HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

From the desk of District Governor, Hudson:

2011 will see loads of new challenges but with strong Lionism at heart, every Lion will be able to achieve all the desired goals in life as long as we have the passion to do what we do!

HAPPY NEW YEAR...

District 308B2 (Malaysia)

Time to Make a Difference! Roar!

Hi all,

It has been a while since we have posted something. Well, here's a video for everyone to think about our lives... the lives of others whom we have supported, helped or given hope to... and the future and the new year that will dawn upon us all....
Have you made your resolution? Set your goals? Review your flaws and perfect your mistakes? Well... it's time to be like this little girl in this video! Happy viewing!!! Roar!!!!

Regards
Lion Alan Thoo
B2 Passion Editorial Team

"We Complain about the brand of shoes that we have until we see people without feet"

It was 2 years back on 10-10-08 when my wife and I traveled to Cambodia for our Anniversary. I was just looking through my photos and I found these two... I chartered a boart and headed off to the middle of Tonle Sap Lake (Largest lake in the world I think.. if not Asia)... my intention was to have a romantic dinner overlooking the horizon at dusk... Instead... we were troubled with a few incidents on the way that totally stopped us and had us puzzled. Kids were "sailing" on their "aluminum boats"... asking for money. My heart sanked as I saw more than 15 "sailors" were doing so...

Our candlelight dinner didn't really end up too romantic as that experience stopped us to ask ourselves... Have I made a difference in my life? Do I value life? Should I be happy with what I have now? Should I complain about what I don't have until I realize what I already have is a luxury to many?

From that day onwards, our Lionism somehow strengthened. Well, that's just the two of us.. and a story to share. Both Cheryl and I have not made any plans for 10-10 this year.. let alone.. 10-10-10....

She asked me the other day about our plans for 10-10-10.. and I told her, instead of spending loads of money doing lame stuff every year.. how about we be M.A.D (Making a Difference)... not in our lives.. but in the lives of others? LCI and our MD308 alone are celebrating 10-10-10, World Sight Day and a lot of us are going for the Walk for Sight projects. 

A friend asked... "Aiya.. Alan... But it's YOUR anniversary!!!! You can put everything else on hold... What difference does it make for the two of you?" And my answer to him was... "It may just be an extra two Lions on the road supporting this cause... but... I know we would have Made a Difference... it's the baby steps we take!"

What are your plans for 10-10-10?
*Penang*Klang Valley*

Regards

Lion Alan Thoo
B2 Passion Editorial Team

B2 Lions Serving with Passion! (Random news)

District 308B2 Lions Clubs would like to wish all Muslim Lions a belated SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI! We apologize for not being to post up materials as we were caught up with a lot of workload prior to the Raya Holidays. Anyway, here's some news for all of you!

DID YOU KNOW? ... 

that we have a LIONS HEADQUARTERS? No? Oh well...No kidding! It is a 3 storey building located at No: 25-1 Jalan Tanjung SD 13/2, Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur! it;s just 10 minutes drive from One Utama Shopping Mall! The ground floor is currently rented out and the 1st & 2nd floor house board rooms and a large seminar hall that can cater up to 70 people forseminars and talks.

Board rooms for small discussions

Seminar Hall

District Governor Hudson Hah in his office on 1st floor & the cabinets housing past year awards, souvenir programmes and a rich history of District 308B1 & B2!!!!

Should you need more information, kindly contact Lion Veronica Koh or Lion Richard Choo at 03-62725399 for booking!

DID YOU KNOW? ...

Lions Clubs in Penang, District 308B2, donated All Terrain 4 x 4 Ambulance to the St.John's Ambulance of Malaysia? This First-in-Malaysia ambulance will be making its debut in Malaysia very soon! The Ambulance Project was first mooted in 2008 when the Rt. Hon'ble Chief Minister of Penang, Tuan Lim Guan Eng in a discussion with the then District Governor Kenneth Saw suggested that Lions try to help out the State Government by providing an ambulance to serve the North East tourist belt of Penang (from Tanjung Bungah to Batu Feringghi). The ambulance will be based in Batu Feringghi and its response time to any emergency in that area will be very quick due to its location. There is already an ambulance serving the South West area of the Island manned by SJAM's EMAS team. Penang Lions managed to raise some RM180,000.00 through direct donations, club contributions and a charity fund raising dinner held at the Han Chiang High School Hall in Penang in June 2009. Major  individual contributors are the 45th OSEAL Forum Committee, Lion Dato' Goh Eng Hoe, numerous Lions and Clubs in Penang. After a much awaited two years, tthe Ambulance will be put to good use to serve the people of Penang through the kind and generous efforts of Lions and the generous public.

DID YOU KNOW? ... The Leo Clubs in Malaysia just celebrated their 40th Anniversary a few weekends ago? Instead of a mega scaled concert, event or dinner, Leos and Lions chose to give back to mother nature by planting trees, cleaning-up, and organizing 3R/Eco related projects!!! Dubbed the M.A.D Celebration (Making a Difference), Leos and their sponsoring Lions Clubs worked hand in hand in green-ing Mother Earth! Here's a video of the biggest concerted event ever held! The best thing is the project gained approval from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and also endorsed and supported by MCG2 (Malaysian Celebrities Go Green)

Video compilation courtesy of LTv!

TV1 Coverage of the event


What's up with the New Century Lions in B2?
A picture paints a thousand words... A video... oh well... happy viewing!!!

