On September 21, Past Presidents Grace, Lily and Mark attended International Peace Party, organized by Rotary Action Group for Peace Hong Kong Chapter. Past President Lily won best-dressed participant.
On August 20, our Club and members supported the kickoff ceremony for District’s Mental Health Project. In attendance included Past President Lily, who is the Project’s chair this year, Past President Mark (Project Committee member), and President Jason.
The 12th Board Meeting of Rotary Year 2022-23 was held at Holy Cafe, our long-term service partner, on June 19. Mrs Maria Sung, proprietor and community volunteer extraordinaire of Holy Cafe, crafted a fantastic menu for Board members in attendance. Past Presidents Ricky and Mark also joined as observers.
Various members, including Past Presidents Grace, Ricky and Mark, Immediate Past President Sam, President Elect Jason and Sara attended our sister Club Rotary Club of Pudu’s 57th Club Installation in Kuala Lumpur. President Elect Jason represented President Eliza as head of our visiting delegation. Past President Ricky also had the privilege of having the entire venue of 100 tables singing happy birthday to him.
The 63rd District Conference was held on May 20-21, 2023, at Regala Skycity Hotel. Many of our members attended: President Eliza, Past District Governor Belinda, Past Presidents WT, Angela, Dora, Ricky, Lily and Mark, and Rotarian Ka Man. Past District Governor Belinda chaired the Foundation sessions, while President Eliza managed the Preserve Planet Earth breakout. Past President Lily was on hand at the leaders’ lunch on the first day, while Past President Angela led group discussions during a Diversity Equity and Inclusion breakout. Past President Dora was in the Conference Organizing Committee, managing the conference floor and banquet. President Eliza also reported that she was part of the welcoming party that received our Mongolian Rotarians at the airport the day before the Conference.
On May 11, Immediate Past President Donald Chan of Rotary Club of Golden Bauhinia Hong Kong was our speaker on the very hot topic of Generative AI – way forward changing our lives. Immediate Past President Donald showed us how AI world could replace many of our jobs, particularly in the design world that you only need to type what you want in the poster and get it done in minutes. Prompt Engineering is the new job type to go for! Past President Dora encouraged Club members to attend the upcoming Rotary Club of Pudu installation on 10 June 2023. We had cake cutting to celebrate Past President Mark’s Wedding Anniversary. President Elect Johnny of Rotary Club of Auckland Harbourside, the Club that President Eliza always visited when she was in Auckland, visited our club today. Immediate Past President Donald also brought his friend Weston who so happened to be President Eliza’s common friend. Rotarian Clive Tsang from Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast also visited our club too.
While President Eliza and others were in Taipei attending Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen’s 25th Anniversary Party in Taipei, Past District Governor Belinda, Past President Grace, Past President Eddie, Past President Lily, Past President Mark, President Nominee David and Rotarian Ka Man in Hong Kong attended District Training Assembly. Some ofthem were representing their respective District Committees on stage as speakersas well. Also, President Nominee David, on behalf of President Elect Jason voted for the District 3450 budget 2023/24.
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…
As part of our Club’s mission to raise awareness of each of our personal carbon footprint, our Club challenged our members to calculate their own annual carbon footprint using Hong Kong Government’s carbon calculator. 46%, or twelve, of our members did the calculation. We then asked those who did the calculation to consider offsetting their carbon emissions by purchasing Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) through United Nations’ Carbon Offset Platform, a program under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Of those who took the time to calculate their carbon footprint, all agreed to offset their annual carbon emissions. Our Club identified a project in India that converts agriculture waste into energy, and subsequently purchased CERs specifically in support of that project. We purchased CERs as a group, the record of which can be found here. We thank all our members who took time not only to better understand global warming and carbon emissions but also to calculate their own carbon footprint — an important step in raising awareness. We look forward to future challenges, in particular to find out if, by becoming more aware of personal emissions, those members who calculated their current footprint manage to reduce their future footprint…
President Eliza and President Elect Jason went to the Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (PETS) II in the morning session in Alexandra Hotel before getting on a taxi to Chi Fu, Pokfulam for the Opening Ceremony of the Scout Trail Walk where Past Presidents Grace, Dora, Eddie and ex-member Past Presidents Theresa and Kennedy were there together with Yuk Chi Resources Centre’s team. Then President Elect Jason rushed back to attend the afternoon session of the PETS II. After the opening ceremony, Yuk Chi’s team together with children and parents hopped on a coach to go to the Peak. Meanwhile, President Eliza walked the steep route from Pokfulam to the Peak together with her brother and Ms. Laura Lo, one of this year’s speakers during our regular meetings and a senior scout leader. Past President Mark joined in right before the Peak walk together with President Eliza and team. District Governor Norman and his wife Isa joined the award ceremony at 4:30pm and presented Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour Award to the 50km walk winners. The funds raised at this walkathon would support our service projects, including to Yuk Chi Resource Centre to provide professional therapy service for children with special…