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…
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.
On January 28, our Club continued our regular meeting on Zoom due to the ongoing pandemic and government gathering restrictions. Governor Elect Keith was our speaker. Coco joined as guest. The meeting began with a slew of updates of Club and District activities. Past President Webster gave a quick introduction of our vocational service project with Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong. Past President Grace summarized our service outing at Holy Cafe on January 23. Governor Elect Keith then shared with us his Rotary journey, which began in the late 2000s. A few years later, he said he hit the jackpot as he was elected President at his home Club, Rotary Club of Admiralty, during Past District Governor Belinda’s year of district governorship in Rotary Year 2014-15. Throughout his Rotary life, he has served our District in many capacities. He often brings his family with him, especially during community service. Governor Elect Keith has a clearly-defined and robust vision for his upcoming governorship. One of his priorities is to develop a stronger working relationship between Rotary and Rotaract, the status and prestige of the latter to be upgraded significantly in 2022. In short, starting on July 1, 2022, Rotaract will…
On January 23, President Mark led a team consisting of Past President Grace and Rotarian Eliza to deliver hot meals to the elderly in Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. Our next outing, tentatively scheduled on February 6, would be our last outing before the Chinese new year.