NICOLE’S NOOK (JUNE
2017)
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT AS
THE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SUNGEI UJONG CLUB (RSUC)
PROLOGUE
This is my first Nicole’s Nook after I stepped down as RSUC’s
President on 23rd April 2017. For the uninitiated, I have a monthly
column in the RSUC’s newsletter for the past two years. I laid bare my thoughts
on the management of the Club and membership. There were several controversial
“exposés”
by my Deep Throats. The column was a compendium of information; tongue in cheek
analysis or thoughts; friendly advices and on rare occasions, “gossips” fit as
fodder for tabloids.
I have received many positive feedbacks about my writings as perhaps
most of my thoughts are my honest opinion pertaining to the Club, the members
and the nation as a whole. I thought I want to share my experience as the Club
President with the readers. One of the things I have always emphasised on was
harmony.
HARMONY
The Chinese sage
Confucius discovered the answer to a harmonious society when he said that “To put the world in order, we must
first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put
the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our
personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
The concept of family is essential
in classical Confucianism. For Confucius, xiào (filial piety) was a dé (virtue). Those acting with filial piety,
through the performances of lĭ (ritual), were therefore acting in
accordance with yì (righteousness or acting in harmony
with one's proper role). In politics, xiào is not simply loyalty on the part of
subordinates and citizens, but also an expectation for the king to reciprocate
with "paternal love". In the same way, the people are expected to act
with respect for the king's law, the king is expected to make benevolent laws
for the citizens.
It is my
greatest wish that there will be peace and harmony in the world. It may sound
clichéd. A lot of us are either pessimistic or apathetic about world peace as
we only hear the words “world peace” from the lips of Miss World or Miss
Universe.
I
believe that we can make world peace a reality and it must come from within
ourselves. Peace and harmony must first come from within ourselves. Peace and
harmony can only be achieved if we have the right attitude and actions. We must
possess the qualities of aptitude, answerability and pellucidity. Using the
abovementioned Confucian concepts, these qualities should then be transmitted
to your family; club or organization; or workplace; and “trickled up” to the
government.
CLUB
PRESIDENCY
In my four years as
Club President, I have had the opportunity to work with numerous General
Committee (GC) members from different walks of life. We may not have made every
decision right but I believe we made every decision with the Club’s interests
as paramount. We have agreed to disagree. We have had our tiffs but we never
allowed our disagreements to affect our duties to the Club.
My tenure as the
President of the Royal Sungei Ujong Club provided me with invaluable
experience. Importantly, the experience taught me the meaning of service. There
are a handful of Club members who expect the GC members to be at their service
at all times and to be present in the Club whenever they are around. For eg, if
they don’t see you during lunch time then it must mean that you have stopped eating
lunch in the Club and do not support the Club’s F & B. For eg, if they
don’t see you at 6 pm (even though you were in the Club from 11.30 am until
2.30 pm) then it must means that you were hardly in the Club.
These expectations are
normal as according to them, this is the price you have to pay if you want to
be elected into office. I tend to agree
with them in part only. Yes, the election into office comes with a price but
there must be a balance or give and take. Just like the Confucian principle,
there must be a two way traffic for this GC-members relationship. If the Club
members have high expectations of the GC members then the GC members too
deserve some form of reasonableness from the Club members. Only then can the
relationship work. Be that as it may, all these experiences have made me into a
better person. I must admit that I have improved tremendously on my knowledge
in human behavioural science.
OMEGA
For me serving in the GC has always been about
service in the Club’s interest. It is easy to proclaim but often hard to do. However,
one of the things that sustained me is the sense that despite all the trials
and tribulations, and heated disagreements and criticisms, there’s always a
bright side. No matter how difficult or unpopular the decisions were, there was
a great sense of achievement. I took comfort that there was a quiet but
prevailing sense that most Club members wished their President well and appreciated
me.
My parting words in my last newsletter was “So I
want to take this opportunity to express the magnitude of my gratitude to all
those who have given me words of encouragement; written kind letters and emails
offering me that support and comfort. Some of whom I never get meet and to
thank personally.
It was indeed an honour to serve
the Club as President over the last four years and to serve as GC member for ten
years. To my fellow Club members, it has been the honour to serve you. The Club
will still be my first home. In fact, I will be right there with you, as a Club
member, for the rest of my life.
My parting advice to my esteemed Club members
and to my successor, the incoming President : The twin tenets of teamwork and harmony should form part of the Club’s
basic ethos. All the best and have the most splendid time Clubbing !!”
You may ask, why should
non-Club members be bothered to know or to learn about my experience as a
“snooty” private members’ Club President ? Well, I feel that no matter where we
are (be it in a family, a workplace, a community, a country or even as an
individual) we need to understand the importance of harmony; teamwork and
mutual respect by using the abovementioned Confucian principle. With that understanding, we can make the
world a better place.
Nicole Tan Lee Koon
