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President's Blog
President's Blog
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Elsie Yung
Elsie Yung
President 2024-2025
President 2024-2025
President Blog
March 2025
President Blog
December 2024
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October 2024
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August 2024
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July 2024
Irene Tse
Irene Tse
President 2023-2024
President 2023-2024
Presidents's Blog
05.07.2022
Presidents's Blog
05.07.2022
DG Norman, PDG Ada, IPDG Keith, all Rotary Dignitaries, my dear classmates, Fellow Rotarian and Friends,
Thank you for attending our 92th Club Installation today. From time to time after myself joining our club 7 years ago, there were similar questions raised when I attended different Rotary occasions. questions like.... “oh you are from the Rotary Club of Hong Kong?” Rotarians from other clubs would be pretty surprising by seeing such a young face representing the most senior club in the district. In recent years, of course the entire impression towards our club has changed! This is the collaborative effort from all the Past Presidents in the last decade.
As the first president of our club who stepped up from a former HKU Rotaract cabinet member, I am more than grateful. What makes me feel proud is never the age but the “succession”.
After my tenure in HKU Rotaract’s cabinet, honestly I had never thought of continuing my Rotary journey because my impression of “Mother Club” back then was very far away and unreachable to me.
And PP Kelvin - is who brought me back to the Mother Club. After graduating, PP Kelvin and I reconnected and had a pleasant conversation in a cafe. I would never forget the passion in his eyes while he was sharing why he initiated the “Left-behind children '' service projects in Guizhou and the effort to make the project sustainable. After this encounter, I started thinking about the question “Maybe there is a role that I can contribute some days.....”
For the past 92 years, we have had numerous outstanding and prominent figures on the Rotary Club of Hong Kong’s members list. And most importantly, they are all People of Actions who have been pioneering in serving the community during the changing time over nearly a century. The openness and the diversity of our senior members enables the club to evolve! ———
I wish to thank the Past Presidents and fellow Rotarians especially who are here today for encouraging me to take this role on, a decision that I didn’t make lightly.
Past Presidents (PP) PP Marta- You are the one who first invited me to join the board during your presidency, and offered me chances to learn and serve.
PP Donna - Somehow I used to think that I might never be ready to step up and contribute, but thanks for your encouragement along the way. By taking different roles in the board over the past seven years have turned out shaping me to who I am today.
PP Mitzi - Thanks for always being the anchor in driving service projects in our club. As the first Chinese female president in our club history, you have demonstrated the true Rotary spirit and set a role model for everyone of us.
PP Bruce - I still remember the first time I joined our club’s lunch in the old bankers club, it was you hosting the 85th anniversary cake cutting ceremony as president. As the first Chiropractor in the town, you are not only the legend in your profession but the hero who picked up our club during the transition time.
PP Frankie - You are always the walking encyclopedia of Rotary knowledge! We managed to evolve ourselves to be the tradition and trendy club in the district because of you.
PP Kenneth - You are the first one who tried to nominate me as the PE. Thanks for your trust and the faith in me!
Dear visiting Rotarian and guest, not sure if you know that our club has a very precious tradition: we have a PP council formed by all of our Past Presidents.
Speaking of this : PP Arun - Thanks for being the bridge between the board and the PP Council. Because for me as a relatively new member, I am so proud of having all PPs as our think tank and preserve all the wisdom for the succession.
PP Peter - Thanks for embracing new ideas all the time. You have injected a new dose of entrepreneurial passion to our club!
IPP Ankie - Ever since you have taken up the role of our club’s president, your active participation and outstanding result has “redefined” the new way of leadership. We are all so proud of you and thanks for leading us to the new era.
PDG Ada - As you always said 你睇住我大, Thanks for your support especially for taking care of our two Rotaract Clubs! They are our future!
PP Kay Lau - my beloved mentor in HKU, the founding member of RC HK Harbour which is one of the most successful clubs in our district. Your presence today means a lot a lot to me!
Our long serving Rotarian Edwin who is also here today - We have known each other back to the time that I was in HKU. You once shared with me your story of getting the scholarship from The Rotary Club of Hong Kong when you were still an Interactor in St.Joseph College. Thanks for showing us the Rotary spirit by giving back to the community.
