SEREMBAN: It was heart-warming to see over 800 Kiwanians from 16 countries at the Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson for the 48th Kiwanis Asia Pacific Convention (ASPAC).
The 3-day convention is an annual event to honour districts, clubs and individuals who have excelled in their community service and impactful projects helping children. The ASPAC convention is held on rotation where each country in Asia Pacific gets a chance to host the event. After three years of border closure, this year the event is held in Malaysia where all Kiwanians get to meet, strengthen ties and bond with each other - with one objective that is to serve the children of the world.
Attending the event is guest of honour Her Royal Highness Tunku Ampuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Aishah Rohani Binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud. She was flanked by YAB Puan Sri Hajah Khir Johari – ‘Mama Kiwanis’, ASPAC Chairperson Maribel (Belle) Garcia from the Philippines, Kiwanis International President Bert West from USA, Kiwanis Children’s fund President Kiwanian Filip Delanote from Belgium, Kiwanis Malaysia District Governor Rosemary Tan and Organizing Chairperson and Immediate Past Governor Serena Quek.
Opening the event, a grand fanfare of 24 drum performance signalled the commencement of a spectacular and colourful parade of Kiwanians wearing their country’s costumes and holding their flags entering the hall. This was followed by Her Royal Highness Ampuan Besar being invited to the stage to hit the Kiwanis Bell as a mark of official opening of the event.
In her opening speech Belle Garcia said, ‘This is ASPAC 48th anniversary and this year’s theme ‘WE ARE ONE’ reflects on our eagerness to revitalize the mission of our organization in serving the children. We are one happy Kiwanis family bringing the Kiwanis service to the community.’ Belle gave salutation to Kiwanians who have been a member for 40, 30 and 20 years, and to all ladies in conjunction with International Women’s Day this month.
Rosemary Tan, District Governor for Kiwanis Malaysia said this is one of Kiwanis major event since the Covid-19 pandemic started. She explained that the Kiwanis ASPAC community have not met up in person for the past few years. However Kiwanians at their local and national level have been courageous in serving communities in need service such as delivering food and daily necessities during the pandemic and especially during floods that inundated Malaysia.
She said, ‘Do not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don’t give up as every good deed has a ripple effect – that continues to grow until you have a whole movement of people doing acts of kindness, an image that describe our Kiwanis Movement.’
Together with Kiwanian Belle, Rosemary presented a gratitude citation to Kiwanis International Executive Director and Kiwanis Children’s Fund, Stan Soderstom for his leadership and service, as he will be retiring soon and Stan has served Kiwanis International for over 22 years helming the professional office that enables this global organisation to provide altruistic service around the world.
The event also saw Belle and Dato Stewart Labrooy, ASPAC Secretary & Treasurer, launch ASPAC website. ‘It’s the foundation for the future. Its not just a website as it offers online payments, fundraising, sharing of service ideas, recruitment of new members, meetings, and online events. It’s a tool used to create ASPAC virtual office, enabling all members to catch up and prepare for the future,’ explained Dato Stewart Labrooy.
He said in the 48 years of ASPAC, the region has not a good channel for communication until now. He added that for a budget of USD10,000 annually, there are further plans for future developments such as presentation training using AI tools to automate Kiwanis business, holding forums, and promoting future conventions.
Following the official business, the event was brought to quiet moment when the brilliant Zy Kher Lee were invited to the stage. The Not Disabled, Only Differently-Abled boy as he is popularly known, Zy which means victory, is a 16 year old boy who was born with one complete left arm, half a right arm, no right leg, a malformed left leg with three toes and dislocated hip joints.
Zy’s father, Walter Lee who is a celebrity chef and Nok, his Thai Mother were the inspiration to his success. His parents were told that Zy was going to be a normal child before he was born, however both parent got the shock of their life when Zy was born. They believe Zy is not disabled but only differently-abled boy. Their philosophy is ‘Fail Fast, fail different and fail forward’ and Yes...if...and not No... because...’
Today, Zy has climbed mountains and have travelled the world, winning numerous medals at swimming competitions representing Malaysia in the Asian Youth Para Games. Soon he will be conquering the pool at the World Para Swimming Championships 2023 in Manchester, England and the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
‘Despite Zy being well known for successfully overcoming his challenges, it has not easy journey for him and his parents. We have invited Zy to the convention to inspire the Kiwanians. We hope through his experience, we will understand children with challenges from his point of view.
We gained new perspectives and we hope parents with special children will be more courageous and inspired by Zy’s example, that there are hidden potential in every child. Parents are their child’s pillar and having family and community that encourage and lift them up, surround them with hope and light, our children that we serve will truly blossom,’ explained Rosemary Tan.
The 3-day event also saw the group’s discussion on Strengthening ties between Kiwanis International and ASPAC Leadership, Kiwanis Children’s Fund training session, workshops on leveraging social media, Tik Tok for NGO, K-Kids workshop, International Volunteerism Comes Alive and Membership Growth Workshops. This was followed by business sessions and the election of ASPAC Chair 2023-24. It was a time of connection, learning, where the diverse attendees felt the Kiwanis family spirit!
For more information on Kiwanis, please visit www.kiwanis.org.my or call +603 74964964.
