"I Pledge" Movie Montage/Music Video/Slide Show Competition!

Dear Leos,

Firstly... A big CONGRATULATIONS....! to the LEO CLUB OF PJI for winning the best Blog competition!!! Their club just pocketed RM100.00 into their admin account for IT purposes! (Treasurer.. please collect from me when you see me next ya!)

I have received a lot of SMS, emails and phone calls asking about the competition on "I Pledge" for August. Well, there's no more secrets!! Yup.. This is the competition for August & September 2009 ya!!!

The Competition:
You should have lots of videos and photos taken of your projects and activities over the years. All you have to do is to create a movie.. slide show... Music Video.. whatever...!!!!! that can move one's heart... in line with the touching scenes of the late Yasmin Ahmad's commercials or movies!! You may even act out some of the parts, or take some video shots when you organize your next visit to a welfare home...:) Anything under the son, as long as it is like the music video of I Pledge!

The Prize:
RM500.00 grant for your next School Service/Social Service project!!!!*
(This means you can't simply spend the RM500.00 if you win this! However, you may use the RM500.00 as a start-up funding to your next big project!!!!)

Prize is sponsored by Giant-Ants (M) Sdn Bhd, who owns the copyrights to the song, "I Pledge" and talent agency of National Kidney Foundation teen ambassador, Azizi Zakaria.. who is also a Leo Club member!!!

So, what are you waiting for... start thinking like Steven Spielberg... start thinking creatively!!!! LET THE CAMERA'S ROLL!!!!!!!


Sample of an MV for "I Pledge" ~ Good Luck!!!

The Entry...
Simple ~ do up your video... upload it on youtube.com, and then send me the link...! I'll start pasting the links on this blog... and we shall give 14 days in the month of October for people to view and to vote! The vote is 50-50%, with a panel f judges from the Lions Clubs!

You may send me an email should you want further explanation on this ya! ~ alan@eventplusmarketing.com

Regards

Lion Alan Thoo
DC Leo 2009/2010

"Beauty with a Purpose" by Soo Wincci 蘇盈之

Well, for those who were at the Multiple District LEO Forum in Penang back in June 2009... do you remember one of our guest performers, was Soo Wincci (蘇盈之), Miss World-Malaysia 2008/2009???!!!!

Well, Wincci has just released her latest EP and I got myself a copy (original of course! ahem!)..! The Star quoted Wincci's debut as a very "One Malaysia" concept as there's a song done in 3 languages - BM, English & Mandarin! The album comprising 4 Chinese numbers, 1 BM & 1 English, is now available in all record stores nationwide!

Besides her busy schedule, Winnci is also ambassador/spokesperson to several charity organizations. Wincci is certainly one that stands out as a beauty queen + talented pretty chic who spends time doing good for the needy ones... The album is co-produced by big names like Ajai, Mac Chew etc...Wincci has performed with Hong Kong superstar Jackie Cheung and Singapore's Stephanie Sun before!

We are so happy to have Miss World Malaysia, Wincci performed 2 numbers during our LEO Forum this year and we hope Wincci will find a milestone of success in her journey in the music industry!

Who says beauty queens cant do anything else but wave?
Wincci @ the LEO Forum in Penang in June 2009!

15 Malaysia launched!

I accompanied Baki Zainal (Celebrity Lion) to the launching of 15 Malaysia recently @ the IMAX theatre @ Berjaya Times Square. Basically, the project, fruits of labour from 15 different directors... produced by Pete Teo... was aimed at putting our social & community issues right in front of us to look at... Well, in a different way ~ short films!!!!

15 different voices (from the directors) giving a shout out about the topic that they are focusing on... and some chose the artistic ways (believe me... when I walked out of the cinema.. there were 1-2 of the films that baffled me until I got a little more explanation thereafter! hahaha) .. some chose the humour way... some chose the "dark" ways and so and so fort...! oh ya, while you have to wait every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a release of a brand new short film in the 15Malaysia project...(from Aug 17th onwards).. I have already watched all 14 of them... the 15th one is a "mystery" to all! :)

Baki, Cynthia (P1) & Pete Teo (Producer of 15Malaysia)

Baki, who has also contributed his time and energy... acted alongside political leaders like Khairy Jamaluddin & also Dato' Seri Liow Tiong Lai (Health Minister). The two films are entitled "Meter" & "Health Paranoia"... watch out for the release date coming soon!!!

