With a mission to promote true friendship, encourage the ideals of personal service and foster international understanding, the Inner Wheel Club (IWC) is the largest women’s service voluntary organisation in the world, with over 100, 000 members throughout the world.
Inspired by the members’ Rotarian husbands, the first movement of the Inner Wheel club was witnessed on November 15, 1923 in Manchester, England. January 10 is marked as ‘International Inner Wheel Day’.
The Inner Wheel Club of Ipoh hosted a Hi-tea session to celebrate Mother’s Day at Tower Regency Hotel recently. The session was attended by Executive Councillor for Housing, Local Government and Tourism, Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Mohammad Radzi with her mother, Datin Normah Hanum together with over 130 individuals including club members.
The president of the club, Vasugi Sundralingam shared the importance of celebrating Mother’s Day as a way to cement the eternal bond between a mother and a child. Besides that, activities to help the underprivileged as well as for the empowerment of women are being carried out by the club.
“We look forward to our projects next year wherein one of them includes providing a pair of spectacles for 100 needy students with poor eyesight
At the same time, we also pay tribute to Madam Nagamah Arumugam as the ‘Outstanding Mother’,” she highlighted.
Dato’ Nolee has also chipped in RM5,000 for the course of providing spectacles to the students. She expressed her gratitude to the members of the club for their dedication to all mothers.
Numerous programmes and initiatives have been executed since 1970 until present day. For instance, glucometers were distributed to the needy to keep track of their blood sugar level via an awareness project for diabetes prevention, ‘Medical Camps’.
In addition to breast screening, Dr. Sumitra, a member of the Pink Champion Society and LPPKN, also gave a talk on breast cancer. IWC also donates uniforms and books as well as building a reading shelter for students.
According to Vasugi, Inner Wheel Club of Ipoh extended a helping hand to the senior homes, donated furniture for a new orphanage in Jelapang and supplied medical equipment for a new ward in Batu Gajah Hospital.
“Inner Wheel Clubs have their individual programmes, which combine personal service, fund-raising, fellowship and fun, united by friendship and a common aim to serve their local community. Members give hands-on support as well as financial assistance whenever there is a crisis, whether it occurs locally, nationally or internationally for natural disasters or for people suffering in war torn regions. We provide help in hospitals, care homes, schools, entertain the elderly and lonely and offer help to needy children and the disabled. It should be remembered that the Club Member is the most important part of the International Inner Wheel.
“Every member pays an annual capitation fee to the Club and International Inner Wheel, and to the District and National Governing Body,” she said.
Gisele Soo