New Century Lions Club Penang Island
Conferment Ceremony of Honorary Member
YB Koay Teng Hai,
(Pulau Tikus, Penang, State Assemblyman)
by 1st Vice District Governor Shawn Lee

IMNC Lions Club (Ipoh Metro New Century)  

created historyby being the first club 

in the district to organize a Joint District (308B1 & B2) after the MoU
signing ceremony between the two districts. The event was
a Buka Puasa event & Santai Ramadhan held in Giant Kota Damansara
with local celebrities giving laughter and fun to orphans and the disabled.

What's next?

10-10-10....is International World Sight Day (Click here for Lions International link on this topic) and both Districts 308B1 & B2 (Malaysia) are coming together to pull off a mega scale concerted effort in our respective zones/areas! Is your club a part of the Zone/Regional project for this? Do you have any idea where it will be held in your region? Well, the best thing to do right now is to contact your President or your Zone/Region Chairpersons for more details. We are sure they will be able to help you!

Well... that's all for now... Stay Tuned to B2 Passion for more info! Roarrrr!!!!!!!

Regards

Lion Alan Thoo
B2 Passion Editorial

Have you recognized your Leos lately?

August is declared as the Global Youth Month by LCI, with the International UN Youth Day held on the 12th of August! I remember writing something about steps to organize events with your Leos or perhaps other youths in your region or zone? Past International Director Ellis Suriyati once said, "Success is not defined as what you have achieved...It is what your successors can do when they are on their own, and how they could maintain your legacy or in fact, even do better than you!" True words of wisdom from someone whom I respect since my Leo days sometime back. Probably this is the reason why PID has been climbing the "Lionistic Hierarchy" ladder since she was a DG. 

It is true. Our youths today might have a different view point from our methods today. Their methods of doing things, their mentality, energy, view points and enthusiasm sometimes exceed the expectation of a fellow Lion. At times, with their fire building up, we may have the option of either shut them down by clipping their wings, or we go with the flow, and monitor their progress. Have you ever used this phrase before... 

  

"When I was younger, I certainly didn't do it like you!"

"There is no such nonsence during my time"

"Don't do this"

"You have no rights to say that. I demand an apology from you now!"

Sometimes, if we sit down and listen to them.. perhaps we might be able to even learn a trick or two from them. No kidding!

If your Lions Club sponsors a Leo Club, have you ever thought about giving them some forms of recognition via speeches, blogs, Club awards etc? With the advancement of the internet, youths today are exposed to more elements of lifestyles, management, skills, thoughts, opinions and may be more vocal than you think (or you used to be). 

There was a senior Lion who has been a Leo Advisor for ages... told me that at times he just can't cope with the younger generation as they are so energetic and fiery! So I asked him what was his remedy to keep track of the activities done by the Leos. He said, "Well, it's simple. I opened up a Facebook account!" He laughed. Then, he continued, "I may be in my 50's, but I ain't old. As long as we keep our minds young, fresh and open-minded... we'll live a better life, and even get more respect from the kids"

The Leo Advisor, who chose to remain anonymous, added that he even went to the extend of watching Lady Gaga and Britney Spears music videos on youtube.com just to know what this "Gaga" phenomenon is all about! (If you do not know who is Lady Gaga, well... she ain't Teresa Teng!) I was shocked personally! Gaga has never been my favourite and I probably might have just watched once. As the District Chairperson for Leo Clubs, I felt so honoured to have been able to talk to this Leo Advisor. He gave me an inspiration to go on doing what I do.

Well, for those of you who would like to tap into your young ones, do you know  that Lions Clubs International recognizes both the Lions Club and its sponsored Leo Clubs for activities that are carried out together? Click here for the form. You may download this form after your project, fill it up and send it directly to LCI office. You'll get a patch for that effort. Zone Chairperson Alan Cheah, in his term as President, organized a joint project with their Leo Club, Leo Club of George Town Mutiara, and received a special patch from LCI for their efforts!

In addition to that, if your Sponsoring Lions Clubs guide a Leo Club in organizing a mega scale project, you may even submit the project for the Beacon Award! As long as we Serve with Passion, treat the young ones as a source for creativity & energy... we might just bring the LION out in them!

"Serve with Passion"

Lion Alan Thoo

B2 Passion Editor

MoU to be M.A.D?!!!

M.A.D is the right abbreviation to describe what took place on the 14th of August 2010!!!!! The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Districts 308B1 & B2 (Malaysia) is definitely M.A.D!!!! Oh well, here it's Making a Difference ya!

In order to keep things short and simple for once, We'll let the photos and video do the talking shall we? As the saying goes.. a picture paints a thousand words!!!!

For more photos please click here! We will upload the link online soon@ thanks!

Another good article... food for thought!!!!

I'm still a bachelor in my mid 20's, and I have had a few great experiences with my ex'es, but even though my love life ended abruptly a while ago, I stumbled upon this article reposted by a Leo member... and it just caught my attention how PASSION can actually be slowly rejuvenated if you really put your hearts and soul into it. Maybe our Passion to Serve might differ from one individual to another, but ... the important point is that we kind'a have to build it up and Passion over something (or someone) is never built overnight. This article is truly meaningful. It got me .... I must say.. I stopped, re-think.. and I hope that by sharing this, I won't offend any parties who prefer to be single! Haha. Happy reading!

Serve with Passion

Lion Simon Leong
B2 Passion Writer
DC for IT & District Website
IPP IMNC Lions Club
District 308B2 (Malaysia)

MARRIAGE
by Stephanie Halmilton

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.