Our country has more people than Australia & New Zealand combined! However, we have more ethnic groups than most countries of the world.. all living and shetering under one roof we all call home! There are many issues that the 15Malaysia Project is trying to reach out to the people... from racial to perception...economical to health issues... psychopath paedophillia to the "men-in-black".... all done in short films of no longer than 10 mins I think.

Leos... if you have the time, log on to www.15malaysia.com! Don;t just laugh over the films. Think twice.. 3 times...or even more!!! Review the film again and again to see if you actually can capture the true meaning the director is trying to tell us!!!

Oh ya.. just in case if you are wondering who is Pete Teo... well, if you have heard the song, "Here in my Home" by many, many local artists... (called MAFU - Malaysian Artistes For Unity), yup.. that's Pete's project too! Here's MV...

Health Directors/Chairpersons ~ please download & share!!!!!

Dear all Health Directors/Chairpersons,

VDG 1 Hudson Hah recently forwarded me a powerpoint slide that has a lot of info about the deadly infectious influenza A-H1N1...As LEOs, we need to share this piece of information with as many people as possible. Try forwarding this to as many people as possible to spread the information around!

Note: I'm surprised myself to find out that if you ever get infected with the virus...even before you fall sick (1/2 days earlier...) you have a high chance of infecting those around you! NOTE ~ even before you start showing symptoms!!! THIS... is how deadly the virus is!!! Hence, don't take this likely!

Here's the file => CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

If possible, do not print the slides... If you really have to.. take the pointers and visuals and shrink them into a piece of flyer and distribute them... only if you have to use printed method to spread awareness... Otherwise, just blast to everyone on your mailbox!!!

Perak's Educational Department has already issued a strict order to ban all extra curricular activities! With cases found in Perak, you just might never know if the person sitting next to you might just be carrying the virus, but just not sick yet! This is the reason why the department is trying their best to prevent any large scale gatherings of any sort! As per my last email, Leos in Perak.. stay calm and be patient. This is a challenge posted to all of you... take it up and do something else instead of organizing events k?

Take care!

Regards

Lion Alan Thoo
District Chairperson for LEO Clubs

Building Castles in the Air....

Am sure you have heard this one before! "Son, stop day dreaming! You can't be doing this! It's impossible...." All these negativity over the years.. from a child to a teenager... youth to adult.. we were told that we should stop day dreaming... don't think about big goals... THINK BOUT YOUR STRAIGHT A's in your exams before anything... bla bla bla bla bla!

Yup.. As a child, my mum too, always use proverbs and constant nagging on me... (She's a retired English teacher.. what do you expect?!!!) Even at school, when I had some big ideas on something, my friends or teachers would have told me that... "Stop day dreaming dude! It won't work!!!!"

See.. the Wright brothers in the early stages of building a plane... were laughed at, cursed, bla bla.... to the max! Now, we fly from KL to LA in less than 18 hours~!!!!

Have you seen the size of the first computer and phone? What about the mobile phones? The huge ones where we call them "water tumblers...", or the "tai kor tai" mobile phones? For those who have used the Tai Kor Tai mobile phones before, have you ever thought that the mobile phone 5 years from then... would be smaller than the size of the palm that can do video conferencing and surf the internet???! When the first computer was created, do you think that anyone would have thought that... the computer in the next 20 years, would be a million times faster and can be stored into a small bag?

