More than numbers, let’s increase our impact: Sangkoo Yun

RI President Nominee Sangkoo Yun feels that Rotary needs to forge more partnerships and through sponsorship make big events such as conventions and zone institutes more affordable to Rotarians. His vision is also to make Rotary an online platform for service, which can be used by any organisation interested in doing various kinds of service. In an interview to Rotary News in Kochi recently, he talked about his dream and vision for Rotary, how to attract younger members and make it more sustainable.

Excerpts:

Can you tell us a little about your educational background? You’re an architect; why did you choose to become one?

I’m not practising architecture but deal in architecture materials. I went to the Syracuse University in New York and did my bachelor’s and master’s in the school of architecture.

Why did you choose not to practise architecture?

At that time, Korea was undergoing turbulent times and was under the authoritarian rule. My father was in the opposition party. I felt I couldn’t go back to Korea and practise, so I worked in the US for about eight years. This was in the 1970s. I didn’t go back home until 1981, and then started an architectural material business.

You served in the Korean army for three years. What did that experience teach you?

Well, because I had studied and lived in the US, I was like a free-spirited young person and without much control of any kind! So when I got into the army, one of the worst things I was worried about was sleeping at 10pm! If somebody forced me to wake up at 5am, I could do that, but nobody could force me to sleep early.

So what time did you sleep in the US? Did you party a lot?

(Grins) Oh yes; I used to sleep at 2am! But even on the very first night, because we went through so much of drilling, I fell asleep right away!

 

Coming to Rotary, when did you join it, and why?

I joined Rotary when I got back to Korea in 1982. As I told you, my family did not have any business at all, so I had to make connections and network. One of my father’s friends was a Rotarian, told me about Rotary and I said, maybe that’s a good way to make some connections. So I joined Rotary purely for my personal gain, I had no inkling of doing any service at that time. That’s how I think most people get in.

 

When did you get hooked to Rotary and doing service projects?

I guess many different things were there, but if you talk about one single moment, it was while going to Mongolia to do projects. I was taking some PDGs for a project to plant trees in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, when one of the cars met with a terrible accident and fell into a ditch. One of the PDGs, who was very outspoken, had earlier questioned me about planting trees in Gobi Desert, saying it’s just not going to work. He had a lot of reservations, and as it happened, he was hurt the most in that accident and broke his back.

I felt responsible because I had taken them there and couldn’t face his wife. I felt I should resign from Rotary and forget about everything. But when I went to see him at the ICU a couple of days after his surgery to tell him, he grabbed my hand and before I could say anything, asked me in a weak and shaky voice to ensure that the tree planting project was a success.

So that really got you started in Rotary service; how did your journey progress?

I became governor in 2004–05. I was the centennial governor. With my batchmates in Korea we discussed what should we do for the centennial. Among other ideas, there was one about how to prevent the yellow dust blowing down to Korea from Mongolia every spring. This is really a nuisance and a health hazard.

I suggested planting trees to prevent this yellow sandstorm coming. And they said, hmm, that sounds good, but it’s not going to work. I said, well, maybe it might. We came up with a slogan ‘Rotary challenges sandstorm’. And everybody liked that slogan.

 

And it became a successful project?

Yes, but to tell you a little bit more, the other DGs still felt the trees would not grow in the desert and decided to tell me the next morning that it wouldn’t work, and it was just a waste of money, time and energy. But on the way we saw a small patch of green on a hill, went up and saw that an old farmer, without any education or resources, was growing 100 trees in a little place! Without saying anything, everybody thought if he could do this without any money, we, with all our knowledge, resources and technology, should be able to do it too! Thus, we did five different projects for consecutive five years here through a TRF matching grant over 40 hectares of land. Then the local community took over and now it has expanded to over 400 hectares.

How many Rotarians are there in Korea, which is a growing country for the organisation. What attracts Koreans to join Rotary?

We now have 67,000 members and we are growing. As for what makes Rotary attractive in Korea, after the Korean War, the country was completely devastated, and many NGOs came to support us with clothing, food, etc, and several NGOs used Rotary and Red Cross as a conduit to send and distribute the aid. So I guess many Koreans still feel that we owe a lot to Rotary.

 

How difficult was the journey to become a director, because this is also a very competitive organisation where distinguished leaders from across the world compete for these posts.

It was not easy for me. We went through the election process, and the person who lost challenged the result, so I did go through rocky waters. The whole process wasn’t much fun, and certainly not easy for me.

How were your two years on the RI Board from 2013–15?

Oh, two years on the board were also very tough. We had a lot of internal issues in Rotary that weren’t much fun to discuss. And so I didn’t enjoy being director other than having good friends as my fellow directors. But in the boardroom, it was not so much fun.

 

How difficult was it to get nominated as president? You had some tough contenders.

(Smiles) Actually, I went through the process three times. I did not plan on running more than once.

Then how did you have the courage to do it three times?

I didn’t really have the courage; but I was almost pushed to do it by friends. After the second time, I came back and I said: ‘No more, this is it. I can’t do it anymore.’ But I got pushed again! So I went three times.

 

What is your vision for Rotary which you will be heading from July 2026.

