THE Kiwanis Club of Penang Central also known as Kelab Kiwanis Pulau Pinang Sentral held its Chartering Ceremony and Installation of Board of Directors at the Equatorial Hotel on July 28.
Kiwanis Club of Penang Central aims to serve the community in general with a focus more on children and youth with special needs.
Exco for Women and Family Development, Gender Inclusiveness and Non-Islamic Religious Affairs Chong Eng and Exco for Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Zairil Khir Johari were the guests of honour during the ceremony.
Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai was installed as the Charter President, followed by Lee Ean Hong as the President Elect, Goh Theng Lai (Vice President), See Swee Sie (Secretary), Foong Wei Fong (Treasurer) and Datuk Dennis Chuah, Gina Tang Choon Heok, Tan Thean Jin and Yvon Lim Siew Imm as the Directors.
Chong, in her speech, stated that Kiwanis Penang Central practices gender inclusiveness with its core committee achieving more than 30% women participation.
“I find it encouraging that Kiwanis Penang Central is gender inclusive where there is 50 % of female participation in the Board of Directors. Moreover the President Elect is a woman.
“More than 25 years ago, the delegates of Kiwanis International voted to open its membership to women, hence changing the face of Kiwanis forever.
“In 2015, Sue Pertrisin of Michigan was elected as the first female President of Kiwanis Club and Vice President of Kiwanis International,” said Chong Eng.
According to Chong Eng, Kiwanis Penang Central played an important part in the celebration of ‘Orange Day’ in Youth Park in Nov 2017 to promote awareness on the theme “Against Violence
to Women”.
“In this aspect, Kiwanis Penang Central and the National Council of Women’s Organisations supported this event and actively involved in promoting awareness on women and child rights issues,” she added.
The 48th District of Kiwanis International, the Malaysia District is headed by a Governor and a Board of Trustees to support Kiwanis Clubs in the country.
There are some 55 Kiwanis Clubs in Malaysia with a total membership base of about 1,300.
The first Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur was formed in 1976 through the pioneering initiative of the late Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Khir Johari.
Kiwanis International was founded on Jan 21, 1915 in Detroit, Michigan USA and is a global organization of volunteers working to improve the world with the concept of one child and one community at a time.
Story & Pix by Tanushalini Moroter
