We had a relaxing and happy fellowship among Club members and sister club members from our three sister clubs: Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen, Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast and Rotary Club of Pudu. We toured around Tai O, Ngong Ping, Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. Weather was fantastic!
Our Club met to celebrate Christmas and to elect our Club Board for RY2023-24. President Elect Jason chaired the dinner meeting while President Eliza took leave of absence due to illness. There were 22 attendees, including our Honorary Member MF and his wife Ping, 13 members, and 7 spouses. President Elect Jason began by summarizing past activities and upcoming ones, including our women’s health screening project with Caritas. Thereafter, PE Jason moved onto the main focus of the evening: our Annual General Meeting. After quorum was met, PE Jason declared the General Meeting opened. He proceeded to move through the agenda, including putting up his nominations for next Rotary Year’s Club Board, for members’ consideration. In the end, all nominees put forward by President Elect Jason were elected by acclamation. After AGM was declared closed, our fellowship began. For sharing, President Elect Jason brought two prized bottles of single malts, while PP Mark brought two bottles of red wines. Sumptuous dinner was provided by Regal, followed by an exhilarating game of Bingo, hosted by Past President Webster, Past President Lily and President Elect Jason. After Past President Eddie playfully complained in our Club Whatsapp group that not everyone won something,…
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.
Thanks to Professor Danny Lam, Director, Policy for Sustainability Lab, HKU arranged this amazing VIP tour to our club members visiting the Lai Chi Wo, a 300-odd-year-old village situated in the north-eastern corner of the territory. It was one of the largest remaining traditional Hakka villages in Hong Kong. While the registrations from club members wereoverwhelmingly high that we arranged two separate tours. This was the first tour with 14 members and families of Rotary Club of HK Harbour took the comfortable coach from Admiralty / Shatin to Sha Tau Kok then the luxury water taxi from Sha Tau Kok to Lai Chi Wo. The full day guided tour included a visit and walk around the village, followed by traditional Hakka lunch at one of the villager’s house. The group then visited the outdoor eco-farm and had a chance to taste the locally produced Arabica coffee. The next lucky tour would pay the visit on 6 Nov 2022 (Sunday).
Thanks to Past President Webster, we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at Chez Moi in Causeway Bay. It was our Club’s first fellowship dinner in this Rotary Year. On occasion, we celebrated the August birthday boys and girls.
At the end of the Rotary Year it was great to have one last fellowship dinner. Hosted by Past President Peter and Coco, the dinner, on June 25, was attended by Past President Eddie, Rita, Past President Grace, Past President Lily, President Sam, President Elect Eliza, President Nominee Jason and Sara. Past President Eddie and Rita met Past President Peter and Coco early in the day to go to the market and prepare the sumptuous meal. By about 6pm, the other guests arrived at Past President Peter’s residence in Yuen Long. Over appetizers of homemade chilled abalone, spring rolls and durian cake, Past Presidents Peter, Eddie and Grace reminisced about ex-members and club events in the 1990s and early 2000s. After the fireside chat, the fire was lit for dinner. Past President Peter took care of a live fire barbeque while Coco was in charge of the Korean hot plate barbeque. The food included generous amounts of seafood , meats and vegetables. Dessert included ice cream and grapes. Everyone was too full to eat another bite. It was a wonderful evening of food and fellowship!
Led by President Elect Eliza, participants met at Chai Wan MTR station to take a coach bus to the starting point at To Tai Wan. The walk was on the Hong Kong Trail Section 7 and ended with a tour of Tai Tam Scout Centre.
On November 12, President Sam, and Past Presidents Grace, Eddie and WT visited Ms. Lai and Ms. Lo at the Yuk Chi Resource Centre. The main purpose was to observe the District Grant project in action. Ms. Lai explained to the group the high demand of obtaining a comprehensive developmental assessment of age-6 or under children with suspected developmental problems. Underprivileged families may need to wait 15 to 18 months at the Department of Health. Our Club’s District Grant project will help 45 such families this year. Our Rotarians observed an assessment of a 4-year old girl for 20 minutes. Through playing with toys and engaging her in specific tasks the clinical psychologist was able to test the girl’s motor functions and assess her developmental progress. After the visit, President Sam led the group to a Singaporean restaurant (A Taste Above Shiok) in Causeway Bay for afternoon tea.
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 October 16, led by Assistant Governor Sunny Chen and Deputy Assistant Governor Stella Law, it was Area 3’s turn to be promoted on Ming Pao as part of our District’s Public Image initiatives. Our Past President Lily and Past President Thomas Yeung from the Public Image Committee was on hand to help with the day’s work. President Sam represented our Club and described the major works of our Club and the signature 35th Anniversary Endowment Fund. It was a wonderful afternoon in Stanley and Presidents had an enjoyable fellowship.