On November 13, President Sam attended the opening ceremony of CPR/AED project. Our Club joined the project as Bronze Sponsoring Club. Altogether, twelve Rotary Clubs joined this projected hosted by Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast, in partnership with St. John Ambulance. TVB artist 曹永廉 and Miss Hong Kong 2014 邵珮詩 were special guests. Do you know every year around 8,000 cases of cardiac arrest require emergency ambulance service in Hong Kong? That is over 20 cases per day. CPR/AED is critical to survival in the minutes before the ambulance arrives. Past President Webster is working with our Interact Clubs to set up a training day for our Interactors in 2022. Before that, on November 28, there is a training day for District Officers, Rotarians and Rotaractors. Our Past President Lily and Rotarian Jason are registered to attend the certification course.
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.
On September 18, President Sam and Rotarian Jason attended District’s Public Image Seminar. This year the Public Image Committee is headed by Immediate Past District Governor Eric Chak and includes our Past Presidents Dora, Lily and Angela. Past President Lily was the organizing chair of the seminar this year. Immediate Past District Governor Eric and Past President Dora began the day with a briefing on “What is Rotary Brand,” and District’s Public Image goals, its social media and newsletter. Speaker Ms. Ruby Wan presented on “The Significance of Brand Building & Positioning of Rotary Brand.” Speaker Mr. TM Wong taught us “Special Tips on Mobile Video-Taking.” Speaker Roger Ng (Past President of Rotary Club of Peninsula) presented on “How to organize and execute on-site journalistic photography to beautify Rotary services.” Finally, Past President Angela kicked-off this year’s People-of-Action Photo Competition, which will include a video category in addition to People-of-Action photos.
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.
Members attended District Learning and Development Academy over the weekend, and learned about Youth Policies of Rotary International and Digitization of RMB. Our own Charter President Patrick founded DLDA to promote learning of Rotary knowledge and, through expert speeches, learn about critical issues outside Rotary.
On August 21, President Sam, Past President Grace and friend, Past President Lily (and her two nephews), Past President Angela and Maurice, Immediate Past President Mark, President Elect Eliza, Sandy and Trevor (Past President Ka Hing’s friends), and Tony (prospective member) went to Holy Cafe to pack hot meals for the elderly. With several youngsters helping out, the elderly beneficiaries also felt more lively.
On August 3, President Sam, Past President Antonio and Pat, Past Presidents Grace, Angela, Dora and CK, and Immediate Past President Mark, supported Past President Lily and Past President Patric’s Suicide Prevention Services Charity Concert – “The Familiar Strangers”. It was a lovely night of piano duets and tango music. The gift bag was also beautifully curated, containing washable masks, coffee drip bags, postcard and a well-designed program book. An early fellowship dinner was arranged by President Sam at the City Hall Chinese restaurant.
On July 18, our first service outing of the Rotary Year! Arranged by Past President Lily with the NGO, Suicide Prevention Services (生命熱線), we volunteered for the Outreach Befriending Service for Suicidal Elderly. This is a program sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to support the elderly with emotional distress and suicidal thoughts through professional case services and befriending volunteer support. The theme of the day, due to the hot summer season, was, “消暑打氣(Don’t)冬瓜水”. President Sam, President Elect Eliza (& Tiffany), Rotarian Jason (& Sara), Past President Samuel (& Amy), Rtnnes. Coco and Kelly met Lily at SPS’s Links Café in Kwai Hing. Divided into four outreach teams, the teams visited 14 elderly cases at their homes in the West Kowloon district and gave them a care package containing biscuits, hygiene masks, hand sanitizer, sweet heart cake (老婆餅), and winter melon water (冬瓜水). During these home visits, team members chatted with them and found out how they were doing, how is their health and whether any other support is needed.
On June 10, President Mark, President Elect Sam and Rotarian Eliza visited LINKS Cafe, a community center focused on providing services to carers and families of elderly exhibiting depressive or suicidal tendencies. The center, styled in the form of a coffee shop, provides a comfortable venue for social workers and service targets to talk about life’s difficulties in a safe and relaxed environment. The venue also hosts events and classes to uplift the community. The center is run by Suicide Prevention Services, where Past President Lily currently works. Mr. WT Tsun, Past President Lily’s colleague, not only gave us an introduction of the center’s service offerings, but offered each of us a delicious cup of hot beverage.
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…