ROTARACT CLUB OF SUBANG INTERNATIONAL SERVICE PROJECT HOSTING OF RAC KOWLOON GOLDEN MILE, RID3450

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1 ROTARACT CLUB OF SUBANG INTERNATIONAL SERVICE PROJECT HOSTING OF RAC KOWLOON GOLDEN MILE, RID3450 Prepared by: Jamie Lioh Kee Mei Secretary Belvinder Kaur 1

2 PART A: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The hosting of Rotaract Club of Kowloon Golden Mile (RAC KGM), RID3450 took place from 5 th November to 9 th November 2011, mainly in Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. A total of three joint community service projects were carried out throughout the 5 days 4 nights goodwill visit in collaboration with the host club, Rotaract Club of Subang (RAC Subang), RID3300. These included: 1. Christmas Wishlist Project with Myanmar Refugee Children 2. KL Bird Park Educational Visit with Myanmar Refugee Children 3. Charity Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Malacca Charted in 1997, under the sponsoring Rotary club of Kowloon Golden Mile, RAC KGM now has a total of 31 active members. Focusing to serve the physical and social needs of their communities, to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to gain unique international experiences through participation in international conferences, volunteer work in other countries and visits from Rotaractors from other countries, RAC KGM organizes different projects and activities, brings different members together with young men and women of similar backgrounds and interests to enjoy the fruits of effective teamwork, the success of worthwhile projects, and the bonds of lasting friendship. As such, a group of 16 RAC KGM Rotaractors participated in the visit to RID3300, Malaysia with the intention to expand Rotary and Rotaract s humanitarian reach around the world and to promote world understanding and peace. RAC Subang on the other hand has always extended our hospitality to visiting international Rotaractors and with the sanction by District Board, RAC Subang was to be the main host for RAC KGM visit as part of district official International Service Inbound Visit. PART B (1): OBJECTIVES 1. To foster international understanding and friendships between RAC Kowloon Golden Mile, RID3450 and RAC Subang, RID To promote international goodwill through undertaking international development and assistance projects. 3. To develop professional skills and instill leadership qualities in members through organizing and executing the project. 4. To provide a better understanding to guests on Rotaract organization and its avenues. 5. To involve active participation and fellowship among the club members and guests. 6. To achieve the objectives of World Rotaract Week, Presidential Citation and DRR Citation. 2

3 PART B (2): ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Overall Organizing Chairperson : IPDRR Sanjeev Kumar Treasurer : IPDRR Sanjeev Kumar International Service Director : Rotaractor Sylvia Chew Christmas Wishlist Organizing : Rotaractor Lim Phui Cheng Chairperson KL Bird Park Visit Organizing : Rotaractor Jimmy Cheng Chairperson Hosting Committee Members : IPP Belvinder Kaur PP James Ong Rotaractor Jamie Lioh Participants : Pres. Rudran Rotaractor Aaron Tang Rotaractor Jasmine Ng Chea Sook Mei Hannah Tan Tan Hui Peng PART C (1): ITINERARY November 5, Saturday 1245 PM Arrival of RAC KGM at KLIA 0300 PM Christmas Party with Myanmar Refugee children Venue: StART Society Program Flow:- 1) Performance by children 2) Game Time - RAC KGM 3) Lunch / Fellowship 4) Gift Presentation - RAC Subang, RAC KGM, Sponsors 0600 PM Depart to Malacca 0800 PM Check in to Hangout, Jonker Street 0830 PM Welcome Dinner at Portugese Settlement 1000 PM Malacca Night - Jonker Street, Malacca River 1200 MN Satay Celup at Capitol 0200 AM Return to Hotel November 6, Sunday 0800 AM Breakfast around Jonker street 0900 AM Malacca Historical Tour 1) St. Paul s Hill and Church 2) A' Famosa Portuguese Fort 3) Red Square (Stadhuys, Christ Church, Victoria Fountain) 1130 AM Check out from Hangout, Jonker Street 1200 NN Lunch at Chicken Rice Ball Dessert & Local Delicacies Shopping at San Shu Gong 0230 PM Community Service Project - Tun Fatimah Orphanage 0330 PM Depart back to KL 0630 PM Check in at MyHome, SS PM Dinner in Restaurant 88, Aman Suria 3

