Rotary Club of Sentosa Lunch Meeting - Conquering Mount Kinabalu, 11th June 2009

Eager to prepare for the upcoming expedition, Rotary Sentosa had the pleasure of inviting Rotarian Joey Gan to speak about her ascent of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia located in Borneo. Rotarian Joey, of Rotary Bugis Junction, together with fellow Rotarian Kelvin Low had made the challenging climb in April 2008.

Joey shared valuable snippets of the climb, as she recited her group's missing guide on the first day at Kinabalu Park HQ, and the need to acclimatise to the high altitude. The inspiring photos of the climb probably had many thinking of their long overdue holiday. Indeed, while hot water at Laban Rata could be a luxury, many would be more than happy to stay on to take in the majestic mountain views.

As she brought the audience through the experience, it was clear that the climb was not going to be a mere stroll in the park. While the Rotary Sentosa Mount Kinabalu team looked visibly concerned with the mention of high altitude sickness, missing guides and pitch dark treks to the peak, the rewards of fresh air and breathtaking views was enough to excite everyone.

With the rest of the club rooting for them, the Rotary Sentosa Mount Kinabalu team looks set to make the expedition.

We thank Joey for sharing a most exciting trip with us.

Rotary Club of Sentosa Evening Dinner Meeting, Appreciation of Modern Music, 30th April 2009

A truly musical evening.






Rotary Sentosa had the honour of having guest speaker Dr Eleanor Tan enlighten the group on the finer points of modern music appreciation. Dr Eleanor Tan is Head of Academic Studies (Music) at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she educates Singapore's young minds on the many possibilities in music. Dr Eleanor Tan has many years of professional practice in both Singapore and the United States. She undertook undergraduate and graduate studies at Indian University, Bloomington and later pursued two years of doctoral studies at the Eastman School of Music with Nelita True. Dr Eleanor also pursued her PhD candidature at the University of Queensland in Australia.


With her wealth of professional experience, Rotary Sentosa was truly enthralled with a rather unique and interactive talk on the development of modern music in the 20th century. For the group, it was probably the first time many had been exposed to such a wide array of composers and equally intriguing scores. From composers such as Charles Ives, the full time insurance man, part time composer to Cathy Berberian, with the Stripsody - a score with comic illustrations rather than musical notes. Dr Eleanor Tan introduced the various influences for modern music, including the importance of the Paris International meeting which became the confluence of Western and international music styles and cultures. The highlight of the evening, was perhaps the clapping experiment which she patiently guided the group through.


After the talk, Dr Eleanor Tan also highlighted some of the challenges of music education in Singapore. Institutions such as NAFA, play a key role in training and providing the talent that's required to promote and sustain quality music education for Singapore's younger generation. Indeed, even in the area of music, Singapore appears to face the challenge of encouraging innovation and flexibility rather than just academic excellence. A truly educational evening.

Rotary Sentosa wishes Dr Eleanor Tan the best in her musical endeavours.

Rotary Sentosa Inaugural Happy Hour Lunch Programme, 23 April 2009

Rotary Sentosa had her very first Happy Hour Lunch Programme and spirits were high amidst friendly banter.

At the invitation of Rotarian Elaine Teh, the event was also graced by the powerful vocals and melodious voice of Ms Catherine Loria. Catherine, who started to sing since she was just 2 years old, is a phenomenal rising teen diva who has won several singing championships, including the WCOPA 2008 in Hollywood, USA. Catherine kept the crowd mesmerised as she serenaded them with all-time hits such as "I Will Always Love You"

But not to be outdone, the Rotary Club had her own singing talents as well. As the tenors and sopranos gathered round the piano, it was clear that there was too much talent to stay hidden. What better way for the Rotary Club and her guests to spend a Happy Hour...

Rotary Fellowship - PE Budi and PP Terence Ng from EClub, Dr Adrian Koh from Sentosa and PP Andrew Tan from RC Jurong Town.

PE Budi and PP Andrew Tan from RC Jurong Town show how it's done...

Happy Together with RC Sentosa...

PE Thomas Ngu from RC Kuching Central "I smile better than I sing"...

CP Michael Quek entertains on the piano.

PDG Fong H B "I wanna sing also la!"

Rotary Sentosa at the District Assembly April 17 - 19, 2009

Rotary Club of Sentosa, Singapore was proud to be represented at the District Assembly that just passed in Melaka.

Below are snippets of the fun times at the District Assembly.

Family of Sentosa 




CP Michael Receives an Award from DG Edward. Award is a PHF donated by PDG Ben Chng and PDG David Tong for his 8 years of promoting bowling amongst all the Rotary Clubs. 