Mostly ~ the answer is no... don't you think so? How about the next set of questions?

i) Cars will no longer need petrol and solar cells would be good enough to power up the engine? Wheels? OMG, that is just so... 21st century mannnn! Cars will hover on magnetic surfaces where there is a device that controls the flow and it just simply hovers on the road?

ii) Teleportation? - this is big. hahaha... Ever watched the Fly? Star Trek where the equipment demolecularize an item and remolecularize at another point?

iii) Speed - you reckon Warp speed is possible? (waaayyyy faster than the speed of light if you are an arden Trekkie fan!!!)

iv) Mobile phones? ~ Gee, who needs them?!!!! You tap your watch and the person you are talking to, there's this hologram image that transmit data, video & audio.. you simply "tap" in the air.... It's like when you tap on the watch.. it goes

"Hello Mr Thoo, welcome to DiGi, caller ID pls"

"Dial Lion Clayton Tan"

"Dialing Lion Clayton Tan, House, office or Mobile"

"Mobile"

"Connecting you"

v) Again.. my last question ~ Building castles in the air?

What about the thought of everyone no longer live in house but spacecrafts overlooking Mars? I would call that a Castle in the air!!!! or.. simply.. the entire Condominium floats in the air.. yup!!!!

WE JUST HAVEN'T DISCOVERED THE TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT THE CASTLE IN THE AIR YET!!!!

Therefore... folks, remember!!!! There's no such thing as building castles in the air... no such thing as.."Hahahah.. you have got to be kidding me! that's impossible!!!".... "That's rubbish".... "Stop day dreaming"

Eventually, whatever goes around comes around. Most importantly you need to ensure that YOU... know what you are doing!

YOU dare to dream...!

YOU dare to accept the challenge!

YOU dare to go beyond boundaries!

YOU dare to climb a thousand mountains, run a million miles, swim a zillion oceans....

to achieve your goals and dreams.. Let no one or nothing stop you! If you fail, pat yourself at the back, pick youself up, and continue your journey!

As for me... I'm now at a juncture of thinking.....

Should I build an Alpha Castle in an open land

.. brand new...

New lands give new problems... everything else is new.. fresh,...people who work at the castle will also be new and they have to be trained etc etc etc

OR...

Should I just buy an existing Omega Castle...!

old castle.... has their old problems. By waiting to buy the castle alone, took me ages.. pursuation... hints... encouragements... loads of work had to do...begging....

But.. after the purchase... there might be problems too... the workers may not listen to the new boss... the senior workers are just too conservative in change....

Sighhhhhh!

Hence... should I buy an old Castle, or Build a new one?!!!! Alpha or Omega....

Thinking... thinking.....!

Regards

Lion Alan Thoo

DC Leo

Postponement of Region 4 (Perak) Joint Installation

Dear All,

It is very unfortunate that the Region 4 LEO Joint Installation has been postponed to a later date. This is inline with the call from the Ministry of Education to avoid unnecessary public gatherings or extra curricular activities that can best be avoided as the status of the Influenza A-H1N1 is pretty serious in our country!

As the District Chairperson for LEO Clubs in our District, I would like to call upon all the clubs in our district to avoid joint projects or carrying out mega/major projects that involve the public or other clubs. This is not the right time to do that. I understand some of you, by now, would be saying... "Chehhh.. last time that Lion Alan asked us to do more cross regional projects and joint projects to create more fellowship amongst all regions... bla bla bla"....

Ya.. please read between the lines.. NOW IS NOT THE TIME. Let's dwell into some info that you might already be aware of, but not necessary taken note of...:

According to Wikipedia....The 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza virus, officially named the "new H1N1", first identified in April 2009, and commonly called "Swine flu." It is thought to be a mutation of four known strains of the influenza A virus, subtype H1N1: one endemic in (normally infecting) humans, one endemic in birds, and two endemic in pigs (swine). Transmission of the new strain is human-to-human, with cooked pork products safe to eat as the virus cannot be transmitted by eating foods.

The outbreak began in Mexico, with evidence that Mexico was already in the midst of an epidemic for months before the outbreak was recognized. Soon after, its government closed down most of Mexico City's public and private offices and facilities to help contain the spread. In early June, as the virus spread globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak to be a pandemic, but also noted that most illnesses were of "moderate severity." The virus has since spread to the Southern Hemisphere which entered its winter flu season, and to many less developed countries with limited healthcare systems. Because the virus was spreading with "unprecedented speed", and many clinics were overwhelmed testing and treating patients, WHO stopped requiring countries to report all cases, but is still monitoring unusually large outbreaks.

