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1 What is Rotaract? Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women ages 18 to 30. Rotaract clubs are either community or university based, and they’re sponsored by a local Rotary club. This makes them true "partners in service" and key members of the family of Rotary. As one of Rotary’s most significant and fastest-growing service programs, with more than 7,000 clubs in about 163 countries and geographical areas, Rotaract has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Purpose of Rotaract The purpose of Rotaract is to provide an opportunity for young men and women to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical and social needs of their communities, and to promote better relations between all people worldwide through a framework of friendship and service.

The Rotary 4 Way Test Of the things we think, do and say: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

For more information, please visit http://www.rotaract.org/

2 History of RACUTP The Rotaract Club of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS was chartered on the 26th day of June 2000 by the Rotary Club of Kinta during the presidency of Rtn Arthur Yeong and the governorship of Allahyarham Dato' (Dr) Jaffar Mohd Ali. Sometime in mid 1998, an ex-Interactor from the Interact Club of SMK Methodist (ACS) Ipoh named Chee Wei Liang called on Rtn Arthur who was the Rotarian Advisor to his Interact Club from 1996 to 1997. Wei Liang had by then become an undergraduate of UTP. Together with a few like-minded friends who were former Interactors and Leos from other States, he had wanted to continue to do service to his community and the idea for a Rotaract Club was formed. Rtn Arthur was then the Director of Community Service in RC Kinta. The idea of chartering a Rotaract Club was not well received by the Rotary Board of Directors. "We already have 4 Interact Clubs". "We have not much experience with Rotaract Clubs". "Our last Rotaract Club of Goon's Institute closed down (because the Institute closed down)". "Who is going to travel all the way to Tronoh for their Meetings?". "An institution-based Rotaract Club has no continuity". "The New Generations Director is not prepared to do it". These were some of the objections raised. Even Rotarians from outside RC Kinta and one Past District Governor tried to dissuade the charter of a Rotaract Club Tronoh. However it was impossible to deny the enthusiasm of Wei Liang and his friends and say "No" to 30 names, NRIC numbers, addresses, handphone numbers, matriculation numbers and course names neatly written on one side of an A4 paper. There was also no stopping an idea whose time had come. After several tentative Meetings of pro tem Board of Directors, some of which were not attended by the pro tem Rotarian Advisor who as usual had lost his way or could not tell the difference between a Universiti Sains Malaysia block and a UTP one, the provisional Rotaract Club of UTP was formed and started to carry out projects such as recruitment drives, visits to the Old Folks' Home in Jelapang, International Understanding Night and so on. Chee Wei Liang, who was instrumental in forming the Club, became the Vice-President of that first Board of Directors. The first President was Beh Wei Liang.

3 RACUTP INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING TRIP JUNE 2009 It has always been a tradition of the International Service Avenue to organize overseas trip. We’ve been to Pune (India) in 2004, Singapore in 2006, Chiang Rai (Thailand) in 2007 and most recently to Jakarta and Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in December 2008.

Having gone to so many countries, we came to a question – why not go local for a fresh experience? And that’s when we decided on Sarawak for its cultural diversity and places of interests.

Bako National Park and meeting up with fellow Rotaractors of District 3310.

9am marked the start of our visit to KAA [ Kuching Autistic Association ] on the 19th of June. Mr Andrew and Mr Bernard gave us a short tour of the care center, which was previously owned by the government.

Unlike our previous community-service-only endeavors, we expanded our objectives by collaborating with the Professional Development Avenue and came up with the UNIMAS visit and nature trail at the Bako National Park. 11 Rotaractors begun their journey in Kuching on the 18th of June despite the A (H1N1) scare. What we did there (besides having fun) were: community service at the Kuching Autistic Association (KAA), an educational visit to UNIMAS, jungle-trekking at the very beautiful

As requested, we presented to them RM300 worth of products – a kettle and a vacuum cleaner - as well as stationeries from UTP and bags from RC KL. I could see why they needed those (the electrical appliances). Andrew

4 shared with us that the center has been broken into 4 times in the last 7 months!

assigned to scrap old paint of the gate as well as to give the gate a fresh coat of paint.

Bernard and Andrew guided us throughout the center, explaining stage by stage how they train the autistic children. It was eye-opening for some. There were students as old as 12 yet they were just starting to learn how to clothe themselves. We spent most of the time in a special room with various equipments aimed to evoke the autistic children’s senses – swings to calm agitated children down and slides to train focus of the eyes, just to name a few. At the end of the day, everyone was touched in a way or two. Situated at Bukit Lima Road, the center provides the blind with a chance to serve the community as well as to feed themselves. Residents there were trained to weave rattan products, which is then sold to the public and the municipal council. For more information on Rotary International and Rotaract, do visit http://www.rotary.org/en/Pages/ridefault.aspx

By the 22nd of June, we moved on to Sibu, where we visited a bona fide Iban longhouse, did community service at the Sibu Blind Center as well as experienced the affability of the Rotaractors of United College Sarawak (UCS). The Sibu Blind Center benefited from the RM500 worth of paint and painting tools sponsored by RACUTP. Basically, some of us cleaned up the center while the rest of us were

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Schedule of Sarawak Trip 18th of June On the day we arrived, we did an impromptu trip to Carpenter Street and visited a tribal tattoo parlour there, just for the fun of it. The others who had arrived earlier, went on a Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan adventure. That night, we were surprised with a dinner at the Hornbill Restaurant. Greeted by five Rotarians was definitely a delight.

