines of RM145. In the month of January, we have one of the highest numbers of birthdays and anniversaries. Thank you for the donation of RM330 from our birthday boys & girls and those who celebrate their wedding anniversaries. The month of December, January and February have the most number of holidays. Fortunately or unfortunately, this year, most of these holidays fall on Tuesdays, the day of our Regular Meetings. Our Regular Meetings on the Tuesday, 29 January and 5 February 2013 will be cancelled for the “Thaipusam” and Chinese New Year Celebrations respectively. Our next meeting before this long stretch of holidays is an evening meeting on 22 January at the Purple Cane Restaurant at Shaw Parade, Pudu. Come and try out Chinese Cooking with Tea and a talk on the benefits of tea. Building Forensic Investigation! This week our speaker, Ar. Steven Thang, a Director at NVT Architects Sdn Bhd spoke to us on a very interest subject, “Inspection of Building Work Defects & Building Forensic Investigation”. Building forensic investigation involves investigation and detection of defects in a house that was recently built or renovated. The need for this line of services come about when an owner is not satisfied with the work of the contractors, due to poor and shoddy workmanship or trying to short change the owner by providing substandard materials. House owners being laymen could hardly win an argument with the contractor. This is where the services of the professional architect come in. The architect represents the owner and inspects the house before acceptance of the renovation or house.

President‘s Jottings

For a “small” fee, the owner can have an expert to certify that the house is in order. I guess the biggest problem a house owner could face is termites. Building forensic investigation also include the detection of termites in the house or within the vicinity of the house. Once termites are detected, preventive measures have to be taken to ensure termites do not come to your house, meaning it goes to somebody else’s house! No ill intent, termites would have to find something to eat. It would go to houses that were least protected. Do get a pest controller to spray your house with pesticides once every three months to keep away termites and insects. Building Forensic investigation includes the detection of “Hot-spot” in wiring that might cause fire or water log in ceiling or walls which are not visible to the naked eyes. This can only be detected with infra red equipment. The architectural profession also offers a host of services and consultancies, from master planning, feasibility studies, project management, building survey and inspection and many more services. Resignation of Senior Rotarians It was with much regret that the Club accepts the resignation of two very senior Rotarians with effect from 1 January 2013. Thank you to PP Rupert Goldman and Rotarian Pancha Abdullah for your commitments and services to humanity and the community. Thank you for being a friend. RCPJ wishes you all the best. We will surely miss you at our meetings and functions. Do join us when time permits.

President Koh Kia Heong

PEEJAY POST

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“Our Club Vision:

Every Rotary Year

is OUR Year.”

Page 2 of 5

RI News

This year's International Assembly is focusing considerable resources on training incoming Rotary leaders in The Rotary Foundation's new grant model, to pave the way for the worldwide launch of Future Vision in July. The effort is designed to benefit all Rotarians by sending the governors-elect and district Rotary Foundation chairs-elect back to their districts with a wealth of knowledge about the grant model. "The Future Vision plan provides us with an opportunity to be a truly cutting-edge organization, on the same level as many other successful philanthropic organizations, like the [Bill & Melinda] Gates Foundation," Past RI President and Future Vision Committee Chair Luis Vicente Giay told the incoming leaders. "To ensure the future of Rotary, we need a Foundation that is strong, vigorous, organized, agile, competent, international, and ready to meet the challenges and demands that society, Rotarians, and clubs present to us." Giay highlighted several advantages of the new grant model, including streamlining the system into three grant types that fund a variety of activities with fewer requirements. Placing district grants into the hands of a new district committee structure will give Rotary clubs and districts greater flexibility in meeting community needs both locally and internationally, he said. And by linking global grants to Rotary's six areas of focus, the Foundation will be able to ensure that projects have a greater impact, as well as sustainability – an impact on the benefiting community that continues long after grant funds are expended. The Future Vision plan has benefited from Rotary's leadership in the effort to eradicate polio, which has relied on a strategic partnership with other organizations. Reflecting that lesson, packaged grants allow Rotarians to take part in predesigned projects funded entirely by Rotary's World Fund and its strategic partners. "As Rotarians, we can use our new Foundation to do greater good in the world," Giay said. "I am confident you all will succeed." In another assembly speech, the incoming leaders heard Past RI President William B. Boyd talk about the initiative to strengthen Rotary's brand. He said that extensive research conducted by Rotary's consultants, Siegel+Gale, had found a perception gap between the way Rotarians and non-Rotarians view the organization, which the brand initiative is designed to address. "For non-Rotarians, that communication is very important, because they need to know who we are and what we do, and what differentiates us from other organizations. Then we can ask them to join us," Boyd