The virus typically spreads from coughs and sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the nose or mouth. Symptoms, which can last up to a week, are similar to those of seasonal flu, and may include fever, sneezes, sore throat, coughs, headache, and muscle or joint pains. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that most cases worldwide have been mild so far and most hospitalizations and deaths have been of persons that also had underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, or a weakened immune system. Then again, Dr Anne Schuchat from CDC thinks, "this is a virus that's capable of causing a spectrum of illness that includes severe complications and death". "It's very important we take this virus seriously".

As the virus spreads easily between people, through the air or surface contact, those who get the flu are recommended to stay home from school or work and avoid crowds to avoid spreading the infection further. WHO does not expect to have a full vaccine before the end of 2009, and vaccines available sooner may be limited and given first to healthcare workers, pregnant women, and other higher risk groups. Two or three injections will be required for maximum immunity from both the swine flu and seasonal flu. There is also concern if the new virus mutates further, it could become more virulent and less susceptible to any new vaccine.

*************************************************************************************

During this time....it doesnt mean we should take a break from the LEO Clubs. Our Lionistic Hours should continue.. It doesnt mean we should be using the H1N1 issue as an excuse to cut back on LEO activities. When you are a LEO... there's no taking time off! There's also no such thing as a part time LEO.

Here are some suggestions:

1) ONLINE PROJECTS
i) CONTINUATION OF STORY......

Have you ever thought of something as creative as this? I'm not very IT savvy. Perhaps, we can start a story online. Then, people start to contribute ideas. For example.... We give this story 4 main characters. Then, the story passes on from club to club where each club is given the opportunity to contribute not more than 300 words in the continuation of the storyline... After a club is done with that, then, the story moves over to another club... we travel from North to South or vice versa!!!!! Hence, the 4 main characters whom Leo Club of XXYY created, might end up as aliens for that matter... when the project is ended with the Leo Club of PPQQ.

Hahah.. that'll be fun aye? Then, who knows, we can sell the story to some producers and maybe.. the story might be turned into a movie? drama? etc etc?

ii) Fellowship Project Online!

Erm.. go figure something out aye???

iii) Competition/blogging/ etc etc

Create something lah!!!! Anything! Competition... contest.. whatsoever to spread info, love... sharing and caring spirit etc etc etc!!!! Get all your members to be involved. See how far that will take you!!!!

2) Concentrate on your school
Alpha clubs.. this is the time where you can focus on building great ties with your school authorities, teachers, students and everyone @ your school! The Leo Club of SMK Bandar Kinrara assisted the school in the spreading of info on the H1N1 virus and also partially funded hand sanitizers for the students. Such move definitely would create good bonds with the school authorities as they would definitely appreciate all that you do.

Besides that, concentrate on organizing internal activities @ your school. Remember in this year's requirements for Alpha Clubs for awards, you MUST organize or hold a minimum of 10 school services! Exams are coming, have you ever thought of organizing a talk for your LEO members.. for example "Teknik-teknik menjawab soalan PMR"

Imagine this... the Membership Director can do this.. use this as a membership drive! HOW? Well, simple!!! :P All you have to do is hire or invite a speaker for a particular topic related to the up & coming examinations. When that takes place, all you have to do is to open the talk to ONLY LEO members. Design some flyers/posters (printed on recycled or used paper ya!! ahem ahem)... then put a clause there....

Non-Leo members are invited too, but you need to register with a fellow LEO member!!!!! When your friends/school mates who are NOT Leo members come to attend the seminar, take 10-15 minutes to show them what LEO is all about before, or after the Seminar!!!!

OUt of the 10-20 non-Leo members who come, you might just have 3-4 who might stay as Leo members after all!!!!!

There are MANY, MANY School services that you can organize.. hence, during this 1-2 month "peak" period of H1N1 season I should say... stay away from too crowded or packed functions. Try focusing on building your club....!

As the DC for Leo, I can only discourage you from big gatherings, but have no power to stop you from proceeding. All we need is just ONE case of a Leo member attending a Leo function getting sick... just imagine that.. the entire good name of your club.. or the LEO Club events in our District will be tarnished?

Hmmm.....you make the call!

