On November 28, Past President Lily and Rotarian Jason attended CPR/AED training at St. John’s Ambulance.
District Rotary Foundation Seminar was held on November 27. Attendees from our Club included Past District Governor Belinda (chair of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), Past President Grace (member of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), and Past Presidents Angela and Eddie (seminar presenters). Charter President Patrick was a special VIP guest, while President Elect Eliza attended to understand more about the works of The Rotary Foundation within the Rotary movement.
The lunch meeting was attended by 14 members with an attendance rate of 52%. Visiting Rotarians included Deputy Assistant Governor Dominic Wai and Charter President Jimmy Lau from Rotary Club of Star Avenue. After President Sam gave reports of past events and announced future Club/District events, Immediate Past President Mark introduced the meeting’s speaker, Ms. Iris Wong, the Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House Charities Hong Kong (“RMHCHK”). Iris’s topic was: “Keeping Families Close: A unique Role in Family Centered Care.” Family-centered care is the delivery of health care based on partnerships between patients, families and all those involved in the care of the child and family. Family-centered care improves the patient’s and family’s experience with health care, addresses evolving needs of families, reduces stress (e.g., emotional and financial pressures), improves communication and improves the health of children with chronic health conditions. RMHCHK mainly has three types of service: Ronald McDonald House, Hospitality Cart Program and Love Companion Program. The first Ronald McDonald House was built in Hong Kong In 1996 in Shatin, nearby to the Prince of Wales Hospital. The House offers temporary residence, a “home away from home” for families with seriously ill children. The House has comprehensive…
President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Past President Webster (Youth), Past President Kay, Past Pressident WT and President Elect Eliza attended the Installation Ceremony this year. President Rain Lau, School Principal Mr. Tang, Ms. Kwok, Ms. Leung, and the Club Committees welcomed our Rotarians. Principal Mr. Tang expressed his optimism that Interactors will be able to serve the community in the “new normal” and emphasized that Rotary/Interact is a valuable institution for young students. President Sam spoke about the Rotary International Theme, “Serve to Change Lives.” Charter President Patrick encouraged Interactors to adopt Rotarian values and principles in all things they do, in school and outside school. Past President Webster talked about the concept, “一齊服務 ,一齊健康”, loosely translated to be “serve together, and be healthy together”. Next, President Rain reported on activities completed in 2020-21 and his plan for the “new normal” in 2021-22. Finally, our Rotarians presented Interact pins to all the officers and committees of the Interact Club of King’s College.
We are happy to support the premiere of the Hong Kong Hymnos Festival, conceived and expertly run by Past President Angela and Maurice. Great effort was put into creating the two concerts and assembling the many performing artists and guests. On November 10, President Sam, Past President Grace and Jerry, and Past President WT attended the opening concert. On November 15, at the closing concert, Immediate Past President Mark performed as part of the Vox Antiqua choir. Holy Cafe’s Mrs Sung and her daughter performed as part of the festival choir.
On November 13, President Sam attended the opening ceremony of CPR/AED project. Our Club joined the project as Bronze Sponsoring Club. Altogether, twelve Rotary Clubs joined this projected hosted by Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast, in partnership with St. John Ambulance. TVB artist 曹永廉 and Miss Hong Kong 2014 邵珮詩 were special guests. Do you know every year around 8,000 cases of cardiac arrest require emergency ambulance service in Hong Kong? That is over 20 cases per day. CPR/AED is critical to survival in the minutes before the ambulance arrives. Past President Webster is working with our Interact Clubs to set up a training day for our Interactors in 2022. Before that, on November 28, there is a training day for District Officers, Rotarians and Rotaractors. Our Past President Lily and Rotarian Jason are registered to attend the certification course.
Every year, our district organizes the Rotary Leadership Institute course. Clubs are encouraged to nominate future leaders to attend. November 13 was Part 1 of the 3-part course, and our Past President Grace served as one of the trainers.
On November 12, President Sam, and Past Presidents Grace, Eddie and WT visited Ms. Lai and Ms. Lo at the Yuk Chi Resource Centre. The main purpose was to observe the District Grant project in action. Ms. Lai explained to the group the high demand of obtaining a comprehensive developmental assessment of age-6 or under children with suspected developmental problems. Underprivileged families may need to wait 15 to 18 months at the Department of Health. Our Club’s District Grant project will help 45 such families this year. Our Rotarians observed an assessment of a 4-year old girl for 20 minutes. Through playing with toys and engaging her in specific tasks the clinical psychologist was able to test the girl’s motor functions and assess her developmental progress. After the visit, President Sam led the group to a Singaporean restaurant (A Taste Above Shiok) in Causeway Bay for afternoon tea.
Our speaker of the day, Walter Cheung, was introduced by Rotarian Fei. Walter is well known in the public relations field, having served under five CEOs at Hang Seng Bank and is currently Managing Director of Walter Cheung Communications. Walter (水哥) is an avid marathon runner and shared with us his journey of 100 marathons. Inspired after reading Richard Branson’s autobiography, Walter wanted to do something unconventional and wanted a breakthrough. In 2002, at the age of 44, he signed up for his first full marathon. Battling leg cramps, he crossed the finish line merely 10 minutes before the time limit of five hours. At the age of 57, Walter completed his 50th full marathon. This past October, Walter completed his 100th full marathon at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Some of the highlights of Walter’s marathon journey, include: 50th marathon in Paris; 70th marathon in Rome; being the first Hong Konger to run a marathon in Bhutan; and completing the Great Wall marathon in 2008 and the Everest marathon in 2012. As a public relations professional, Walter used various media channels to document his journey and to build a personal brand. Even though he is not a professional…
Several of our members were active at this year’s End Polio Now Walk & Carnival. Past District Governor Belinda, chair of District Rotary Foundation Committee, led the District’s End Polio work this year along with support from Past President Grace and Past President Eddie from our Club and others. Rotarian Jason, on the other hand, led our Club’s effort. President Sam, Past President Grace, Past President Dora, President Elect Eliza and Rotarian Jason’s friend Ken had lunch at Tai Po Cooked Food Centre. The group was guided by food recommendations from Charter President Patrick, as well as Past Presidents Ka Hing and Lily. After lunch, Past President Grace went ahead to Science Park to help to set up the special ceremony. Rotarian Jason, President Sam, Past President Dora, President Elect Eliza and Ken went on a 5.5km walk from Tai Po to Science Park as part of the End Polio Now Walk. The Carnival was full of games, and arts and crafts booths. Our Club was recognized by District Governor Keith Chow and Past District Governor Belinda for its contribution to the PolioPlus fund. The ceremony was also live-linked with Macau and Mongolia.