CROSSROADSRotary Club of Singapore Vol. 48 / 39

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27th

Apr

201

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“The Digital Shift”SPEAKER: Mr. Simon Kahn

Lunch meeting of the 25th April 2012

Find your bulletin on the Facebook page of “Rotary Club of Singapore”

Joke of the week !“Please, bartender, put 2 cherries in my Manhattan.My doctor told me to eat more fruit.” From the book of Humour compiled by Rewa MirpuriHAVE MANY LAUGHS AND HELP THE NEEDYhttp://www.rotary.org.sg/bookofhumour.html

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Introductory remarks

President Tapan Rao welcomed members and the Guest Speaker, Mr. Simon Kahn, Chief Marketing Officer of Marketing, Asia Pacific of Google.

Toast

Rtn. Michael King called on visiting Rtn. Creed Wood to address the Club. Rtn. Creed advised that his club meets at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, which was located about 45 miles north of San Francisco. He added that Santa Rosa was also the home of Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon. He further advised his club’s projects such as the distribution of dictionaries to the town’s 3rd graders as well as scholarship funds for college students. Toastmaster, Rtn. Michael invited members to join him in a toast to the Santa Rosa club, coupled with the toast to Rotary International.

PHF

President Tapan was pleased to inform members, that Rtns. T.K. Chew and Alan Tan, became Paul Harris Fellows, and that their gifts to The Rotary Foundation’s educational and humanitarian programmes was a commitment to peace and to a better life for people across the world whom they might never meet. He presented to both, Rtns. T.K. and Alan with their emblems of appreciation given to Paul Harris Fellows.

Welcome of visiting Rotarians and guests

Rtn. P K Chatterjee welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians

- Guests :President’s daughter, Ms. Tanvi RaoMr. Sushil BhatiaMr. Gap Kim (Goggle)Ms. VipanchiMs. Corrine TanMr. Daniel SuenMr. Aseem Thakur

Visiting Rotarians :

Creed Wood – Santa Rosa, USA

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Speaker of the week

President Tapan called upon Rtn. Suresh Keerthi who introduced the Speaker, Mr. Simon Kahn. Mr. Kahn joined Google as CMO of Marketing, Asia Pacific in 2011. Previously, he worked at American Express for thirteen years including serving as Country Manager for Singapore from 2008. Prior to joining American Express, Mr. Kahn was Executive Director of Youth Venture, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that works with young people to develop and run their own businesses and organizations. He worked in national politics and government for four years before joining Youth Venture including working in the White House Liaison office in the Department of State. He holds a BA in Asian Studies from Swarthmore College and a Masters in Chinese Studies and MBA from the University of Michigan.

In his talk entitled “The Digital Shift”, Mr. Kahn spoke of the speed of evolution and the digital revolution. His talk focused on the changing nature of media consumption and the implications for consumers and companies marketing to them.

Mr. Kahn noted that more and more internet users were using their mobiles to obtain digital information in videos, photos, music and text. He noted that current users were moving from one screen to multi-screens, as mobiles allowed for constant connectivity with an explosion of information sources. He added that with easy access and break through to a larger audience the web was becoming more personal which gave rise to more power to consumers. Mr. Kahn talk highlighted the key digital shifts from few to many users; from www to yww; engagement to involvement. President Tapan invited Rtn. Dr. Mark Eger to extend the Club’s vote of thanks to Mr. Kahn. Rtn. Mark warmly thanked Mr. Kahn for a very enlightening talk, being only an end user, he added that he learnt more of the marketing side of this technology.

Heritage Kampung – Vocational visit

“BALIK KAMPUNG” – Back To the VillageBy: PP Raymon Huang

Dateline: Sunday, 22 April 2012, wasn’t that a Sunday just like any other Sunday? What was sospecial or significant about it?These days, as we know too well, there are so many “Days” commemorating or celebrating this or that – their creation no doubt largely commercial related – that we are literally inundated with them. For example, we have “Fathers’ Day” and “Mothers’ Day”, etc, etc. Someone remarked that soon enough we could have “Uncles’ Day” and “Aunties’ Day” too!But Sunday, 22 April 2012 was different – very significantly different. It was “Earth Day” – a day specially designated to recognise and remind us of the urgent need to do something sustainable to avoid the ultimate decay of the Blue Planet we call home. What with so much pollution of all imaginable kinds around us. Mother Earth, some claim, is in dire trouble.There are so many ways we can contribute to the effort – even the littlest of effort and actioncan cumulatively be a great help. One of the simplest ways is to understand and care more aboutNature, and showing greater respect for it.In days gone by, “kampung” or village life had plenty of both this understanding and caring attitude. It is so different today, with all the modernity that is part and parcel of our lives. A good lot of us today are concrete jungle creatures.

