On 26 October, 2023, our Club co-hosted a Joint Club meeting with four other Rotary Clubs: Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast, Rotary Club of Hong Kong Bayview, Rotary E-Club of Lantau and Rotary Club of The HUB Hong Kong. We invited Ms Bonnie So, CEO and Secretary General of Hong Kong Red Cross, who shared in-depth ideas on the topic: “An integrated approach on community resilience”. We all benefited and got inspired by Bonnie’s speech.
Past Presidents Grace, Ricky and Lily, Immediate Past President Sam and President Elect Jason attended Rotary e-Club of Lantau’s dinner meeting for fellowship.
On February 11, our Club continued our regular meeting on Zoom due to the ongoing pandemic and government gathering restrictions. President Bennett Chen from Rotary E-Club of Lantau and President Candy Cheung from Rotary Club of Neoteric Hong Kong joined as speakers. President Bennett was accompanied by his members: Assistant Governor Anna Or, Past Presidents Patric Lee and Andrew Wong, and Rotarian Kermit Lee. President Candy was accompanied by her members: Past Presidents Helen Or and Alice Tsang, Immediate Past President Edmond Wong, and President Elect Sean Kwan. As evidenced by their large entourages, our Club is grateful that the two Presidents are well supported by their respective Clubs. The meeting began with our customary Rotary song and usual Club and District reports. President Elect Sam also summarized an earlier meeting with Scouts. Thereafter, the (virtual) floor was yielded to Presidents Bennett and Candy, who gave summaries of their current and upcoming projects. Highlights by President Bennett included his Club’s build-up of an enviable, District-leading nine-Club Interact network, their multi-year scholarship program for youth, and their current fundraising activity, titled “500 for 500”. The idea is to challenge participants to do 500 iterations of something, be it pushups, sit-ups, kilometers(!)…
District Public Image Seminar was held virtually, on Zoom, on September 19. Members not only attended but helped to organize the event. Past District Governor Belinda, as District’s Public Image Committee Chair, gave the opening remarks and introduction. Past President Grace, as the event’s organizing committee chair, led a session on the Rotary brand. Past President Dora was the event’s MC. Past President Angela worked both behind the scenes managing the logistics and in front of the camera unveiling this year’s edition of People of Action Photo Competition. Members joining the seminar included: President Mark, Past President Lily, Rotarian Jason and Rotarian Eliza. Past President Grace remarked that the event’s organizing committee was a 3-generation affair, as Past President Helen Or of Rotary Club of Neoteric HK, our grandbaby club, and Assistant Governor Anna Or of Rotary E Club of Lantau, our baby club, were also members of the event’s organizing committee. Rotarian Eliza bookended the 3.5-hour seminar by winning the top prize (a wine + HK$1000) in a lucky draw, and promptly announced to donate the cash prize to our Food Aid project. Thank you, District PI Committee. Thank you, Rotarian Eliza!
The Club meeting on September 12 had a full agenda: we have invited Ms. Vicky Woo to tell us more about Social Enterprise Doctor, a Rotary sponsored activity that was started by some Clubs in our District in the previous Rotary year. Meanwhile, Area 3’s governing team sent their special envoy, Deputy Assistant Governor (and our Club’s IPP) Lily Chan to give an update of our District. Finally, Outgoing President Sally Oh from our Rotaract Club of HKU Lap Chee College International came to give her annual report. First to the rostrum was DAG Lily, who put down her IPP hat, put on her District hat, and gave us updates of our District, including the creation of Areas 11 and 12 to facilitate better and more attentive District governance. One side effect from the creation of new Areas that affects us greatly is that both our baby Club, Rotary E Club of Lantau, and our grandbaby Club, Rotary Club of Neoteric Hong Kong, are moved from our Area to one of the newly created Areas. We are sad to see them go, but we are sure that our connection and fellowship shall continue unabated. Next up was Rotaractor Sally, who…
On July 13, 10 Harbour Rotarians attended District Installation at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was a long evening with a ton of speeches, but also a ton of fun.
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.
As July arrives, members are busy attending various Club Installations in the District. Amongst the most important Installations are those of our mother Club (Rotary Club of HK Island East), baby Club (Rotary E Club of Lantau), and grandbaby Club (Rotary Club of Neoteric Hong Kong).