Singer Sri Lanka, the leading home appliances and electronics company in the island and the Rotary Club of Colombo North have made history by introducing Sri Lanka’s first and possibly the world’s first corporate Rotaract Club. This comes a few days after Singer further enhanced its reputation as an employer of choice through achievement of a coveted ranking among the “Top 15 Great Places to Work in Sri Lanka”, while being crowned as the best employer in the "Large Enterprise" category.
The newly-formed Rotaract Club of Singer Sri Lanka was launched with the official handing over of the Charter Certificate issued by Rotary International to the club’s committee. District Governor Rotarian Imran Hassen and President of the sponsoring Club, Rotary Club of Colombo North, Rotarian Justin Meegoda, Rotarian Marshad Barry - District Rotaract Committee Chairman and Abdul Wahid - District Rotaract Representative played key roles in forming the club.
The Rotary Club of Colombo North is one of the oldest Rotary Clubs in Sri Lanka and is the pioneer of several programs including the annual Shakespeare Drama Competition and Dengue awareness.
Asoka Pieris - Group CEO Singer Sri Lanka PLC as well as a Past President of Rotary Club of Colombo North said, "By being involved in Rotaract, our staff who is in their youth will get training on leadership and develop their organizing skills. They will also get an idea of serving the community; they can broaden their thinking and they can network with other Rotaractors and Rotarians.”
The Rotaract Club of Singer Sri Lanka already consists of over 40 members from various departments of the company. Mahima Weerasinghe (President), Kalpa Hangewatta (Vice President), Sadhana Botheju (Secretary) and Niranjan Nanayakkara (Treasurer) form the core leadership team of the club committee. Within a short span of the charter ceremony, the club initiated an evening of entertainment, song and dance for the war heroes at Ranaviru Sevana Ragama. The club also donated building material for the Ranaviru Sevana and a motivational session for the veterans was conducted by one of the most renowned trainers in Sri Lanka, Mohan Palliyaguru.
The club has already outlined and commenced work on a project to uplift IT educational standards of underprivileged schools while plans are being laid to organize an event with musical entertainment and fun filled activities for the children at the cancer hospital. Understanding the correlation between human beings and the environment, the club is also planning to conduct regular environmental conservation activities in the future, according to the President of the Club.
Speaking about this historic achievement, Chitral Perera - Director Human Resources, Singer Sri Lanka stated, "We are very proud to be the very first corporate in Sri Lanka, and quite possibly in the world, to have our very own Rotaract Club. He added that currently 30% of Singer employees belong to the “Generation Y” category. “With such a large group of dynamic, young individuals in our ranks, we were looking at ways of getting these individuals to develop their all-round skills.
They continuously strive for self-improvement and in contributing towards the betterment of the society. Therefore, we have commenced several initiatives within the organization targeting them and the Rotaract Club is one such initiative.”
