On April 20, President Mark, Charter President Patrick and Wendy, Past District Governor Belinda, and Past Presidents Grace, WT and Angela attended Intercity Meeting at Regal Kowloon Hotel. Past District Governor Belinda did not only attend the meeting; as Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator, she was the evening’s Guest of Honor and gave the keynote speech. Charter President Patrick and Wendy were guests of District Governor Eric Chak, and were recognized for their contribution (top donors in the District) to The Rotary Foundation. Past District Governor Belinda was also recognized as a Level 4 Major Donor. The meeting was separated into rooms of attendees to conform with government gathering restrictions. Each room was then linked to the main stage via live Zoom.
To raise awareness of communities around the world lacking adequate access to water, President Mark and Rotarian Jason walked 15km in Hong Kong Island while lugging liters of water. The walk aims to raise 15,000 HKD for Amity Foundation, HK, our service partner, to build water infrastructure in those communities. After the walk was completed, the two helped themselves with yummy noodles in Wanchai. The fundraising is still ongoing. For more information, please go to: https://rotary.hongkongharbour.org/walk-for-water
On April 8, our Club returned to physical lunch meeting at Regal Hong Kong Hotel after one month of virtual meetings on Zoom. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. Various members gave detailed reports of Club and District events. Rotarian Eliza reported on our service outing at Holy Cafe the week before, and was happy to see a playful and most affable side of Rotarian Kelvin. Rotarian Eliza also urged members to sign up for tree planting on May 1 and beach cleanup on May 9, whereupon Past President Angela chimed in and suggested to make tree planting a fellowship affair with members and spouses. For those wishing to sign up, please contact Rotarian Eliza or Past President Angela. President Elect Sam also reported on the current arrangements of Scouts Trail Walk x Walkathon. President Mark urged members who haven’t signed up for Intercity Meeting or District Conference to do so as soon as possible to take advantage of these two rare occasions of district-wide fellowship. Past President Lily, our meeting’s speaker, shared with us her new career at Suicide Prevention Services, an NGO in Hong Kong…
On March 27, President Mark led a group consisting of Past Presidents Grace and Dora, and Rotarians Kelvin and Eliza to distribute hot meals to the elderly in the Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. Our next outing is tentatively scheduled on April 17.
On March 25, our Club met via Zoom. It was a regular Club meeting that happily coincided with our Club’s anniversary. To mark the special occasion, all five of our Charter Members who are still active in our Club today: Charter President Patrick, Past President Charles, Past President Peter, Past President Kay and Past President Antonio, were invited as special speakers to share their memories of the early days of our Club. Several special guests also attended, including our Honorary Member Professor Tim Tong. Past President Eric Wong, our Club’s second President, also attended. As did Past President Douglas (our 14th President), Past President Veronica (our 15th President), and Gilbert Chan, a past member who was active in the early days of our Club. From service projects and youth development to sports day and overseas trips, members shared their memories of being a Hong Kong Harbour Rotarian. The meeting ended with Past President Douglas thanking our Club for supporting his fundraising event at his current Club in the United States, Rotary Club of Walnut Grove, and wishes to maintain active connection with our Club through his Rotary and community work in the United States.
Most of us would remember past Interactor Michael Yan, Charter President of Interact Club of King’s College. Since matriculating at HKU’s Faculty of Medicine, Michael has continued to involve himself in our Club activities, including Walk for Living Water 2020 (read here), in which he was one of the top runners, and hot meal distribution to the elderly at Holy Cafe (read here). He was recently awarded For Our Future Scholarship 2021 (read here and here), and was featured in an article in Hong Kong Economic Times (read here). Congratulations to Michael for his exemplary achievements! We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
On March 20, Presidents Elect Training Seminar Part 1 (“PETS 1”) was held. The seminar was held on Zoom. Live feed was broadcasted from Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, generously arranged with help from Charter President Patrick. President Elect Sam attended as participant, while Past Presidents Grace and Angela chaired two sessions as moderators. Past President Lily worked behind the scenes.
On March 11, our Club met via Zoom due to a spike in the number of Covid cases in Hong Kong. Before the meeting began, a few of us enjoyed a bit of virtual fellowship, sharing stories about passing time at night during this ongoing pandemic. After our customary Rotary song and imagined ringing of the Rotary bell, our meeting began. President Mark quickly went through Club and District activities. Thereafter, control was passed to President Elect Sam, who called the start of Club Assembly. Treasurer Barry gave a detailed overview of our Club finances, and answered questions from members regarding certain expense items. President Elect Sam gave us updates of his plan for Walkathon with Scouts and Club Anniversary gathering, which could be physical or via Zoom. President Elect Sam also announced the date of our next Club Assembly, June 24. After President Elect Sam closed our Club Assembly, Rotarian Kelvin briefed us, with the balance of our meeting time, on the current vaccination program. Rotarian Kelvin explained, in layman terms, the science behind the two vaccines now available in Hong Kong, and the other vaccines currently deployed in other parts of the world. He also shared with us…
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…