PP Kelvin - Thanks for accompanying me on this journey from my induction day into my presidency. You were there for all my Rotary moments. 在心中!
———
Finally, I would like to thank the incoming board of directors for their support. I would like to ask them to come on stage. Let’s greet them properly! Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce them to you. On behalf of the members of our club, I would like to thank you for accepting board membership and wish you good fortune in the coming year.
Fellow Rotarians, Dear Guests.
United with my incoming board of directors, together we will lead our Club to a better future.
5th July 2022
RCOHK celebrated its 90th anniversary at a black tie gala dinner held on 29th May 2021 at the Government House, Government Hill, Central. With 10 seated tables of 60 participants gracing the occasion, including Chief Executive Mrs. Carrie Lam, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Mr. Edward Yau, 12 Past Presidents of RCOHK and other dignities, the event begun at 6:00pm.
In this unusual time, with the support of CE Carrie Lam and PP Victor Chu, it is a great honor for RCOHK to have this meaningful dinner at the remarkable venue, the Government House, being the first gala dinner event in the last 15 months owing to the concern of COVID-19. CE Carrie Lam regarded it as a groundbreaking event restoring our lives to normal. All requirements under the Category D of social distancing measures of Hong Kong government were strictly complied.
The programmes were immaculately prepared under the hard work of the Gala Dinner Committee of RCOHK. Alongside speeches of CE Mrs. Carrie Lam, DG Eric Chak, PP Victor Chu and President Peter Lau, the evening was filled with joy and laughter featuring video-taped Chinese music performance of President-Elect Ankie Mak and President-elect-nominee Priscila Law and silent and live auctions, the Japanese sake donated by President Peter Lau was a plus to pump up the fun.
The fundraising activity registered an impressive record, raising altogether over HK$200,000, net of expense, which would be used in the coming ROCHK’s programs and services serving the community. The auction items varied from artwork, wine, pendent, watch, antique railway bond, teapot set to staycation. Creating a festive mood in the live auction by Rotarian Michael, all auction items – the collectible guitar signed by Sting, the Romago watch, the artwork “Fortune” of Cheung Yee and the artwork “Blessing” of Renuka Sani donated by PP Patrick Lam, IPP Kenneth Poon, President Peter Lau, and PP Steve Dekrey respectively, were successfully bid. Taking this opportunity, RCOHK would like to thank all magnificent donors including PP Frankie Lam, PP Mitzi Leung, PP Donna Buckland, President-Elect Ankie Mak, Rotarian Irene Tse in addition to the four live auction items donors. Also, ROCHK would like to show their appreciation to the generous bidders for their support.
Reflecting on RCOHK’s determination to its social commitment to Hong Kong, President Peter Lau shared the quotes in his speech, “We will never bring disgrace to THIS, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice. We will fight for the ideals and scared things of the city, both alone and with many; we will revere and obey the City’s law and do our best to incite respect in those above us, and we will strive unceasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty. Thus, in all these ways, we will transmit this City not only not less, but greater, better, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.” - the Athenian Youth
The fulfilling night embarked upon RCOHK next glorious chapter in another decade to come. President Peter Lau wished to thank everyone for making this event a great success. The thankyou list included, but not limited to, CE Carrie Lam who was with us for the entire dinner and birthday cake cutting ceremony, the perfect team of Gala Dinner Committee, the generous auctions’ donors and bidders, the entertaining auctioneer Rotarian Michael Duck, the exceptional performers President-Elect Ankie Mak and President-elect-nominee Priscila Law, the professional MCs Rotarian Michael Duck and Rotarian Elsie Yung, and the lovely rotaracters who acted as voluntary helpers and presented us the beautiful gift, a handmade flower bouquet, as well as all the guests and participants.
As scheduled under the COVID-19 restrictions, the event closed at 8:30p.m. and all participants left timely the Government House before 9:00p.m..
President Blog
18 May 2021
With 36 attendees in person and via zoom, we had a fruitful lunch today.
