In the 3rd regular meeting of the Rotary Year, our club invited our friends from the Rotaract Club of HKU Lap-Chee College International (“RAC HKU LCCI”) to be our speakers. President Thomas, Andrea Komguep Leoue (International Service), Subaita Mahadia (External Vice President) and Crystal Lee (Club Advisor) joined our meeting. Charter President Patrick brought his grandson, Derek, as his guest. After singing the Rotary Song, President Eliza invited Immediate Past President Sam to pin Rotarian Tony. Previously, Rotarian Tony was inducted during a Zoom meeting on January 13, 2022. We then sang “Happy Birthday” to Past President Samuel Chung, whose birthday was on August 11. The speaker program included two parts: President Thomas’ Year Plan and Rotaractor Andrea’s talk “From Paris to Hong Kong.”
President Thomas began by reviewing a past activities. Rotaractors in December 2021 conducted a Christmas service day and in April 2022 there was the Get Creative! Handcraft workshop, both programs focused on interacting with ethnic minorities children. In April 2022, Rotaractors had a vocational talk about trending technology and Blockchain.
In this Rotary Year 2022-23, President Thomas plans to have an installation ceremony on September 21, followed by orientation activities including welcoming night, recruitment briefing and retreat camp. The main service program of the year will be to organize a Dim Sum event, inviting elderly people to visit the HKU campus and then to enjoy a fellowship dim sum meal with Rotaractors at Lap-Chee College HKU. The dim sum event was canceled in the past 2 years, and it is the hope of President Thomas to revive this signature service program this year. Other service opportunities and vocational activities such as career sharing and company visits will be organized in due course this Rotary Year. It was good to know RAC HKU LCCI now has 24 active members and in the coming September there will be a membership drive that will coincide with orientation.
Rotaractor Andrea hails from France, growing up in the outskirts of Paris. She is currently doing a dual degree at Sciences Po and HKU. It was a spontaneous decision to apply for a Rotary scholarship to study in Hong Kong since there is no fixed program or period of application. She met with and interviewed with Rotary Club of Paris Quai d’Orsay. Meeting with Rotarians over dinners, Andrea expanded her personal network and was introduced to Rotaract. When she arrived in Hong Kong, her sponsor Rotary Club introduced her to Rotaractors in Hong Kong. In Andrea’s first year at Lap-Chee College HKU, she joined
the Christmas service day, the Get Creative! Handcraft workshop and RYLA 2022, giving her a full experience in Rotaract. Asked about the differences between French education and Hong Kong education, she noted that Hong Kong expects students to do more reading, whereas French education focuses more on informal interaction. In Hong Kong, there are long queues, not as many arts and museums, and not as easy to find quiet places to chill. When Andrea first arrived in Hong Kong she had a difficult first week to
adjust, but once she got to know her floormates and started to explore the city she quickly fell in love with Hong Kong.
