1

Address of Past RI President Bhichai Rattakul
As the RI President's Representative
At the Conference of District 2700,
Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan.
12 – 13 April, 2014
“Engage Rotary – Change Lives”
District Governor Motoaki Anai, and my Fellow
Rotarians,
Although this is not my first trip to the Great City of
Fukuoka, my appearance at this time in Fukuoka is likecoming back home, especially the opportunity to meetwith many old acquaintances during the time I spoke at
the Rotary Club of Fukuoka many years ago.
It was at that meeting that my relationships with Past
RI Director Naoyuki Suenaga, and Past Governor Tomio
Hirohata, and many of you here have grown to such an
extent that my wish has always been that one day I shallbe back to renew the comradeship, the thoughtfulness
and kindness that the Rotarians of Fukuoka haveaccorded me when I was here.
But, it also took almost a decade before my dream
becomes a reality, and now as I stand before you now
may I say how grateful and happy I am to see you at your
district conference. Above all to get to know you, district
governor Motoaki Anai, in such an environment fill withgoodwill and understanding more than I deserve.
To this end I am most grateful to you, and of course to
all the Rotarians who have taken me as your friend and2treated me so warmly from the moment we landed in
Fukuoka.
This is not only an honour that I am here to represent
President Ron Burton and his lady, Jetty... but a privilegethat is not easily given to any one.
The responsibility entrusted upon me by President
Ron Burton, therefore, is a very important and a serious
one which I shall try my best to do my utmost to play mysmall and humble part to make your district conference a
success.
With less than three months left of this Rotary year
and the new Rotary' Theme.........................................
emerges, naturally many will forget the current theme of
President Ron Burton, “Engage Rotary- Change Lives”
when the new Theme gains its momentum in a few
months from now.
This is not uncommon. I believe every Presidential's
Theme is important and has a deep meaning on eachindividual. But, here it is up to what each individual
thinks and believes, and the desire to make that Theme
works to uplift the livelihood of the people...whether heis rich or poor.
But, whatever one thinks about the rational behindeach Theme, our only goal will always be “Service
Above Self” ,and our mission will always be to “Do
Good in the World”.

3

My fellow Rotarians, Rotary as a Movement
continued to grow in many countries, especially in the
sub-continent of India.
The year under President Tanaka, and the current
year under President Ron Burton have been years withmany changes in the operation of the secretariate.
I think the working style of the new General Secretary,
John Hewko, is very much different from that of theformer General Secretary Ed Futa. and with the reorganization of the administration I think more changes
and more new ideas will gradually emerge..
Whether it will be a positive or negative we will soonknow.
At this point you will find some interesting
information regarding some decisions made by the Boardand the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation.
All district governors are encouraged to appoint a
district New Generation committee. The committee shallwork with the district Interact, Rotaract, RYLA, YouthExchange, and any other committees as determined
appropriate by the governor. District New Generationscommittee are encouraged to facilitate district
recognition for clubs and/or individuals who advance theprinciples of New Generations and empower and engage
young people.
1)

The International Institute which in the past holds
its meeting in conjunction with the international2)

4committee will no longer take place automatically, butwill depend on the matter of finding a suitable venue.
The one which should take place in conjunction with theSydney convention will not be held.

AS for the Rotary Peace Centres Major Gifts
Initiative Goal;, the Trustees reaffirm their decision 92,
October, 2000 which declared the Rotary Centres forInternational Studies to be a major educational priority
for the Rotary Foundation, and establish a new goal of
US $ 125 million by 30 June, 2015 to more fully coverRotary Peace programme cost.
3)

At the Council on Legislation meeting in April lastyear there is one item that I personally don't feel too
happy about it...and that is regarding membership which
the Council on Legislation has adopted that, a Rotarian
having interrupted employment or having NEVER
worked in order to care for children or to assist the
spouse in their work, can be active member of a Rotary
Club!!
4)

This to my mind has gotten rid of the classification
principle entirely as well as other qualifications.
I think the trend in Rotary as far as membership isconcerned is that all what Rotary hopes for is members
and more members, and is heading for the elimination of
the fundamental principle of Rotary all together .
I am afraid that very soon Rotary will become likeany other club we can find anywhere. It will loose its