4 1000 PM Return to Hotel Clubbing at Sanctuary, The Curve November 7, Monday 0800 AM Breakfast at Pelita, SS AM Bus pick up at Tesco, Puchong 1000 AM Community Service Project - KL Bird Park Visit 0130 PM Lunch at KL Bird Park 0300 PM Depart to Tesco, Puchong 0400 PM Visit to Batu Caves 0600 PM Indian Food Dinner 0800 PM Night Market at SS2 Durian at SS2 Yum Cha at Mamak, SS PM Return to Hotel November 8, Tuesday 0800 AM Breakfast in SS AM Check out MyHome, SS AM Check in/luggage drop off at Frenz Hotel, KL 1200 NN Lunch at Bat Kut Teh 0100 PM Community Service Project - UNCHR in Cheras 0330 PM Visit to Central Market and Petaling Street 0600 PM Farewell Dinner at Kim Lian Ji Hokkien Mee 0900 PM Hangout in Dataran Merdeka Night Visit to KLCC 0200 AM Return to Hotel November 9, Wednesday 0800 AM Check out Frenz Hotel, KL 0830 AM Breakfast at Hotel 0930 AM Visit to KL Tower 1100 AM Lunch at Sri Penang, KLCC Suria 0100 PM Shopping at KLCC Suria 0300 PM Depart to KLIA 0645 PM Departure of RAC KGM to HK 4

5 PART C (2): ACCOUNTS Debit Credit Club Expenses District Expenses No. Items (RM) (RM) (RM) (RM) 1 Christmas Wishlist Project Christmas Wishlist Sponsorship Collection 2, Christmas Party Ticket Sale Purchase of Gifts 1, Clown Performance F&B, Canopy Rental 1, Garbage Bag Napkins KL Bird Park Educational Visit Collection from RAC Subang Members Collection from RAC KGM Members Breakfast Printing of Name Stickers 5.10 KL Bird Park Entrance Ticket Lunch Welcoming Portugese Settlement, Malacca Souvenir (District Pin, Postcard & Envelope) GRAND TOTAL 4, , Revenue Amount (RM) RAC Subang Community Service Fund for Myanmar Home

6 PART D: PHOTOS Christmas Wishlist Project Christmas presents awaits! RAC KGM Rotaractors striking a conversation with Myanmar kids despite the language barrier A personalized Christmas note for each child Ex Interactor, McRoyRoy keeping the children entertained with his balloon twisting performance RAC KGM Vice President, Thomas Chan presenting gift to sponsored child Myanmar children with their printed artwork on Shelter Home 2012 Calendar Say cheeeeseeee! 6

7 RAC KGM at Malacca RAC KGM at Stadhuys, Malacca Some artsy shot at the Red House RAC KGM at the A Famosa Portugese Fort 1, 2, 3, Jump! Another tourist pose at the fort Lunch time! Finger licking good chicken rice balls! 7

8 Charity Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Briefing on the history and operation of Charity Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Ashram to Rotaractors Bonding with the orphans at Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Origami workshop by RAC KGM Stationary pack for the children Presentation of reading materials to orphanage Group picture! 8

9 KL Bird Park Educational Visit Group picture before entering KL Bird Park Amazed by the variety of birds at the park Say hi to the camera above! Highlight of the day KL Bird Park Bird Show RAC Subang, RAC KGM, Volunteers, Guest and children from the Myanmar Refugee Home Yumssssssss~ 9

