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I am tasked to talk of the future of Rotary in Asia. That is the same
task I had at the Presidential Conference in Manila last year.
The prediction it contained would still be timely because there has
not been enough time for it to be fulfilled. Two important events
that have occurred in the meantime could impact on Rotary development
and alter that forecast, but I am still inclined to paint
again this year the same rosy picture that I painted last year. In
short, Rotary is doing quite well in Asia, and it will continue to do
well in the foreseeable future because of the conditions in Asia that
make it a very fertile area for Rotary development.
One reason for my optimism is the fact that we continue to be
represented extremely well in the upper echelons of the
organization. Last year, we had two R.I. directors from Asia, and two
Asian trustees of the foundation. The situation od even better
this year, when we have five Asian directors, including the vice-
president and the president-elect. In addition, the same general
secretary, who is an American of Asian descent, continues in that
office. Obviously, Asia enjoys adequate patronage and support
from the top.
Another reason for optimism is past performance, which usually gives
a very good indication of how an organization will perform in
the near future. Well, the past growth of Rotary in our area has been
nothing short of incredible. Even more important is that it is a
growth that has been sustained over a period of time, and is not just
an accident of recent developments. Let us view that past briefly.
When I was governor in 1964-65 of one of two districts in the
Philippines, my district had only 27 clubs, but that one district has
grown today to 7 districts with 504 clubs. The other district did not
grow as prodigiously, but it did grow to the present 3 districts
that embrace a total of 174 clubs. Those are remarkable numbers, but
they are matched and even excelled in the countries around
us. Thus, when President-Elect Bhichai served as governor in 1963-64,
he had a district that included seven countries, three of
which were at war. That war worsened and continued for a long time
afterwards, but, in spite of it, there are now 6 districts from
that original lone district: 4 in Thailand, and 2 in Malaysia,
Singapore, and Brunei. There is, in addition, one district in
Indonesia, composed of 79 clubs.
As for Taiwan, there was only one district in all of Taiwan when I
first came here in 1963, and that lone district included the clubs
in HongKong and Macau. Then in 1986, when Vice-President Gary was
governor, that lone district had grown to three, but Gary's
district then still included the clubs in HongKong and Macau. Now,
there are 7 districts with 419 clubs in Taiwan alone, and
HongKong/Macau have their own separate district with 49 clubs.
Perhaps the most phenomenal development took place in Korea. The
first time I went to Seoul to represent the President in 1967
or 68, there was also only one district in entire South Korea. How
many districts are there now in the country? 17 districts, with
1,088 clubs.
Perhaps not as enormous, but at least as impressive, was the
development in those two huge Rotary countries - India and Japan.
I still remember going to my first institute in New Delhi, when India
had 12 districts that were already bursting at the seams. Now,
it has 35 districts which, together with one district each for Sri
Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, embrace 2,922 clubs. And as for
Japan, my figures show 35 districts and 1459 clubs, but with more
than 100,000 members.
We may expect that the momentum of extension that has been building
up over the years with such numbers will push
membership development in Asia for quite a long while. This is
because these impressive membership figures are matched by
correspondingly impressive Rotary service. One can indeed make the
point that the members are so many because the service
they render are so plentiful and so good. For service that is truly
worth doing is an irresistible invitation to Rotary membership.
We count on the power of that invitation to counter the negative
effect of the two recent international developments I referred to
before -- the world-wide economic recession and September 11. The
first threw millions out of work and depressed the conditions
of liife for almost all people, and the second horribly cast a pall
of woe and insecurity on all human activity. Their negative impact
cannot be ignored or dismissed lightly. Occurring as they did at a
time when Rotary membership growth had started to falter,
those twin events could truly cause much concern. Fortunately,
however, they occurred at exactly the time when the organization
had been gearing for an epoch-making drive for membership, motivated
and spurred on by a President most suited from past
experience for exactly that kind of drive.
That business-oriented drive for new quality members and the
retention of the good ones that we already have, is the Global
Quest. It fortunately came at just the right time for us. I am
therefore glad that all of us in the entire organization are now so
actively involved and engaged in it. The quest has already begun to
bear fruit, and I am sure you yourselves are witnesses to some
of those. I ask you now to participate fully here in the scheduled
discussions about it so that you may help correct what you may
perceive to be its shortcomings, and perhaps inspire the rest of us
with the successes that you have already attained.
