The
installation of Freddie A C Lee as the 64th President of the Rotary
Club of Johor Baru (RCJB) on June 7 was a memorable event for Lee, aged 64, as
it was witnessed by Guest of Honour, Tun Musa Hitam and guests who occupied 64
banquet tables, the largest gathering by far at any installation dinner.
 |
| President Kwang Jia Shing [Left] passing the baton on to incoming President Freddie Lee |
In a simple ceremony, outgoing club President,
Kwang Jia Shing, passed the baton to Lee who is the incoming President for the
Rotary year 2015 – 2016.
In his inaugural
Presidential message, Lee said that he aims to live up to this year’s
Presidential Theme: Be a Gift to the
World. He also announced that the
club’s Presidential Project this year is to build another Rotary Dialysis
Centre on a piece of land measuring 17,263 sq ft, pledged to RCJB by the
generosity of Ng Quee Gam and family, the developers of Bandar Seri Alam.
In 1991,
RCJB started the Rotary Club
of Johor Baru Haemodialysis Centre in JB and it continues to serve the needs of some 75
patients in and around JB. This was the first NGO-operated
Haemodialysis Centre in the region and as it is meeting an essential need for
kidney patients, other clubs and associations followed their lead to set up
similar dialysis centers in their communities. In
March 2004, then Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar, officially declared the
Rotary Haemodialysis & Hospice Center open and it now operates as a centre
licensed by the Ministry of Health.
 |
| President Freddie Lee [Right] with outgoing President, J S Kwang |
Lee, a property
developer who joined RCJB in 2002, is proud to belong to an illustrious club
with a track record of many worthwhile social and humanitarian projects. Chartered in 1952, the RCJB is one of the
oldest clubs and with 64 members, it is also the second largest club in the
District. Service to the community is
one of Rotary’s core values and the motto of Rotary Clubs worldwide is “Service
Above Self.”
Lee
recalled the words of Sultan Iskandar who encouraged RCJB to do “something big”
rather than small projects. This was the
inspiration for Lee to continue to care for kidney patients in the Masai and
Pasir Gudang areas by establishing a new haemodialysis centre.
This
proposed dialysis center in Masai will be another signature project for RCJB
that will join their existing humanitarian services like the JB Rotary Haemodialysis Centre, the
Palliative Care Association of Johor Baru and the Ang Tiong Loy-RCJB Children’s
Home in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Lee said
that the RCJB is keen to work with the community as well as Rotarians from the
clubs in Rotary District 3310 to raise funds to build and equip this new
haemodialysis centre.
“I wish
to assure donors, supporters and well-wishers that the resources will be
graciously received and judiciously expended to carry out the club’s many
social and humanitarian projects throughout the year,” said Lee.
Also
present at the event were Member
of Parliament for Johor Baru, Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad, Singapore
Consul-General in JB, Ian Mak, Rotary District Governor Haji Andre Suharto and
Incoming District Governor Philip Chong Mau Kiong.
A version of this was published in The Malaysian Insider on 13 June 2015
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