First of all, Rotarian Anthony Marr, on behalf of our Club, presented the International Service Award (ISA) to Dr. Ulrike Lamlé for their meaningful work of the Lala Kid Project of the Cleft Aid International who provided free operations to the kids in Asia having cleft and palette. IPP Kenneth had given us a brief on ISA that initiated by Rotarian Robert Fung, Sir Kenneth Fung Ping Fan Foundation and the Club would award a cross border individual or organisation in appreciation and encouragement of their charity work. After the deceased of Rotarian Robert Fung, the ISA was once truncated, and Rotarian Anthony Marr, in succession of the charity spirit of Rotarian Robert Fung, committed to a donation in two consecutive years. IPP Kenneth and I are impressed with the essence of the ISA and have also participated in the donation. Dr. Ulrike Lamlé shared that the donations we’ve made could have allowed 40 kids receiving surgical operations that would change their whole life. I wish more Rotarians will support the ISA in the coming years, monetary value is lightless, and nevertheless, relaying the charity message to the community is weighty.
Next, PDG Eugene presented the SDG World Record Certificate to our Club in pursuit of sustainable durable goals. IPP Mitiz also highlighted the importance of inter cultural dialogues that our club had achieved to accomplish the SDG World Record. Thank you PDG Eugene and IPP Mitzi.
We then had our honorable guest speaker, Mr. Tim Lui SBS, JP Chairman of Securities and Futures Commission with us on the topic - ”Keeping fit and proper: The SFC’s role in Hong Kong’s markets”. Outlining the traditional functions of the SFC, which include licensing, supervision (on listing of securities, vetting listing applications (IPOs). etc.) and authorization (for approval of unit trusts, funds and other market products etc), Mr. Lui underlined it was imperative that interests of investors be protected, a level playing field be maintained and investment confidence be installed in the Hong Kong’s markets. Mr. Tim Lui also explained to us that, on contrary to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a listed company responsible for trading and clearance who stands for frontline operations, SFC is a market regulator overseeing regulations and compliance applicable to listing companies with power of law enforcement to market wrongdoers.
Looking forward, Mr. Lui emphasized that Hong Kong is still an attractive option for investment with its competitive edges, a highly sophisticated financial market and a green and sustainable market in Asia-pacific financial ecosystem. Throughout the presentation, I particular agree with Mr. Lui’s remarks on the online scams which is now a top priority of SFC to tackle with, “the old adage, 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't always correct.” Mr. Lui’s presentation is truly insightful and well-structured. Thank you so much Mr. Lui.
I will see you all again in a fellowship lunch on 8th June 2021 with Rotarian Edoardo Sabatino and Rotarian Costa Ramon after our 90th Anniversary gala dinner on 28th May 2021. Believed that we will have more interesting stories to share.
YIR
President Peter
04.05.2021
I’m glad to see all our 38 guests and members in person and via zoom today again after participating the district tree planting event last Saturday (May 1 2021). In the sweltering heat, it’s lucky that the District did not ask me to plant all 50 pots of healthy “little” trees donated by our generous members! Thank you all for your support to this event.
Instead of presenting directly the topic on “Challenges to globalization”, our honorable guest speaker, Mr Edward Yau Tangwah, GBS, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, has adopted a friendly and dynamic approach to interact with our members via a question and answer session. All questions raised are of our upmost concerns and are closely related the theme of “challenges” of Mr. Yau’s original planned speech, as to our current situation in Hong Kong, both domestically and internationally. I have summarized the keys below for those who couldn’t attend to have a clue on our meeting.
To questions from Rotarian Janice Leung on the open border and IPP Kenneth on the travel bubble, Mr. Yau, after briefly setting out the current conditions of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, highlighted that the open border policy would be dependent to a number of complicated factors including vaccinations and observation of single digit reporting cases, with foremost focus on China. And to travel bubble, a bilateral mechanism of travel resumption in both locations adopting the policy must be built before implementation, the HK government was now conferring closely with Singapore on feasibility for trial which may set a parameter for other countries to follow. It was also under assessment on the relaxation of quarantine policy to those areas with better control over the pandemic like Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
With regard to PP Selwyn’s concern over the foreseeable unemployment increment, Mr. Yau indicated that under the current unemployment rate of about 7%, going concern of enterprises was the foundation of employment, hence, the HK government had brought about favourable policies for businesses, e.g. by offering substantial amount of loan with 100% government guarantee to help enterprises survive out of this difficult time, and the coverage of beneficiaries was extended to a broader spectrum of people like travel agents, who may be self-employed, to take care of those in need.