19th of June After the visit to KAA (Kuching Autistic Association), we headed off to UNIMAS. We were given a tour of the civil engineering labs. This is when we began to appreciate the lab facilities provided in UTP. However, the students’ area at UNIMAS had a bowling court, snooker sets and a room for mini-karaoke. This was our hang out spot in UNIMAS for the next two hours.

20th of June It was our free day and we were joined by Michelle’s friend, Sam!! We headed off to the cultural village and got a RM15 pass each. Basically, it was a 7-stop-tour, with each stop showcasing a traditional house. What was most interesting would be the daily cultural show at the Rainforest Stage. The 45minute-performance was packed with dances of various tribes of Sarawak, some of which were quite a sight. At the end of the show, most of us joined the dancers onstage.

21st of June We set off early to the Bako Jetty and got a boat to the National Park, which was about half an hour away. Most parts of the trail looked postcard-perfect – the surreal greeneries, the pitcher plants, and the rocky cliff which looked like the surface of the moon. The beach and cliff were definitely worth our trek. The group then trekked to the beach and we hung out there for about 2 hours – chatting, napping, swimming and cam-whoring. By the time we reached the city, it was already 4pm. We had a quick KFC lunch with the Rotaractors before parting ways.

22nd of June We took a boat trip to Sibu. We were welcomed by a banner which read ‘University of Technology, Tronoh’. In Sibu, we went to the longhouse settlement of Sungai Aup. There we handed out 16 sets of hand-outs worth RM10 for each family.

6 Monday morning was a fair-weathered one. We decided to arrive earlier to try to sell off our extra ticket - which we did in the end after much haggling with a tourist. As explained earlier on, the 'express boat' was the exact like the ferries we took to Pangkor Island. Throughout the 5 hours, what we did mostly would be to catch up on our sleep and to have the fresh air blown 120km/h onto our faces at the deck. It was rumored that if we were lucky enough, we could actually spot a dolphin or two. But I guess everyone was too tired / busy to be bothered. So, yeaps, no sightings! Relief and joy. Those were the only words I deem suitable for us when we arrived at the Sibu Jetty. Lesson learnt here: think twice before boarding a 5-hour-air-conditioned-boat-ride.

7 Upcoming Events Installation Night Date : 17th October 2009 Time : 7pm-11pm Venue : Undercroft, UTP Ticket Price: RM40 India Good Will Trip Date : December 2009 Community service trip to Loyal Handicapped and Disabled Children Home Date : 22th August 2009 Buka Puasa Raya Dinner at needy homes Date : 12th September 2009 Community service trip to Orang Asli settlements Date : 10th October 2009

Interested to know more about RAC-UTP? Visit us at http://rac-utp.blogspot.com/

RAC-UTP in Facebook! Get all your updates in RAC-UTP through our facebook group:

Rotaract Club of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=10395431577

8 Previous B.O.D of RACUTP (08/09) President : Jasmitt Singh Vice President : Goh Yoke Mun Secretary I : Aira Amira Abd Rahman Secretary II : Jenny Ngu Yen Ping Treasurer : Andrey Walter Club Service Avenue Director : Nurhazirah Hamdan Ass. Director I : Hamizah Omar Ass. Director II : A. Devina

Community Service Avenue Director : Tan Sandee Ass. Director I : How Mei Le Ass. Director II : Yeoh Sue Jane

Funding Avenue Director : Wong Lee See Ass. Director I : Lee Kuo Chun Ass. Director II : Javier Teo Han Seong

International Service Avenue Director : Jerry Foo Kok Xiang Ass. Director I : Na Kai Lun Ass. Director II : Arvinder Singh

Promotion and Publication Avenue Professional Development Avenue Director : Chan Yen Pinng Director : Wan Salwa Ass. Director I : Harvin Kaur Ass. Director I : Siti Nurashikin Ass. Director II : Khaw Seek Guan

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10 Contact Details HICOM Name Jerry Foo (PRESIDENT) Jenny Ngu (VICE PRESIDENT) Javier Teo (SECRETARY 1) Harvin Kaur (SECRETARY 2) Lee Kuo Chun (TREASURER)

Contact No. 012 989 0211 017 435 2218 017 534 9390 016 284 2280 017 550 6998

Gmail [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Avenue Directors & Assistants Avenue Club Service

Community Service

International Service

Funding

Professional Development

Promotion & Publication

Name Shammer

Contact No. 012 364 7455

Email addresses [email protected]

Ella Tan Hui Xian

017 701 7390

[email protected]

Yeoh Sue Jane

016 438 1906

[email protected]

Koh Liang Yi

017 667 9918

Tan Xiao Ci

012 372 5273

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Sandeep a/l Ramakrishnan

017 271 2650

[email protected]

Puventhan a/l Krishnasamy

014 258 2242

Jason Law Ming Xian

017 579 1300

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Michelle Lee

016 885 0608

[email protected]

Jennifer Lye Yan Ching

016 673 3822

[email protected]

Chiew Kwang Chian

017 598 3269

[email protected]

Timmy Ong

016 204 6831

[email protected] [email protected]