said, noting that the initiative is not about reinventing or creating a new brand but about bringing the existing one into sharper focus. "What is a brand? It's simply and clearly who we are, what we do, and why it matters." He asked the incoming leaders to spread the message about Rotary's brand and to reach out to non-Rotarians to explain what the organization does both locally and globally. Rotary Foundation Chair-elect Dong Kurn Lee laid out the Foundation's goals for 2013-14, including completing the job of eradicating polio, launching the Future Vision grant model, engaging Rotarians in innovative projects, creating partnerships, and building ownership and pride in the Rotary Foundation. "In Rotary, every job is valuable, every job is important," Lee said. "But in the year ahead, all of you here today will have a special role to play in determining Rotary's success — and not just in 2013-14 but in all the years to follow. It is a tremendous responsibility, and I know that you will rise to this challenge." RI General Secretary John Hewko focused on the need for continuity, strategic planning, and sustainability in his address to the assembly 16 January. "Every Rotarian, and every Rotary leader, is a link in a chain. Our success can't ever be measured by our own

strength," Hewko said. "It will be measured by how well we link what was done before us to what can be done after us." He encouraged the district governors-elect to use Rotary Club Central, an online tool rolled out in July to help districts and clubs better understand and capture their past achievements and plan strategically for several years. Rotarians can find the tool by logging on to Member Access. Hewko said sustainability, at its core, means that the work Rotarians do now will have a continued impact, without continued investment. "A helping hand that meets a need in the short term is never as efficient a use of our resources as an investment that will continue to meet that need over time," he said. To help promote Rotary and ensure its future, he asked the governors-elect to make use of the Internet and social media. The Rotary Grants microsite was launched this month, and Hewko noted that a redesigned RI website is in the works.

Incoming district leaders learn about new grant model @ IA 13 From Rotary International

RI Theme RY2011-2012 “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity”

Calender (Club, District & RI)

Events Dates 2013 Time Host(s) / Venue

Evening Meeting 22 Jan 8pm Purple Cane Restaurant, Shaw Parade, KL. Please see separate email from PP Yap Swee Fatt for details and directions.

Three Pillars of Rotary Seminar

1 & 2 Feb Cinta Sayang, Sg Petani, hosted by the RC of Sg Petani

Pictures from our meeting on 15 Jan 2013.

Our Speaker was Ar. Steven Thang on Building Forensics

Page 4 of 5

Next Meeting: 22 Jan 2013 (evening meeting at Purple Cane Restaurant,

Shaw Parade, KL) Introducing: Dr Eric Wong

Thanking: Siti Haslinda Finemaster: Yap Swee Fatt Fellowship: Michael Chua

Raffle: David Ho

Birthdays Rotarians :

Birthdays Spouses :

Wedding Anniversaries

PP OSS – 2nd

Rtn KO – 3rd

PP Dr Tarcisius Chin – 5th

Rtn Thanabalasingam – 22nd

PP Michael Chua– 27th

Amrit – 5th

Carol Ong – 9th

Nah Hooi Kim – 5th

Alvin Than – 10th

PP Leong Yeng Kit and Fiona – 3rd

PP Michael Toh and Kim – 6th

PP Goh Seng Chuan and Nancy – 7th

President Koh Kia Heong and Tze

Yuen – 21st

Rtn Ryan Ho and Agnes – 26th

Birthdays & Wedding Anniversaries, Jan 2013

RCPJ is part of an international movement founded by Paul P. Harris in 1905. The purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 33,976 clubs and over 1.22 million members worldwide at present. Rotary's best-known motto is "Service above Self", and its secondary motto is "They profit most who serve best”.

Rotary Club of Petaling Jaya

RCPJ was chartered on 6 January 1961 with over 40 members at present. It is one of the oldest Rotary clubs in Malaysia. Rotary is an international movement founded on international friendship and service to the community in which it is located. Perhaps the most prominent of its project has been and still is, Polio Plus, the eradication of polio from the face of the earth. It is a non‐political, non‐religious, nonracial, non‐sectarian, nongovernmental voluntary organization comprising men and women of many varied professions. Over the last years, RCPJ was responsible for providing Petaling Jaya's urban community with its first public library, for equipping children’s playground, and starting a kindergarten, while at the national level, it succeeded in launching the National Kidney Foundation, the precursor of the country's first centre for urology and neurology, to mention some of its more spectacular achievements. By 1990, RCPJ expanded its service activities to establish regular community support in the form of schools nutrition, vocation guidance, youth development through Rotaract and Interact Clubs and bus shelters

www.rotarypj.com

and pedestrian bridges. Besides that, RCPJ has also addressed contemporary local issues for the aged, the handicapped, the poor, the environment, health and International relationships. More recently, RCPJ carried out the Golden Child Project for the terminally ill, Ten‐Pin Bowling for the physically and mentally challenged children, children’s cheer project for the less privileged, vaccination for hawkers in SS2, Petaling Jaya, organising Super Camps to reach out to the youths and conducting the Lighthouse Project to train teachers to teach English. In 2005, the Club put into action the Super Mums project to empower single mothers to start and sustain their home based business and to be financially independent. DYMM Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Sultan of Selangor, is Patron of the Rotary Club of Petaling Jaya.

About RCPJ

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Rotary Club of Petaling Jaya

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