Relating to my question on the repositioning of Hong Kong subsequent to COVID-19 amid Sino-US trade war, Mr. Yau remarked on the rise of protectionism of the US and Hong Kong had been upholding to the principle of fair and free trade. While reciprocity shall be addressed, the ultimate bearer of imposition of additional tariff was consumers and traders. Mr. Yau expressed that the GDP of Hong Kong since the Sino-US trade war did not record a significant decline, and further illustrated a shift of geographical segmentation of trade from the traditional ones including the US and the UK to now other countries including Australia and Japan aside China. The change of trade partners may be one of the many solutions to diversify risks.
From Mr. Yau’s responses to our questions, I believe flexibility, the characteristic of Hong Kong, is a viable solution to the challenges we faced from business environment to our daily life. Mr. Yau, thank you so much for coming and systematically reverting to our questions from a macro perspective of the Hong Kong government, your insights have transformed our lunch meeting to a fruitful dialogue.
Important notice: Our gala dinner at the Government House is set to hold on 29 May 2021, subject to the approval of CE office. I will confirm you once the approval is obtained, please pay attention closely to the latest announcement of our arrangement on this significant event in celebration of our 90th anniversary as we have various limitations and conditions in a rather short period of time for ticket sales under COVID-19. Lastly, we will have Mr Tim Lui SBS, JP, Chairman of Securities and Futures Commission with us on “Keeping fit and proper: The SFC’s role in Hong Kong’s markets” on 18 May 2021. See you all next time.
YIR
President Peter Lau
20.04.2021
After a month’s break, we met again today with altogether 34 participants in persons and via zoom. Thanks specially to our honorable guests Mr. Alessandro Vitale (CEO Intesa Sanpaolo APAC), Mr. Ivano Poma (President, Italian Chamber of Commerce in HK) and Clemente Contestabile (Italian Consul General in HK and Macau) for coming. Quoting Henry Kissinger's remark, “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” our speaker Mr. Thomas Gnocchi, the Ambassador/Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao started his speech on “The EU as a global actor”. In such a large organization with 28 countries as member states, the traditional roles of political, trading and security actor played by EU were briefed by Mr. Gnocchi. Mr. Gnoochi illustrated how these roles are accomplished with examples. From the security area, the EU does not possess any troops but deploys assets of the member states on military mission, to the recent vaccinations of COVID-19, all examples are displaying the indispensable and prominent role of the EU as a global actor. We, of course, concern about their position as a trade actor in the present volatile Hong Kong environment. Mr. Gnoochi expressed the EU‘s recognition of their significant interests in Hong Kong, the importance of interest exchange and the opportunity of cooperation between EU and Hong Kong. Apart from the objectives we are familiar with, Mr. Gnoochi piloted us the new priorities of the EU on climate change and digitalization, both of which are of high relevancy to our daily lives. How to tackle climate change? What regulations are applied to large digital corporations who are dominating the major platforms we are using every day? It is not an easy task to summarise the massive work of the EU, yet Mr. Gnoochi pinpointed their clear and longterm vision in 30 minutes. Mr. Gnoochi, thank you for your sharing. Like PP Victor and PE Ankie said in the introduction and the vote of thanks, our Club is worthy for Mr. Gnoochi’s consideration on membership although he must be busy on his weighty work as the capacity of the Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao. Our meaningful services may allow a closer touch to the true picture of Hong Kong. On 1 May 2020, the District PPE Tree Planting Program 2020-21 will be held, I will participate and welcome your donations for planting (HKD100 per pot of plant) if you are not able to join. Also, further to our computer tablet donation activities in August last year, we are now calling for the donation of 2nd hand computer to teachers of Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School in view of their unreserved support to the underprovided families but inadequate resources to their teachers. The deadline is 31 May 2021, your support is very much appreciated.
With several reschedules, we finally have Mr. Edward Yau Tangwah, GBS, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to speak to us on 4 May 2020. Limited by the social gathering restrictions, we can only accommodate 36 participants, I wish to invite your active participation via zoom if it is full.