5charm and its spirit...the heritage that had been brought
down by our forefathers.
Fifty five years ago, at the age of 33. That was theyear I was invited to help organizing the second Rotary
Club in Thailand of which I became one of the 44 charter
members of the club.
Although more than half century has gone by, and I
am now the only one charter member left , I can still recollect the very first day of my membership and my firstattendance at the regular meeting of the club.
It was an incredible experience, just as I hope thatbeing a Rotarian of a Rotary Club will also be anincredible experience.
It did, and it does even after fifty five long years!
Fifty five years ago my fellow charter members and I
were not only gearing up to be good Rotarians, but also
gearing up to fulfill our mission to Do Good in the World.
Many did before they passed away.
But, all of them are now gone... leaving me... theonly charter member left with the new and now 90
members joining the club later to carry on the tasks andthe promises we solemnly made back in 1958.
I am sure many of you here have had the experiences
I mentioned above, and I make no apology for repetition
for I truly believe that the process of learning to be a

6good Rotarian is a process of repetition ...an ever lasting
one, and we go about it day after day, and all of us needreminding , I think, more than we need being taught.
It would be so very dull if everything had beenlearned and if we were without challenges and without
reminders.
This is a story of water and a boy by the name of“Darm”.
My friends, have you ever realized that those whohave never been short of drinking water, like all of us
here, will never realize the value of just one drop of safe
drinking water?
“Darm” who had never seen his father, and was notraised by his mother who left him when he was only 7months old,
“Darm” was left with his grandmother. They lived
in a broken wooden shack along the railway track.
The grandmother being illiterate scraped a living bycollecting and selling vegetables found in the nearby
swamps. She could hardly earn a dollar for a full day
work, but she was determined... not only for her own
survival, but for the survival of the most precious thing
she has ever had...her very own flesh and blood.
At the age of five, “Darm” was determined to go toschool like other kids who lived nearby. He begged his
grandmother, and she excitedly agreed to, for after all

7what will the future be for the boy if he does not haveany proper education.
And there they were on the first day of the new school
year. An old lady, skinny and dark-complexioned,
walked through the school gates with a small scrawny,
paled and scared looking lad who had rash and wounds
all over his tiny body.
It was at the school that the teachers and otherchildren noticed that “Darm” was often ill, afraid of
strangers, and often missed school.
Rumours were circulating that the child's father had
died of HIV/AIDS!
Was the child also a victim of this disease?
The teachers decided to find out more by visiting his“home”.
Inspecting the shack where the grandmother and the
grandson lived, they discovered that there was no watersupply.
Apparently, the neighbours had told them that it was
permissible to connect to their water supplies, but had
left the poor woman to pay for both water bills.
With no money the water supply was cut off.
Water is life, and the rain never came!

8

The grandmother and the child were desperate!
Somehow, they must find some source of water...anykind of water, but where can they find one?
With no other choice, they did finally find one!
Water from the community sewage outlets!
By using sandbags to block the community water andsewage outlets, skimming off water for drinking when
the silt and muck had settled...had prolonged their lives.
But, drinking water from the sewage outlets had
caused “Darm” with diarrhea, rash and wounds over the
body, weight loss and skin diseases.
The little boy was classified as being risk. His case,somehow was made known to the local Rotary Clubs
who immediately contacted the municipality, and thehospital.
The operation to “Engage Rotary – Change Lives”
started to take shape.
The installation of water supply took place a few days
later, and “Darm” was tested for HIV/AIDS...the resultof which proved negative.
A happy ending for “Darm”, and his grandmotherwho no longer had to make her living by going out into
the swamps each day searching for food.