Lion Alan Thoo

District Chairperson for LEO Clubs

Reports received

Dear all Leo Secretaries/Presidents,

Kindly take note, here's a list of all clubs that submitted their reports for July 2009:
Region 1:
Georgetown Mutiara, Penang City, Tanjung, Chung Ling High School, SMK Tunku Puan Habsah, SMK Convent Dato' Keramat, Penang Chinese Girls High School, Tanjung Putra, Union High School

Region 3:
SMJK Keat Hwa, Alor Star

Region 4:
SMJK Nan Hwa, SMJK Sam Tet, SMK Sultan Ahmad Shah, SMJK Yuk Kwan, Ipoh Unity (O), Ipoh Metro (O), SMJK Shing Chung, SMJK Ave Maria Convent, SMK Anderson, SMK Idris Shah, SMJK Poi Lam, SMK St. Bernadette's Convent, SMJK Yuk Choy, SMK St.Michael

Region 5:
SMK Damansara Jaya, SMK Assunta, SM Sri Kuala Lumpur, SMK Taman Sea, SMK La Salle PJ, Monash University (O), SMK USJ8, SMK Seafield, SMK Subang Utama, SMK La Salle Klang, SMK Subang Jaya

To clubs who have submitted their reports who are not listed here, kindly forward the email to me again at alan@eventplusmarketing.com


GO GREEN? For real?? Oh please!!!

Region 5 just joined Region 4 in their quest to stay "un-green" by not heeding my call to ban all usage of polystyrene/styrofoam in LEO events where recently the RCC meeting & School for incoming BOD saw these materials being used to serve food.

My call....move slowly... educate your members and friends and then... move towards using paper and re-usable materials!!! Google up "Go Green" and there are loads of methods and ways you can learn on how.. you can really "Go Green"!!!

Think about this ~
"We can't change the world, but the least we could do is... we change ourselves....!"

-DC Alan Thoo-

One Hectic Month....!

DISTRICT 308B2 GO GREEN
As the District Chairperson for LEO Clubs for the new fiscal year, I am very happy to see many Leo Clubs thinking "green!" these days! BRAVOOOO to all of you!!! FYI, Celebrity Lion, Baki Zainal from 8TV will be launching a special Go Green! project together with his media friends and partners. Funds will be raised for Leo Clubs in our District to conduct environmental projects in this fiscal year and some other organizations too!!! Yeayyyy!!!!

The good news is, in October, we'll have a mega launch of the project, and we will be organizing a beach clean up in Langkawi Island! 10 LEO Club members from our district will be selected from our District.. (most likely the Environmental Directors/Chairpersons of your club) to take part in the beach clean-up and a special Go Green Forum that will be attended by celebrities, media and other environmental agencies too! More info to come up real soon on this one!!!! :)

Leo Ng Zi Qin from the Leo Club of Penang City (O) headed a project called "3R" in line with Penang's aims of becoming the first "Green state". The project was also supported by Leos from Chung Ling High School, Convent Datuk Keramat and Penang Chinese Girls' High School. Leos managed to collect old newspapers, aluminium cans, cardboards, plastic bottles from a 5 block radius. The items collected were sold to a recycling center and RM86.70 was raised.

The Leo Club of SMK Taman Sea organized their installation @ their school hall with the "Go Green" concept in mind! They served food using reusable utensils made of plastic and metal... and NO disposable plastic utensils & polystyrene plates/cups were used! BRAVO, Taman SEA LEOs!!!!!!!!

The Leo Club of La Salle Klang, added more trees and did a clean-up of their LEO Garden recently!!! Bravo! Expand your LEO Garden,... plant more trees...create more "Green" @ your school. in fact, the entire school could be your "Leo Garden" project. This might be too big or ambitious a project for you Leos.. but think about it... why not work with your school and keep your teachers, students and Principal happy! Instead of only taking care of a Leo Garden, why not go bigger!!! :P Why don't you organize "Green" projects, and create more spots @ your school to plant more trees... hence, making the entire school ground a mega sized "LEO Garden!!!"

Up & Coming INSTALLATIONS...

