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This week's speaker: Valerie Pereira
 
Private wealth in Asia and how Australian businesses can access it
Private wealth in Asia, particularly China, is at historically high levels and the introduction of the Significant Investment Visa provides a new avenue for Australian businesses and managed funds to tap into this market. The SIV industry is gaining momentum and could generate at least $5 billion in new capital to Australian corporations and fund managers, which is equivalent to one sixth of the superannuation industry. The SIV scheme will impact on investment management, capital markets, property and professional services in Australia, and channel providers in Asia.
 
Valerie is an Accredited Immigration Law Specialist and Chair of the Migration Law Committee at the Law Institute of Victoria. She is head of the firm, Dagama Pereira & Associates in Richmond. She is a graduate in Law and Arts from the University of Mumbai and has a Master of Law from Monash University.
 
Duty Roster, May 20, 2014
Chair
 George Mackey
Sgt Michael Bromby
Greeter Wolfgang Jacobs
Reporter Bruce McBain 
Photographer David Jones
Door Marj Gerlinger
Director Report - Foundation  Herb Greenwood
   
Police Mentoring Changes
Police Mentoring Program Overhauled
The Victoria Police Leaders Mentoring Program is now in its seventh year, during which 130 police ranking from Assistant Commissioner down to Senior Sergeant have participated. The program was originated by RC Central Melbourne-Sunrise seven years ago, and several of the larger D9800 clubs have participated along with clubs from all four other Victorian Districts. The mentoring has been done by one senior business person and one experienced Rotarian. 
Alan Seale (left)  says that following a review this year by the steering committee which is made upon VicPol, business community representatives and Rotary, mentoring from next July will be by one person only.  For the senior police ranks the mentors will be senior business executives whose input will be around strategic issues, whilst for Inspectors and Senior Sergeants Rotary will provide the mentors and the primary focus will be around community engagement, a high priority for VicPol.
In addition, opportunities to become Rotary members will now be extended to all District members and applications will be accepted on merit. Previously selection was by top-down nomination and confined to a single cluster of clubs.
VicPol is strongly supportive of these changes to mentor allocation as they wish to better integrate the program into their management development processes.  It has some other advantages;
# It is more time efficient for police members to work with a single mentor
# Many Rotary mentors also have strong backgrounds in business and can cover both roles
# Top officers such as Asst Commissioners, Commanders and Superintendents, report they get great value from business mentoring and have less need for exposure to Rotary’s community involvement.
# Senior Sergeants (who typically runs a suburban police station) and Inspectors do value Rotary input as community policing and engagement is one of their biggest challenges and many of these officers are recent appointments. They run the equivalent of a small-medium service and business unit, involving complex challenges.
Seale says finding enough Rotary mentors of with the right background has become more difficult as alumni mentors have not been used and the number of clubs limited, ie the talent pool has become somewhat drained. It is good for anyone interested to get the chance to apply.  The process for recruiting business mentors will not change.  In each case as fewer mentors will be needed, we should have a stronger bench to choose from. The Steering Committee will shortly be in touch with your club to seek nominations.  Selection will be based on Rotary and business experience and level of involvement with the community by the applicant and their club.
Seale says, “The police and ourselves have put a lot of hard thought into the review, and it should result in a more focused and stronger program.”  Contact: aseale@bigpond.net.au
Iftar Dinner Planned for July 15
Alan Seale says that whilst Rotary is an international organization, you wouldn’t know it if you visited many of the clubs in the Melbourne metropolitan area.  Our membership tends not to reflect the rich cultural diversity of our community.  Alan believes this to be a lost opportunity both from a membership and community service perspective.  A close friend challenged Alan to do something about this and made the suggestion that RC Central Melbourne Sunrise host an Iftar Dinner.   
 
An Iftar is served at the end of the day during Ramadan, to break the day's fast. Iftar is a religious observance of Ramadan often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Many Muslims believe feeding someone iftar as a form of charity is very rewarding. Several Iftars are held in Melbourne during Ramadan often hosted by secular organisations such as Victoria Police, universities, etc.   Unsurprisingly Rotary Clubs in the Middle East do the same. Like this one in Nazareth;
 
The Rotary Club of Central Melbourne - Sunrise intends to host such an Iftar dinner with the generous support of the Australian Intercultural Society who are very experienced in this field.  So the evening of July 15 at AIS offices will see a guest list of 80 or so from a wide range of community groups joining together in  celebration.   The evening will provide an opportunity for Rotary to introduce itself to a non-traditional audience and for Rotarians to learn something more about Islam and other religions.
Rotary's Media Coverage
Letter from John Hewko, General Secretary, Rotary International
Rotary won significant international media coverage last week for its role in the historic polio-free certification of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region.   
Highlights include:
·       CNN International: India beats the odds, beats polio
·       The Guardian: India may be free of polio – but the disease hasn't been eradicated yet (op-ed by Archie Panjabi)
·       The Wall Street Journal Online: Q&A: India Eliminates Polio

  
 Rotary received extensive media coverage throughout 2013, with more than 626 news organizations in 35 countries featuring our humanitarian efforts. Of those, 58 stories appeared in top tier international news organizations, including nine out of the 10 most influential ranked by Forbes, including the Associated Press, The New York Times, BBC, Agence France Presse, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal..
 