9

A Rotarian who owns a small factory in thecommunity gave her a job as a maid in the factory until
this very day.
These Rotarians are really “Engaging Rotary andChanging Lives!
But, my fellow Rotarians, the story of “Darm” did
not end here. It is here because of a lad by the name of“Darm” that the Rotarians saw the great need of clean
drinking water for people and the children in many partsof the country.
With the appeal made by our Immediate Past RI
President Sakuji Tanaka, the focus on “Peace ThroughService”... which was his great effort to bridge continents
and linking people around the globe, had awakened theconsciousness of the Rotarians to action by caring theneeds of others above their own.
President Tanaka believes that the more the Rotarians
empathize more deeply with the difficulties of otherpeople, the more they feel greater drive to reach out, todo what they can to help others live more happily.
As a result, hundreds of Water Purification System
Stations, with the financial help of the Rotarians aroundthe globe, especially from Japan, were set up throughout that particular region of the country.
Million bottles of safe drinking water wereimmediately provided to those who had no way to get10away from the floods during the worst landslides andsevere floods never before seen in the country.
Over and above this because the school where Darm”
was studying had never had a library before , a great
ambition crops up in the mind of the whole district to set
up library for the pre-kindergarten kids in every
province in the Northeast of the country in order to lay astrong foundation for these young lads to read and write
correctly at a very young age so that when they grow up
they would continue to have the habit and love of
reading books, especially to be able to speak their own
language correctly.
And with the blessing of the Ministry of
Education...particularly through the Matching Grants andthe WCS programmes with clubs in Japan, and Taiwan,
the promotion of literacy programme wasenthusiastically launched.
Very soon, more than 250 libraries were set up at
schools and small communities across the region andequipped with more than 80,000 copies of books.
Not only the students, most of them pre-kindergarten
kids and teachers, but the parents and the public havevisited and are making use of these facilities to thefullest...so much so that the first two years since theproject was launched, 400 teachers who were brought in
by Rotary for the special training of this programme
were not enough to cope with the demand. And now
with the more advanced technology being used and withthe help of the Rotarians in Australia Rotary has now

11trained almost a thousand teachers for this particular
programme alone!
What seemed to be an innocent beginning with
“Darm” the little lad has become a huge phenomenal
undertaking that is benefiting and uplifting the quality oflives of thousands upon thousands of people.
But, my fellow Rotarians, there are more...many,
many more “Darms” in this world than you could
imagine.
“Darm” whose lives remained to be touched by ourhands, and felt by our hearts.
“Darm” whose fate has brought him to Rotary andhad awaken Rotary's conscience to take action.
Unfortunately, we have only less than 1.3 million
Rotarians to “ Engage Rotary and Change Lives, while
there are tens of million of people who are waiting for us
to stretch our hands and our hearts out to care for thehardships they face, and to try to uplift their livelihood in
any way we can.
Yes, in Rotary service is much more than a sideline oran occasional pursuit.
It is a way of life!!
It is obvious, therefore, that we must try to recruit
more members into our fold.

12

While, having more members is vital to the survivalof our organization, we must never forget that thequalifications of the new members we invite in mustmeet what Rotary hopes for.
When I talk of “Darm”,I am thinking of Mr.
Nobuyuki Tsujiia who was completely blind since birth
who is the world re-nowned Blind Pianist.
Mr. Tsujii is a very genius man. Although,completely blind he has never given up hope that one day
he would emerge as the world's best pianist which he isnow.
Mr. Tsujii is one of the millions handicapped people
everywhere. But, he is a very exceptional one whose
genius has done so much good for the world.
This is just one case to illustrate the hardship of thehandicapped people and what Rotary can do to help
these unfortunate people.
We can't make everyone like Mr. Tsujii, but we canEngage Rotary and Change Lives to someone no matter
how small and how big the case is.
The story of Darm is a good example!
Twenty Eight years ago in 1985 when we started theprogramme to eradicate Polio, I was invited to serve on
the international committee for three years.

13

The committee members and myself were getting
ready to tackle the first fundraising campaign in thehistory of Rotary and the biggest commitment, by far,that Rotary had ever made.
Even then we knew that it wouldn't be quick and easy.
However, if we had known then that we would still beworking in 2014... 29 years after the first launch of the
programme, to finally finish the job, I am not sure that
the Rotary would have agreed to take up the challenge!
But, we knew then...back in 1985, as we know now in2014 that we could do it.
And we knew then , as we know now , what successwould mean...to the children of the world, to thosecrippled adults, to the generations that would follow
them, and to the generations of Rotarians who would be
inspired by our success to achieve even more.
MY FELLOW ROTARIANS, ONE OF THE BASIC.
ELEMENTS IN MAKING OUR ORGANIZATIONMORE ACCEPTABLE WHICH IS OUR OVERALLHEALTH IS OUR COMMITMENT TO VOCATIONALSERVICE.
IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT OUT OF IGNORANCE
THAT VOCATIONAL SERVICE WAS ACCEPTED AS
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF ROTARYMEMBERSIP.