This optimistic prediction about the future of Rotary in Asia is
justified by the situation of Asia itself. We are in the exact place
on earth where Rotary service can do a world of good to the greatest
number of people. Think of any kind of service or act that a
Rotarian or a Rotary club can do, and you will find great need for it
in many places here. Any one who has capability to give assistance to
the needy and to enrich the lives of the desperate need only look
around to find numerous opportunities for doing so. He would be like
the farmer who was asked by a young social worker what time he went
to work. "Go to work?" the farmer replied, "I do not go to work. I
wake up in the morning and all my work is right here all around me."
To the extent that the recession and global terrorism increased the
roster of the unemployed and generally swelled the ranks of
the poor, those twin disasters could even be regarded as factors
favorable to Rotary extension. We should act on them as such,
for those who needed our help during better times need our help even
more during these bad times, and many who did not need
help before the recession will need it now.
The drive for Rotary members is therefore really a search for
additional helping hands. Those hands will be found despite the
recession, and many of them will be those who have also been hit by
it. For the surprising truth is that those most ready to give
help are those who barely have more than they need. They show that
nobility is not the monopoly of the rich. But that does not
mean that the affluent do not give help, for they certainly do! The
Rotarians of the more affluent Asian nations, and they are
represented here, have been truly generous in helping their Asian
neighbors. And those whom they have helped are truly thankful.
We recognize the fact that those who most readily join our ranks and
help are the high-minded people who, rich or not, cannot
bear the sight of suffering and are impelled to relieve it. In Asia,
we have many of them, and that is why Asian Rotary will continue
to be strong.
Asia is unbelievable for the great amount of good that Rotary can do
here, and the great number of people still available for
enlistment in its work. Many of them are already engaged in some form
of service or other; they need not be told of the happiness
that comes from helping others. We only need to convince them that,
in Rotary, they will find the most number and the best ways
to serve for the greatest good. We credit the Global Quest for the
tools to effect that persuasion. I may note, however, with no
slight intended, that the sophisticated appeal of the Quest, its
beautiful brochures and powerful message could perhaps be a bit of
an overkill here and would probably be used more profitably in other
places where the need for Rotary service is not so stark.
What Rotarians and prospective Rotarians here do need are material
resources to make the help they extend concrete and
effective. To borrow P.P. Frank Devlyn's favorite word, a proactive,
dynamic WCS program, together with amply funded 3-H and
Matching Grants programs, will boost the global quest here like no
other. The Rotarians of the region do what they can, but the
needs are so great that they simply cannot cope. Assistance from
overseas greatly help them to help the poor. What is perhaps
even more significant is that such third party assistance confirms
the worth of what they are doing, and thus re-enforces their
commitment, and inspires and encourages them to do more.
I have to say that we have regularly been dismayed by the early
exhaustion of the matching grants budget every year, I hope that
problem will be solved, and not just by making it difficult to get a
grant. The program is very much liked by Rotarians, and for good
reason - their money goes to where it is really needed. That is a
connection that that they do not always see in some other
programs. It is particularly difficult to understand why this program
in which money is in such demand is denied money that is
made available instead to some high ticket program that actually
requires a high power publicity campaign to sell to the Rotary
world. We need to see disbursement of the poor peoples' contributions
to aid the poor. If we see that in these hard timers, even
the poor will be willing to sacrifice more.
What they do not need are discouraging irritations that come from the
mindless mishandling of matters affecting their
commitment. Unreasoned insistence on irrelevant and unnecessary
requirements and procedures, as well as practices that
impede their delivery of help turn off Rotarians and can even
ultimately lead them to resign. It is in this respect that we need the
understanding and help of our top leadership who know the
circumstances under which we operate, and can protect us from
unconscious put downs and unthinking impositions.
Let me quickly give some examples. One is the compulsory change of
the name of the RVC, a name that had been widely
accepted in Asia. Its original constitutional documents said the
organization could be called by any other name preferred by the
members, and some early ones were actually called Rotary Community
Club. In Spanish-speaking countries, it is called Grupos
de Fomento Vecinal. But now it must be called Rotary Community Corps,
and no other, at least in English speaking regions.
Why? Because, I understand, the word "village" is not favored in many
parts of the world. Never mind that no RVC will be
organized in those parts, no matter what name it may be called. But
the Rotarians in Asia have had to go to the trouble of
assuring their client RVCs that the RCC is the same banana and will
be just as good. I cannot stop them from blaming the snooty
guys in Evanston who look down on us village folks.
Then there is the closing of the service center in Manila and the
transfer of its work to Australia. One reason given for it was to
economize. If the design was to cut expenses by stopping service to
the Philippine clubs, closing the center would certainly do it.
But if the plan contemplated giving them equivalent service, there is
no place in the Rotary world where the service done in Manila
can be done at less expense. It is just that plain and simple, as
borne out by the record of expenses of all the branches.
