On March 20, Presidents Elect Training Seminar Part 1 (“PETS 1”) was held. The seminar was held on Zoom. Live feed was broadcasted from Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, generously arranged with help from Charter President Patrick. President Elect Sam attended as participant, while Past Presidents Grace and Angela chaired two sessions as moderators. Past President Lily worked behind the scenes.
On January 16, President Mark, Past President Webster and Rotarian Jason joined Crystal Lee and Rotaractor Charis to deliver 70 handwritten letters and supermarket coupons to elderly at Hing Tin Wendell Memorial Church Alison Lam Elderly Centre. The project was conceived by our Rotaractors at Lap Chee College, who wanted to connect with neglected groups in our community while with pandemic precautions and social distancing in mind. They originally thought about hosting virtual parties for the elderly, but due to technical difficulties and the limited scope of interaction, they turned to a more personal form of communication – letter writing. 70 letters were hand-written – a feat all the more impressive since many Rotaractors are foreign students who don’t speak or write in Chinese. They had to rely on other Rotaractors who acted as translators and ghostwriters to get the job done. Most of these letters included well-wishes, while some others included long proses, including appealing to the elderly to keep warm during the winter and reassuring the elderly to stay upbeat and positive during this pandemic. Each letter was accompanied by 200 HKD-worth of supermarket coupons, generously donated by Charter President Patrick. The Centre’s representative thanked the Rotaract representative…
Due to the ongoing pandemic and our District Governor’s call to continue to meet virtually as much as we can, our Club conducted our regular meeting on December 17 on Zoom. Professor Tim Tong, our Honorary Member, joined our meeting. Amy and Catherine also joined. Rotarian Eliza joined from her quarantine hotel with makeshift Christmas gear. The “regular” meeting was anything but regular: in addition to the regular reporting of Club and District activities, it functioned as our Club’s second assembly of the Rotary year, our annual general meeting, and our annual Christmas party. It would also be our Club’s first ever online AGM, first ever online Christmas party, and, amazingly, despite having weathered near a year of pandemic, our first ever online assembly. At the beginning of our meeting, Past President Dora announced the passing of Past President Feeling (Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast). Those who knew Past President Feeling personally would most certainly agree that Past President Feeling was a most generous and warm person, a loving mother, a dear wife and a committed Rotarian. Past President Dora gave a long and heart-felt tribute to our beloved sister, who has been a bedrock of warmth and love to…
Charter President Patrick nominated, and our Board has duly considered and approved Professor MF Yuen, a world-class clinician researcher and teacher at HKU, to be our Club’s third Honorary Member, after Honorary Members Vivien Lau and Professor Tim Tong. Welcome Professor Yuen to the world of Rotary!
On October 22, our Club met for lunch at our usual meeting venue, Regal Hong Kong Hotel. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. The meeting began with President Mark giving quick updates of Club and District activities. President Mark also gave details about District Governor’s visit, which occurred the week before. The floor was then yielded to Immediate Past District Governor (“IPDG”) Wilson Cheng, who visited our Club to personally present the Rotary International 2019-20 Excellence in Service to Humanity Award to Wendy Poon. IPDG Wilson also brought gifts for everyone, but especially presented gifts to Club members who served the District with distinction during his tenure as District Governor: Charter President Patrick and Past District Governor Belinda for their leadership and advice; Past Presidents Grace and Angela for their work in public image, district training, District Conference etc.; Past President Lily for being his Deputy Assistant Governor for Area 3; and Past Presidents Dora and Lily for their work in public image and event preparations. President Mark also received, on our Club’s behalf, Rotary International Citation for 2019-20 as well as highly-rated wines for our members…
As the pandemic rages on, nearly all sectors across the economy are deeply affected. Sole bread winners of families toeing on or below the poverty line are losing their jobs or having their wages significantly reduced. The wait for help from social welfare and food banks is getting longer and longer. Savings are being depleted. Many families are increasingly struggling to put food on the table. In Kwun Tong District, which is ranked, in terms of poverty situation, in the bottom-3 amongst all Districts in Hong Kong, livelihoods for many families are already challenging before the pandemic. Pandemic makes survival much more difficult. As such, our Club is partnering with Caritas Community Centre – Ngau Tau Kok (“Caritas”) to distribute, beginning in mid-September, food coupons to around 250 grassroots families and families living in subdivided units in Kwun Tong District identified to be in most urgent need of help. The coupons are designed to bridge the gap between applying for and receiving governmental and other assistance. A small kickoff ceremony was held at Caritas on September 17. Those in attendance included: President Mark and Catherine, Charter President Patrick, Past Presidents Eddie, Grace, Angela, and Webster, President Elect Sam, and Rotarian…
Our Club continued to meet on Zoom due to pandemic conditions and gathering restrictions in Hong Kong. 7 Rotaractors and 2 Interactors joined our meeting in our annual “Youth Day”. Ms Crystal Lee from HKU also joined. The meeting began with Charter President Patrick, Rotarian Jason and President Elect Sam taking turns to give details of our upcoming project, Rotary Cares Food Aid 2020. Patrick gave a quick introduction of the project’s purpose and concept. Jason gave updates of the project’s strategic and operational details. Sam gave updates of the project’s fundraising activities. In all, the planning for the project is already underway. Members were invited to help. (A kickoff ceremony is scheduled to be held on September 17. Please refer to our Whatsapp communication for more details.) Rotarian Eliza, joining from New Zealand, wore her Preserve Planet Earth (“PPE”) hat and gave us some news and details about District’s Beach Cleanup Event on October 3. Eliza mentioned that this is one of those very special events where Rotarians and Rotaractors work hand in hand to keep our environment clean. Due to the pandemic, the cleanup crew will be divided into small groups, with a maximum of 20 participants. For…
On August 22, District successfully held a Membership Forum online. Several members attended, including Charter President Patrick, President Elect Sam and Rotarian Eliza. President Mark and Past President Lily dialed in from Holy Cafe. One of the most exciting breakout sessions was about Virtual Rotary Exchange Program. Past District Governor YK Cheng and Past President Silva Yeung of Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile detailed how Virtual Rotary Exchange came about during our Rotary Connects the World Forum, hosted by our District, back in June. In that Forum, an idea to innovate existing Rotary programs was germinated, including the prospect of a virtual exchange program. With a virtual exchange, young participants no longer have to take time off, often at the beginning of their careers, to participate. They can log on after work, at their leisure time, in their own home, and connect with other exchange participants thousands of miles away. The opportunities to make new connections, to facilitate cultural exchange and to encourage international understanding, are endless.
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”.
On June 28, President Mark, Charter President Patrick, Past District Governor Belinda, Past Presidents Grace and Angela attended District Conference, our District’s 60th.