Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)

Three Rotary Clubs jointly organised the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards 2007 (RYLA), namely Rotary Club of Johor Centennial, Rotary Club of Kota Tinggi and Rotary Club of eClub 3310. The camp’s organising chairperson PP Fancy Tan said it was aimed at promoting integration and fostering goodwill among youth which was held from 29 November to 2 December 2007.
More than 100 students spent their holidays at the Tanjung Sutera Resort and they are between the ages of 14 and 25, came from as far as Scotland, China, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, Malacca and Johor. The camp was conducted under strict discipline where we were required to wake up as early as 6.30am and attend Chi Gong lessons.

We also attended motivational talks, seminars on social etiquette, leadership, crime prevention, career guidance and a heart-to-heart discussion on relationship with parents. The talk by Rtn Ong Hock Siew, was about how the speaker himself had snubbed his father for 14 years. He gave his father the silent treatment until he attended a talk in Sabah about the value of forgiveness. While, Past District Governor of Rotary Club and District RYLA adviser PP John Cheah shared with us that RYLA is aimed at providing an effective training experience for selected youths. It is to encourage leadership qualities. Apart from that, the Rotaractors whom were chosen to participate last year's Group Study Exchange to The Netherland also shared their experience with us.

We took part in various team-building games like tug-of-war, building bridges with straw, group plank walking relay and finding out the names of other participants. All talks were conducted on a voluntary basis by Dr Norma Sit, Chew Ban Seng, Fung Lee Jean, PP Ong, state Deputy Narcotics Chief Superintendent Dorairaja Nathan and Dr Doris Ang. We were taught to explore new career paths and turn into successful adults. The trainers also shared with us how to resolve family, social and professional conflicts.

Being a shy and timid person by nature, it was quite surprising to find myself performing a sketch on stage with my group of new friends during the Talent Nite; RYLA is indeed where relationships are forged through talks, games and activities that require team effort. We even cleaning up the beaches of Sedili Besar in Kota Tinggi and collected 23 large bags of rubbish for our community service project.


I was at first not too pleased when President Veronica approached me to attend this RYLA, as I am going to Johor alone… But I am glad to be given such an opportunity and further more I was fully sponsored by our sponsor club, Rotary Club of Likas Bay, thank you so much!

All of us felt very sad leaving the camp, through this program, we have met and made lots of new friends. I sincerely thank Rotaract Club of Likas Bay and our sponsor club for such a wonderful and memorable experience. I hope other members will take up and participate RYLA in future if you were offered this opportunity.

Reported by,
Rtr. Yap Vun Fui

RC Likas Bay ~ Water Project

On 6th January 2008, we attended the handing over of Phase I (Gravity Water Feed) and the launching of Phase II (Sanitation Project) of Rotary Club of Likas Bay Community Project at Kg. Pahu, Ranau. Datuk Masidi Manjun was the Guest of Honour. In addition, representative of co-sponsors, the local Manager of CIMB Bank Mr. Johnny Yong and Mr. Terence Lo of BlueScope Lysaght were also present.

Give a Little, Save a Life

The Rotaract Club of Likas Bay supported by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), organized a blood donation drive to help boost the blood reserve in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on Sunday, December 23 at the SESB Ground Floor Foyer.

The blood donation exercise started at 10am until 3pm and collected 19 pints. The blood taking was carried out by a group of medical assistants from Hospital Likas. All donors were given a small token of appreciation.

Eligible donors are those aged between 18 and 60 and weighing more than 45kg. They must be healthy and leading a healthy lifestyle and are not currently on antibiotics or suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes. Those who wish to be a donor are also advised to have sufficient sleep of at least 5 hours the night before.

Year End Party

On 19th December 2007, we had our Year End Party at D'Junction Boutique KTV where we celebrated Rtr. Joysy's birthday and Christmas gift exchange ~~ we had a good fun!

Investment Opportunity

Professional Development Director, Rtr. Nicholas Lo presented a talk on Investment Opportunity during our 12th Regular Meeting on 18th December 2007.

Christmas Carolling

One of our Club's annual activities is the Christmas Carolling. This year, we have identified a home as the beneficiary of all proceeds from the carolling, Tamparuli Rehabilitation Centre. We have visited Pres. Peter Yapp of Rotary Club of Likas Bay family on 11th December 2007 evening. We were very 'excited' to the extend that we sang ALL songs in the song book TWICE...those who were there, know what I'm saying...hehe... Anyway BIG THANK YOU to Pres. Peter and family for having us!

Fine Dining & Table Manners

In this busy world of both parents working, table manners are no longer taught at home. Many young executives are unprepared for the business dinner. Grappling with the decision of which fork or knife to use instead of concentrating on the business at hand can break any business deal. Learning the art of fine dining is the best way to make a good impression in business and social situations. The business arena is fierce and many deals are made over business dinners.

We have invited our ex-member, Mr. K. Hafez H. Yahya, who is also an academician to show us some necessary fine dinning skills to make the best impression. We have learned:

- How do you eat soup?
- Do you use a fork or spoon for dessert?
- How do you eat salad?
- Who is seated first at a dinner party?
- How do you signal to the wait staff that you are finished with your meal?
...and some others.

We also celebrated November birthday babies, where later we ate our birthday cake elegantly!

Self Confidence & Team Spirit

On 2nd December 2007, we went to KK Adventure Park for a self confidence and team spirit building program. We started off with 9 HOLE KRAZY KEN GOLF COURSE which looks extremely easy but took us almost half day to complete the course..huh!

We then move to one of the most popular activities and, to our knowledge, the longest FLYING FOX in Sabah. We collect and put on our climbing harness and helmet and proceed to the base of the 40 foot tower and climbs to the launch platform. On the launch platform the operator is waiting to attach not one but two flying rigs to two cables before releasing the safety line. Now comes the “Act of Faith”. We must launch ourself into space. Terrifying! Speed increases as we descends, some even scream at their highest note. Mercifully, the breaking system kicks in and the we swings to halt. Then it’s back for another go!

We then proceed to “HIGH ROPES Challenge Course” which is ideal for team building programs. Again, we are equipped with harness and helmet and secured to a belay line by the instructor before we leave the ground. The safety line is attached behind us giving the illusion of being completely un-tethered. Balancing on a tiny rope twenty feet in the air with no visible safety line is most unnerving. It takes a strong nerve and much encouragement from friends below to take on the challenge.

The guys then moved to next activity, WALL CLIMBING. The Climbing Tower reaches 30 feet above the park and has three climbing faces of varying difficulty. Each climber is equipped with a climbing helmet and safety harness.

BUNGEE TRAMPOLINES looks like a child's play. Bungee cords attach to the waist of the trampoliners to allow enormous jumps and multiple somersaults. But it's really tough to make even one somersault, a great fun though.

The last activity - KAYAKS. The five kilometer beach is perfect for kayaking; shallow water extends to the reef some 500 meters off shore. We kayaks in a pair. Kayakers are issued with an approved life vest which must be worn at all times and a qualified staff is always in attendance when kayakers are on the water.

We had a good fun and promised to come back and conquer the other challenges!