Junior Chamber International (JCI) when he was elected to the position at its annual World Congress of more than 5,000 members at its Florida headquarters last week.

Mr. MacDonald, who was strongly supported by the 35-member Bermuda delegation, follows in the footsteps of local JCI Senators J.E.P. Stewart, Warren Brown Sr., David Sullivan and C.C. Gail Simons.

"I'm still in a state of shock. For an island of this size to have produced five Vice Presidents since Junior Chamber was founded here 40 years ago seems quite exceptional. I feel very honoured to have been chosen,'' Mr. MacDonald said.

And outside the delegation hall, Mr. MacDonald has been stirring comment in Florida's wider society.

"I was introduced to the Chief of Police of Miami and everyone was astonished when I told them that police don't carry guns in Bermuda. I told them we don't need them as we live on a very secure island -- but I don't think they really believe that there are still police forces in the world without guns!'' Local JCI star moves to top level of world body From Page 19 Bermuda's new Vice President is one of 15 World Vice Presidents elected annually to coordinate the activities of the 104 countries which make up the 400,000 world-wide membership.

He has been assigned to the European section of JCI to assist with various activities of the Chamber in 10 countries: England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russian, Greece and Israel.

"This in itself will be quite a challenge as there are two distinct arms of JCI. In Europe, it is very business-oriented, whereas over here, in the US and Caribbean, there's more emphasis on community affairs, '' he said.

Explaining that the US and Japan constitute the largest membership of Junior Chamber International, Mr. MacDonald pointed out that in Japan and some European countries, he would not even be eligible for membership. "You have to be a successful businessman before you can join.'' He felt, though, this is possibly why he was placed in charge of coordinating Europe with other groups around the world, "to try and break down the barriers and differences that exist between the two groups''.

For his year in office, Mr. MacDonald will have the full assistance of a 25-man team of full-time staff officers at the JCI headquarters at Coral Gables in Florida.

Mr. MacDonald said the Bermuda delegation received a lot of TV and Press coverage during its Florida visit.

"There were nine males in our group and we all wore red Bermuda shorts -- quite a stirring sight,'' he said laughing, adding he even wore Bermuda's "uniform'' when he was the Island's chief delegate at last year's World Congress held in "freezing Finland'' and again when he addressed an audience of 60,000 in the Tokyo Super Bowl stadium last year on the subject of Bermuda's recycling programme. Noting that before he became involved in Junior Chamber he was very nervous about speaking in public, Mr. MacDonald gave full credit to the organisation in ridding him of this fear.

"The whole point of our organisation is that it gets people to develop their potential and in Bermuda, this is done through helping the community. I've seen so many young people coming through who might not have had that chance through their jobs. But when their time comes, they will have this incredible background of experience in leadership training that can only help their careers.'' He paid tribute to the Bermuda Police Force which, he said, has been "very supportive'' of his involvement with JCI, but pointed out there are a lot of police who are heavily involved with various community projects, working through churches, clubs and youth groups.

"But this side of the Police seldom gets reported. Contrary to what people may believe, the police are heavily involved in community work and many, many of our officers give up their free time to help kids, or just trying to make improvements in people's lives.'' Mr. MacDonald, who was born in Inverness, Scotland, came to Bermuda in 1978 and holds a degree in business management.

Like all of his Police colleagues, he has worked in most of the different Police departments and although he now works as an administration officer at Police headquarters, he spent six years "working the parishes'', visiting homes, schools and businesses throughout the Island. He said it was dealing with the human problems he encountered there that awoke a desire to get involved in the community.

He found Junior Chamber was an ideal way of assisting the community and since joining in 1985, he has been one of the prime movers in getting Bermuda's recycling programme off the ground. In fact, he was Chairman of the Chamber's Recycling Committee.

"We introduced the scheme to Bermuda, proved it was viable and finally handed the whole project over to Government last year.'' His rise through the ranks of the organisation has been spectacular, having been nominated in Bermuda as Jaycee of the Year, President, and Chairman of the Chamber's 40th anniversary, besides receiving the One Hundred Percent Efficiency Award from the International chapter.

"Our theme this year is `Global Citizens', with the sub-themes of the Economy, the Child and the Environment. Bermuda has chosen `the Child' as its theme for 1993 and I know that Barbara-Ann Bean, who takes over as President then, will do a great job.'' And what is the thing that attracts him most to the philosophy of JCI? "I would have to say it's the fact that Junior Chamber does not see race, creed or nationality in its creed. We are all global citizens and part of our creed says `service to humanity is the best work of life.' And we remind ourselves of that by reciting it at every meeting.'' Mr. Alex MacDonald.