14

YES, WE DO WHAT OTHERS DON’T, BECAUSEVOCATIONAL SERVICE SETS ROTARY APARTFROM ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION.
ITS CLASSIFICATION PRINCIPLE MAKES IT SO
UNIQUE THAT THE WORLD RECOGNOZES IT AS“ROTARY’S TRADEMARK”.
IT IS ROTARY’S FUNDAMENTAL
CHARACTERISTIC WHICH GIVES EACHROTARIAN THE PRIVILEGE OF EXPRESSING
ONE’S COMMITMENT TO ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
OF WHICH LIFE IN SOCIETY IS ALWAYS IN NEED.
IT REMINDS A PERSON OF HIGH ETHICALSTANDARDS WHICH A PERSON SHOULD
OBSERVE IN HIS OR HER PROFESSION, AND IT
GIVES A PERSON A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITYTHAT HE OR SHE PROBABLY NEVER THOUIGHTABOUT BEFORE JOINING ROTARY.
IS THERE ANY BETTER AND FINER CONEPTTHAN VOCATIONAL SERVICE IN ROTARY THATROTARY CAN OFFER WHICH VERY FEWORGANIZATIONS DO?
IIN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD THISSUBJECT MAY SOUND SO DRY, BUT TO MY MINDIT IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT
FOR CIOMPANIES, ESPECIALLY FOR
GOVERNMENTS TO CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESSACCORDING TO AN ETHICAL CODE AND FOR

15

POLITICAL LEADERS TO HAVE THE HIIGHEST
INTEGRITY AND HONESTY!
I AGREE THAT IN TODAY’S WORLD WHERECOMPANIES AND EVEN GOVERNMENTS
ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE, AND WHERE
BUSINESS AND POLITICAL LEADERS ARE
UNDER PRESSURE TO DELIVER THE BESTNUMBERS, THEY CAN OFTEN BE EASILY LUREDINTO LOWER MORAL TERRITORY.
IN THE RECENT SUB-PRIME MORTGAGECRISIS, WHILE MANY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSWERE DOING BUSINESS LEGALLY…AND MAY
BE EVEN ETHICALLY…IT IS QUESTIONALBLE
WHETHER THOSE BANKERS HOLD ON TO HIGH
STANDARDS OF PERSONAL INTEGRITY.
ALL OF US HAVE SEEN IN THE RECENT PASTCOMPANIES CONDUCTING BUSINESSUNETHICALLY CAN BE RUINED BY SCANDLESAND CAN ULTIMATELY COLLAPSE.
SIMILARLY, BUSINESS LEADERS WITHOUTPERSSSSSONAL INTEGRITY CAN BE TAINTEDFOR LIFE.
INTEGRITY AFFECTS RELATIONSHIPS. IT
AFFECTS HOW PEOPLE REGARD YOU AND WILLEVENTUALLLY DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT
THEY WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITHNYOU.

16

IN ROTARY, INTEGRITY IS BUILT ON A SET OF
PRINCIPLES, WHICH WHEN FOLLOWEDMAINTAIN THE HIGHEST MORAL STANDARDS IN
ANY INDIVIDUAL. THESE PRINCIPLES INCLUDE
VALUES SUCH AS HONESTY, LOYALTY,
GENEROSTITY AND TRUST.
IN MY PRIVATE LIFE AS A BUSINESS MAN AND
AS A POLITICIAN, I HAVE BECOME CONVINCED
THAT VOCATIONAL SERVICE IS THE AREA IN
WHICH WE AS ROTARIANS CAN ACT BEST AND
CONTRIBUTE MOST TO IMPROVE OURSELVESAND THE SOCIETY IN WHICH WE LIVE.
THE CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL SERVICE MAY
HAVE CONTRIBUTED HEAVILY TO ITSPOPULARITY AND GROWTH A FEW YEARSAFTER THE FORMATION OF ROTARY IN 1905.
IN UNFLODING THE STORY OF ROTARY FROMIT’S BEGINNING, THE BASIC AND ORIGINALIDEA OF SERVICE TO ONESELF AND ONE’SFELLOW CLUB MEMEBERS IN BUSINESS GAVEWAY TO THE HIGHER IDEAL OF SERVICE AND
HELPFULNESS TO OTHERS IN ALL ASPECTS OF
LIFE…AND EVENTUALLY, SERVICE TO ALL
MANKIND.
IT WAS AT THAT POINT THAT THE EMPHASISWAS CHANGED…FROM “GETTING” TO “GIVING”
AS ROTARIANS LEARNED THAT BUSINESSGAINS FLOWED APPROPRIATELY TO THOSE

