On January 16, President Mark, Past President Webster and Rotarian Jason joined Crystal Lee and Rotaractor Charis to deliver 70 handwritten letters and supermarket coupons to elderly at Hing Tin Wendell Memorial Church Alison Lam Elderly Centre. The project was conceived by our Rotaractors at Lap Chee College, who wanted to connect with neglected groups in our community while with pandemic precautions and social distancing in mind. They originally thought about hosting virtual parties for the elderly, but due to technical difficulties and the limited scope of interaction, they turned to a more personal form of communication – letter writing. 70 letters were hand-written – a feat all the more impressive since many Rotaractors are foreign students who don’t speak or write in Chinese. They had to rely on other Rotaractors who acted as translators and ghostwriters to get the job done. Most of these letters included well-wishes, while some others included long proses, including appealing to the elderly to keep warm during the winter and reassuring the elderly to stay upbeat and positive during this pandemic. Each letter was accompanied by 200 HKD-worth of supermarket coupons, generously donated by Charter President Patrick. The Centre’s representative thanked the Rotaract representative…
On January 14, our Club conducted our regular meeting on Zoom due to the ongoing pandemic and government gathering restrictions. Crystal Lee, Tutor and Rotaract Advisor at Rotaract Club of HKU Lap Chee College International joined us as guest. President Mark began the meeting by wishing everyone a safe and healthy new year. Thereafter, he reported the status of this year’s District Conference (May 22-23 at Regal Airport Hotel; current under planning), and Rotary Ultramarathon (March 21; in virtual form). Registration is open for both events. Please contact Past President Lily for details regarding Conference, and Past President Webster regarding joining the virtual ultramarathon, at which our Club plans to sponsor one team. Rotarian Jason gave reports of deliveries of 100 care packages to ethnic minority families and the upcoming project with Lap Chee Rotaractors. Past President Dora also gave updates of Nicole Au Yung, our Rotary Scholar, who is studying for her PhD at the University of Oxford and was recently mentioned in a widely-cited article in the Washington Post. Our feature speaker required very little introduction. May Chang, a former Harbour Rotarian, joined our meeting to talk about self media (自媒體) and a project that she is involved…
During the first week of January, 100 care packages were delivered to refugee families via Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The care packages included canned food, cereals and noodles, and packaged beverages. Care packages for Muslim families were repackaged such that all products with pork were swapped with other suitable items. The 100 care packages were generously donated by a restaurant in Tai Wai and referred to us by Past President Samuel. Our Club helped to liaise with Society of St. Vincent de Paul, who then arranged the deliveries to dozens of refugee families. We thank Past President Samuel for introducing us to the donor, to Rotarian Jason and Past President Angela for helping to liaise with Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and to Society of St. Vincent de Paul for helping to arrange deliveries to the refugee families in need.
Due to the ongoing pandemic and our District Governor’s call to continue to meet virtually as much as we can, our Club conducted our regular meeting on December 17 on Zoom. Professor Tim Tong, our Honorary Member, joined our meeting. Amy and Catherine also joined. Rotarian Eliza joined from her quarantine hotel with makeshift Christmas gear. The “regular” meeting was anything but regular: in addition to the regular reporting of Club and District activities, it functioned as our Club’s second assembly of the Rotary year, our annual general meeting, and our annual Christmas party. It would also be our Club’s first ever online AGM, first ever online Christmas party, and, amazingly, despite having weathered near a year of pandemic, our first ever online assembly. At the beginning of our meeting, Past President Dora announced the passing of Past President Feeling (Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast). Those who knew Past President Feeling personally would most certainly agree that Past President Feeling was a most generous and warm person, a loving mother, a dear wife and a committed Rotarian. Past President Dora gave a long and heart-felt tribute to our beloved sister, who has been a bedrock of warmth and love to…
Charter President Patrick nominated, and our Board has duly considered and approved Professor MF Yuen, a world-class clinician researcher and teacher at HKU, to be our Club’s third Honorary Member, after Honorary Members Vivien Lau and Professor Tim Tong. Welcome Professor Yuen to the world of Rotary!
