Bali Post, Monday, 21 December 2009

l to r Vice President Handy Saputra, former member Judie Goldie, President Patricia Jamieson, along with a number of other members at the Annual General Meeting of the of Rotary Club Bali Seminyak, Wednesday (16/12) at the Anantara Hotel – Seminyak.

The Rotary Club of Bali Seminyak’s - Annual General Meeting

Denpasar (Bali Post) –
The Rotary Club of Bali Seminyak (RCBS) is the largest Rotary Club in Bali. Established in May 2002, the club now has 43 members from 16 different countries. This year the club held its annual meeting at Anantara Hotel, Seminyak, on Wednesday, 16 December 2009.

Heading towards Christmas and the end-of-year celebrations of 2009, all of the members gathered in a very friendly atmosphere. They have a regular meeting every week, but in December that have a very special whereby they celebrate their achievements and elect new members to their Board of Directors for the 2010 – 2011 Rotary year.

President Patricia Jamieson stated that the Club’s members all had a wonderful spirit to help the people of Bali. “We’d like to do something meaningful for the people-in-need in Bali,” she said.

Vice President Handy Saputra, as one of the five Indonesian Citizens who joined this gathering, said that the club wished to do something ‘important’ for the community. “A majority of the members of the RCBS are foreigners. They care very much about the community and environment,” he explained.

Besides raising funds from the members, the RCBS was supported by Garuda Indonesia Airlines Denpasar through its General Manager, Pak Bagus Y. Siregar. He generously donated a number of air tickets to support the RCBS programs. Past President (PP) Kamal Kaul, who is the General Manager of the Oberoi Seminyak, stated that the members of the RCBS are mostly expatriates who reside in the areas of Seminyak and Canggu.

PP Kamal said that there are several advantages of being a member of Rotary International. “Through a Rotary Club, it’s easier to get funding to help people, and there aren’t so many problems when we wish to help people,” he added. Every year, the RCBS has a variety of programs that assist the community, from health, education, to clean water facilities.

During 2009, the RCBS has contributed hundreds of millions of Rp. to a number of programs, such as cleft lip/palate operations, clean water for the Sibang Village using bio-filter technology, as well as medication and education aids to a child suffering from leukaemia.

Today, Rotary International has 1.2 million members in 33,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 170 countries, with the numbers increasing weekly. In Bali, there are 16 Rotary Clubs today. The members are people of varied professions, e.g. entrepreneurs, doctors, solicitors and other professional people who have a social awareness. (kmb)