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(!) of running, or good deeds…all within the coming two weeks. Some Harbour Rotarians and spouses are already discussing how we may participate in this activity.
President Candy highlighted a very interesting ongoing project called Fre3minutes (輕鬆3分鐘), an online media platform where members of the community can share and watch video snippets, each roughly 3 minutes long. The premise is to encourage members of the community to find 3 minutes to relax and watch something different from what one is normally used to. Videos are currently classified into 11 channels, including: cooking, pilates, nature, pets, music etc. This project is also supported by Rotary E-Club of Lantau. President Mark can attest that the 3 minutes he spent watching a sunset video has been one of the most relaxing 3 minutes for him in all of 2021. Please check out the platform and find your 3 minutes of peace of mind! President Candy also detailed a project that they have been spearheading since last year: Micro-fiction competition. This year, in association with HK Alzheimer’s Disease Association, each participant submits 3 entries of 15 words or emojis illustrating an elder’s (aged 70 or above) life lessons and experience. Entries are judged by their creativity and ability to illustrate complex issues with simple phrases.
The lunch-time “virtual” gathering among the 3 Clubs, on the last day of the Chinese calendar year (年三十) no less, was a jovial and casual one. We are grateful for all attendees who sacrificed their meal-time (if they weren’t already slurping noodles while on mute!) to join us on this special day. We hope to continue the tradition of a 3-club gathering, conceived by Past President Lily when she was our Area’s Deputy Assistant Governor last year, in the future.