YIR
President Peter Lau
16.03.2021
It’s my first absence from the lunch club meeting in this Rotary Year and PE Ankie Mak hosted our lunch today. Thank you PE Ankie, like PP Steve Dekrey said, you did a great job as a President intern, the meeting was smoothly convened with altogether 33 participants in person and via zoom. We welcomed Rotarian Dr. Alex Hansen from the Rotary Club of Zurich International, and now a visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong, other guests and two Rotaractors joining us. Thank you Mr. Mike Wood for giving us a short speech relating to our historical association with the Bankers’ Club.
The speech, “The Samaritans in Hong Kong today and our need for connection” given by Mrs. Brenda Scofield, Chair of the Board of Samaritans Hong Kong is exceptionally meaningful and essential in the present Hong Kong society. I admire how Mrs. Scofield spoke to us without presentation slides so that we can be attentive audiences, like the way the considerate Samaritans LISTEN to those suicidal callers. We can feel the sincerity, compassion and enthusiasm of Mrs. Scofield and the 24-7 hardworking volunteers at the Samaritans who help selflessly those who are in emotional or mental torment. The stories and experiences of Mrs. Brenda shared were touching, sad and tragic, once she received a message, “Thank you for my life”, from a suicidal caller, and in the other case, someone called the Samaritans for his last little humble wish – to hear a human being’s voice, before committing suicide the next day. Not to mention a stunning case of a 7 year old girl who called for help.
Hong Kong has long been well-known as an energetic and lively, simultaneously, a fast-paced and highly stressful and competitive cosmopolitan city. The pandemic exacerbated the relentless political and economic crisis over the past two years, making the Samaritans needed most as ever in Hong Kong. Mr. Scofield enlightened us about the importance of connection, “we cannot tell people what to do with their lives but can only open possibility”, “listen” and “allowing silence in a conversation for people who want to speak”. As a NGO, we can always mirror these invaluable experiences in our humanitarian work. Thank you so much Mrs. Scofield for reminding us once again the needs of care and concern in our society these days. And the Samaritan, a non-religious NGO who received no financial subsidies from the government will require and deserve our full respect and support.
I hope you all enjoy your coming Happy Easter Holidays and we will have a little break on 6 April 2021. I will see you all again with Thomas Gnocchi, the Head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao on 20 April 2021.
YIR
President Peter Lau
02.03.2021
We have a refreshing lunch today with altogether 35 guests and members gathering via physical presence and zoom at the new venue of the Bankers’ Club. New environment, new arrangement but familiar faces, I hope you all enjoy our causal meeting without flag and bell rung under the pandemic, the feedback to the food is in general positive, and the comments to the new venue are heard.
I must thank Rotarian Edoardo Sabatino for his compact and well-prepared introduction, setting the stage ready for our honorable speaker Mr. Wong Kam Sing, GBS, JP, Secretary for the Environment to speak to us on “Towards Zero Landfills & Zero Carbon Emissions”. Well-done, Sabatino! Mr. Wong Kam Sing left a deep impression in our mind with “Zero, Zero, Zero”, in three big circles, for the long-term goals of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) to eliminate all carbon emissions, roadside emissions and waste landfill to zero by 2035-2050. Circles can also be reminiscent of infinity or recycle, what a fascinating idea, simple and impressive. Mr. Wong Kam Sing led us through the actions taken by the Hong Kong Government for achieving the goals from both new technologies and favorable policies perspectives like promotion of the installation of solar panels, electric vehicles, green community, EV-charging at home subsidy scheme, etc. While governmental advocacy is playing an important role, and so the leadership of Mr. Wong at the EPD, every one of us can make a contribution to preserve our environment, say, recycling, like the new plastic bottle redemption machines mentioned by Mr. Wong can be found somewhere nearby your residences or public area, every little effort count, I believe. Our participants had lively interaction with Mr. Wong Kam Sing under the new roof. Thank you Mr. Wong for opening our doors to the green Hong Kong. For more, you may visit https://www.climateready.gov.hk/ or find Mr. Wong Kam Sing in his Facebook and Instagram.
Several times Mr. Wong in his speech “urged” us to support environmental initiatives. A green 3450 District is one of our District focuses, we of course are devoted to becoming part of it, thus, we are now opening publicly the call for proposals of a three-year deliverable environmental protection project to be funded by our Club. Please pass this message around to any potential interested parties you know and we definitely welcome their participation.