PDG Ben and CP Michael presents memento from Sentosa to DGE Latip

From Left: CP Michael, PDG Ben, VP Treasurer PP Linda, Lily (PDG Ben's spouse), Rtn Alan, Chairman PR Jean-Paul, Rtn Dicky and VP Club Admin PP Karen.

From Left: Rtn Dicky, Rtn Alan, VP Treasurer PP Linda, Director  Elaine, VP Club Admin PP Karen, CP Michael, PDG Ben

From Left: Chairman PR Jean-Paul, VP Club Admin PP Linda, VP Treasurer PP Karen, Director Elaine, PDG Ben, CP Michael, VP Special Projects Choon Hou, Angeline (spouse of Rtn Choon Hou), Rtn Alan, Rtn Dicky

Lunch Fellowship: 9 April 2009

Another fellowship, another induction and another friend who has decided to join the family that is the Rotary Club of Sentosa.

This week we welcomed Mr Victor Khoo into the family. Victor was previously a guest of PP Linda Wong, who were university mates with Victor while they studied at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Upon graduation, Victor came to the shores of Singapore and had worked for some years at NCS before heading to Fontainebleau to study for his MBA is INSEAD. Victor came back to Singapore again after his MBA, to start a Physiotherapy Center, Core Concepts. 

Core Concepts now has 3 clinics in Shenton Way, Parkway Parade and Novena Square.

After the induction, Rtn Kenneth Low presented a short presentation on Rotary Sentosa's Google Apps applications on the web to members.

Rtn Kenneth then presented his talk on Competitive Intelligence. Members were initially thrilled to see if it was anything like what James Bond had potrayed, but was dissapointed to learn about the legal way to conduct Competitive Intelligence.

In the end, the members learned briefly on how Competitive Intelligence can be applied to their companies and the various business functions.

The club will not meet on April 16 due to the District Meeting in Melaka, and will continue on April 23 with an informal fellowship at the Piano Bar of the Orchard Hotel with lots of singing and merriment.

Rotary Sentosa President and members receive RI President DK Lee at Changi Airport

The club was excited to receive the RI President, DK Lee in his inaugral visit to Singapore. The purpose of his visit was to bestow the Rotary International Award Of Honour to MM Lee Kuan Yew on March 6, 2008.

Charter President Michael Quek, PDG Ben Chng and spouse, Lily and PP Karen Kang were all there to receive the arrival of President DK Lee at Changi Airport on March 5.

Lunch Fellowship: April 2, 2009

For this week's lunch talk, Rotary Club of Sentosa invited one of her own, to wow the audience gathered at fellowship. The speaker of the day was Rotarian Elaine Teh.

But before Elaine took to the podium, the club took the opportunity to induct another 2 members; Rotarian Malcolm Wong and Amy Sze.

Malcolm has held leadership positions through his schooling days, eventually winning the MAS scholarship to the London School of Economics. Upon his return to Singapore, he worked in MAS and eventually became Assistant Director for Banking Supervision.

Her has since joined GIC as a portfolio manager in commodities trading. 

Amy, was an ex-Rotarian and currently runs her own company in the hospitality line. She has been a good friend of PP Karen Kang, who was able to use her charm to invite Amy back into joining the Rotary Club.

Finally the audience got to learn a thing or two about owning and runing a pub or club from Rotarian Elaine Teh.  She is Director of several companies and also the Executive Director of Octopus Holdings Pte Ltd which owns and manages more than 70 Pubs in Singapore . She is sometimes known as the ‘Queen of Pubs’. 

March 26, 2009 - Induction Night and Art Talk

For this evening meeting, there was a special guest invited by Rotary Club of Sentosa.

The guest is none other than Ms Gho Lay Tin, who began her journey into photography as a hobby while in her early 30s and caught the attention of The Photo-Art Association of Singapore (PAS) and The Singapore Colour Photographic Society (SCPS).

Since 2003, Lay Tin has been actively participating in international salons. In 2005, she was the World’s Top Exhibitor in the Colour Print Section of The Photographic Society of America’s (PSA) Who’s Who list. In 2008, she achieved the 5 Stars Exhibitor titles in the Colour Print, Monochrome Print and Photo Travel Sections, and the PSA 4 Galaxies Exhibitor title in the Colour Slide Section.

Her outstanding work has also earned her the ARPS and EFIAP titles from The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and the International Federation of Photographic Art. Over the years, she has won more than thirty PSA gold medals while her enormous exhibition records have gained her the Excellency level title from PSA this year.

