On May 22, we welcomed Rotaractors from Cambodia to share with us their current community service projects. Rotaractors Bopha Touy and Vanna Bay came with Charter President Maria Hicks OAM and Past President Aviv Palti from Rotary Passport Club of Melbourne, Australia. Past President Aviv is a Rotaract Advisor of the Rotaract Club of Siem Reap, Cambodia, to which the Rotaractors belong. Other Visiting Rotarians included Past President Brendan Kierce from Rotary Club of Brighton, Past President Simon Castley from Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile, Past President Betty Ko from Rotary Club of Hong Kong South, and Past President Leo Yu, from Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East. Past President WT brought a guest, Mr. WT Law, who has extensive experience working in Cambodia.
On October 12, 7 Clubs of Area 3 — Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East, Rotary Club of Hong Kong South, Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast, our Club, Rotary Club of Happy Valley, Rotary Club of The HUB Hong Kong and Rotary Club of Uplift Actions Hong Kong co-organized Mental Health Awareness Day, an all-day event aiming to increase mental health awareness in the community. The day was filled with sharing sessions and workshops. Deep appreciation goes to President Josephine Mak and Rotary Club of Uplift Actions Hong Kong for taking a lead in making this event a great success.
Past President Anthony Ngai, chair of the District Preserve Plant Earth (PPE) Committee and member of Rotary Club of Hong Kong South, was our speaker. His topic was “Supporting the Environment”, Rotary International’s 7th Area of Focus. In our District, there are a number of initiatives, such as tree planting, beach cleaning, sustainable seafood, PPE education and newly-added PPE project advisory for clubs. When asked, Past President Anthony believes it is not too late to adopt green practices to reduce carbon and plastics. In terms of beach cleaning, Past President Eddie brought up a point that educating people about plastics and responsible waste management is even more important than physically cleaning the site. Past President Anthony also gave an example of a cutlery renting service to reduce plastics consumptions. This service will be pushed to large District events to minimize plastics use, and Past President Anthony encouraged our Club and Lap-Chee College Rotaractors to consider this service in our activities. Our meeting was visited by Rotaractors from Rotaract Club of HKU Lap-Chee College International. Rotaractors included a majority of the incoming 2022-23 team: President Thomas, International Vice President Siqi, External Vice President Subaita, Si Man (International Service), Katherine (Professional Development),…