On December 10, our Club met on Zoom due to worsening pandemic conditions in Hong Kong. Rotarian Eliza, having just returned to Hong Kong from New Zealand, joined our meeting from her quarantine hotel and shared with us her life under quarantine. Our speaker of the day was Rotarian Kelvin Yeung, Professor at HKU LKS Faculty of Medicine. Rotarian Kelvin’s topic was current development of vaccines to combat Covid-19. Using his research skills and connections to experts at HKU, Rotarian Kelvin prepared for and presented a well-researched yet layman explanation of vaccine developments around the world. In particular, Rotarian Kelvin differentiated between the various approaches of vaccines under clinical trials, and debunked certain misinformation about vaccines. Analogically, the current vaccine candidates are like different weapon types using different attack approaches, though aiming at the same enemy. Their chemical structures and biological mechanisms are very different, as are their shelf lives, storage requirements and need for further booster shots. The bottom line is that vaccine development is one critical and important step in the fight against the virus, but not the only one. Other steps are important too, including proper use of masks, good hygiene, and social distancing. Until vaccines are…
On November 26, our Club met for lunch at our usual meeting venue, Regal Hong Kong Hotel. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal gave us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. Our speaker of the day was Ms. Monica Li, senior social work supervisor at Caritas Ngau Tau Kok. She came to our Club meeting to give a summary of the execution of our joint project: Rotary Cares Food Aid 2020 (疫下關懷送暖行動). In a nutshell, the project provided financial relief to over 200 families, in Ngau Tau Kok/Kwun Tong area, in the form of food coupons which can be redeemed at local merchants in their community. The financial relief aimed not only to lessen pandemic’s impact to the savings of grassroots families, but also to support local merchants deeply affected by economic slowdown. Caritas took due care to select families most affected by the pandemic, including families with no constant income, large families with many children to support, families living in subdivided housing and/or rooftop housing etc. The selection process was finely granular, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that those who needed help the most would get priority. Ms. Li shared anecdotes from beneficiaries, including…
On November 21, President Mark led a team consisting of President Elect Sam, three friends and family members and two Interactors from King’s College to pack and deliver hot meals to the elderly in the Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. In addition, several Interactors personally delivered 6 hot meals to elderly living in nearby public housing estates. Our next outing is on December 5. Past President WT will be the leader.
On November 14, President Mark attended the CPR/AED Project launch ceremony. The project, in its fifth year, aims to promote CPR/AED knowledge in the community. In particular, youth is encouraged to learn CPR and periodically refresh their techniques. This year, the focus is to teach modified CPR techniques that aim to minimize the risk of viral exposure. Our Club is a supporting sponsor of this meaningful project.
On November 12, our Club met for lunch at our usual meeting venue, Regal Hong Kong Hotel. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 6-person tables separated by ample spaces. After the usual reports and announcements from President Mark, Past President WT introduced our speaker, Arnett Edwards. Principal Edwards is school principal of Li Po Chun United World College (“LPCUWC”) of Hong Kong. Located in an idyllic part of Ma On Shan, LPCUWC has nurtured many responsible citizens in the past 20+ years. Many graduates of LPCUWC went on to do great things, from managing large NGOs to setting up an eye clinic in Africa. Principal Edwards shared with members and guests the philosophy of LPCUWC’s education, both inside and outside of the classroom. Some of the ideals espoused by its graduates include: international understanding, celebration of difference, integrity, service, compassion etc. – these ideals surely resonate with Rotary’s core principles and values. Principal Edwards shared the stage with Mr. Adrian Kwong, who is currently responsible for the school’s outreach programs. Mr. Kwong shared with members and guests the school’s various peace initiatives, including those with Rotary and Rotaract. Towards the end of the…