10 RAC KGM at Kuala Lumpur At the Batik factory, Melawati Mabel looking good in Batik Standing high, the world's tallest statue of Murugan outside Batu Caves Huffing and puffing up Batu Caves Finally at the top! Getting all excited to try Banana Leaf Rice the traditional way eating with your bare hands Curryyyyy~ 10

11 RAC KGM IS Director, Gelati Ting exchanging souvenir with RID3300 DRR Sunil Group Picture time Smile! Indulging in the famous Bat Kut Teh Shopping time at Petaling Street Gifts for the host club, RAC Subang Cheers the Malaysian way Yuuuummmmmmmmm Seng! 11

12 Farewell Note by RAC KGM IS Director, Gelati Ting Camera time~ Exchanging of club banner RAC KGM Pres. Jennie Wong and RAC Subang Pres. Rudran IS Directors from both clubs Sylvia Chew and Gelati Ting The Battle of Chok (Poser) Hong Kong vs Malaysia Group Picture at Dataran Merdeka Square Lunch at Little Penang, Suria KLCC before departing 12

13 Must take Shot #1 Petronas Twin Towers Must Take Shot #2 Suria KLCC Must Take Shot #3 KL Tower With RAC Subang guest, Hannah Tan Last stop at Malaysia! Hosting of RAC KGM Facebook Group Encore from the visit! 13

14 PART E: PROJECT PLANNING The goodwill visit to Malaysia was first proposed by RAC KGM s president, Jennie Wong back in June 2011 when she was planning for her term s international service projects. She contacted District Secretary PP Koshla to enquire about projects in D3300 that is worth collaborating with. PP Koshla proposed RAC Subang s Christmas Wishlist Project, and with the blessing of DRR Sunil Hasmukharay and District International Service Director, Jitco Chin, District 3300 approached RAC Subang to not only include RAC KGM in the project but also for RAC Subang to be the main host of RAC KGM as part of district official International Service Inbound Visit. After few rounds of initial discussion among board of directors, RAC Subang happily agreed to host RAC KGM during their visit to Malaysia. There marked the beginning of itinerary planning, joint projects and etc in regards to the hosting. Hosting a group of 16 foreign guests definitely posed a challenge to RAC Subang s organizing committee to ensure all matters are well-planned and coordinated throughout the visit. To do so, RAC Subang divided the organizing committee in such that each committee member will be in charge of one aspect of the hosting and work closely with the overall organizing chairperson during the planning stage. This not only helps to distribute tasks evenly among members, it ensures an active participation among club members. Upon the confirmation on the number of visiting Rotaractors, the committee had a discussion with club members on transportation arrangement for the guests as well as for the KL Bird Park outing with Myanmar children. Members explored and compared the prices of several transportation options before all decided to hire a 48-seater bus for the guests as well as children due to its cost effectiveness and convenience. Based on the experience of hosting 21 Taiwanese Rotaractors from RID3500 back in early 2011, it was a consensus decision that a bus will be a better option to eliminate the troubles of fitting huge luggage in cars, drivers dropping out of the convoy on trips, hassle of coordinating timing among drivers and most importantly it helps to manage our timing and schedule more efficiently. Moving forward, the committee started on the planning of visiting dates, itinerary as well as when to conduct the community service projects taking into consideration of the availability of club members, volunteers, Myanmar children as well as the opening hours of parks. Finally, the visiting date was set from November 5 to November 9 as it was a long weekend in Malaysia which enables more members to take part in the hosting. Most RAC KGM s Rotaractors are first timers to Malaysia and were extremely excited about the visit suggesting places such as Taman Negara National Park, Penang, Langkawi, Pulau Redang and many more. However, due to the tight schedule and distance, the committee advised RAC KGM to visit just two states, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur so that the group does not spend most of the time travelling on road. Upon agreement, RAC Subang also contacted RAC Kota Melaka, RID3310 to see if they were interested in joining both clubs during the visit in Malacca. For community service project, RAC KGM and RAC Subang joined resources to organize the Christmas Wishlist Project for Myanmar children. As the dates of visitation were set in early November, the project was brought forward a month earlier to accommodate RAC KGM s visit. The committee quickly requested Shelter Home to gather and submit the children s wishlist so that members can kick start to seek gift sponsorship from public. As RAC KGM and RAC Subang shared the ownership of the wishlist, there was lots of coordination required to ensure there wasn t any repetition of gift for the same kid. What s more the wishlist varies from daily necessities, sport equipment, footwear, clothing, toys to books. 14

