Of Vision and Mission

Someonene asked me, “What is your vision as the President of the Rotaract Club?”, right in front of so many Rotaracters and guests.

I nailed that question. My years as an Interactor really helped me, because I totally did not see that coming. I said, “I want to see a change in the mindset of students in ATC……bla…bla….bla….better person…..help local community……be better leader.” Forgive me,  I spoke for so long about my vision that I don’t really remember much about it now. (after 5 record hours of siesta).

But here I am, thinking hard, “What really is my vision?”. Is it the same with the Five Goals of Rotaract?

1. To develop professional and leadership skills.

2. To emphasize respect for the rights of others, and to promote ethical standards and the dignity of all useful occupations;

3. To provide opportunities for young people to address the needs and concerns of the community and our world;

4. To provide opportunities for working cooperation with sponsoring Rotaract Clubs;

5. To motivate young people for eventual membership in Rotary

Surely, it must be something more than that, isn’t it? Every Rotaract club must have a different vision, because every Rotaract club is unique on its own. What is our club’s vision, then? Is it all that important? Should we, the pioneers of the club formulate the club’s vision?

This brings me to another question. What is the club’s mission? Is mission the same as vision? For me, I do not equate mission with vision. Vision is an idealistic thought. Mission is a realistic thought.

While I admit that I am an idealist above all, in the circumstances our club is in now, formulating our mission, is far more important than vision.

Imagine the club as a new born baby, and we, the pioneers as the baby’s parents. As parents, what mission do you have for yourself, and what vision do you have for your child? Surely, a parent’s mission for their infant must be for he/she to be able to walk, talk, be a responsible, good person and eventually, care for himself/herself, as he/she grew up. That is the realistic view.

Meanwhile, the parents’ may have a multitude of visions for their children such as for their children to be a successful lawyer, a rich businessman, or even a Nobel laureate.

If the parents’ vision is not fulfilled, will the parents be considered as having failed? I depends, because if the child achieve a vision of their own, like being a philantrophic rockstar, the parents have not failed. But if the child ends up on the wrong side of the track, they have failed, and the failure stems directly from their failed mission.   

As such, I feel that our mission is paramount to us now. We are in a limbo now, because we do not have any sponsoring Rotary Club yet, and our status as a Rotaract Club is still “provisional”. That is our mission, to gain our charter, while getting a sponsor depends much on other people, because it is beyond our powers. But as of now, we shall work hard to fulfill the criteria to get a charter. Our vision? I believe it shall come after we have achieved our mission. Until then, I shall keep my vision as the club’s president close to my chest.

~on a side note: It’s 16th September: Happy 44th Birthday to Malaysia! And Happy 44th Merdeka to Sabah and Sarawak~

My First Speech as the President of RAC-ATC

Good morning to Mr Rueben de Rozario, Chief Operating Officer of ATC, PP Mansoor Saat, District Rotaract Coordinator, DRR Dinesh Krishnan, District Rotaract Representative, the District Executive Committee, lecturers, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen.

Let me begin by extending a warm welcome to all of you. We celebrate today the official launch of ATC’s own chapter of Rotaract Club and I am delighted to have all of you here with me to celebrate this significant event.

Ladies and gentlemen,

For the benefits of those who have not heard of Rotaract, allow me to give you a brief introduction.

Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women ages 18 to 30. Rotaract clubs are usually community-based or university-based and are sponsored by a local Rotary club making them true “partners in service” and key members of the Rotary family.

Through the Rotaract program, young adults not only augment their knowledge and skills, but they also address the physical and social needs of their communities while promoting international understanding and peace through a framework of friendship and service.

Of course, this is rather a simplistic view of Rotaract, because there are more to Rotaract than that. Hence, we are thankful for the presence of Rotaracters from the District Executive Committee to share their experience with us later on during our first interest meeting.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Rotaract will provide a platform for young people like you and me to serve the community, and also learn things that we may not be able to learn within the four walls of the classroom. Rotaract instill the spirit of fellowship, service, and selflessness among its members. All in all, the ideals of Rotaract, as one Rotarian once mentioned to me, are something that will make you a good person. It provides an avenue for holistic learning, and hence, we at the provisional Rotaract Club of ATC, felt that this is THE club. This is the club for us, budding young professionals and leaders of tomorrow. Therefore, we are should be more than thankful to be given the opportunity to be part of Rotaract.

Ladies and gentlemen, 

We would not have been here if it is not for the help and support of certain people. The pro-term committee would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to them.

We would like to thank Mr Rueben for his immense support to our cause, and the college management for approving our application to establish the club.

Mr deepest gratitude goes to PP Mansoor Saat and DRR Dinesh for their swift help and attention. Our thanks also to both of them, together with the District Executive Committee for their presence today to not only grace the event, but also to share with us their immense experience and knowledge about Rotaract.

A special thanks to two of our lecturers.

Mr Lazarus Jansen, the Head of Student Services. He was the first person we approached when we wanted to establish the club. Thank you, sir for taking us seriously.

Mr Saravanan, thank you for your invaluable help and insightful advice and undivided attention to us since day one.

We would also like thank all our lecturers and tutors who have been amazingly supportive to us.

Of course, not to forget, to all of you, members and guests, thank you for your presence today. Your support meant a lot to us. I hope this will not be the last time I’ll be seeing you in a Rotaract event. 

Lastly I would like to personally thank the members of the pro-term committee. Being a leader amongst leaders is no doubt a challenging task, but you have all made it easier for me. Thank you for your trust and I look forward to work with all of you.

Before I end my speech, I would like to share with you an inspiring quote by former Rotary International President, Bhichai Rattakul. He said, and I quote, “I believe we can change the world, one life at a time. No project is too small or insignificant, especially to those it benefits.” We here, at the Provisional Rotaract Club of ATC will live by those words.

Thank you and have a pleasant day.