As I said at the Kochi Institute, for 20 years, we’ve been asking people to join Rotary and increase our membership and it has just not worked. Correct? So I say maybe we should ask different questions.

98 per cent Rotarians do not come to conventions, most probably because they cannot afford it. So we could give them the convention experience through the internet at a much lesser price, or a day later.

What kind of different questions?

I would like to see if Rotarians can bring in prospective members, not by saying come to my club or join Rotary, but asking them to come to participate in our service activities. And once they do so, and like volunteering for our service activities, then maybe we could ask them, what is your idea of service? And if that person says, well, I want to serve the elderly or work in healthcare, or whatever, then we could support him. And once he takes ownership of a service project, and feels a sense of belonging then we could invite him/her to join our club. What I’m trying to say is do not put Rotary in the front, put Rotary in the backseat and say, hey, let’s do service. And once they find Rotary attractive, they can join, and stay on.

We can grow Rotary by keeping it at the back and put a service activity in the front.

Because, after all, service and friendship are two sides of the coin for a Rotarian.

Listening to you at the Kochi Institute, I also got the feel that just pushing for numbers is not ideal. Your views.

Numbers are important. We need numbers. But what we should push for… our goal should be… to increase our impact. Then the numbers will automatically come.

 

How do we increase our impact?

Let me give you an example of Korea where we’re having a centennial soon. We’ve set two goals; to increase or double our impact. For doubling our impact, we need to increase our membership to 100,000. One of the things we are trying to do is to have a mobile ID for Rotarians. Long time ago, we had a paper ID for Rotary. It didn’t work. And K R Ravindran, when he was president, worked for a global rewards system, which didn’t work either. I thought that was a great idea, and was very disappointed that it didn’t work out.

The reason, I think, is because it was global. It was just too large a scale from the beginning. So what I’m doing is going by district, to create a mobile ID for a member with his Rotary details. Then we could use technology for various things, such as getting a discount in food, travel hotel stays, and so on. Once you show your mobile membership ID, you get an automatic discount.

We are grateful for all the giving and the growing number of Rotarians in India. I hope all the internal politics go away.

So it’s something like global rewards, but in a different form. Right?

Yes, but on a smaller scale; by just district or country. We could go to big corporations, such as the Tata Group, and say, hey, we have 200,000 Rotarians who are all community leaders. So when we stay in your hotels, or buy a car, or go for insurance, can you give us a discount.

 

In theory it should work, because today everybody asks what’s in it for me!

Absolutely. And specially the young people of today; they are so smart and realistic. For them joining an organisation is a waste of time and money. They like to do service but don’t want to join. With such an incentive I hope they will join Rotary and stay on.

You’ve come to India many times. What are your thoughts on Rotary in India?

Oh, I think it’s an excellent growing country and we are grateful for all the giving and the growing number of Rotarians in India. I hope all the internal politics go away!

Are you worried abut that and how to handle it when you become RI President?

I am not worried. I think it is growing pain…

 

That’s a nice way of putting it.

I think many countries, including Korea, went through it and we don’t have that any more.

 

You don’t have election disputes in Korea?

I can’t say we don’t have any… but it is certainly not at this level (laughs) as yours. It’s a small circle and within a district. But we’ve been through it so we know its growing pain.

 

How would you rate the work and the kind of projects Rotarians do in India?

I think it’s fantastic… it’s mindboggling to see the numbers. I think they are doing amazing work. Getting rid of polio in India was incredible! Everybody thought the two areas we wouldn’t be able to conquer would be the African continent and India!

I think very highly of Rotary in India and have so many good friends. I came here (to the Zone Institute) this time just to meet friends… Raja Saboo, Kalyan (Banerjee), and others.

When I got into the army, one of the worst things I was worried about was sleeping at 10pm! I can wake up at 5am, but nobody could force me to sleep early.

What is your dream for Rotary?

In the long run we have a problem with sustainability because young people do not want to join Rotary. And having this kind of (grand) Institute and conventions are just not cost effective. We spend so much money; Rotarians have to spend so much money, so its just not cost effective, sustainable. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have institutes or conventions. I think conventions are a great opportunity to meet international friends. There are two ways we can think of conducting such events — through partnerships and sponsorships. We now get $100 million in cash every year from the Gates Foundation. That is our credibility and our transparency. We could call anybody and tell them hey, we are getting $100 million from Gates every year and solicit more partnerships and sponsorships for our big events and programmes.

Also, I believe we should open up the convention… because we have less than two per cent Rotarians attending; 98 per cent do not come, most probably because they cannot afford it. So we could give them the convention experience through the internet at a much lesser price, or a day later. We could also throw it open to the local people because we have such great speakers at our conventions.

Another thing I’d like to do is to make Rotary an online platform of service. Like Facebook, Amazon, etc. They are software or IT platforms; for service Rotary should become one such platform. We have all the ingredients to be a good platform for service. We have 120 years of experience and 1.2 million members or volunteers all over the world in 200 countries. And we have the transparency and credibility that everybody can trust. If we make such a platform of service not only for Rotarians but also any other organisation of service to come in, we could connect with others. And that would give us the sustainability in the future.

 

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat and special arrangement