At the time Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister of Australia, Edward Heath was the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Richard Nixon was in the White House. In the same year the Sydney Opera House opened, the median price of a three bedroom house in Melbourne was $13,000 and Richmond defeated Carlton in the Grand Final in front of more than 116,000 fans. Yes it was a long time ago.
Malcolm was inducted into the Club on 18 July 1973 with the Classification SHOE MACHINERY DISTRIBUTING. Malcolm commenced his working life as an apprentice in the manufacture of machine tools and he studied Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Technology at RMIT. He spent six years as the Chief Engineer Assistant Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and also a year with the 3AW Community Service Board involved with the building program of the Royal Women’s Hospital.
In 1956 he joined the British United Shoe Machinery Company of Australia and in 1961 at the age of 32 was appointed to the Board of Directors. In 1967 he was appointed Assistant Managing Director, the position he held when he joined the Club in 1973. He worked in the company’s headquarters in the UK before leaving to take up the position of Managing Director of Pacific Operations for US company Georgia Bonded Fibres Inc. He founded his own business Simports (Pacific) in 1995 and established a widely acknowledged reputation throughout the Asia Pacific region for dependable and detailed personal service.
It is impossible to catalogue Malcolm’s remarkable contribution and achievements with the Club for 47 very active years. Suffice to say it is considerable. In recent years he has served on the Rotary Park Committee, the International Committee and he has been the Group Captain of the Nth Balwyn-Ivanhoe Group many times. He was Director of Vocational Service 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Malcolm is currently on the Arts Committee, the Welfare of the Young Committee, the Rotary Park Committee and he served the Boards of Acclaim for four years and the National Heart Foundation Victoria for 12 years.
Rotary Melbourne named Malcolm a Paul Harris Fellow in 2013. Malcolm has made and continues a truly remarkable contribution to the Rotary Melbourne.