17

WHO DEMONSTRATED THEIR INTEREST INHELPING OTHERS.
LET US PONDER HERE FOR A WHILE AND ASKOURSELVES…
“ARE WE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONTOWARDS VOCATIONAL SERVICE?
“ARE WE PRACTICING AND IMPLEMENTINGVOCATIONAL SERVICE IN OUR CLUB AND OUR
COMMUNITY IN THE HOPE TO MAKE THE
ORGANIZATION A RESPECTABLE ENTITY?
I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, BUT I CANASSURE YOU THAT VOCATIONAL SERVICE IS
THE MOST PRECIOUS THING WE HAVE EVER
HAD IN ROTARY!
PRESERVE IT AL ALL COST! PRACTICE IT
WITH ALL YOUR HEART!
A STORY WAS TOLD ABOUT THE GREATSCULPTOR, GUTZON BORGLUM WHO WASPREPARING A BUST OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
SO INTENSE WAS HIS CONCENTRATION HE
INSISTED ON REMAINING ALONE IN HIS STUDIO.
HE WOULD ALLOW NO ONE TO VIEW OR
COMMENT ON HIS HANDIWORK.
AS DAYLIGHT WOULD FADE INTO TWILIGHT,
HE WOULD COVER HIS ENDEAVOUR AND ONLY

18

THE STONE CHIPS ON THE FLOOR GAVE MUTE
EVIDENCE OF HIS LABOURS.
IN THE EVENING THE CLEANING WOMANWOULD SWEEP UP THE DEBRIS.
FINALLY, THE BUST WAS COM0PLETED, AND
AS BORGLUM STOOD AND CONTEMPLATED THE
FINISHED STATUE, THE CLEANING WOMANCAME IN AND SAW THE MASTERPIECE FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
SHE WAS AWED AS SHE REMARKED, “MR.
BORGLUM, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT MR.
LINCOLN WAS IN THAT BLOCK OF MABLE?”
THIS ANALOGY TELLS THE STORY OF MANY A
MAN AND WOMAN ENTERING INTO ROTARYMEMBERSHIP.
WHEN FIRST THEY JOIN, THERE IS NO WAY OF
ASCERTAINING THEIR POTENTIALS.
AS THEY DEVELOP AND BECOME EXOSED OFROTARY’S PHILOSOPHY, INVOLVED IN ITS
WORK, RUB ELBOWS WITH THEIR FELLOWMEMBERS, THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS
SOMEONE WHO NEVER EXISTED BEFORE…AROTARIAN!
THE UNFORMD STONE IS THE MAN. THE
CCHISEL AND THE ARTISTRY COULD BE
VOCATIONAL SERVICE.

19

VOCATIONAL SERVICE IS INDEED THE HEART
AND SOUL OF ROTARY!
My friends, I don't come to you with any convictionthat Rotary has all the answers, or that it can solve all the
problems.
Certainly, Rotary is not a religion, but I have found it
to be the most active organization I know for bringing
together men and women who normally would notnormally come and sit down with one another, to crossboarders and prejudices and interests, to cross the lines ofprofessions and social critics that they would notnormally move out of or into.
I suggest to you that the fact that Rotary has gathered
you here is most significant. I suggest that if it had done
nothing more significant than that, it would have morethan justified itself...you all who come from all over thisgreat prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki and sit
down together in confidence and understanding.
This in itself is a significant reason for Rotary!
But, it is not only sitting down together, talking toeach other and eating together. It is working and serving
together, “Engaging Rotary and Changing Lives”
together, that is significant!
I sincerely hope and pray that you will continue toalways bear this in mind, and whatever the future Themeof Rotary will be you will always...
Engage Rotary and Change Lives!