District Rotaract Conference 2005 by Rtr Timmy Ong

With less than a year of experience being a Rotaractor, I was lucky to given the chance to participate in the 1st Joint Rotary-Rotaract Conference. The experience was great and it makes me see Rotaract from a different positive angle.

My objectives of joining the joint conference were to meet more Rotaractors and Rotarians and to understand Rotaract deeper. The conference has proven that it has succeeded in meeting the objectives. In fact, the conference has given me more (in terms of experience and enjoyment) from what I have expected initially.


DAY 1

The first great experience during the conference was to meet four Rotaractors from Hong Kong Island East. They were arranged to dine with us since there were empty seats on our table and the visitors from Hong Kong were without any pre-arranged seats. Instead of meeting Rotaractors from the District 3300, interactions started instantly between Districts 3300 and 3450 on our table. We have made ourselves some great new friends.

We soon found out that the visitors were without any accommodations for the next day in KL. We have volunteered ourselves in helping them to find accommodations in a hotel nearby. We started our “hunt” after the dinner and it proved to be a hard task as it was New Year’s Eve the next day. Nevertheless, we managed to find them a room at a hotel nearby after visiting not less than 7 hotels. Obviously our new friends were very grateful for our help but I believe they will do the same, offering us help if we were in Hong Kong.


DAY 2

The “Rotary-Rotaract under a Microscope” discussion was filled with interesting notions and suggestions. Without any doubts, Rotaract clubs could contribute more to the community and improve with the guidance and support of Rotary clubs. I can see there are a lot of improvements can be done on this, the big question remained is how do we seek the balance point of being dependant and independent. I will look forward to more interactions between Rotaract and Rotary in the future as the panel discussion was way too short.

Thumbs up to the organizers for the games organized during the DRC. The games were not only fun, they required logical thinking and teamwork. More of such games should be encouraged in any future Rotaract activities as they teach Rotaractors the importance of tolerance, courage, leadership and consideration while working as a team. Rotaract is all about teamwork.

The Governor’s Banquet gave us chances to meet Rotarians. It was a good idea to let Rotaractors and Rotarians to dine on a same table. We have met Rotarians who have requested to visit our Rotaract club. In other words, it has opened up a channel to promote Rotary-Rotaract interactions.

It was New Year’s Eve and we had a great time celebrating. We had a walk with the Hong Kong Rotaractors in KL, introducing them the culture and food of Malaysians. It was a tiring night but it is also a night we will remember with a smile.


DAY 3

The main program for the day was the Conference Project. Our club community service project’s orphanage has managed to send around 40 children to the project. We stick with them during the shows and leave the conference after seeing them went off in a bus.


What I like about this DRC

· The $: At RM200 I got 5-star accommodation, nice food, good programs, meet new friends, understand Rotary-Rotaract and so much more. There is nothing I can complain about this package. The organizers did a very good job is letting the members to participate with such a low fee.

· Good teambuilding games.

Improvements

· Punctuality: Participants still have a lot to learn about in this area.

· Seating arrangements during Governor’s Banquet: Several of our club members were without a seat (due to a full table) even if their names were in the seating list.

· The Missing Ming: I understand that the organizers might want to use this game as a way to encourage group discussions and interactions among the participants. But it proved that this game is more like a “burden” than it is like a game since there was hardly time for the participants to have group discussions. I can see participants trying to solve the puzzle during the Governor’s Banquet. But it was a good game just that it did not fit in the time slot.



Prepared by:
Tim Ong
RAC Port Klang Centennial
10/01/2006