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Editorial (For whom these Rotarians toil) - By John Wan
Letters to Editor
Leaders and Followers - By Harry

editorial

For whom these Rotarians toil

In many institutions, notably service organizations, men and women have been volunteering their time, energies and talents to service these organizations and in the process bringing very much needed services to the people who need them most. Many of these individuals work quietly, often unnoticed, and hence unrewarded and unrecognized.

We believe that many Rotarians may fit into the description. These are, in the words of many RI leaders, soldiers in the trenches and in the frontline doing the day to day work, getting their hands dirty and taking services directly to the people Rotary professes to serve.

Some of these Rotarians, perchance or by merits, take up senior or leadership positions in the heirarchy and find themselves taking decisions at club, district or international level. They might then have fewer opportunities for trench warfare, but would increasingly and unavoidably be involved in other fares of a more theoretical or administrative type. Technically, they have become service providers of the frontline soldiers in the trenches.

This is how Rotary produces successive generations of leaders of every variety and at every level. It is important that Rotarians be aware of the process, which begins from the time a club elects its president, to when clubs elect their district governor and so on. Every individual in the heirarchy is a service provider. The only difference is the receipients. Rotarians in senior or leadership positions do not have more authority. Rather, they have more responsibilities and perhaps more opportunities to serve.

December is round the corner. In this month, every club will elect the next crop of leaders and the district, its governor. We hope that Rotarians will carry out these elections with the seriousness they deserve and have regard to the people for whom Rotarians have pledged to toil.

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Letters to Editor

You are welcome to write to Club Webmaster John Wan on any topic, particularly in response to articles published in Kingspark News. We would publish all contributions as long as the authors identify themselves, the contents are not offensive or abusive, and would not offend common decency or common sense. You need not be a Rotarian to write to us and you have a choice to withhold your name in the published version. Where the contents make reference to statements or policies of individuals or organizations, we would try to obtain a response fro the latter for publication in the same issue if possible.

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Leaders and Followers
By Harry

I read the latest editorial with the usual interest and am here again with a few reflective comments. Statistics is a pretty interesting science, field or phenomenon given its mutability. In short, many have decried the ability of statistics to support any particular opinion regarding certain issues. Often, statistics can claim both sides of the argument with equal gusto: 'how' and 'why' being two immediate questions.

Perhaps this may have something to do, albeit slightly, with Einstein's theory of relativity, with regards to the impossibility of conveying the whole and actual picture of statistics, and as such, there needs to be a cut-off point that assumptions are likely to support the message one wants to convey.

Very often, we create an argument before searching for supportive evidence, when we should be drawing conclusions from evidence. Perhaps this is akin to the guilty until proven innocent reverse psychology that is so prominent in society today.

Obviously the membership numbers are both staggering and impressive. But equally so, one realizes that the numbers, while perhaps inflated, understated, etc are rather secondary to the quality of the membership and the dedication to the cause and the type of personalities that support the organization. While this is no great revelation, we have often seen much publicity on numbers that support a seemingly predestined result.

Let me take a quick and simple analogy from sports. The best players do not create the best 'team.' There are intangible elements like chemistry that are unquantifiable, thus rendering 'formality' per se. The best actor and best actress, in tandem with the best director can still create a lackluster film. In more explicit terms: "Can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh--." But the quality at the forefront allows for greater margin of error and creates the idea of potential. In all likelihood, the director would have chosen or typecast a movie star with best actor or actress quality for the roles based on the script, which in turn supports the claim that a director provides the leadership and direction a film needs.

Thus I agree that greater emphasis should be placed on the quality and the nature of the service rather than on gaudy statistics. This is akin to situations, primarily in organizations and collectives like the army, where some men are worth hundreds of others, by virtue of their conviction, desire and ability. But if anything, this points out the symbiotic relationship between leaders and followers, for without the another, the question of existence arises.

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