We will have Mrs. Brenda Scofield, Chair of the Board of Samaritans Hong Kong on “Hong Kong today and our need for connection” in the coming lunch on 16 March 2021. See you all again soon.
YIR
President Peter Lau
02.02.2021
One-minute silence was observed for our esteemed PP Sandra Walters who left us on 30 January 2021. It’s an opportunity for all of us to take a moment to pay our full respects to PP Sandra Walter for her numerous contributions, it’s such a huge lost to Rotary and the community. She is our pride, being the first lady as the president of our Club in 2001-2002 and as an honorary member, her graciousness always blows our mind. A few lines can hardly describe how extraordinary, gorgeous and committing person PP Sandra is, you may read a little more on her life journey in the article of SCMP, “Sandra Walters, pioneering art dealer and agent in Hong Kong who inspired the city’s art scene”. (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3120237/sandra-walters-pioneering-art-dealer-and-agent-hong-kong-who?fbclid=IwAR2zQMLD3Vngi8s5HHUHM167EfuZQQWOHDrKqXWpKGuqMFaw7E1QpMXg4bU)
Her heart is still with us when her family invited those who want tomake a donation in her honour to make a gift to the Rotary Cluband the Hong Kong Arts Centre, we can’t tell how grateful we are for all she and her families have done for us, she will be missed. We offer our deepest condolences to her families. May she rest in peace.
(https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sandrawalters)
Under circumstances of no relaxation of social public gathering of COVID-19, 20 members and guests have joined us physically and 3 via zoom including PP Vernon in Taipei. My heartfelt thank you to Prof. William Leung SBS, JP, who is so kind to accept our invitation to speak to us today - the day after he delivered his report to Legco on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units (SDU). As the Chairman of Task Force for the Study on SDU (“Task Force”), Prof. Leung gave us an overview of the SDU situation in Hong Kong. He first outlined the critical space and economic conditions that the underprivileged are suffering. With approximately 200,000 of them are living in the subdivided units of dilapidated buildings before they are allocated to public housing, the skyrocket rent is a fundamental problem that has been thirsted for alleviation long overdue in Hong Kong. Prof. Leung shared the complexity of rental control that will require taking a comprehensive consideration involving aspects of tenancy, maintenance, electricity bill, sanity, building structure, safety and governmental supervision bodies etc. and essentially, the practicality of implementation in an entire building as well asthe legal implications. Hopefully, with his dedicated work at the Task Force, positive recommendations awaited by the underprivileged will be come up for steering the right direction to the Hong Kong Government in this regard. We can learn a lot from Prof. Leung who is retired in January 2020 but never cease his social commitment contributing our society. Thank you Prof. Leung for your enlightenment. Also, we had PP Donna and PP Steve for the introduction and vote of thanks respectively, thank you.
The Bankers Club informed us that we can return to host our lunch meeting starting March, so our next club lunch meeting will be at Club Lusitano. This is my last blog before Chinese New Year, I wish you all a prosperous Year of the Ox, and most importantly, stay healthy!
YIR
President Peter Lau
15.12.2020
Our Annual General Meeting for the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Ltd (“RCOHK”) and the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Golden Jubilee Fund Ltd (“GJF”) were smoothly convened today. Under the challenge of COVID-19, I am thankful to the great turn out with 20 members attended in person and PP Patrick Yeung had joined us via zoom, forming a quorum legitimately to conduct our businesses. Aside from the members joining us physically, thank you for the 14 members sending us the proxy forms, it’s encouraging to learn your support to our board of directors, too.
In the blink of an eye, my term as the President of RCOHK & GJF has gone half way. This year is particularly unusual to all of us as COVID-19 has been affecting all our club activities. Under this ever-changing disadvantageous situation, I would like to share with you the President’s Report of the Club for the period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020 below.
Membership status. During the reporting period, we had gained 2 new members, 1 member passed away, 2 members left the Club and 2 members were awarded with the honorary membership. The total number of active members is thus decreased by 3 corresponding to the same period last year.
Club Lunch Meetings. Altogether 10 meetings were conducted during the reporting period whereas 8 were physical meetings (including the AGM) and 2 were done via zoom. The attendance rate is more than satisfactory with in average 21 members and/or 38 attendants joining per meeting.
