Myanmar Cyclone Relief Fund:
Dear District Leaders and Rotary Shares Presidents,
I have been struggling for a week on how to response to the call for relief action to the Cyclone Disaster in Myanmar. Knowing that tens of thousand people were found dead or missing and millions of victims are in need of food, clean water, health care and other supplies. It is thought provoking to know at the same time that the Myanmar Government has intentionally resisted or blocked international relief offers from national governments or NGOs despite desperate calls from its own people.
I am very pleased to know the Salvation Army has a long history in Myanmar and has maintained over 40 offices in the cyclone affected area and PP Simon Wong of RC Peninsula Sunrise, a Salvation Army officer, will be assigned to help on handling relief affairs there. I am sure that with the assistance of our trusted partner, any fund raised by the District will be used for helping the individual victims.
Having addressed my concern, I would like to make an appeal to my fellow Rotarians to donate generously to the ‘Myanmar Cyclone Disaster Relief Fund’. This fund we gathered will be paid to ‘Salvation Army’ for the purpose of buying badly needed supplies for the victims in the affected area.
Leaders and Presidents, please also appeal to your members and/or the public for donations to help these destitute and outcast people victimized not only by the cyclone, but also by a brutal, heatless and militant government.
Any pledge or donation cheque should be sent to RIC for the attention of Ms Melody Kwok marked for the purpose of ‘Myanmar Cyclone Disaster Relief Fund’. Cheque should be issued in the name of ‘Rotary District 3450 Charitable Fund Ltd.’ or you can credit the amount to its account No. 400-140711-001 with HSBC (004). Remember to send the copy of the pay-in slip to RIC for record and reconciliation.
Yours in Rotary
DG Peter Wong |
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Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund:
Dear District Leaders and Rotary Shares Presidents,
It is very sad to see one disaster happens after another. Unfortunately, this is a fact of live. The devastating earthquake in Sichuan happened so sudden and quake toll soars above 20,000 today. Facing this disaster, our Premier Wen Jiabao is on tear. I am sure everyone one of us is also moved.
While the whole country, in fact the whole world, are pulling together emergency resources to rescue victims and help the survivors, we, Rotarians and their family should stand up and be counted. I am appealing to every one of you for your generous donations to relieve the pains of these victims.
With our contacts of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in our last Snow Disaster Relieve donations, I am convinced that our donations will be in good hand and, in fact this will be the best and most efficient way to channel our funds to the most needed victims for relieving their pains. So, the District will collect your donations in the next two to three weeks and we shall present the funds to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for the relief works at suitable time.
Please send in your pledge or donation cheque to RIC for the attention of Ms Melody Kwok marked for the purpose of eSichuan Earthquake Relieve Fundf. Cheque should be issued in the name of eRotary District 3450 Charitable Fund Ltd.f or you can credit the amount to its account No. 400-140711-001 with HSBC (004). Remember to send the copy of the pay-in slip to RIC for record and reconciliation.
Yours in Rotary,
DG Peter Wong |
There is an assumption that the current operational model for
a Rotary club may limit membership growth and retention in some
parts of the world, especially for those with disabilities,
heavy travel schedules or for those located in remote areas,
say China mainland, the rural aimags in Mongolia, etc. In addition,
using telecommunication technology may make Rotary a more attractive
option for younger members. It should also be noted that success
of web communities in fostering friendship and goodwill among
its members has been well documented in periodicals and books.
The District Extension Committee has recently accepted the task
from Governor Jones C.H. Wong in organizing a cyber Rotary club
within District 3450 to address the needs based on the above-mentioned
assumption. Governor Elect Alexander Mak has consent to this
task.
The District Extension Committee now extends invitation to all
Rotarians, Rotaractors, Rotary Scholars, Former Group Study
Exchange (GSE) Team Members, The Rotary Foundation Alumni, and
their family members or friends who are leaders in the communities
of District 3450, to offer themselves or to help recruiting
potential members to form a brand new Rotary eClub One of District
3450. Prior to that, please take time to study the below attached
notes regarding the Background of the RI decisions, and the
proposed Membership Requirements.
The formation of this new cyber Rotary club in District 3450
is still at the "seed sowing" stage. The Committee
welcomes opinions, suggestions, comments, recommendations from
any one of you. Moreover, should you have any nomination of
potential members to form this club, please feel free to send
me the particulars:
(1) Name; (2) Sex; (3) Age; (4) Profession/Business; (5) Any
former relations/membership with Rotary; (6) Contact telephone
No. and e-mail address,
preferably not later than 30 November, 2003. The first review
will be taken in early December.
