District Rotary Foundation Seminar was held on November 27. Attendees from our Club included Past District Governor Belinda (chair of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), Past President Grace (member of the District Rotary Foundation Committee), and Past Presidents Angela and Eddie (seminar presenters). Charter President Patrick was a special VIP guest, while President Elect Eliza attended to understand more about the works of The Rotary Foundation within the Rotary movement.
President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Past President Webster (Youth), Past President Kay, Past Pressident WT and President Elect Eliza attended the Installation Ceremony this year. President Rain Lau, School Principal Mr. Tang, Ms. Kwok, Ms. Leung, and the Club Committees welcomed our Rotarians. Principal Mr. Tang expressed his optimism that Interactors will be able to serve the community in the “new normal” and emphasized that Rotary/Interact is a valuable institution for young students. President Sam spoke about the Rotary International Theme, “Serve to Change Lives.” Charter President Patrick encouraged Interactors to adopt Rotarian values and principles in all things they do, in school and outside school. Past President Webster talked about the concept, “一齊服務 ,一齊健康”, loosely translated to be “serve together, and be healthy together”. Next, President Rain reported on activities completed in 2020-21 and his plan for the “new normal” in 2021-22. Finally, our Rotarians presented Interact pins to all the officers and committees of the Interact Club of King’s College.
President Sam and Charter President Patrick joined Lap Chee College’s High Table Dinner on November 5. This was the first such dinner in a year and a half. Master of the College, our Honorary Member MF Yuen, welcomed everyone to the dinner. Professor Tsui Lap Chee, in his name-sake college, and Charter President Patrick presented gowns to several Lap Chee students. Professor Tsui gave the keynote speech. Past President of Rotaract Club of HKU Lap Chee College International, Sally Oh, is now a tutor of the college and is working on student development matters on campus. Crystal Lee, fellow of the College, was excited to share some of the plans of the Rotaract Club this year.
On November 3, several members of our Club attended Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East’s regular club meeting, thus resuming our annual tradition of visiting our beloved mother Club. President Sam led a large group consisting of Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda, Past President Grace, Immediate Past President Mark, and President Elect Eliza. President Bernard Lee and his members gave the visiting Rotarians a warm welcome. During the meeting, we learned much from the day’s speaker, Rotarian Benson Ng, who talked about anti-money laundering. While there, Past District Governor Belinda took the opportunity to promote various Rotary Foundation-related activities. President Sam, while accepting gifts from the host, invited members from mother club to attend our 35th anniversary dinner, to be held in March 2022. We thank President Bernard, his Immediate Past President Leo Yu and other members of Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East for their warm hospitality and overall generosity.
On September 30, District Governor visited our Club (at President Sam’s office). President Sam, Charter President Patrick, Vice President Kelvin, Past Presidents Kay, Grace and Webster, President Elect Eliza and Rotarian Jason represented our Club and our Board. District Governor Keith Chow led a full team from the District including: Assistant Governor Sunny Chen, Chief District Secretary Ron Chan, Deputy Assistant Governors Stella Law and Stacy Ho, and District Secretaries Brian Ho and Louis Ma. It was also agreed that District Governor Keith will be our speaker at our January 13 lunch meeting.
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 23, our first fellowship dinner of the year to celebrate August birthday stars (Charter President Patrick, Wendy, Past President Samuel, Past President Angela, Kelly and President Sam) took place at the Shun Tak Fraternal Association restaurant. Thanks to Past President Grace and Vice President Kelvin/Winnie’s arrangement. Paul Harris pins were also presented by Past District Governor Belinda and President Sam to Past President Ricky (PHF+1) and Immediate Past President Mark (PHF+3, PHF+4). At the end of the dinner, a lucky draw was conducted to give out Suicide Prevention Services souvenir stamp booklets, organic tea from Holy Cafe, and a special “PPE” lucky draw of takeaway food boxes.
What is Kabaddi? On August 12, in our 3rd Club meeting, our speaker, Mr. Wyman Tang, a lecturer in Anthropology at CUHK, shared with us “Kabaddi” the popular South Asian sport. He has been promoting the sport in Hong Kong since 2015. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a “raider”, to run into the opposing team’s half of a court, tag out as many of their defenders as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are tagged or tackled, but are brought back in for each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle. Wyman co-founded Kabaddi United Hong Kong, aiming to bring out the message of multiculturalism and social integration. Experiential activities are organized at schools and in the community while providing training for young people of diverse race to be assistant coaches and ambassadors. In the world of Kabaddi, people…
On July 10, District Installation was held. The guest of honor and speaker was the Honorable Bernard Chan, GBM, GBS, JP. During the Club Presidents’ Installation Ceremony, outgoing President Mark passed the president’s sash to incoming President Sam. In attendance from our Club were Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda, Past Presidents WT and Grace, and President Elect Eliza. Later in the day, during Past District Governor Belinda’s presentation of Rotary Foundation Major Gifts and Pledges, President Sam announced the largest pledge of the day, the US$250,000 Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour 35th Anniversary Endowment Fund. The investment earnings from the Endowment Fund is to be designated perpetually and solely for scholarships in Rotary District 3450. More details will be shared with all Club members in the 1st Club Assembly on the evening of September 23.
Club Installation marks a time for new beginnings. Immediate Past President Mark gave his year-end review, including some interesting photos. President Sam, under the supervisory eyes of District Governor Keith Chow and Immediate Past District Governor Eric Chak, was handed the meeting gavel as well as the presidential sash. Several members were recognized during the Installation, including Charter President Patrick and Past District Governor Belinda for their great support of the Club and of the District over the years; outgoing Board of Directors; and Paul Harris Fellows in 2020-21. Overall, 24 of 26 members attended, plus two of our Honorary Members.