Services. Out of the miserable COVID-19, we had performed a remarkable number of services from the masks donation, the provision of sani-mist germicidal sanitation service to the subdivided units in Sham Shu Po, the donations of computer tablets and food coupons to the underprivileged, to the art therapy exhibition and the vocational talk – career connect and more. The more refers to our fellowship events, the District’s End Polio Walk and the golf day. My big thanks to PE Ankie Mak, Rtn. Elsie Yung and PP Kelvin Mui for their incredible efforts at the art therapy exhibition, the vocational talk and the golf tournament respectively.
Planning. A few projects are in the pipeline. With regard to the Peace Bell Project, the preliminarily design was presented by the designer Freedman Lau to the board of directors. Please keep an eye on us, once the design is finalized, we will present it to you as well as the details of the relevant fundraising exercises that will require your immerse support.
Subsequent to the meeting with Mr. Wong Kam Sing, GBS, JP, Secretary for the Environmental Bureau on the direction to our Club’s environmental initiative, we have discussed the PPE Project with a team of the University of Hong Kong. As there is considerately more concern to relate the Project, we have formed a workgroup calling openly for other potential environmental proposals and targeting to finalize the Project next year.
Our 90th Anniversary’s Gala Dinner is currently planned to be held in May 2021. Given the uncertainty of COVID-19 conditions, the Gala Dinner Committee is conservative to the final date of the Gala Dinner while all the discussions have been ongoing with so far 2 meetings held on the detailed arrangement.
Governance. Our board of directors have demonstrated an exceptional performance of governance with 5 board meetings held at an attendance rate of 95%. Thank you all board members for your enthusiasm. Also, 2 PP council meetings were held during the reporting period.
Housekeeping Matters. We have a new team serving the Club including Dora Fung, the Secretary and Joanna Cheng, the Copywriter and a new vendor personnel for handling the newClub’s accounting system. Our Club lunch meeting should will be held at a new venue of the Banker’s Club at the Nexxus Building on 41, Connaught Road, Central. Tentatively, the Bankers’ Club informed us that the venue would be ready afterin January or February 2021, and we will keep you posted to the finalized date as soon as it is available. In safekeeping properly all our Club’s records, documents and materials, we have leased a new mini-storage in Chai Wan. Our fabulous new flag is made, the design of which is contributed by Rtn. Danielle Hou. Thanks Danielle. I encourage all members to fully utilize the impressive flag to promote our reputable image, meanwhile, donating the Red Box as an appreciation of the Club’s efforts when you use it.
We are pleased to announce that all motions voted in the AGM were passed unanimously. Thank you everyone for your recommendations and inputs to our lunch fee increment. Thanks also to PP Vernon Moore for your endorsement to the Board, we will certainty negotiate with the Bankers’ Club for a more favorable offer in terms of the quality of food and other items in the best interest of our members.
During the AGM, our Honorary Treasurer, Rtn. Lilian Liu had briefed the financial reports of RCOHK and GJF for the financial year ended 30 June 2020. PE Ankie Mak had introduced the new board for the Rotary Year 2021-2022.
It’s a demonstration as to how our Club review the past while propelling the future. Christmas is coming, when you are decorating the Christmas Trees with glittering blubs and wrappings presents, spend a little time like us to recount the 2020 and plan ahead your next fruitful year. Taking this chance, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
See you all again next year on 5 January 2021. Initially, wWe have swappedwill have the speech of the honorable guest speaker, Mr. Edward Yau Tang-wah, GBS, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development speaking to us. Again, subject to the COVID-19 condition, we may reschedule Mr Yau’s spto a later dateFebruary 2021 for a robust attendance. Your attention to the latest arrangement is much appreciated.
YIR
President Peter Lau
01.12.2020
Resilience, as always, our Club is agile to overcome difficulties with incredible team work. Our original plan had to change two days before our zoom meeting today owing to adverse COVID-19 conditions in Hong Kong. The original speaker preferred a reschedule, the unlikely physical meeting…all do not stop us from sustaining our momentum – still we have 17 members with us. Thank you everyone.