15 To ease the communication, a Whatsapp group chat was created to help communicate any queries and timely responses to both clubs committee. At the same time, Jimmy and Jamie were in touch with KL Bird Park s marketing executive, Vin to inquiry on the sponsorship of entrance tickets for the Myanmar children and Rotaractors. With much help from Vin, we managed to get a special discount on tickets where the fee is only RM5 for children and RM15 for adult. Although the entrance tickets were not 100% sponsored, it was still a steal as the normal admission fee for adult is RM48 and RM38 for children. This saved us a large amount of money! Also, considering that the KL Bird Park is an outdoor activity and subject to weather conditions, RAC Subang also prepared a back up plan to visit National Science Centre if the weather on that day does not do us any good. And as the weather forecast stated, it was raining in the morning on the day of our KL Bird Park visit. However, lucky enough for us, the rain stopped when we arrived at the park with the children. Throughout the entire hosting, the organizing committee strived to ensure it is a superb experience for everyone. Keeping that in mind, the committee ensured RAC Subang members are always with the RAC KGM Rotaractors throughout their visit to assist them in terms of planning of activities, coordination on accommodation, liason with the bus driver, and last of all act as a local tour guide or even a translator! The effort of doing so ensure everything s on schedule and nothing s overlooked. In overall, all events during the hosting were well managed and went on smoothly with the cooperation of district and cohost clubs, RAC Melawati and RAC Kota Melaka. By dividing the organizing committee to take charge of different aspects of the hosting certainly eases the planning process and helps to develop professional skills and instill leadership qualities in members. It was a great learning and hosting experience for RAC Subang! 15

16 PART F: PROJECT EXECUTION Throughout the 5 days 4 nights goodwill visit, RAC KGM in collaboration with the host club, RAC Subang in RID3300 has successfully carried out a total of 3 community service projects. These projects include the Christmas Wishlist Project and KL Bird Park Educational Visit with the Myanmar Refugee Home as well as a Charity Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, an orphanage in Malacca. These projects were conceived and executed mainly to achieve two of the Rotaract goals which are: To develop knowledge and understanding of the needs, problems and opportunities in the community and worldwide and To provide opportunities for personal and group activities to serve the community and promote international understanding and goodwill toward all people (Rotaract Handbook, page 1). Community Service Projects in Malaysia Christmas Wishlist Project This project is an annual project for RAC Subang since 2009 and this time, with the collaboration of RAC KGM, we are able to organize the project at a bigger scale sponsoring gifts for approximately 100 children. By doing a joint project, it is now a collective effort of both clubs to bring our forces and contributions together to help more underprivileged children to have a Christmas to remember. Besides getting their wish list granted, we also held a Christmas party for the children which gives both clubs the opportunity to work and interact with the refugee children, person in charge to better understand the needs, problems faced by the community and perhaps are able to devise and implement appropriate activities to address those issues in our next projects. Amidst the language barriers, jet lag and tiredness after long haul flight, all Rotaractors were so enthusiastic taking part in the project, so were the volunteers, children and their caretakers. The project was a huge success and creates a memorable lasting Christmas experience for everyone who attended. RAC Subang together with RAC KGM sincerely hopes the effort in undertaking the Christmas Wishlist project would make a difference and bring smiles to these underprivileged children. In return, these children have again reminded us to be grateful for what we have and be more appreciative of the simple luxuries of life that we have taken for granted. In line with 2011/2012 Rotary theme, Reach Within to Embrace Humanity, the project encourages members to harness their inner resolve and strength to accomplish great things in their own life, surrounding communities and lastly around the world. KL Bird Park Educational Visit One of RAC Subang s long term projects includes organizing outings for the Myanmar Refugee children. The main purpose is to improve the quality of life and provide opportunity for the refugee children to learn, grow and experience regardless of their background and status. 16