Another reason given is that centralizing the secretariat work to
faraway Australia would make service to Philippine clubs more
efficient. I do not know how it can be seriously claimed, without
going into racial differences, that Philippine clubs would be served
less efficiently by an office next door than by one in a foreign
country that is hundreds of miles away down under. Experience has
so far shown the contrary.
For instance, I understand three Philippine clubs with bank proof of
remittance have been delisted at Parramata for non-payment
of dues. And another club that has lost members is continually being
charged for the dues of the members that it has lost and
duly dropped from its roster. Both cases came I am sure from minor
errors that took much longer than necessary to iron out
because English is not our native language, and we have to deal with
an unfamiliar version of it. Quicker solution without rancor
would certainly have been found in the Manila service center.
These examples are just minor irritants that should not really affect
the drive for members. But they do cause considerable
disquiet among those affected. They say a change of brand name, and
especially a change of place of business, are not done by
good businesses except for good reason. They see no valid reason for
these recent changes, and they ask themselves why they
are dealt such gratuitous inconveniences. Such is the effect of those
minor irritants. If re-enforced or permitted to continue without
redress, they can lead the inscrutable but ever scrutinizing Asian
mind to suspect that Asia is regarded too slightly, and its
preferences blithely disregarded in upper Rotary circles. To that
extent, they cause concern among the leadership of the region.
It is therefore of some comfort to us that we have on the board and
with the trustees some eminent members from our ranks who
can voice our concerns and predilections. We thank all of them, past
and current, who have served with great distinction, despite
difficulty of language sometimes that might have hampered them from
doing as much as they wanted. To the end that such
excellent service would continue, and perhaps get even better, I
think we owe it to our general officers to help them anyway we
can in communicating our concerns, and in formulating the proposals
for action that can address them.
It will, I think, be helpful if the council or college of governors
in each of all our districts would regularly meet and draft advisory
materials and position papers for use of our directors and trustees
at board and trustees meetings. They may of course use or not
use those papers as they please. But I am sure they will find them
useful in case of need. And when such practice becomes
routine, the board and the trustees will, I hope, view such papers,
when presented by a director or a trustee, as expressing the
view not only of the person who presents it but also of the entire
area from which it comes, and thus deserving of attention as
such. Let us hope that, expressed in that way, our views even on
world topics may carry more persuasion.
Let me cite just one more concern arising from language difficulty -
that of the presidential representative to district conferences.
There is no doubt that representatives from foreign countries give
conferences welcome international flavor, and most districts are
happy to have them. Even if they do not speak the local language,
they are usually received enthusiastically by the districts that
look forward to introduction or better acquaintance with the cultures
they represent. But it goes without saying that a foreign
representative brings an extra element of anxiety, which he or she
should do his or her best to minimize with all acts of courteous
and helpful cooperation before, during, and after the conference. Not
all, unfortunately, have been as conscientious, and that is
why I mention it here with the suggestion that the matter receive
especial attention.
In the choice of representatives to foreign districts, if the
representative does not speak the local language, he or she should
have other qualities that compensate for the difficulty. He should
receive full information on the especial demands of the assignment,
the preparation for it that he needs to make, and the various kinds
of communication equipment that he or she may need or want
to bring along. And, in any case, I suggest that districts be spared
the fate of entertaining two or three times in succession
representatives who do not speak their language and are not too
enthusiastic about bridging the communication gap. The
conference, in that case, will not be a helpful place in which to
instruct and inspire new Rotarians.
I close with the assurance that Rotary will continue to grow in Asia,
despite these minor irritations that I have mentioned so as to
temper my optimism about the future. But let me first congratulate
everyone of you here for your interest in the global quest and
the extension of Rotary. The growth in the region that I have tried
to detail here have been greatly due to your efforts, and I thank
you. I may make especial mention of the help of our friends from
Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They have been generous in
supporting the efforts of their less affluent neighbors in
alleviating the condition of the poor. They thus gave inspiration for
Rotary growth. But we must recognize the extraordinary merit of the
assistance given by those struggling with their own lack of means.
They are those who goad us to redouble our own efforts and assure a
glorious future for Rotary here, The recession and
September 11 may have diminished the capability of some of our
givers, but not our desire to help. We are ready as ever to help
others because we know they need our help, and our own happiness
depends on theirs. Truly, their happiness is our business.
M.A.T. Caparas is the First and Only Filipino to become President of
Rotary International. His term of office was from 1986-87 with the
Rotary theme: ROTARY BRINGS HOPE.
Date Posted: April 17, 2002
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