Rotaract Interact District Conference 2006

17-19th February 2006

Recently, 4 of our members, Andrea, Mike K, Kenneth and Mike FV participated in the District Conference held in Tanjung Puteri Resort in Johor Bahru. The conference involved many Rotaract and Interact clubs within the district and was held over the duration of 3 days and 2 nights.

At the resort, after getting through with the registration and finally reaching the (huge) bungalows where we were staying, we gathered at the poolside hall for some introduction and ice-breaking sessions. We were split into groups for this session. One game demanded us to test our memory by remembering all of the miscellaneous details of our group members while another had us aligning all our belongings together to see which group could form the longest line.

Meeting with Rotaractors from around the district

During the evening, a talk and sharing session about the fun of Rotaract activities was held and conducted by Rtr. Michael Choi. After dinner, it was fun and games as we all participated in a scavenger hunt to look for answers to the various questions given to us regarding the history of Rotaract and Tanjung Puteri Golf Resort. Many Rotaractors even resorted to calling their friends for the answers in a style reminiscent of "Who wants to be a millionaire". Next up, it was time for the group leaders to strut their stuff, as we were to dress our respective leaders in newspapers according to our fancy. Of all of them however, Zack aka "Pam Anderson" obviously stole the show accompanied by his/her "boyfriend".

On the second day, we were joined by Interactors from clubs in Johore and Singapore. After the opening ceremony, talks regarding International projects and leadership skills were given by very experienced Rotarians Rtn. Jimmy Ooi and Rtn. Leslie Sim.

With Rotaractors of Kota Melaka

Mike Kuan posing with Audrey and Eelin of the DRR team

Kenneth with Pedro from Brazil

In the afternoon, as the crowd grew in numbers with the inclusion of the Interactors, so did the fun as we were re-distributed into around 10-12 teams for the next events. After the groups settled down, they put their heads together to come up with team names, team cheers and team flags to boost teamwork and morale.A lot of creativity was present as names such as "The Purple Turtle", "Junkies" and "Pyro" were chosen.Team cheers that really made an impact on the audience further added to the overall atmosphere.


All the teams were split into 2 groups according to the event that they would be participating in. As all 4 of our Rotaractors were participating in the field event (handball), we missed the action at the pool (waterpolo) although it looked quite exciting from a distance. For the handball event, the Kiwi team which 3 of our Rotaractors were in managed to snatch the top spot and emerged as champions of the event. They also managed to win by a narrow margin in a match against the Secretariat team.The Junkies team which included Andrea, clinched 2nd place.

After the delicious barbeque dinner,everyone participated in a rock concert that would put Woodstock of '69 to shame. We had performances from all the teams, rocking and dancing to the music of U2, Madonna and LImp Bizkit among others. Next up, we all had a chance to show our dance moves with Freeze Dance. It was an enjoyable and entertaining night and everyone had a whole lot of fun.

On the last day of the conference, we had a session on fund raising methods with Rotarian Derek Cheah. The session benefited us alot as it gave us a lot of information on fund raising for club activities. At the same time, respective Presidents and representatives of each club attended the District meeting to vote on the Manual of Procedures and other issues.The closing ceremony that followed also had a prize giving ceremony for the winning team for the previous day's events. The winning team was team Kiwi, and they performed their team cheer on stage for the last time in the conference.

Gimme a K! Gimme an I! Gimme a W! Gimme an I!What's that? KIWI!

The closing ceremony did not mark the end of events however, next up was the highlight of the conference as we all had the opportunity to have lunch with the children from Sekolah Untuk Kanak-kanak Istimewa. Donations from various clubs were presented to the children after the lunch. It was a very meaningful occasion for all of us.

This was the first conference that our club has participated in, and we benefited alot from it. New friends, new knowledge and insight on Rotaract were among some of the things that we gained from this experience. We hope to participate in more of these events in the future.

It's always an honour to pose with Pam~

Leaving our mark at the conference

Ohana Reunion

4th February 2006

The Rotaract Club of Swinburne organised their first Rotaract Ohana Reunion, as a joint Club and International Service project. Past members as well as current members were invited to attend the reunion which was also to celebrate the club's 4th Birthday

"Ohana", which is the Hawaiian term for family, was the theme of the night as all past "family members" were reunited to have good food along with good fellowship. Past members spanning 4 terms attended the reunion, as well as 2 new members. The venue for the night was Swinburne's canteen, and everyone was expected to be in hawaiian attire for the night. The venue was decorated reminiscent of a Hawaiian luau with coconut leaves arching the entrance. Colourful streamers,coconuts and lit candles also added to the atmosphere

The main course for the night was the BBQed chicken wings and sausages. Those who volunteered to become the head chefs for the night did not disappoint as the food that were served were grilled to perfection. While waiting for the grilled food to be ready, fried rice, bee hoon and also vegetables were provided for our members to indulge in, courtesy of our school canteen.

For our case, too many cooks do not spoil the grill!

For the guys and gals who spent hours choosing their Hawaiian outfit for the night, the next event was their opportunity to shine. The organizers were looking for a best dressed male and female of the night, and the audience helped narrow it down 2 candidates each. To win their way into the audience's hearts, the candidates went out of their way to limbo and hula dance for the audience's votes.(The hula dance was first demonstrated by the current vice-president, Michael Kuan.) In the end, Jackson and Tasha obtained the highest number of votes and were both crowned best dressed of the night.

Dare you limbo between the deadly pair of Michaels?

Charlz,don't act cool!

Jackson, the best dressed guy and also tallest guy of the night

King and Queen of Hawaii~~

As it was our club's 4th birthday, a birthday cake with the Rotaract logo was prepared for the night. It was also appropriate as that day was the 7th day of Chinese New Year, also known as the Common Man’s birthday. The 3 presidents who were present that night cut the cake and blew the candles before the cake was distributed to all the members.

Yum...The Rotaract logo never looked so delicious~~

The night ended with a group photo taking. This would be one of the rare moments where you would see 4 terms of the club in one single group photo, reunited for fellowship for a single night.

1...2....3...say ..Aloha!