At the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru again

 

Recently, I had the pleasure to accept an invitation from the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru to join their meeting (again!) as guest speaker.

 

Members of the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru watching
the visuals that supported my presentation

I had the privilege to cover many community and humanitarian events by the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru over the years and published them in Streets Johor, the Southern section of The New Straits Times.

 

Established as the oldest Rotary Club in Johor, members of this distinguished club are familiar with me also because I was invited as guest speaker at their club meetings to introduce My Johor Stories, first in 2017 for My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage and again in 2019 for My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People.

 

With Club President Steven Wu and 
Dr Sivamoorthy at the start of the meeting

I was delighted with this recent invitation to speak at their meeting again because it was an opportunity to introduce the third and final instalment of My Johor Stories.

 

After being delayed by the effects of the global pandemic, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, was published by MPH Publishing Kuala Lumpur and launched in December 2022.

 

However, during the lockdown, MPH closed all their bookstores in Johor Bahru and this included their bookstore in the Senai International Airport. These store closures meant that readers here could only buy my books online via www.mphonline.

 

All eyes on the screen during my presentation

In view of this, I have permission from MPH to keep a small stock of my books so that readers – who prefer to see, touch and smell new books before they bought any – may get My Johor Stories books from me.

 

With this special provision, readers could conveniently get their copies of My Johor Stories from my pop-up store that was opened at the series of Drum Up JB! shows since January 2023.

 

The club members easily connected with My Johor Stories

Aware that the Rotary Club members may be keen to get their copies of this final instalment of My Johor Stories, I brought a few books along to the meeting.

 

I was ushered into the meeting room on arrival and warmly welcomed in by club members, most of whom were familiar with me and My Johor Stories.

 

As I looked at the Rotarians around the room, I saw several new faces along with many familiar faces like Dr Sivamoorthy, Dr Anga, Dr Shan, John Cheah, J S Kwang, Freddie Lee, Ng Swee Poh and Teoh, among others.

 

Club President Steven Wu presenting a 
souvenir to guest, James Ho

Club President, Steven Wu, welcomed me to the guest speaker’s seat, next to him, and as more members trickled in, the meeting was called to order for its start.

 

When the president welcomed the guests, I spotted several ladies including Dr Shan’s wife and another gentleman, James Ho of Yayasan Kebajikan Suria Permas JB.

 

While he shared the same name as the late James Ho, a Rotarian in this club who was featured in my 2017 MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, this gentleman is distinguished by his commitment to helping others, first as an individual and later through a charity organization, Yayasan Kebajikan Suria Permas JB, which he founded in 2012.

 

In 2015, the work of this foundation was recognized by two prestigious awards from the Iskandar Malaysia Social Heroes Awards (IMSHA).

 

One was an individual award presented to James Ho in the Disaster Relief category while the other award was to the foundation in the Poverty & Relief category.

 

It was good that Ho was with us in this meeting because in my presentation to introduce the final instalment of My Johor Stories, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the Iskandar Malaysia Social Heroes Awards was among the proudly Johor brands featured in this book.

 

A Word of Thanks to guest speaker [me!]
by Rotarian Cheong N C

In my commentary during the presentation, I clarified that I had the privilege to document the stories on some brands, proudly established in Johor that have since developed nationwide and some were even exported abroad.

 

While the IMSHA per se may not be exported abroad, the concept of this award to recognize unsung heroes who are doing good work among the needy in a community was so meaningful that there were in fact, attempts to borrow (Read: copy!) the idea.

 

From my speaking experience with the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru since I introduced Book One and Book Two of My Johor Stories, I knew that many members were familiar with the contents of my books and could easily relate to what I shared with them.

 

Club President Steven Wu presenting
me with a token of appreciation

While I introduced the contents of Book Three, I observed how the members paid rapt attention to my commentary and was pleased that they could connect with me.

 

I always welcomed an interactive presentation so it was encouraging to receive spontaneous responses from the members as they connected with what I shared.

 

In closing, Rotarian Cheong N C, gave a formal Word of Thanks to guest speaker (me!) and expressed his appreciation for how Johor culture and heritage has been documented in My Johor Stories to benefit future generations.

 

In fact, I was deeply honoured to be mentioned in the same sentence as Datin Patricia Lim, a professional historian who documented valuable records on Johor culture and heritage in her books.

 

After the meeting, some members approached me to get Book Three, the final instalment to complete their collection of the trilogy of My Johor Stories.

 

When Rotarian Henry asked me to autograph his set of books and address them to his dear wife, Rosalie, I was pleased to tell him and other members who now have the complete set of My Johor Stories books that they are the proud owners of a valuable collectors’ item.

 

It was an evening well-spent with friends in the Rotary Club, meeting James Ho, a gentleman with a Heart of Gold, and to know that the spirit of volunteerism is very much alive in Johor Bahru.

 

The Rotary Club of Johor Bahru meets regularly on Tuesday, 6pm at the Amari Johor Bahru.