As part of our Club’s effort to serve and promote our members’ vocations, our Club and Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong jointly sponsored and recorded a series of detailed interviews discussing the upcoming budget. The series, divided into segments of “income”, “expense”, “pandemic”, and “future”, features members of both Clubs: Rotarian James Sung from Kingspark, also founding Director of Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute, as policy commentator and interviewer; and Past President Webster, also current President of The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong, as topical expert. The segments are released on either side of Financial Secretary’s unveiling of his budget. Part 1: income Part 2: expense Part 3: pandemic Part 4: future
On February 25, our Club met at Regal Hong Kong Hotel for the first time in nearly 3 months after the government relaxed gathering restrictions. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal gave us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. The meeting began with our customary Rotary song and usual Club and District reports. Rotarian Eliza gave a quick summary of the Amity Living Water Townhall on February 22, during which President Mark, Past President Lily, President Elect Sam, and Rotarians Jason and Eliza joined. Two Rotaractors also joined remotely. President Elect Sam summarized earlier meetings with Scouts and gave updates of our upcoming collaboration with the youth group. President Elect Sam also requested us to save the date: March 25, a regular meeting date which also happens to be our Club’s anniversary date. The plan, if pandemic regulations do not tighten further, is to have a relaxed anniversary lunch gathering. President Elect Sam shall give more details closer to the date. Past President Grace described the background behind Tithe Ethical Consumption, and how our Club was nominated for and ultimately received “2020 Social Enterprise Supporter+” Award (online presser, in Chinese only), in large part due to…
On February 22, our service partner Amity Foundation hosted a townhall featuring representatives from two NGOs in Nepal and Myanmar, school students in Hong Kong, and donors. Our Club also joined to learn about water resource scarcity in poor rural areas in Nepal and Myanmar. President Mark, President Elect Sam, Rotarians Jason and Eliza joined as a group. Past President Lily joined remotely. Rotaractors Gabin Kee and Anuj Bhatia also joined remotely as guests. The townhall featured sharing by villagers who benefited from water infrastructure and systems funded partially by our Club’s fundraising efforts last year during Walk for Living Water 2020. In many parts of the world, villagers still have to walk for hours to reach water resources and bring back water for their daily use. A lot of these resources, heavily polluted and infested with bacteria, are marginally suitable for bathing, let alone drinking and cooking. Our Club will continue to work with Amity to raise awareness of global potable water shortage, inform our youth about the importance of water preservation, and support projects that bring clean water to communities around the world.
On February 20, President Mark and Past President Grace helped to distribute hot meals to the elderly in Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. Tutor and Rotaract Advisor Crystal Lee and Rotaractor Cindy Effendy joined. Our next outing is tentatively scheduled on March 6.
On February 11, our Club continued our regular meeting on Zoom due to the ongoing pandemic and government gathering restrictions. President Bennett Chen from Rotary E-Club of Lantau and President Candy Cheung from Rotary Club of Neoteric Hong Kong joined as speakers. President Bennett was accompanied by his members: Assistant Governor Anna Or, Past Presidents Patric Lee and Andrew Wong, and Rotarian Kermit Lee. President Candy was accompanied by her members: Past Presidents Helen Or and Alice Tsang, Immediate Past President Edmond Wong, and President Elect Sean Kwan. As evidenced by their large entourages, our Club is grateful that the two Presidents are well supported by their respective Clubs. The meeting began with our customary Rotary song and usual Club and District reports. President Elect Sam also summarized an earlier meeting with Scouts. Thereafter, the (virtual) floor was yielded to Presidents Bennett and Candy, who gave summaries of their current and upcoming projects. Highlights by President Bennett included his Club’s build-up of an enviable, District-leading nine-Club Interact network, their multi-year scholarship program for youth, and their current fundraising activity, titled “500 for 500”. The idea is to challenge participants to do 500 iterations of something, be it pushups, sit-ups, kilometers(!)…
On February 6, President Mark and Past President Grace finally caught a break from zoom fatigue to volunteer their time at Holy Cafe to distribute hot meals to the elderly in Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. Some edible items were donated by President Mark’s friends who volunteered with our Club at Holy Cafe. Our next outing is tentatively scheduled on February 20. Rotaractors may join.