On March 7, President Mark and Catherine, Past President Grace, Rotarian Jason and Sara helped at Holy Cafe to distribute hot meals to the elderly. Mrs. Maria Sung, the owner of the Cafe and the 2019 winner of The One Hong Kong Humanitarian Award, started distributing meals to her neighborhood when she realized that many elderly did not have a proper hot meal in the weekends. The pandemic exacerbated the problem because some of these elderly who might have visited their relatives or might have received visits from their relatives in the weekends were forced to be on their own as people avoided going out. On occasion, our Club donated some masks to Holy Cafe, a social enterprise, so that those elderly served by the Cafe could receive some extra masks. Our Club’s plan is to set up teams to help Mrs. Sung with her weekly hot meal distribution.
Led by our Rotaractors at the Rotaract Club of HKU Lap Chee College International, care packages were prepared and delivered to Shun Lee Neighbourhood Elderly Centre (順利長者鄰舍中心) at Shun Lee Public Housing Estate on February 29. Each care package included a bottled drink, snack items, cooking condiments and other sanitation supplies. The food items were specially sourced to invoke memories of the tastes of a bygone past. In order to minimize cross infection during the current Coronavirus outbreak, the care packages were not delivered directly to the elderly, but instead dropped off at the centre for later distribution as the elderly slowly returns to the centre in the coming weeks. The centre staff thanked our Rotaract Club and told us that some elderly were already notified about the package and were elated to know that youngsters such as our Rotaractors think of them.
On February 13, our Club met for the first time after Chinese new year break. President Mark began the meeting by offering a very special welcome to all members and Maurice. President Mark then detailed the new arrangements of various Club and District events that are postponed or cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Members then shared their stories of how they struggled but eventually managed to secure their own health supplies. Some members also shared their stories of how they managed to source thousands of masks from all over the world and personally donate to charities. Maurice made an impassioned and heartfelt plea to help refugees in Hong Kong who were just as neglected and in need of help as any group in Hong Kong. Past President Angela and Rotarian Jason shared stories about how Rotaractors came together as private citizens to help out those in need. Immediate Past President Lily also shared how she managed to buy boxes of masks while visiting Turkey during her annual vacation, and promptly donated a few boxes, in our Club’s name no less, to our District’s “Giving Masks, Rotary’s Tasks” campaign. It was also during the meeting that the idea…
Over the Chinese new year, Past President Gary Lim of Rotary Club of Pudu and his family visited Hong Kong from Malaysia. Our Club members showed them our usual hospitality. Thanks to liaison by Past President Dora, our Director of International Service, we went for a long hotpot dinner one evening, and a dim sum lunch in another afternoon.
On January 15, more than a dozen Hong Kong Harbour Rotarians and spouses were present at the naming ceremony of Patrick SC Poon Amity College at Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Patrick SC Poon, of course, is our Club’s Charter President and well-known philanthropist. During Charter President Patrick’s speech, he mentioned that Rotary philosophy of service above self is one of his chief guiding principles when he does philanthropic deeds. Plenty other District dignitaries were present, including District Governor Wilson Cheng, Past Governors Moses Cheng (Chairman of the University’s Council), Anthony Hung, Jones Wong, Peter Wan, Ada Cheng, YC Ho, and District Governor Nominee Keith Chow.
District Blind Bowling Tournament was held at South China Athletic Association on January 12. 12 Interactors from St. Clare’s and 5 Interactors from King’s joined President Mark, Past President Webster and Webster’s two sons to participate in this meaningful event, where Interactors learned to appreciate what we usually take for granted (eye-sight) and the perseverance and determination of those who have lost theirs. President Mark showed a real talent for throwing gutter balls and consistently missing standing pins; his scoring contribution for the day: 0. The event was of course not possible without the full support of Hong Kong’s most well-known bowler, our very own Honorary Member Vivien Lau, who was the guest of honor of the event.
On January 7, President Mark attended District Vocational Service Seminar, hosted by our good friends at Rotary Club of Peninsula. The star speaker was Mr. Wong Kam Po (黃金寶), world champion cyclist and arguably one of Hong Kong’s greatest sporting icons at the turn of the century. Mr. Wong shared his upbringing, from a Shatin boy in a middle-class family to a cycling world champion, and all the frustration, tears, and hard work in between. Now fully retired from competitive cycling, Mr. Wong is devoting his energy and time promoting cycling and sports in general, and encouraging youngsters to chase their dreams by using his life’s history as guidepost. He is also spending a lot of time promoting Sports Legacy Scheme, a government-sanctioned scheme to help both student athletes and elite athletes who either are planning to retire or have retired to continue their involvement in sports by turning them into sports teachers so that they can continue teaching and spreading the positive values of sports and the spirit of olympism.
On December 19, our Club hosted a trifecta of meetings: Board Meeting, Club Assembly, and Annual General Meeting. At Club Assembly, President Mark shared with attendees the progress of various projects, including our Global Grant projects with Rotary Clubs of Pudu and Taoyuan Southeast. President Mark also detailed our Club’s plans to go ahead with putting together a project with Hummingfish Foundation. At Annual General Meeting, members approved, among other things, the financial accounts of RY2018-2019, expertly prepared by last year’s Treasurer Barry. After President Mark declared the closure of Annual General Meeting, our Christmas-themed party began. The dinner menu was specially designed by Regal’s catering for the occasion, with a colorful and delicious dessert spread to complement the festivity of the evening. President Mark and Rotarian Sam brought wines and whiskeys, respectively. Before tasting, our resident sommelier Past President Kay shared a bit of information and history about the wines on offer: one Chateau Montelena and one Negru de Purcari, a prized Moldovan wine brought home by President Mark when he visited Château Purcari near the Ukrainian border in Moldova half a decade ago. Members lucky enough to be sitting at Rotarian Sam’s table also got his expert take…
On December 14, President Mark and Catherine, Past President Samuel and Amy, Immediate Past President Lily, Rotarian Jason and Sara attended Home Care for Girls’ annual Christmas Party x Homecoming (關愛日). Our Club is the sponsor of the event, which was well attended by donors, families and friends of the Centre. Many girls who stayed at Home Care in the past returned, some of them even bringing their families and children! The girls gifted attendees with two performances – a hip-hop dance, and a chorus accompanied by a guitar.
Mr. Titan Lam, founder of TIRAPY, came to our Club on November 28 to talk about the TIRAPY system, a therapeutic medical system that helps to improve blood circulation and encourage controlled muscular movement. The concept of the system takes inspiration from multiple disciplines: neuro-endocrinal science, kinesiology, psychology, and martial art. While Mr. Lam himself is a decorated martial artist with over 30 years of combating experience, our members in attendance did not have the privilege of seeing a demonstration of his martial arts skills. What Mr. Lam demonstrated, however, was better: the TIRABALL, the centerpiece of the TIRAPY system. The TIRABALL is an inflatable ball with metal ball bearings inside. As the user moves the TIRABALL, the ball bearings start to move, thereby providing centrifugal force and added resistance as the user continues his/her movement. Mr. Lam gave examples of how the TIRAPY system has helped people with muscular degenerative diseases to improve their muscular strength and acuity. Past District Governor Eugene Fong and President Mark attested that juggling with the TIRABALL is no walk in the park, as both started to sweat and feel mild exhaustion after barely a minute of fiddling around with it.