As in past years, apart from our President Elect David who starred in Presidents Elect Training Seminar (PETS), many other members of our Club also participated as key members of the incoming District Team to create “The Magic of Rotary”.
On March 9, the Heats for the 7th Secondary School Peer Mediation Competition were held. Past President Mark, as Organizing Committee Chair of the event, reported that our Club had a strong presence, including Past President WT, who were one of the judges, President Jason, who was one of the volunteers responsible for the sign-in desk, and Immediate Past President Eliza, who as a past Chair of the event managed to hop around different rooms to check on progress.
District Installation was held on July 8, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Presidential Collar was ceremoniously passed on by Immediate Past President Eliza to President Jason.
The 63rd District Conference was held on May 20-21, 2023, at Regala Skycity Hotel. Many of our members attended: President Eliza, Past District Governor Belinda, Past Presidents WT, Angela, Dora, Ricky, Lily and Mark, and Rotarian Ka Man. Past District Governor Belinda chaired the Foundation sessions, while President Eliza managed the Preserve Planet Earth breakout. Past President Lily was on hand at the leaders’ lunch on the first day, while Past President Angela led group discussions during a Diversity Equity and Inclusion breakout. Past President Dora was in the Conference Organizing Committee, managing the conference floor and banquet. President Eliza also reported that she was part of the welcoming party that received our Mongolian Rotarians at the airport the day before the Conference.
On May 5, President Eliza, Past Presidents WT, Dora and Webster, and President Elect Jason represented our Club to attend the 25th Anniversary Celebration dinner of our sister club, Rotary Club of Taipei Mingmen. All Clubs within the same Area of District 3481 joined the dinner celebration too! One of the highlights was the charity painting auction for one of the Food Banks in Taiwan.
Our Club regular lunch meeting was held at Regal Hong Kong Hotel on April 27. Rtnnes. Wendy and Sara also attended the meeting; Rtnne. Wendy said she was there specifically to say hello to our Treasurer Past President MK, who has been continuing his rehabilitation. Before our speaker program, President Eliza welcomed back those who have been traveling abroad for the past few weeks. President Eliza also summarized a number of Club and District events. Past President Grace recounted a fantastic evening at Paul Harris Birthday Dinner: she credited Past President Angela for chairing the Organizing Committee, and Past District Governor Belinda and her company for sponsoring the event. President Elect Jason reported that he attended District Grant Management Seminar as well as the prize-giving ceremony of Island Scouts Virtual Walkathon. Led by Past President WT, members also sang happy birthday to two birthday boys and girls: Past District Governor Belinda and President Elect Jason. Charter President Patrick brought the limited edition painting by Rotary International President’s brother he bought from the auction during the Paul Harris Birthday dinner. Dr. Bruce Chin, an optometrist with a PhD in vision sciences, was our speaker. Dr. Chin gave an overview of the…
On 19 April, District Governor Norman Lee and the District Foundation Committee Chair Past District Governor Belinda Yeung co-hosted a special event to celebrate Paul Harris 155th Birthday, and to show appreciation to Major Donors, members from the Bequest Society and Paul Harris Society. The Dinner sponsored by the Regala SkyCity Hotel was held at its state-of-the-art Ballroom. Besides Past District Governor Belinda, other Rotarians from Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour also joined the Dinner; including Arch Klumph Society members Charter President Patrick Poon, Mrs Wendy Poon and Immediate Past President Sam Poon, and Major Donor Past President WT Wong. Others include Past President Angela Hui who was Chair of the Organizing Committee, while Past Presidents Grace Yen and Dora Liu were members of the Organizing Committee.The night was spent under lots of fun and entertainment. District Governor Norman sang “Imagine Rotary” and help raised funds for the District Foundation. Our own Charter President Patrick succeed in auctioning a limited edition painting by artist Darren Jones, who is the brother of the Rotary International President Jennifer Jones.
As part of our Club’s mission to raise awareness of each of our personal carbon footprint, our Club challenged our members to calculate their own annual carbon footprint using Hong Kong Government’s carbon calculator. 46%, or twelve, of our members did the calculation. We then asked those who did the calculation to consider offsetting their carbon emissions by purchasing Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) through United Nations’ Carbon Offset Platform, a program under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Of those who took the time to calculate their carbon footprint, all agreed to offset their annual carbon emissions. Our Club identified a project in India that converts agriculture waste into energy, and subsequently purchased CERs specifically in support of that project. We purchased CERs as a group, the record of which can be found here. We thank all our members who took time not only to better understand global warming and carbon emissions but also to calculate their own carbon footprint — an important step in raising awareness. We look forward to future challenges, in particular to find out if, by becoming more aware of personal emissions, those members who calculated their current footprint manage to reduce their future footprint…
President Eliza, Advisor of the Hong Kong Peer Mediation Competition, attended the Heats at the City University of Hong Kong. Past President WT also dropped by to give the judges a briefing as most of them were new to this competition. Rotarian Nana Lui of Rotary Club of Central Harbourfront, who visited our Club meeting last week, was one of the judges too.
Past President WT (as coach), President Eliza (as Advisor) and President Elect Jason (as Observer/Helper) attended the first online workshop of the 6th HK Secondary School Peer Mediation Competition which was jointly organized by Rotary International District 3450 and Joint Mediation Helpline Office (JMHO). This year, there were 16 schools joining for the workshop and competition and 6 schools joining the workshop only. Our Club was one of the sponsors on this meaningful event to promote peace through mediation. Topics including what is peer mediation, opening statement, the 5 step procedures (調解五部曲) in running a mediation, listening and reframing skills, non-verbal communication skills such as “SOLER” etc. The heats will be held in City University on 4 March and the semi final and final will be held in the Function Hall of Department of Justice on 25 March 2023. After a 1.5 hours presentation by the key trainer, the students performed two role plays where they were assessed by the very experience coaches. A two-hour in-school training by another coach will be given to the students before preparing for the Heats.