MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

Recently, a Leo told me that he is doing a certain thing in a certain way because that was how he saw it being done the previous year. He had assumed that the way is correct. However, he was wrong and was grateful for the highlight, reason behind it and the gentle correction.

Since young I have a habit of curiosity. I dismantled and fixed back the engine of my first car, a Mitsubishi Galant because I was curious about the sounds the tappet valves were making. I would examine each "accepted" practice and question the motive or rationale behind it. Why do Malays use green packets to give money? Because they wanted to follow the Chinese practice of giving red packets. But why is the red packet red? Today, what the recipient want is the $$ (and throwing the packet away) but the root of the red packet lies in the red paper and not the contents! So does the usage of green (or purple, blue etc) have any meaning? Obviously not. So should a wrong precedence be allowed to become an accepted practice?

Take the common practice of naming the person who leads a function, the Master of Ceremony (or emcee). Yes, this is correct when the function is a project or ceremony, and does not have a Presiding Officer. However, when there is a Presiding Officer (e.g a meeting), the person chairing the meeting is the master of the entire show and is in fact the Master of Ceremony. If there is a different person, making the announcements and leading the program, this person should be called the compere or announcer as he/she is doing so on behalf of the Presiding Officer or Chairperson. As such, his/her role is merely to introduce the elements of the program and has no authority to change it or create new items without the approval of the Presiding Officer. Often, they do so at the approval of the Organizing Chairperson. Again, this is wrong as the OC is organizing the function for the Presiding Officer who is placed first in the Order of Precedence. We often hear the "MC" instructing his/her superior, the Presiding Officer, to do this or do that. Put yourself in the working world: would you tell your boss how to do his job? As such, words of courtesy such as "invite" should be used. My recommendation goes something like this: "We invite Presiding Officer Lion ABC on stage to perform his/her first duty." The Presiding Officer should know his/her duty (e.g. calling the meeting to order), otherwise he/she shouldn't be sitting in the Chair!

Another example is the position of the Multiple District Council Chairperson. Started as a single person coordinator to liaise between the Governors of different SubDistricts to ensure inter-District harmony, it has grown into a Council of Governors with (this year) 21 Committee Members (all PDGs) and 4 Committee Assistants (the 4 VDGs), meeting and traveling at the expense of every Lion in the MD. With due respect to the current and past Council Chairpersons, would the next step be making this initially and essentially non-decision-making body into a powerful authority to rule over the MD and their respective Governors? I hear of plans to implement megaprojects and even "king-making" powers! No wonder we can see the many "behind-the-scene" moves by certain people to become a CC! What will happen to the Governor's accountability to his/her District? What is the basis and rationale for this direction? Will we allow this to become accepted practice?

Look around you as you move in the Lionistic world. Question every practice, action or decision, there should be good reason behind it. Most Lionistic practices have been in use since the beginning of our 90-year history. Some are new and recently adopted. Whatever it is, ask why before accepting or using. Don't just blindly follow because someone else "did it that way" or a "leader" says so. Be an intelligent Lion; after all, our motto is Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation's Safety.