Saigon Rotary club president is Filipino
THE Rotary Club of Saigon International (RCSI) has elected for the first time a Filipino president, who wishes to have more Filipinos join community work in Vietnam.
John Bayarong, 52, a lecturer for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in Ho Chi Minh City, was recently elected president of RCSI.
“I want more Filipinos in Vietnam to join the Rotary. I wish more kababayans (fellowmen) would take the challenge and lead the clubs,” Bayarong said in a statement.
“We have a culture of sharing, and here is a great opportunity for service,” Bayarong said.
He said that the “jolly nature of Pinoys (Filipinos) will help make the community work enjoyable and engaging.”
After almost 50 years of absence, the Rotary International (RI) movement returned to Vietnam in 2021. This year, “its prime club,” the RCSI, has a Filipino for president.
“This feat made history because he is the first Filipino club president in the rich but abbreviated history of the organization in Vietnam,” the RI said.
The first Rotary club was chartered in 1952. But the Rotary ceased all operations in 1975 after the victory of the resistance against America.
In its place, clubs based abroad took the cudgel of continuing to address social concerns by working with national and local public institutions.
“Credit to the government for legislating a social enterprise registration that allowed our club to be recognized,” Bayarong said.
“They understood that international service organizations are willing to work with them, hand in hand, to support their programs however we can,” he said. In just two years, five clubs were chartered nationwide.
RCSI, in its website, said that “with the chartering of RCSI and its twin club, the Rotary Club of Saigon, Rotary International is now able to maximize support by tapping the assistance of clubs around the world.”
On March 31, Rotary International, together with RCSI and 12 South Korean clubs, funded the surgery of 70 children with congenital heart diseases. This was on top of last year’s heart surgery operations for 30 kids.
“The funds for the heart operations of 100 kids totaled 3.01 billion Vietnamese dong ($123,000),” Bayarong said.
He wants the program to continue during his term, hoping that they could help “hundreds more.”
He said that this would be possible with the support of other Rotary clubs abroad.
Bayarong said that fellowship and service are the driving motivations of every Rotarian.
He earlier joined some 20 doctors and nurses from the United States-based Alliance for Smiles, who conducted a cleft lip and cleft palate surgery mission.
About 70 kids were operated on at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the Mekong Delta.
“The project was hosted by our twin club, RCS,” Bayarong said.
“And since I am not a medical expert, my service was to be a doorman-cumentertainer. The patient line was long, so I had to manage it, and along the way, I entertained the kids and the parents as well,” he said.