ROTARY CLUB OF TAIPING
Chartered 10th June 1936
A Brief History
The Rotary Club of Taiping was chartered on 10th. June 1936 and
its Charter President was Sir Sidney Bacon Palmer holding its weekly luncheon
meetings at Coronation Café (Now 2023 Lian Thong Coffee Shop) in Kota
Road. The Charter of the Club was officially
presented by the then District 330 Governor HRH Prince Purachatra of Thailand
during an official dinner held at the Hokkien Hoay Kuan (Hokkien Association
Taiping). It is the 2nd oldest Club in Perak and the 5th oldest in Malaysia.
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| Hokkien Associaiton |
The Club ceased functioning during the Japanese occupation (Second
World War 1941-1946) as with all other Clubs in Malaysia until it was revived
on 2 March 1953.
In 1985, the Yayasan Cariti Kelab Rotary Taiping (later changed to
Yayasan Rotary Taiping) was launched by HH DYMM Sultan Perak and given the “Tax
Exempt Status” by the Government.
Present times - The Rotary Club of
Taiping under the Royal Patronage of DYMM Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan, has
been serving the underprivileged and the needy and providing assistance in the
field of education and human development since 1936 in the District of Larut
Matang & Selama. As of now (2023) we have 28 dedicated members striving to
serve the motto “Service
Above Self”
THE CHARTER MEMBERS WERE:
Eric Ewart Gladstone, Louis John Butler Madden,
Dr Saw Ah Choy, George Theodore Dawes,
Robert Alan Stubington, Alfred William Frisby,
Toh Eng Hoe, Kenneth Bruce Eyre,
Wan Ahmad Rashdi, Mc Gabey,
Joseph William Ridley, Kehr Singh,
Kenneth Ray Blackwell, S.K.M. Kotval,
Mark Sylvester, Major Herbert Teesdale Graig,
Dr Tan Cheng Leng, Alexander Keir,
S T A V Saminathan Chettiar and
Dr I Mohamed Ghows
The Club held their weekly luncheon meetings at Coronation Cafe in Kota Road. However, this Club, like any other club in the Japanese occupied territories, had to cease functioning from December 1941 until its revival on 14 March 1953.
The revival was made possible with Dr. Chang Hoey Chan - special representative of the District Governor and a member of the Rotary Club of Ipoh - calling for a meeting of the prominent persons in Taiping at the State Rest House. The meeting expressed overwhelming support and an inaugural meeting was held at the official residence of the District Officer, Mr O.W. Walters OBE, on 6 October 1953 and thus a protem Board of Directors was elected with Mr. TBM Krishnan of the Police Department as protem President and Rev. Kjell Knutsen as protem Secretary.
The Club was then admitted to Rotary International on 2nd March 1954 and the charter was received from the Special
Representative of the District Governor, Dr Chang Hoey Chan at a dinner
meeting held at the Masonic Hall on 26 April 1954. The Club had twenty
two members with TBM Krishnan as President and Dr T. Markandu as
Secretary. The members met for luncheon meeting at the Kempe Club every
Thursday. It was a very active Club functioning effectively and made up
of Civil Servants and prominent men of the town drawn from among professional and business people, so much so that Past
District Governor Phya Srivisar (DG 1957-58) was moved to pronounce that
the
Taiping Rotary Club was a "model small sized Rotary Club".
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| Children's party 1963 |
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| President David at an official Club dinner 1962 |
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| Fellowship in 1967 |
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| Singing practice with President Rev Kjell Knutsen 1964 |
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| Rotary International Conference in Singapore in the 60s |
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| An article about RC Taiping in the Rotarian magazine September 1937 issue |
PAST PRESIDENTS SINCE 1936
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