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(eg. The “blue sugar flies” or BSF) to help plants thrive, and other aspects of village life, including an ingenious bamboo amplifier! Many of us felt it was a morning well-spent – invigorating, a refreshing experience, and pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of Singapore life today.Heritage Kampung is a haven of tranquillity. It is touted as the “last kampong in Singapore”.A pity that so few of us from the Club participated in this worthwhile observance of “Earth Day”.Several members went with their families – Rtns. Dr. Ekkehard Wiek, Dr. Mark Eger and Sirish Kumar; Gerald Abeyawardena brought his spouse, Binali; I brought Jessie along. President Tapan came later, but he was represented by his daughters. Rtns. Jamshid Medora, Garry Taylor and Dr. Christopher Teo were there too.The organiser of the visit? Rtn. Joseph Chia – that “do-everything man”. Rtn. Alan Tan provided the wine – ample. Joseph selected the Menu for the lunch too – an excellent fare. Personally, though, I would have preferred a simple kampung lunch to round off the kampung culture and spirit weexperienced earlier.We salute President Lai Hock and his large band of volunteers, and we wish them well in their endeavours. They do what they do with such enthusiasm, with such dedication. Their signature words, “A little Kampung Spirit goes a long way in making our home a better place.” Touche!Because this beautiful Blue Planet is our home – the one and only in the whole universe. The one wefondly call Mother Earth.

And so it was that Sunday, 22 April 2012 – “Earth Day”. Our Club made it a point to give members the opportunity to be with nature more than they would normally do in their daily get-abouts. We visited the “Kampung Heritage” or Heritage Village at the Bottle Tree Park. It was not just to observe “Earth Day”. It was to experience first-hand that Kampung culture that is today largely lost. It was to be with Mother Nature, to help us to imbibe and to imbue ourselves with that Kampung Spirit. It was back to basics. It was “balik kampung”. As it was observed, “…many Singaporeans deeply value it, and those who have experienced those early days have fond memories of the kampung days.” Some felt that just being there had a therapeutic effect, urban creatures that we are. Indeed many of us did. At the Heritage Kampung, we were warmly welcomed by the President of the Ground Up Initiative(GUI) movement, Mr. Tay Lai Hock, the brains behind the back-to-nature project. After a short briefing on the background, he led the Rotary party round the kampung complex.Members will recall that he gave our Club an interesting and inspirational talk on the subject not too long ago.

We saw and experienced activities depicting the days and life in the bygone kampung era – how things were recycled in the simplest of ways, how plants and herbs of all kinds and varieties were fondly nurtured and valued, how compost was all home-made, the use of earth worms and certain insects

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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 this week:

May 3rd – Winston KhooMay 6th – Hena Hoda

Anniversary CelebrantsRC sends best wishes to Wedding Anniversary celebrants this week

May 2nd – Hon. Member, PDG Dr. Robert & Mary Loh

This weekMay 2nd 2012

Reception Desk duty: PP Sajjad Akhtar, Dinesh Sharma

Sunshine Box duty: PP Philip Leong, David Tai

K S Mehta Award Presentation

Community Service Date: Thursday, 3rd May Time: 5.45pmVenue: Modesto’s, 24 Mt. Elizabeth #01-05, The Elizabeth Hotel, S228518

Next week May 9th 2012Reception Desk duty: Kavita Singh, T.K. ChewSunshine Box duty: Jean-Philippe Lionnet, Jayant Gadgil

Speaker: Mr. Terence Fernandez, Managing Director, Scotwork Asia Pte. Ltd.Topic: To be advised

Vocational Service Date: Thursday, 10th MayTime: 7.30pmVenue: Bottle Tree Park Seafood Restaurant, (Bottle Tree Park Yishun), 81 Lorong Chencharu, S769198Hosts: Rtn. Jamshid Medora

COMING ROTARY EVENTS

MayCommunity Service Month

May 6th – 9th Rotary International Convention in Bangkok

JuneRotary Fellowships Month

June 30th Installation Dinner

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

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?