We had a relaxing and happy fellowship among Club members and sister club members from our three sister clubs: Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen, Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast and Rotary Club of Pudu. We toured around Tai O, Ngong Ping, Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. Weather was fantastic!
A relaxing and fun-filled 36th Club Anniversary party was successfully held at Regala Skycity Hotel on March 25, 2023. The party was attended by over 65 Club membersand guests. District Governor Norman Lee, District Governor Elect Andy Li, District Governor Nominee Nigel Lo, District Officers, and 20 members from our three sister clubs — Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen, Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast and Rotary Club of Pudu. The highlights of event were the sister-club signing ceremony with all three sister clubs to continue our partnership to do GOOD for the community; new memberinduction for Rotarian Ka Man Wong; the pinning of new Paul Harris Fellows and multi-Paul Harris Fellows for President Eliza Ning, Past President Grace Yen, Past President Eddie Leung, Past President Webster Ng and Rotary Ann Coco. What’s more? A party of 35 Rotarians and family members joined the Lantau tour on nextday which further fostered bonding among all. Last but not least, we thank our President Elect Jason Ling for his great leadership of the dinner, and we are looking forward to our next anniversary celebration with many more Club members and friends!!
Club Installation was held at Regal Hong Kong Hotel on July 14. It was a hybrid affair, with Rotarians attending both a physical lunch and a virtual broadcast via Zoom. During the installation, the presidential sash was passed from Immediate Past President Sam to President Eliza, with Immediate Past District Governor Keith and District Governor Norman presiding over the ceremony. Many Rotarians, families and friends also attended the virtual broadcast, including Past District Governor Peter Pang, District Governor Elect Andy Li, District Governor Nominee Nigel Lo, Assistant Governor Brian Ho, representatives from our service partners, representatives from our Interact and Rotaract Clubs, invited guests and friends of our Club, and our esteemed sister club friends from Rotary Club of Pudu, Rotary Club of Taoyuan Southeast and Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen. Congratulations to President Eliza, and enjoy a splendid year as Immediate Past President, Sam!
On September 18, while others are at the District Public Image Seminar, Past President Grace, on behalf of our Club, attended Rotary Club of Pudu’s 1st Virtual International Youth Exchange. Rotary recognizes the importance of empowering youth through Leadership Development Programs. Rotary Youth Exchange is one of the many Youth Leadership Development Programs offered by Rotary. The objectives of the Rotary Youth Exchange include but not limited to: (a) Promoting International Understanding and Goodwill among the youth; (b) Creating positive changes by empowering the youth; (c) Making lasting connections. With these objectives in mind, the International Service Committee of the Rotary Club of Pudu (RID3300) is organizing this Virtual International Youth Exchange with its Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Mandaluyong, Philippines (RID3800), from September 2021 to February 2022. It will be a virtual youth exchange between the Interactors and Rotaractors sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pudu and the Rotaractors sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mandaluyong respectively. The Organizing Chairman is Past Assistant Governor Mike Tung from Rotary Club of Pudu. An international award-winning guest speaker, Ms. Andrea Zsapka from Budapest, Hungary, gave a creative leadership talk during the opening ceremony. Ms. Andrea is a Professional Master Life…
On July 19, we conducted an Intercity Meeting (virtual) with Rotary Club of Pudu, our sister club. Arranged by Past President Dora and Past President Alex of Rotary Club of Pudu, both Clubs joined the Zoom meeting at 8pm. Also in attendance were Pudu’s two satellite clubs and two guest-Rotarians from Pakistan. President Elect Jitco Chin of Pudu acted as Sergeant-at-Arms and called the meeting to order. Past President Dora acted as Sergeant-at-Arms on behalf of our Club. Immediate Past Presidents TK Chee and Mark both shared their annual reports and key service projects. Then, Presidents Elaine Tan and Sam made presentations about their new Boards, and the Club Goals and Projects in RY2021-22. A Q&A session followed, then the meeting concluded with a fellowship session. We learned that Pudu currently has 75 members and aims to increase its size to 100+ members. Pudu’s 55th Anniversary is coming in December and we look forward to connecting again!
On June 5, various members attended as guests Interact Leadership Training Seminar, organized by our sister Club, Rotary Club of Pudu. President Mark and Charter President Patrick dropped by, while Rotarian Jason participated as panelist during the international session. The Seminar was expertly run by Pudu Rotarians, who spent a substantial amount of time to prepare for the Seminar, and the first such one virtually. Harbour attendees learned a great deal from the Seminar, not only about Interact but about how to support Interact, especially during this ongoing pandemic.
Our Club returned to physical lunch meeting at Regal Hong Kong Hotel after two months of virtual meetings on Zoom. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal has given us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. In a first for our Club, we tried a physical+online meeting, whereby the physical meeting was broadcasted live via Zoom to those unable to travel to Causeway Bay or currently out of town. The meeting began with President Mark giving some updates about our Club and our District. Rotarian Eliza, checking in via Zoom from New Zealand, gave updates on District beach cleaning and details about green club qualifications. Thereafter, the floor was yielded to President Elect Sam, who began to conduct his first Club Assembly. Directors took turns to give updates about aspects of our Club. Past President Angela unveiled a casual Zoom gathering, whereby members discuss anything and everything. The only rule: no Rotary business is to be discussed. Past President Angela also said that as soon as gathering restrictions become more relaxed, fun yet safe fellowship will be planned accordingly. President Mark reported, on behalf of International Service Director Past President Dora, updates about Nicole Au, our Rotary…
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 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…
President Mark Tong, together with Past Presidents Dora Liu, Webster Ng and Patric Lee of Rotary E Club of Lantau, and Joey, visited our Sister Club in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend of July 12-14. President Mark could not stay for one more than one night as he had to return to Hong Kong on July 13 to attend District Installation, but the rest stayed behind to attend our Sister Club’s 53rd Installation. Naturally, they were feasted with fabulous food and warm hospitality from our dearest Rotarians from Pudu. President Mark did manage to join Pudu’s fellowship evening, during which the Sister Club Agreement between the two Clubs was renewed. Harbour Rotarians also managed to watch a presentation by Past District Governor Paul Lee, who is readying a Global Grant application to build water access for indigenous people in the rural forests of Malaysia.