Thanks to Past President Webster, our Club lined up Ms. Jenny Tung, Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières Hong Kong, to visit our Rotary Adopt A School (and Interact) partner, St. Clare’s Girls’ School, to talk about global issues via the lens of a global non-profit organization. Past President Grace attended the talk, and reported that Ms. Tung was a fantastic speaker and spoke frankly about world problems. Past President Grace was hopeful that the secondary school students at St. Clare’s learned much from the talk.
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 4, President Sam had an hour to fill and joined the Zoom training session about District Youth Protection Policy. It is a serious topic. For Clubs that are doing service projects or engaging youth partners (e.g., RAAS, Interact), we must pay attention to how we handle under-18 volunteers or students. The District will conduct several more of these Zoom training sessions and produce certain templates for Club’s use. The session also covered the sexual harassment policy (above-18).
On June 10, 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. Mr. Kenneth She joined as a guest of Past President WT. President Mark began by recounting memorable episodes from Interota 2020, which closed the day before. President Mark also asked those members who have signed up for Rotary Virtual Convention to check their emails to gain access links. President Elect Sam gave more details about Club Assembly, Club Installation and District Installation. Charter President Patrick reported that he attended Rotary Club of Pudu’s Interact Leadership Training Seminar, held via Zoom. He had fond memories of his appointment as Youth Service Director of Rotary Club of Pudu, in the late 70s. He also reminded us that fellowship and international understanding are two important pillars of the Interact experience, and that our Club should open more opportunities for our youth to experience both. Finally, Past President Samuel counted members’ efforts during our service day at Holy Cafe in the previous weekend, the 14th official outing of this Rotary Year, and commented that Coco was mad that she couldn’t join us for the…
On June 5, various members attended as guests Interact Leadership Training Seminar, organized by our sister Club, Rotary Club of Pudu. President Mark and Charter President Patrick dropped by, while Rotarian Jason participated as panelist during the international session. The Seminar was expertly run by Pudu Rotarians, who spent a substantial amount of time to prepare for the Seminar, and the first such one virtually. Harbour attendees learned a great deal from the Seminar, not only about Interact but about how to support Interact, especially during this ongoing pandemic.
On May 23, our Club sent one team of Interactors to 11th Hong Kong Bowling Tournament for all x 10th Hong Kong Blind Bowling Tournament. President Mark, Past President Grace, President Elect Sam, and Grace’s sister Joyce went to cheer our team of Interactors from King’s College. Also in attendance was Dr. Kelvin Siu, our speaker from last week, and his colleague Mr. Ricky Chan (not to be confused with our most cheerful Past President Ricky). Both are innovators who are passionate about supporting the disabled through technological innovation. We also managed to catch Honorary Member Vivien, who was the event’s Guest of Honor.
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(!)…
On November 21, President Mark led a team consisting of President Elect Sam, three friends and family members and two Interactors from King’s College to pack and deliver hot meals to the elderly in the Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. In addition, several Interactors personally delivered 6 hot meals to elderly living in nearby public housing estates. Our next outing is on December 5. Past President WT will be the leader.
On November 7, Past President Grace led a large team consisting of Past President Webster and his two sons, Rtnne. Coco and 9 Interactors from King’s College to pack and deliver hot meals to the elderly. In addition, several Interactors delivered and installed a replacement oven, and helped to fix a TV antenna issue at an elderly’s home. Our next outing is on November 21.
On October 9, President Mark Tong, together with Charter President Patrick Poon and Past Presidents Grace Yen and Webster Ng, attended the Club Installation of the Interact Club of King’s College. Principal KC Tang also attended the Installation and gave an encouraging speech to the Interactors. President Mark and Charter President Patrick also gave uplifting words to the Interactors, at a time of social unrest. Outgoing President Tom Lam gave a report of his achievements in the previous year, while Incoming President Marx Wong outlined his ideas for the coming year. The new 15-strong committee was pinned by President Mark and Charter President Patrick, with over 30 Interactors and school staff as witnesses.