17 As such, during the RAC KGM visit, RAC Subang proposed to organize a day trip to the world s largest free-flight walk-in aviary, KL Bird Park with Myanmar refugee children. Not just to sightseeing and fellowship among Rotaractors, the project is able to expand both Subang and RAC KGM s members understanding on the hardships and different life paths of these refugee children that live within our community. This project also managed to demonstrate and practice Rotaract s motto, Fellowship Through Service where Rotaractors are given the opportunity to give service while at the same time enjoying the fun and fellowship of working with others who have the same Service Above Self goals. Charity Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Beside sight-seeing in Malacca, RAC Subang and RAC KGM visited an orphanage in Tengkera, Malacca before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. After a quick briefing by the person in charge, Rotaractors spent almost three hours with the children playing a friendly football game, conducting origami paper folding workshop and present each kid with a stationery pack and toys. Despite the short-term impact of our visit, both clubs believe our presence surely lifted up the orphans spirit by showering them with small gifts and most importantly our attention and companionship. By reaching out to the community outside our serving community, it also helps to increase awareness and enhance Rotaract and Rotary s public image. International fellowship with RAC KGM Rotaractors Rotaractors from KGM set foot on Malaysian soil on November 5 and the following four days was a fun-filled never ending fellowship. Besides the above mentioned community service projects, KGM Rotaractors had the opportunity to visit Malaysia s historical state, Malacca for a two days one night trip and spent the remaining trip touring around KL city centre meeting various Ratoractors from RID3300 and RID3310. During the Malacca trip, RAC Kota Melaka s President JS Leong and his guests joined both clubs fellowship showing the troop around Malacca. The group visited St. Paul s Hill and Church, A Famosa Portuguese Fort, the Stadhuys, Christ Church, Victoria Fountain and Jonker Street. The visit is guided by Malaysian Rotaractors to foster cultural exchanges and increase understanding of one another s cultural. Then, the guests were brought to savor the must-try chicken rice balls and cendol in Malacca. All Rotaractors enjoyed the time bonding over good food and friendship. Back in KL, the group visited the National Monument, a batik factory, Batu Caves hosted by RAC Melawati, then to Central Market, Petaling Street, Dataran Merdeka, and not to be missed the iconic buildings of Malaysia, Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower. A dinner hosted by RID3300 at Melawati was joined by Rotaractors from RAC Subang, Damansara, Bangsar, Pudu, Melawati, and Gombak. It was quite an adventure for most RAC KGM s Rotaractors who tried authentic Indian cuisine for the very first time. On the last night before the guests depart to their home country, a farewell dinner was arranged at Kim Lian Ji, Petaling Street as the two clubs, RAC Subang and RAC KGM marked a new beginning of a relationship in the family of Rotaract. 17

18 Conclusion In overall, the hosting was a success. The experience not only allows us to make new foreign friends but foster a greater sense of community by serving the less fortunate in our neighborhood. Furthermore, by involving volunteers and guests of RAC Subang throughout the hosting, it has helped to plant the seeds for future Rotaract Club membership as an initial positive experience often encourages people to get involved in other service activities. Another benefit of the hosting is RAC KGM has extended their invitation to RAC Subang members to visit Hong Kong to learn what life is like in their country, providing members the opportunity to learn more about different cultures. Lastly, it has always been RAC Subang s pleasure to welcome our fellow Rotaractors from around the world to Malaysia. Whatever our native language or culture, we are bound together by the spirit of Rotary and Rotaract and its motto of Service Above Self. 18

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