On May 22, President Mark led a team consisting of Past Presidents Grace and Samuel, Rotarian Eliza, and Coco to deliver hot meals to 200+ elderly living in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok areas. Everyone lost weight while standing under the 36-degree afternoon sun to hand hot meals and other goodies to the elderly. The next outing, likely our final one this Rotary Year, is scheduled on June 5.
On May 8, at Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, our District conducted Training Assembly for incoming Presidents Elect, officers and directors. Various members attended, including: Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda, Past President Angela, President Elect Sam, Rotarian Eliza (President Nominee) and Rotarian Jason. The Keynote Speech by Mr. Kenneth Fok, JP, informed us on Youth Development and Sports in Hong Kong. Later, Past District Governor Belinda chaired a breakout session on The Rotary Foundation, while Past President Angela and Rotarian Eliza presented in the Public Image and Service Projects (Health, Preserve Planet Earth and Peace) breakout sessions, respectively. Rotarian Eliza also acted as the reporter for her breakout session in the Plenary Session. One new item for this upcoming Rotary Year is to appoint a Youth Protection Officer at each Club, as required by new Rotary International policies.
Five members (Past Presidents Angela, Grace, WT and Dora, and Rotarian Eliza) plus one spouse (Maurice) attended the District Preserve Planet Earth Committee’s Tree Planting at Fung Yuen, Tai Po on May 1. Motivated by Past President Angela’s call: “有錢出錢，有力出力”, our Club members donated 2,200 HKD in total with some of the donation going to clubs in Mongolia for planting trees there. The team carried the plants uphill before digging holes for planting the trees to attract butterflies to come to this “Site of Special Scientific Interest” conservation area, where over 200 species of butterflies (90% of the total 245 species in HK) live here. Among them, over 140 species are uncommon/rare/very rare in HK. The happy service+fellowship event was followed by a “heavy meal” filled with laughter in Tai Po.
On April 24, President Mark led a team consisting of Past President Grace and Rotarian Eliza to deliver hot meals to 200+ elderly living in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok areas. The next outing is scheduled on May 22. Extra helpers are needed as it would be the date for elderly to register for the first time, or renew, their eligibility cards.
On April 22, our Club met at Regal Hong Kong Hotel. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. Past President Dora, first to report, gave details regarding our virtual meeting with our sisters at Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast: it would be a Zoom affair, with the two Clubs’ respective Presidents Elect introducing their incoming Board members and their current Presidents giving a quick update of services in the current Rotary year. Past President Dora said that a Zoom link shall be provided to all in due course. Rotarian Eliza and Past President Angela detailed arrangements of our tree planting outing on May 1, with District Preserve Planet Earth (“PPE”) Committee. Rotarian Eliza also promoted beach cleaning, to be held on May 9. Finally, President Elect Sam highlighted the arrangements of the upcoming District Training Assembly, to be held on May 8. It would be a hybrid occasion with both physical and online options for those interested. Rotarian Eliza was our meeting’s speaker, who shared with us the current government consultation on the Producer Responsibility Scheme on Plastic Beverage Containers. The consultation, launched on February 22 and will…
On April 8, our Club returned to physical lunch meeting at Regal Hong Kong Hotel after one month of virtual meetings on Zoom. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. Various members gave detailed reports of Club and District events. Rotarian Eliza reported on our service outing at Holy Cafe the week before, and was happy to see a playful and most affable side of Rotarian Kelvin. Rotarian Eliza also urged members to sign up for tree planting on May 1 and beach cleanup on May 9, whereupon Past President Angela chimed in and suggested to make tree planting a fellowship affair with members and spouses. For those wishing to sign up, please contact Rotarian Eliza or Past President Angela. President Elect Sam also reported on the current arrangements of Scouts Trail Walk x Walkathon. President Mark urged members who haven’t signed up for Intercity Meeting or District Conference to do so as soon as possible to take advantage of these two rare occasions of district-wide fellowship. Past President Lily, our meeting’s speaker, shared with us her new career at Suicide Prevention Services, an NGO in Hong Kong…
On March 27, President Mark led a group consisting of Past Presidents Grace and Dora, and Rotarians Kelvin and Eliza to distribute hot meals to the elderly in the Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. Our next outing is tentatively scheduled on April 17.
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 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…