Club meeting — Club Assembly and Vaccine Updates

On March 11, our Club met via Zoom due to a spike in the number of Covid cases in Hong Kong. Before the meeting began, a few of us enjoyed a bit of virtual fellowship, sharing stories about passing time at night during this ongoing pandemic. After our customary Rotary song and imagined ringing of the Rotary bell, our meeting began. President Mark quickly went through Club and District activities. Thereafter, control was passed to President Elect Sam, who called the start of Club Assembly. Treasurer Barry gave a detailed overview of our Club finances, and answered questions from members regarding certain expense items. President Elect Sam gave us updates of his plan for Walkathon with Scouts and Club Anniversary gathering, which could be physical or via Zoom. President Elect Sam also announced the date of our next Club Assembly, June 24. After President Elect Sam closed our Club Assembly, Rotarian Kelvin briefed us, with the balance of our meeting time, on the current vaccination program. Rotarian Kelvin explained, in layman terms, the science behind the two vaccines now available in Hong Kong, and the other vaccines currently deployed in other parts of the world. He also shared with us…

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Club meeting — 2021 Fortunes

On February 25, our Club met at Regal Hong Kong Hotel for the first time in nearly 3 months after the government relaxed gathering restrictions. To ensure proper social distancing, Regal gave us a large room, with 4-person tables separated by ample spaces. The meeting began with our customary Rotary song and usual Club and District reports. Rotarian Eliza gave a quick summary of the Amity Living Water Townhall on February 22, during which President Mark, Past President Lily, President Elect Sam, and Rotarians Jason and Eliza joined. Two Rotaractors also joined remotely. President Elect Sam summarized earlier meetings with Scouts and gave updates of our upcoming collaboration with the youth group. President Elect Sam also requested us to save the date: March 25, a regular meeting date which also happens to be our Club’s anniversary date. The plan, if pandemic regulations do not tighten further, is to have a relaxed anniversary lunch gathering. President Elect Sam shall give more details closer to the date. Past President Grace described the background behind Tithe Ethical Consumption, and how our Club was nominated for and ultimately received “2020 Social Enterprise Supporter+” Award (online presser, in Chinese only), in large part due to…

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Living Water Townhall

On February 22, our service partner Amity Foundation hosted a townhall featuring representatives from two NGOs in Nepal and Myanmar, school students in Hong Kong, and donors. Our Club also joined to learn about water resource scarcity in poor rural areas in Nepal and Myanmar. President Mark, President Elect Sam, Rotarians Jason and Eliza joined as a group. Past President Lily joined remotely. Rotaractors Gabin Kee and Anuj Bhatia also joined remotely as guests. The townhall featured sharing by villagers who benefited from water infrastructure and systems funded partially by our Club’s fundraising efforts last year during Walk for Living Water 2020. In many parts of the world, villagers still have to walk for hours to reach water resources and bring back water for their daily use. A lot of these resources, heavily polluted and infested with bacteria, are marginally suitable for bathing, let alone drinking and cooking. Our Club will continue to work with Amity to raise awareness of global potable water shortage, inform our youth about the importance of water preservation, and support projects that bring clean water to communities around the world.

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Club meeting — sharing by two Rotary Club Presidents

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(!)…

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Club meeting — Assembly x AGM x Christmas party

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…

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Hot meal distribution at Holy Cafe

On November 21, President Mark led a team consisting of President Elect Sam, three friends and family members and two Interactors from King’s College to pack and deliver hot meals to the elderly in the Cheung Sha Wan/Lai Chi Kok area. In addition, several Interactors personally delivered 6 hot meals to elderly living in nearby public housing estates. Our next outing is on December 5. Past President WT will be the leader.

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Hot meal distribution at Holy Cafe

On September 26, President Mark led a team consisting of Past President Grace, President Elect Sam, Past President WT and past Interactor Michael Yan of King’s College to deliver hot meals to 200+ elderly living in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok areas. Additional supplies, donated by other anonymous donors, were distributed. President Elect Sam, Past President WT and Michael also managed to visit some grassroots families in housing estates nearby, as well as sanitation workers at a refuse collection point.

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Club meeting — Club Assembly

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…

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Rotary Cares Food Aid 2020 Kickoff Ceremony

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…

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Club meeting — Youth Day

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…

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