Meeting Report, April 8
 
Pics above: DG-to-be Neville John (left) and unidentified groupie man the desk
President Doug and Fraternitas winner Brian Mendis
​Marj Gerlinger and Justine Murphy share some secret women's business
 
Chair: Mik Wells
Reporter: Tony Thomas
Guest: Rob Hines
 
Reports: Alan Seale reported on Police Mentoring changes and a proposal for an Iftar dinner – see separate items.
David Jones proposed another Donations in King working bee, Saturday June 14. He also said there would be a DIK one-off immediately after our April 15 meeting, moving hospital beds from St Vincent’s, Kew.
Tom Callander said Café Internationale at International House will be on Saturday May 10, about $80 per head. Join him there!
Roger Thornton said Lentara’s Linkages program is preparing  a pilot mentoring program for asylum seekers and a couple of volunteer mentors from our club would be welcome. It would be a big learning experience for us as mentoring asylum seekers is a big change from mentoring senior police.
Camp Getaway bee will be May 9-11, with a fun pub meal on the Friday night.
The Royal Talbot 10th working bee a week ago was a big success (see last week’s bulletin) transforming the boring and overgrown front garden and general tidying and composting. Thanks to Lyn McBain and Marj Gerlinger for the super lunch.
Doug Robertson announced that our past-president Neville John’s nomination for District Governor, 2015-16 had been confirmed via Ross Butterworth. Neville got congratulations from the meeting.
Sgt Bromby told various borderline anecdotes.
 
Guest Speakers: Brian Mendis  (above, centre), our club’s Fraternitas awardee from International House, says he is aiming for a civil engineering/consulting/management career. He described his upbringing as a shy boy in Bendigo with a Sri Lankan background. IH with under 200 students was a great contrast to his Bendigo high school with 2000. He was inspired to implement various measures to improve the student culture at IH, where he became student vice-president.
David Jones  (top left) gave an enthralling talk on the backwash from the Christchurch earthquakes, among the strongest ever recorded in a city. The city still has many ‘red zones’ 859 days after the quake, and many homes still to be demolished pending insurance settlements. The damage equalled 20% of New Zealand’s gdp,  compared with 4% for Japan’s tsunami and only 1% for America’s Hurricane Katrina.
Christchurch ground sank 40-120cm in places, changing the water table and causing ponding, river draining inefficiencies and continued home flooding.  70% of the CBD is ruined. A replacement 700-seat Anglican Cathedral is also being used for public meetings. Shopping centres are composed of containers. Many small businesses are reluctant to move back into the CBD from their new suburban locations. The big quake was followed by 30 more of 5.0 severity and thousands of minor quakes. 8000 houses are red-zoned. But insurance settlements are problematic with householders hit by $100,000 excesses, insurance insolvencies and various conflicts. The total capital cost is estimated at $NZ40b.
Report on Sgt Joke Session
Below is the cleanest of the Sergeant's jokes last meeting.
 
Sid and Irv are business partners. They make a deal that whichever one dies first will contact the living one from the afterlife. So Irv dies. Sid doesn't hear from him for about a year, figures there is no afterlife. Then one day he gets a call. It's Irv. "So there is an afterlife! What's it like?" Sid asks. 'Well, I sleep very late. I get up, have a big breakfast. Then I have sex, lots of sex. Then I go back sleep, but I get up for lunch, have a big lunch. Have some more sex. Take a nap. Huge dinner. More sex. Go to sleep, and wake up the next day." "Oh, my god," says Sid "So that's what heaven is like?" "Oh no," says Irv. "I'm not in heaven. I'm a bear in Yellowstone Park."
Items Held Over
Owing to lack of space, two conservative political items have been held over this week.
Upcoming Events
Board Meeting
RACV City Club
May 21, 2014 <br /> 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
 
Rotary International Convention
Sydney Olympic Park
Jun 01, 2014 – Jun 04, 2014
 
RC Echuca Moama Steam Rally
Rotary Park
Jun 07, 2014 – Jun 08, 2014
 
DIK Working Bee
Woolshed 40
Jun 14, 2014 <br /> 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
 
VicPol Leaders Mentoring Program closing breakfast
RACV City Club
Jun 17, 2014 <br /> 7:30 AM – 8:45 AM
 
Board Meeting
RACV City Club
Jun 18, 2014 <br /> 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
 
Club Changeover
Jun 27, 2014 <br /> 7:00 PM – 11:30 PM
 
Speakers
May 20, 2014
Professor John Polesel
Australian and international approaches to the technical and vocational training of young people
 
Jun 03, 2014
Mr Gordon Morrison
Scotland’s contribution to the early European settlement of Australia
 
Jun 17, 2014
VicPol Leaders Mentoring Program closing breakfast
 
Jun 24, 2014
NO REGULAR MEETING THIS WEEK
 
View entire list
Bulletin Editor
Tony THOMAS (If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
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