13 Leo Clubs in Perak are hosting the 30th Perak Annual LEO Joint Installation on the 23rd of August 2009... Penang is also having their Region 1 Joint installation on the 31st of August too!!!! Facebook-ers..lock in your calendar here.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY...

Visit to Beautiful Gate, Kampar...Home for the disabled (mental/physical)
The Leo Club of Penang City (O) took the initiative to organize a project out of their region, Penang, and Organizing Chairperson, Leo Teoh Him Keat said that, this was a great experience as sharing and caring for the needy ones have no boundaries at all. They took the effort to jointly organizing this project with the Leo Clubs of ACS and Pei Yuan, Kampar. Other guest Leos who attended the event included Leos from Anderson & Sam Tet, Ipoh as well as Petaling Jaya Integrity too!

Leos and Lions played games and many Lions contributed a little something and the money was used to purchase items for daily use... Bravo Penang City!!!! Besides doing charitable work, you managed to build bridges across 3 regions to foster better fellowship amongst Leos and Lions!!!

The Leo Club of Tanjung Penang, Chung Hwa & Union High School organized a trip to the Hospice Pure Lotus home...Our Leos fed the patients there, cooked for them, cleaned up the surrounding area and done loads of other work for the home in aid of charity! This certainly has helped and assisted the management of the home and eased their jobs in the name of charity! Bravo Leos!!!!

The Leo Club of Assunta, PJ & the Leo Club of Ipoh Metro (O) organized a joint visit to the Rumah Seri Setia Old Folks Home. Leos played games @ the home with the uncles and aunties and also donated food supplies and other items to them too! Teacher advisors of the Assunta Leo Club and Leo Advisor Lion Ivan Lim were present too!!! Great support from the advisors!!!! Parts of the visit were documented by Zenny Lyn, host for Jalan-jalan with Zenny on the LEO WebTV channel... click here to view!

The Leo Clubs of Sam Tet, Ave Maria Convent & Yuk Choy Ipoh jointly organized a visit to the Moonlight Care Centre Old Folks Home. Heeding the call for more regional/joint projects... the 3 clubs decided to carry out the visit with a more personal touch... that is to cook food together with the uncles and aunties at the home.....RCC for Leo Clubs Region 4, Lion Mary Goh also joined them. Unfortunately Perak LEOs still have yet to GO GREEN. Look at the many polystyrene boxes used during the event. Wonder if this could be reduced in the next visit... wouldn't that be good? :) (Hint!!!! Hint!!!! Do I have to start penalizing clubs for using polystyrene boxes for events to finally make you guys see what Go Green really means???!!!!)

INAUGURATION DINNER FOR DISTRICT GOVERNOR FOR DISTRICT308B2, LION CHOONG KWEI LOI

Left: Leo Club of Penance City members with DG ChoongKwei Loi...
Right: Leo Jack Ng (Petaling Jaya Intergrity), Leo Daniel Kok (Sam Tet), Lion Hjh Ellis Suriati (International Director), Leo Carl Cheong & Leo Joon Yang (Anderson)

Young Leos and Young-at-heart Lions ... truly a mixture of

the younger and more experienced LIONS in this photo!

1st August 2009 marked a historical and memorable date in the District 308B2 history as this was the inauguration night of our District Governor, Lion Choong Kwei Loi. DG Choong, who hails from the Lions Club of Bidor Orient said in his inaugural speech that "Move to Grow".. and "Growth with Actions" come in line with each other.. as one is an international theme and the other, his theme for this fiscal year. He added that with the strength that we have amongst the Lions in the district, he wishes to see more true Lionism in the fiscal year and hopes to have more fellowship at the same time... with the main intention of "Growth.. with Actions"!!!

Fellow Leos, let's heed our DG's call.. let's move together with him.. 'Grow' together with DG to a greater height!

Left: DC Alan Thoo & RCC Mary Goh with Leos from PJI (O), Anderson & Sam Tet Right: DC Alan Thoo, RCC Ong Lai Peng & VDG1 Hudson Hah with Leos from Anderson, Sam Tet, PJI(O) & Ipoh Unity (O).

Alrighty.. that's all for now.... ROAR! ROAR!!! ROARRR!!!!!!