Invite those resigned Rotarians to return home. Nominate those
alumni of The Rotary Foundation, retired Rotaractors, Leos,
Lions, Jaycees, Roundtables, Outstanding Young Persons awardees,
etc., to join this wonderful organization of Rotary family who
is celebrating the 100 years of service on earth.
Looking forward to hear more from you.
Your partner in service,
Herbert K. Lau
District Extension Chairperson
Rotary International District 3450
www.Rotary3450.org
Tel: (852) 9310 4873
Email: herbilau@netvigator.com
19 October 2003
***************************************************
Cyber Rotary Club
Background
The 2001 Council on Legislation adopted resolution 01-226 requesting
the RI Board of Directors to consider various changes to the
RI constitutional documents to provide for cyber clubs. In addition,
as the result of adopted enactment 01-186, the Council allowed
the Board to admit into membership or permit the reorganization
of up to 200 clubs with provisions in their constitutions that
are not in accordance with the RI constitution and bylaws or
the standard club constitution.
In decision 348, June 2001, the Board agreed to support a pilot
project establishing cyber Rotary clubs that would have innovative
and flexible constitutional provisions allowing clubs to conduct
activities through electronic communications and requested the
General Secretary to present a proposal for such a pilot project
to the February 2002 meeting of the Board. The Board deferred
consideration of this matter to its June 2002 meeting.
In September 2001, the General Secretary contacted Rotarian
leaders that had been involved with RI technology committees
in recent years for information and ideas to incorporate into
a proposal for the Board's consideration of this matter. These
Rotarians were asked to consider issues of purpose, scope, selection
criteria, organizational procedures, membership criteria, implementation
of service projects, support to The Rotary Foundation, language,
leadership selection and training, financial obligations, seccurity,
legal challenges, costs and other issues.
Proposal were received from 19 different teams of Rotarians
or individual Rotarians. Proposal were received from Canada,
England, Finland, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, and
Singapore, with the majority coming from the USA.
Included in these proposals were comments from the organizer
of the Rotary club that is an existing cyber Rotary club as
a result of participation in the new models pilot project. The
"Rotary eClub One of District 5450" www.rotaryeclubone.org
was chartered in January 2002. Preliminary response to this
club has generated much interest in forming additional cyber
clubs from Rotarians around the world. The RI Board did approve
of the 18 clubs at their February 2003 Board meeting. However,
with that approval, the clubs have now just begun the work of
building their web sites. Up-to-date, there is only one web
site available, and that is the Korean language cyber club from
Seoul, Korea. The others are still under construction.
Membership Requirements
The purpose of this Rotary eClub One of District 3450 is to
extend Rotary to business, professional and community leaders
residing in greater China and Mongolia. The membership is open
to any adult person of good character and good business or professional
reputation as defined by the Rotary Club Constitution, no matter
he/she is physically disabled (such as wheelchair users, deaf,
dumb).
To be a member of this Rotary eClub One international community
means.....
* You live or do business in any part of Greater China (including
Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan) as well as the
country of Mongolia.
* Your current circumstance are such that it is not possible
to meet attendance requirements of a traditional Rotary club,
which is typically a weekly meeting in a specific location,
because of physical immobility, or extensive travels (such as
flight attendants), or conflicting occupational demands (such
as hospital nurses), or residence beyond reasonable distance
from an existing District 3450 Rotary club.
* You are a contributor to society in your profession, occupation,
industry, business, or community role.
* You commit to the personal ethic of Service Above Self, The
4-Way Test, the Declaration for Rotarians in Business and profession,
and support the Object of Rotary.
* You have been invited by a Rotary sponsor to join Rotary eClub
One and approved for membership by its Board of Directors.
* You are willing to participate regularly in the Rotary eClub
One community and as appropriate and feasible you are willing
to accept a leadership role. Club programs, forums and business
are conducted in English and/or Chinese.
* You are willing to be challenged to financially support club
projects, the District Fund and The Rotary Foundation of RI.
* You are prepared to pay club dues and membership fees.
* You have regular access to the Internet and are willing to
acquire the necessary skills to participate in the Rotary eClub
One community features.
Reference Readings
The major challenge to designing and building a cyber club is
not technical, but sociological. Several recent publications
helped us think through the critical issues:
(1) Design for Community: The art of connecting real people
in virtual places
Derek Powazek, a writer and experienced web community builder,
tells it like it is in a style that puts you "there".
You'll learn what works and what doesn't when building and running
virtual communities on the web.
http://www.designforcommunity.com/
(2) Community Building on the Web
Amy Jo Kim (Peachpit Press, 2000). Highlights from the book
may be found at
http://www.naima.com/community/
(3) Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability
Jenny Preece (John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. 2000)
http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/onlinecommunities/ |
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