Our Club’s RY2019-20 Installation was held on July 25 at Regal Hongkong Hotel. The presidential sash and gavel were passed on from Imediate Past President Lily Chan to President Mark Tong, while new pins were received by our incoming directors. The Club Installation was well-attended: 60+ Rotarians, family members and friends were present to witness this most important Club event. Many District leaders also attended, including: District Governor Wilson Cheng, Immediate Past District Governor YC Ho, District Governor Elect Eric Chak, and Assistant Governor David Thomas.
On July 18, our Club Board convened for the first time in this new Rotary Year, at Fung Shing Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Lots of Club matters were discussed and resolved, but just as importantly, all the dishes ordered were mopped up by our hungry Board members. The evening was smoothed by wines and whisky from all over the world: a bottle of Spanish rioja from President Mark Tong, a bottle of Australian cabernet from Rotarian Kelvin Yeung, and a Scotch from Rotarian Sam Poon. Rotary does “Connect the World”.
On July 13, 10 Harbour Rotarians attended District Installation at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was a long evening with a ton of speeches, but also a ton of fun.
President Mark Tong, together with Past Presidents Dora Liu, Webster Ng and Patric Lee of Rotary E Club of Lantau, and Joey, visited our Sister Club in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend of July 12-14. President Mark could not stay for one more than one night as he had to return to Hong Kong on July 13 to attend District Installation, but the rest stayed behind to attend our Sister Club’s 53rd Installation. Naturally, they were feasted with fabulous food and warm hospitality from our dearest Rotarians from Pudu. President Mark did manage to join Pudu’s fellowship evening, during which the Sister Club Agreement between the two Clubs was renewed. Harbour Rotarians also managed to watch a presentation by Past District Governor Paul Lee, who is readying a Global Grant application to build water access for indigenous people in the rural forests of Malaysia.
Rotarian Eliza Ning of Rotary Satellite Club of Tolo Harbour Happy Health came to our Club to give a talk on “Peer Mediation”. A career banker, Eliza upon retirement has a new-found interest in mediation, particularly amongst our youth. She shared her experience taking classes on mediation, attending peer mediation competitions among secondary schools, and teaching mediation techniques to secondary schoolers. She is hopeful that conflicts, especially among our youth, can be resolved through peer mediation techniques, including active listening, reframing, uncovering underlying interests, doubt creation to firm beliefs etc. These techniques, when properly executed, help to promote an environment whereby others resolve conflict through mutual understanding.
Past Presidents Grace Yen and WT Wong joined Interactors from St. Clare’s Girls’ School on their service visit to Macau on July 6.
As July arrives, members are busy attending various Club Installations in the District. Amongst the most important Installations are those of our mother Club (Rotary Club of HK Island East), baby Club (Rotary E Club of Lantau), and grandbaby Club (Rotary Club of Neoteric Hong Kong).
My Dear Harbour Rotarians and Friends, I am truly honored and blessed to be your Club President for Rotary Year 2019-2020, and I look forward to serving each and everyone of you with passion and love. I look forward to serving with you, with our service partners, with our Rotaractors and Interactors, with our Sister Clubs, with our friends in District 3450, and with Rotarians internationally. This Year’s Rotary theme is: “Rotary Connects the World”. In Rotary International President Mark Maloney’s words, “(Rotary) allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences…it connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.” I hope that in this new Rotary Year, we find not only new connections with others, but rekindle old connections that we take for granted. I hope that we connect more with our communities, with our service partners, and as R.I. President Maloney says, with people who need our help. I count on you to make this happen. Finally, I would like to take…