On December 2, Past President Lily and President Elect Eliza attended a briefing by “跑去你屋企 Run To Your Home” Foundation, which was introduced to us by Past President Daniel Lo of Rotary Club of Central at our Club’s October 28 meeting.
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.
President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Past President Webster (Youth), Past President Kay, Past Pressident WT and President Elect Eliza attended the Installation Ceremony this year. President Rain Lau, School Principal Mr. Tang, Ms. Kwok, Ms. Leung, and the Club Committees welcomed our Rotarians. Principal Mr. Tang expressed his optimism that Interactors will be able to serve the community in the “new normal” and emphasized that Rotary/Interact is a valuable institution for young students. President Sam spoke about the Rotary International Theme, “Serve to Change Lives.” Charter President Patrick encouraged Interactors to adopt Rotarian values and principles in all things they do, in school and outside school. Past President Webster talked about the concept, “一齊服務 ,一齊健康”, loosely translated to be “serve together, and be healthy together”. Next, President Rain reported on activities completed in 2020-21 and his plan for the “new normal” in 2021-22. Finally, our Rotarians presented Interact pins to all the officers and committees of the Interact Club of King’s College.
Several of our members were active at this year’s End Polio Now Walk & Carnival. Past District Governor Belinda, chair of District Rotary Foundation Committee, led the District’s End Polio work this year along with support from Past President Grace and Past President Eddie from our Club and others. Rotarian Jason, on the other hand, led our Club’s effort. President Sam, Past President Grace, Past President Dora, President Elect Eliza and Rotarian Jason’s friend Ken had lunch at Tai Po Cooked Food Centre. The group was guided by food recommendations from Charter President Patrick, as well as Past Presidents Ka Hing and Lily. After lunch, Past President Grace went ahead to Science Park to help to set up the special ceremony. Rotarian Jason, President Sam, Past President Dora, President Elect Eliza and Ken went on a 5.5km walk from Tai Po to Science Park as part of the End Polio Now Walk. The Carnival was full of games, and arts and crafts booths. Our Club was recognized by District Governor Keith Chow and Past District Governor Belinda for its contribution to the PolioPlus fund. The ceremony was also live-linked with Macau and Mongolia.
On November 3, several members of our Club attended Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East’s regular club meeting, thus resuming our annual tradition of visiting our beloved mother Club. President Sam led a large group consisting of Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda, Past President Grace, Immediate Past President Mark, and President Elect Eliza. President Bernard Lee and his members gave the visiting Rotarians a warm welcome. During the meeting, we learned much from the day’s speaker, Rotarian Benson Ng, who talked about anti-money laundering. While there, Past District Governor Belinda took the opportunity to promote various Rotary Foundation-related activities. President Sam, while accepting gifts from the host, invited members from mother club to attend our 35th anniversary dinner, to be held in March 2022. We thank President Bernard, his Immediate Past President Leo Yu and other members of Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East for their warm hospitality and overall generosity.
On September 30, District Governor visited our Club (at President Sam’s office). President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Vice President Kelvin, Past Presidents Kay, Grace and Webster, President Elect Eliza and Rotarian Jason represented our Club and our Board. District Governor Keith Chow led a full team from the District including: Assistant Governor Sunny Chen, Chief District Secretary Ron Chan, Deputy Assistant Governors Stella Law and Stacy Ho, and District Secretaries Brian Ho and Louis Ma. It was also agreed that District Governor Keith will be our speaker at our January 13 lunch meeting.
On September 23, our Club inducted Dr. David Lee as our newest member. Proposed by Past President Grace, David’s classification is “Medical – Western and Chinese Medicine.” Rotarian David comes to us with quite a bit of Rotary experience, having been an Interactor, Rotaractor and RYLA 2006 participant. President Elect Eliza hosted our first Club Assembly of the year. On the agenda was membership, Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour 35th Anniversary Endowment Fund and our Club’s 35th Anniversary Dinner. President Sam reported that the Endowment Fund will commence fundraising shortly in November with an eye on the InterCity Meeting on December 7. Planned completion of the fundraising is March of 2022 (total to be raised: USD 250,000). President Sam at the Club Assembly pledged to donate the first USD 25,000 to establish the Endowment Fund. President Sam will send details of the fundraising to all members once ready. President Elect Eliza reported on the 35th Anniversary Dinner. An Organizing Committee has been formed. Several venues and dates were proposed. Themes were discussed. The meeting concluded that Regal (Hong Kong, Kowloon, Airport) should be under final consideration, considering that social distancing regulations may be fluid and Regal offers the best…
On September 12, several of our members and friends, including: President Sam, Past President Lily and Ken, Past President Samuel and Amy, President Elect Eliza and Tiffany, Coco, Yvonne and Kelly, went to Suicide Prevention Services Headquarters in Choi Hung Estate to take part in an elderly outreach service program for Mid-Autumn Festival. Past President Lily gave a tour around the headquarters which housed the well-regarded SPS call center. Heading out in four teams, the teams visited elderly cases in the East Kowloon area and gave them care packages which contained mooncakes, biscuits, masks and other daily items. After the teams returned, a debriefing with each team and a social worker concluded the day. It was a great Mid-Autumn festival service outing that benefited the elderly in the district.
On September 2, President Sam, Past President Grace, Past President Webster and President Elect Eliza met with the outgoing “cabinet” of the Rotaract Club of HKU Lap-Chee College International at the Indonesian restaurant, Kaum: Potato Head, in Sai Ying Pun. Lap Chee members included Crystal (fellow), outgoing President Anushka, Bobby, Cindy, Gabin and Anuj. Cindy, from Jakarta, helped to order the food, and explained to us the dishes and how they would be served in her native country. Over the course of the dinner, we learned about our Rotaract friends’ studies and career plans, and life on-campus. The new Rotaract leadership will be recruited in the coming month and announced to our Club members!
In our 4th regular club meeting of the year, we had Past District Governor Ada come speak to us about “Integrating Integrity and Ethics in Your Rotary Journey.” It is always good to go back to basics like Rotary’s Four-Way Test and the Code of Conduct. While we join Rotary for years and focus on community service projects, we have to remember what makes Rotarians stand out from other membership organizations. Rotarian Jason gave a vote of thanks, while President Elect Eliza presented Ada with a precious gift: organic soap, handmade by Eliza!