Past Presidents Eddie, Grace, Samuel, WT, Lily and Mark, together with President Elect Jason and Sara and Mango started off with a brunch fellowship at NO BOUNDARY in Kennedy Town. Afterwards, they began an easy walk from Kennedy Town to Cyber Port (3.5 km), arriving at Cyber Port just in town for the End Polio festivities. Past District Governor Belinda received a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of our Club for our Donation to The Rotary Foundation’s End Polio Fund.
Immediate Past President Sam kicked off the first meeting on our Club Constitution and Bylaws Review. President Eliza, President Elect Jason and Past President Grace attended. Hardworking Immediate Past President Sam did the first cut and was setting some specific questions for the team (including Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda and Past President Kay as well) before the next meeting.
President Elect Jason hit the bell with the gavel first time on behalf of President Eliza as she was on sick leave. This was also the first Club Assembly hosted by President Elect Jason too. During the meeting, Past President Samuel updated the on-going and planned community service projects. Immediate Past President Sam suggested to form a committee to discuss and handle the Club Constitution and By-laws. He also invited members who liked to join by registering with him. Past President Kay kindly volunteered to join the committee too. Past President Mark, as Preserve Planet Earth Chair, promoted the Rotary Carbon Reduction and Ecology Summit and the Rotary Carbon Reduction and Ecological Conservation Video Competition. He also encouraged members to suggest whatever initiatives our club could consider adopting for our on-going club operation. The Club Jacket proposal brought up by some board members was discussed with members showing diverse opinions from club images, sense of belongings, environmental consideration, and abundance of similar clothing. President Elect Jason was tasked to conduct a simple survey on this matter with all members. On the 2023-24 board composition, President Elect Jason would be happy to receive nomination (and self- nominations) for any board position.…
On June 23, our Club met for dinner at Regal Hongkong Hotel. A number of spouses were in attendance at this final regular meeting of the Rotary Year x 4th Club Assembly. There were no birthdays or anniversaries announced at this meeting. Past President Dora, as Sergeant-at-Arms, reported the final figure of the Red Box which far exceeded the annual target. She thanked all members for the strong support. With the help of President Elect Eliza, President Sam reported on District Blind Bowling Tournament and District Preserve Planet Earth Tree Planting Day which were held on June 12 and June 18, respectively.Club Installation is to be held on July 14 (Thursday, 12:30pm) and members were reminded to wear the new theme ties/scarves and pins. At the club installation, a recognition ceremony will take place to recognize the Paul Harris Fellows, Paul Harris Society, Benefactors and Major Donors of the club. After the reports were settled, President Sam invited President Elect Eliza to preside over the 4th Club Assembly. First, President Sam gave a President’s Report that reviewed the activities and major projects of 2021-22. President Sam finished by promoting the Photo Archive of RCHKH which is now accessible by password…
The event of the Rotary Year was well attended by our club, including: President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda (via Zoom), Past President Grace, Past President Eddie Leung, Past President Angela, Past President Dora, Past President WT, Past President Lily and Immediate Past President Mark. Past President Eddie Wong returned from the UK and joined the Governor’s Banquet on Day 1.
On April 28, in a hybrid meeting in which members joined the meeting both physically and online, we are happy to have our own Past District Governor Belinda to talk to us about “Doing Good in the World,” a “special edition” of what is going on in the world of the The Rotary Foundation. Past President Angela gave the introduction of our speaker. Past District Governor Belinda started with a quiz of basic The Rotary Foundation questions: When was it established? What are the focuses? What are the features of DDF and World Fund? Next, Past District Governor Belinda shared stories about doing good in the world, about a project in Uganda (empowering girls) and a Hong Kong project by RC of The Peak, teaching youth through STEM education. Also of note is Rotary’s Program of Scale Grant. Each year Rotary International approves one such grant, which goes towards a large scale, high impact program that uses at least US$2 million. Finally, Past District Governor Belinda congratulated our own President Sam as the first ever AKS Circle of Honor Member in our District. Past President Kay gave our club’s vote of thanks.
We started the meeting with the induction of our newest member, Professor Heiwai Tang. Proposed by Charter President Patrick, Rotarian Heiwai is Professor in Economics at the HKU Business School. This meeting we also welcomed Mr. Kwok Yat Ming (郭一鳴先生), a well-respected journalist and Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Federation of Journalists, as speaker. Rotarian Fei made the speaker introduction, noting their initial meeting years ago at a China trends study class. The topic of the day was: “李家超, 時勢造英雄”, loosely translated as “John Lee’s Coronation”. Mr. Kwok commented on the upcoming one-candidate Chief Executive election, noting that Beijing is not simply copying the “Macau model,” but mainly backing a candidate known for his loyalty and capability. Mr. Kwok spoke about current Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s performance through 2019’s protests and the government’s Covid response from 2020 to 2022. The reason for Mr. Lee to succeed Ms. Lam may be Beijing’s desire to have a results-oriented government. This also signals a departure from candidates with Administrative Officer backgrounds, which Mr. Kwok sees as a positive in that Mr. Lee, the candidate, has less “baggage” upon election. Mr. Kwok further believes the new Chief Executive will have to heavily focus on…
In the eighth episode of “Serve to Change Lives”, a series airing Mondays on Metro Radio from 1 to 2pm, our own Past District Governor Belinda talked about The Rotary Foundation and doing good in the world. Examples were given to illustrate Rotary service programs around the world, including those from Kenya, Canada and Mongolia to local projects in Hong Kong (e.g, STEM education). Past District Governor Belinda also shared her personal experience with Home Care for Girls, our long-term service partner. A recording of the broadcast is available here: https://www.facebook.com/metroradio.com.hk/videos/1607567509576273
Several Club members attended Intercity Meeting on December 7, including Past District Governor Belinda (Committee chair), Past President Grace (Committee member), President Sam, Charter President Patrick and Rotarianne Wendy. Recognitions included: (1) Arch Klumph Society – Foundation Circle: Patrick S.C. Poon & Wendy Y.P. Fok (2) Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour 35th Anniversary Endowment Fund (3) Major Donor Level 2: President Sam; and (4) (new) Paul Harris Fellow: Immediate Past President Mark.
District Rotary Foundation Seminar was held on November 27. Attendees from our Club included Past District Governor Belinda (chair of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), Past President Grace (member of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), and Past Presidents Angela and Eddie (seminar presenters). Charter President Patrick was a special VIP guest, while President Elect Eliza attended to understand more about the works of The Rotary Foundation within the Rotary movement.