PETALING JAYA: Rosemary Tan is no stranger in the community service and NGO scenes. She has been a member since joining Kiwanis Club Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and was awarded the Governor’s Medal for outstanding service to the District of Kiwanis Malaysia.
Tan has also received other accolades in recognition of her distinguished work at numerous organisations. She received the EO Mark Lincoln Award from Entrepreneurs Organization for Volunteer of the Year, the Blue Ribbon Malaysia’s Peace Ambassador and the Iron Lady Award 2018 by Road Safety Marshal club Malaysia to name a few.
Besides spending most of her time helping the less fortunate, she serves in her family business and has spoken at international conferences and summits, and is an ardent leadership trainer, facilitator and coach.
During her term in office, Tan and her team, consisting of Board of Trustees, five Lieutenants Governors, District Chairs and Special Projects team, are tasked to create more community impact and to increase membership and clubs around Malaysia, currently there are 56 clubs with over 1,300 members. With her team she hopes to plant seeds of Hope, Love and Unity in the community through inspirational projects, acts of kindness and creative events.
“The challenges of the pandemic have greatly motivated us, the incoming board and leaders of Kiwanis Malaysia, to continue to strengthen and empower this amazing organisation by ushering in new energetic ideas and processes to improve the lives of less fortunate, especially children. We shall do this one family and one community at a time,” said Tan.
In the last two years Tan and her team have worked hard to raise funds for families who were badly affected by the pandemic and the floods. In total, RM1.58 million was raised which beneficially impacted 9,983 families and over 30,000 children.
ECM Libra Foundation, one of Kiwanis major partner in this effort together with 4x4 Relief Malaysia and MyEO Impact have joined hands with Kiwanis to make these projects a success.
Kiwanis is a non-profit community organization that focuses on helping children. Its objectives are to look out for communities in need and create opportunities for children to have education, to live safely and healthily. Kiwanis believes that when you give a child the chance to learn, experience, dream, grow, succeed, and thrive, great things can happen.
With 46 years of presence in Malaysia, Kiwanis today has over 13 centres dedicated to catering for the needs of special children, in particular those affected by Down Syndrome, Autism, Dyslexia and those requiring neurological rehabilitation, including job training centres. Kiwanis is also building young leaders through their K-Kids program for 6-12 years old, Key Club for secondary school students, Circle K for college or university students and Aktion Club for adults with disabilities.
In 2019, the Kiwanis Malaysia Academy (KMA) was set up to build capacity for our centres and serve as a platform for caregivers and stakeholders to provide the best learning opportunities, including facilities, tools and guides to develop effective programs for children and youth.
It also helps provide Kiwanians the knowledge, tools and leadership training for them to better serve the community and children. To date, KMA offers in person and online Special Education Needs (SEN) module development and training to help people who have the interest to set up a SEN Centre. Coming soon are the development of SEN Module on Autism and our 2nd Sen Symposium on the topic of Innovation in Special Needs Education on 10th November 2022.
For more information on Kiwanis, please visit Kiwanis Malaysia – Kids Need Kiwanis and SEN Symposium 2022 – Kiwanis Malaysia or call +60 3 7496 4964.
