A new Rotary Community Corps (RCC) is born! RCC of Patrick SC Poon Amity College!The inaugural ceremony was hosted at the Patrick SC Poon Amity College. The ceremony was attended by District Governor Norman, Charter President Patrick, President Eliza, Immediate Past President Sam, Past President Grace, Rotarian Fei and Rotarian Ka Man from Rotary side together with Master Thomas Man and his senior team, and of course the RCC members. RCC President Simon shared their 2023/24 activity plan to us with the upcoming elderly service on May 29! We look forward to their services to the local community with Rotary’s mottoes Service Above Self and One Profit Most Who Serve the Best!
On April 13, our regular lunch meeting was held at Regal Hong Kong Hotel. Because President Eliza was still traveling in Taiwan, President Elect Jason wore the Presidential Sash as acting President for the day. District Governor Norman paid an unannounced, surprise visit. Six Club members attended. Due to the low attendance, our speaker program was postponed to the coming weeks, with details to be announced soon. Many Rotarians were absent as they were either out of town or bedridden due to sickness. President Eliza (Taiwan), Past President Kay (Italy), Past President Dora (Korea), Past President Mark (New York), President Nominee David (Edinburgh) and Rotarian Tony (Shenzhen) sent their apologies from abroad. All three Rotarians (Past PresidentAntonio, Past President Mark and Rotarian Tony) who were scheduled to be on duty were out of town and unable to perform their duties. Thankfully, they found three willing replacements (Past President Webster, Immediate Past President Sam, and Rotarian Fei) who calmly reported that not much duty was needed as the meeting turned into an intimate gathering where conversation flowed freely. District Governor Norman gave a summary of past and upcoming District activities. In the end, Rotarians and our District Governor wished those who…
Regular Club meeting was held at Regal on October 27. We kicked off the meeting with activity reports from the previous weeks. Most significantly, President Elect Jason helped us to refresh our memories of our participation in End Polio Walkathon and Carnival on October 22. We then welcomed Dr Laura Lo, an Associate Vice President at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Chairman of HK Tech 300 Incubation Subcommittee. She is no stranger to members of our Club; she is not only a good friend and colleague of our Rotarian Fei, but also a good friend and scouting colleague of President Eliza’s brother. She came to talk to us about tech and innovation in Hong Kong, and specifically about HK Tech 300, an entrepreneurship program organized by CityU to encourage young minds to take their first steps to become entrepreneurs. Eligible participants receive some training before applying for HK$100k seed funding. After this initial funding period, eligible participants compete for angel funding, up to HK$1 million. Anyone affiliated with CityU is eligible to enter this program, including the general public who enters into licensing agreements to deploy intellectual property developed by CityU’s academics. Dr Lo admitted that while most…
On August 25, our Club conducted our regular meeting on Zoom, due to tropical storm Ma-On. The Zoom meeting was well attended. Our speaker of the day was Miss Tsai-yueh Chen (陳采⽉⼩姐), who was introduced to us by Rotarian Fei. Originally from Taiwan, Miss Chen is engaged in cultural arts education, focusing on promotion of tea culture and lifestyle. She lectured in many higher education institutions in Hong Kong and established a non-profit organization, 《茶味⼩集》, using tea as a central theme to offer lifestyle programs, lectures, cultural exchange, and an education platformfor those who want to learn how to appreciate tea. You can find more information about《茶味⼩集》here. Miss Chen began by asking club members a few questions. Do you appreciate tea drinking? Do you demand certain qualities in your tea selections? How often do you encounter tea in your daily lives? Do you invest in teas? By asking simple questions, Miss Chen demonstrated the large scope of tea as a speaking topic. In this talk, Miss Chen focused on the origins of tea in Hong Kong 《香江茶「道」》. The tea trade is driven by the market economy, labor needs and is historically tied to colonialism. Hong Kong’s position as a key…
In this meeting, our newest member Professor Heiwai Tang gave a thought provoking vocational talk. Rtnnes. Lina, Coco and Catherine joined as part of our spouse program. Before we went into the speaker program, we took care of some club business. First, led by Past Presidents Kay and WT, we sang Happy Birthday to Rotarian Fei whose birthday was on May 31. Next, we gave Professor Heiwai a proper “pinning”, as he was previously inducted on April 14 via Zoom. Professor Heiwai, a MIT-educated economist, returned to Hong Kong at a time when there were a lack of world-class young economists in Hong Kong. Professor Heiwai’s topic, “Hong Kong Third Economic Transformation”, traced Hong Kong’s development through history. In the 1960s and 1970s, British colonial rule favored “non-intervention” policies in the absence of market failure. However, the government had a vision for the colony and pushed compulsory education, big infrastructure projects and founded HKUST to position Hong Kong for the future. This future would transform Hong Kong’s work force into something like Singapore or Switzerland. Science and technology would figure heavily in the future of Hong Kong. However, in the years leading up to the handover in 1997, Hong Kong…
Our speaker of the day, Walter Cheung, was introduced by Rotarian Fei. Walter is well known in the public relations field, having served under five CEOs at Hang Seng Bank and is currently Managing Director of Walter Cheung Communications. Walter (水哥) is an avid marathon runner and shared with us his journey of 100 marathons. Inspired after reading Richard Branson’s autobiography, Walter wanted to do something unconventional and wanted a breakthrough. In 2002, at the age of 44, he signed up for his first full marathon. Battling leg cramps, he crossed the finish line merely 10 minutes before the time limit of five hours. At the age of 57, Walter completed his 50th full marathon. This past October, Walter completed his 100th full marathon at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Some of the highlights of Walter’s marathon journey, include: 50th marathon in Paris; 70th marathon in Rome; being the first Hong Konger to run a marathon in Bhutan; and completing the Great Wall marathon in 2008 and the Everest marathon in 2012. As a public relations professional, Walter used various media channels to document his journey and to build a personal brand. Even though he is not a professional…
On July 12, 14 members attended District Installation, held at HKCEC. To comply with gathering restrictions, members were separated into four tables, with Charter President Patrick sitting at the head table with guest of honor, Jasper Tsang, invited by Rotarian Fei and Charter President Patrick; Past District Governor Belinda sitting at the Past District Governors’ table; and the rest of the members split into two separate tables. Past Presidents Angela and Grace had OC duties throughout the day. During the Club Presidents Installation ceremony, Past President Lily stood in to pass the presidential sash one more time to President Mark. In one significant moment of the evening, Charter President Patrick received on behalf of Rotarianne Wendy the rare and prestigious Rotary International award: “Rotary International 2019-20 Excellence in Service to Humanity Award”.