In 2007, she awarded her first prize in THE AL-THANI Salon’s Colour Slide Section and was invited by the Photographic Club to Doha in Qatar to receive her award plus US$4000 Cash.

The club also took the opportunity to induct Ms Jaclyn Ng who is a Director of Li Fung Trinity Management (S) Pte Ltd with their HQ in Hong Kong, employing 34,000 employees across 40 economies with a turnover of US$14 billion in 2007.

ExxonMobil Talk: 19 March 2009.

At yesterday's RCS lunch meeting, we had 18 RCS members ( 67%) but we were nearly outnumbered by 6 Visiting Rotarians and 10 Guests !! Total 34 present.
 

We were short of food ( was quickly replenished.... thanks to our member Desmond Tay ) and short of seats ( added another table to the existing 4 tables).

RCSS also took the opportunity to welcome Mr Bill Cummings of ExxonMobil who presented an interesting & enlighting talk on the Corporate Culture of ExxonMobil.

Quite apart from focusing on making a profit from running the petroleum business, the company among other things is also involved in research on renewable energy to help the enviroment as part of the global endeavour to make the world a better place for all mankind.
 
ExxonMobil ploughs back a portion of its profit to help the less fortunate & needy of society as part of its commitment to the Corporate Culture of ExxonMobil is quite an eye opener for the members & guests present during the meeting that not all companies care only for the bottomline. ExxomMobil after all also cares for the community.

We were heartened by the good food and more importantly, the fellowship amongst rotarians and guests. The icing on the cake is feedback from ExxonMobil expressed their desire to speak at our lunch meeting again with a new Speaker and Topic.

We shall all be looking forward to another interesting topic from ExxonMobil.

MEGA Induction Night - 5 March 2009

5 March 2009. This will be the day that will be remembered as Rotary Club of Sentosa Singapore was officially unveiled to the rest of the Rotary Community. Sure, those in the know would have found out about the Chartering of the new club as well as potentially who the charter members were.

But tonight, we stepped out into the limelight!

We had a great turnout, and a total of 10 new members were inducted into Rotary Club of Sentosa Singapore! More on them later.

We also welcomed a large number of visiting Rotarians and Distinguished Rotarians, who joined in the festivities of the night. We were also very lucky to have many out of town Rotarians who were in town for the Inter-City Meeting the following night.

Our distinguished guests for the night included:

Rotary International Director Jackson Hsieh,

Dist Governor Edward Burungoh and Spouse,

PDG Fong Hoe Beng,

PDG David Tong,

PDG Dr Wu Dar Ching ,

and of course, our Club's PDG Ben Chng & Lily!

We had the honor of having RI Director Jackson Hsieh to share some words of wisdom with the members and visiting Rotarians and we are amazed at the number of members that his home club was able to recruit! We certainly aspire to follow his lead for our newly-minted club.

Rotarians and guests at the dinner were treated to a sumptious dinner of chicken or salmon together with a desert buffett spread, and thereafter the induction program began proper.

The moment that many were waiting for finally arrived, and all the people at the dinner was introduced to each and every aspiring candidates. Sponsors rattled off the successes of each member and I am sure many Rotarians at the meeting will be happy to call our aspiring member a Rotarian.

PDG Ben Chng opening the Induction Ceremony by introducing his candidates.

The list of candidate grows

Until we had 10 new Rotarians.

PP Dr Khoo Chong Yew reading the Charge to the inductees

PDG Ben Chng attempting to get 10 people to read the Pledge

Our new members included:

1. Ernest Ong
   
2. Elaine Teh
   
3. Steve Chiang
   
4. Desmond Tay
   
5. Dr Robert Faltermeier
   
6. Casey Teh
   
7. Wan Fook Kong
   
8. Jimmy Teo
   
9. Dr Tony Wong
   
10. Dr Marcus Wong
    

This was on top of the 2 new Rotarians that were inducted earlier.

The club also took the opportunity to recognize our PHF (Paul Harris Fellows) contributers. Our batch of PHF for this round included:

1) Rtn Alan Koh (Level 1 PHF, major donor)

2) PP Linda Wong

3) CP Michael Quek

4) Rtn Wan Fook Kong

5) Rtn Elaine Teh

6) Rtn Dicky Ang

7) Rtn Poh Ee Mei

8) Rtn Jaclyn Ng (who was not able to attend the dinner that night)

And lastly, there was still the opportunity to network and enjoy the fellowship of other Rotarians.

We all look forward to the next fellowship function!