by Dr. Bob McClellan
After being in Rotary for 20+ years as a member of the Rotary Club of Superior (Club 40), I attended my first RI Convention. I/We would need to confirm, but Earl Rogers (and Judy) attended like 30 something of these conventions. Singapore is close to as far away from Superior as one can get. It is 13 hours ahead of us in time, and it takes about 20 hours airline travel time to get there.
Singapore is a fairly small island country, city, at the south end of mainland Malaysia. Singapore was a British colony not that long ago, so English is an official language there as well. It was occupied by the Japanese 1942-45 during WWII, so there is that additional history as well. It has a super modern Changi airport, that has a huge shopping center, an indoor waterfall/gardens that is the largest in the world, and is a major SE Asia travel hub. It is a major shipping port city with literally hundreds of large ships anchored in the bay/harbor area. And it is a main SE Asia financial center. It is fairly impressive. Food is king and there are literally unlimited places to eat, a wide variety of foods. There is Chinatown, Little India, and a more Mediterranean/Malay area of Kampong Glam.
The Convention. Nearly 14,000 Rotarians/guests from all over the world were there. Japan, Taiwan, India, Philippines, had very large attendance. Rotarians in general are very friendly. I met 2 Rotarian Japanese dentists touring with their spouses and had a very fun conversation with them. There is so much in common with Rotarians.
The House of Friendship was absolutely huge. RI had many general information booths. There were many Fellowship groups (beekeeping, pilots, whisky, beer, gin, etc., etc.) There was area dedicated to next year's convention promotion (Calgary, Canada), everyone wearing cowboy hats; this will be the Canada wild west! And then there were many projects and project groups. I visited a Ukraine booth, and shared some of what we were doing. We did get an update there of the Tony Preston UK ambulance efforts that Superior Rotary was part of. There was a stage where there were programs/presentations/performances going on during the day and lots of RI question and answer booths. And many vendors, some raising money for projects. Needless to say, we did not see everything there.
The general sessions were great. Opening and Closing Ceremonies, were in a large hall with many video screens. These included presentations, updates, native performances, other music performances. Everything was top class, and very impressive. Polio Plus was a huge area of updates. Bill Gates had an awesome video presentation specifically for the convention, in regards to Polio Plus, and matching the $50 million Rotary dollars every year 2:1 (so $100 million). Our RI CEO John Hewko is a very impressive person in his own right, speaking 4 other languages other than English; he is also Ukrainian. Past Presidents and current President Gordon R. McInally (Scotland) also contributed to the presentations.
All in all, lots of things Rotary. There is something for everyone in Rotary, at least anyone who wears Service Above Self on their shirt sleeve. It is obvious that it is not important to do everything in Rotary; it is impossible. What is possible is to be able to find something that is fulfilling and something that can make a difference in the world. It is good to know that we are doing it!
RI Conventions are likely not for everyone, as they can be fairly expensive. However, they go a long ways in cementing the common bond that we talk about that connects all of us who are Rotarians around the world.
There are way more details that others could contribute, but these are some of my impressions, from a first time attendee.