Especially thanks to Rotarian Irene Tse, Managing Director of Medical Technologies, Allied Health Elements, MTL Engineering, for taking up this time slot as our speaker at very short notice. Gratified by our members’ vocational composition, happened I find it one of the befitting topics during a pandemic – medical. Rotarian Irene gave us a thumbs up presentation on Modern Medical Technologies For Active Aging. Informative and vivid, Irene not only presented with PowerPoint but also videos and recommendations of free apps to medical technology solutions to our aging population for improvement of life quality both physically and mentally. Our members had interactive discussions and Rotarian Irene professionally shared her views. Some showed interest in new technologies of medical industry like exoskeleton robotic hands. IPP Kenneth and PP Frankie, I believe it’s a technology a bit earlier to your strong golfing swings! I appreciate Rotarian Irene’s vision to the current challenge of inadequate healthcare professionals to aging population – “Stay fit (Quality of life, rather than the longevity of life)”, an encouraging statement. Irene, well-said. Thank you.
Below I would like to address a few house-keeping matters for your attention. Our AGM will be held at 1:00 pm on 15 December 2020 at Club Lustiano, optimistically, we will have a physical one, subject to the social distancing restrictions. If you can’t make it in person, please, whenever possible, send your proxies to us 48 hours prior to the time fixed for holding our AGM. In the same lunch club meeting, we will have inductions to PP Beat Muller and Edoardo Francesco Sabatino, please join us in welcoming them.
The District PPE Tree Planting Program 2020-21 will be conducted on 19 December 2020, IPP Kenneth and PP Donna are our role models to this program, I will be inheriting their essence this year to tree planting. If you would like to join me, please register before 12 December 2020, again, it is conditional upon the overall COVID-19 situation with limited quota for participations, first come first serve. Thank you PP Patrick Yeung for his generous donation to support our club activities including plantation of 20 plants.
We would also like to invite your proposals to PPE Environmental Project Planning. Gathering different ideas and opinions, we are open to your proposed program for achieving our environmental initiative – “preserving our planet in every aspect”. We look forward to your creative proposals.
Before I end, I wish to congratulate PP Kelvin for acting as the Assistant Governor in Rotary Year 2021-2022, taking care of Area 2. PP Kelvin, you are our pride!
YIR
President Peter Lau
03.11.2020
Frist and foremost, welcome back our friends we missed so much returning from overseas, PP Donna Buckland and PP Steven Dekrey from US and Seishu Tanetani from Japan, I am sure they are longing for seeing us during their quarantine period under COVID-19! We had 24 members and 2 rotarcators with us today. Please join me to greet our new member, gracious gentleman Edoardo Sabatino, and extend your warmest welcome to him so that he may settle down in Hong Kong asap. Also, please get familiar with our guest, Ramon Abalo Costa, you may have more chances seeing him in our coming lunches.
I just realized that we had several club lunch meetings with guest speakers on arts-related topics from Tai Kwun, Antiquities Advisory Board and CreateHK in the past few months. We have something different today with Dr. Ulrike Lamlé of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe on “Cleft Children worldwide - Help for a better future!”
Background of Dr. Ulrike Lamlé is fascinating and sensational to us all. Instead of pursuing her career in Germany where she became doctor specialized in ENT (ear, nose and throat), she wandered various countries and places including Africa, Rwanda, Berlin, Jakarta, New York and Lima/Peru in her early days. She has chosen to give out for more of herself when she learned cleft lip and palate surgery in Peru and since then has been unreservedly helping children and underprivileged in poor countries and even deserted remote places like small village in Indonesia, Fengkei-South China etc. The touching stories she shared with the beautiful smiling faces of kids and adults after surgeries are heartening. Her works have changed so many lives. It’s a healing journey indeed, not only to the beneficiaries but Dr. Lamlé as well, we can feel her on her satisfying facial expression when she spoke, and for sure our Rotary is having same faith - in the spirit of reaching out and assisting those in need of our helping hands. Thank you Dr. Ulrike Lamlé, and do not hesitate to support Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe for their meaningful work.
Our intensive October was fruitful along with the successful completion of Golf Fellowship, Art Exhibition, End Polio Walk and a meeting with the Environmental Bureau on our potential ocean waste project. Towards the end of the year, our activities do not pause, our directors are busy on preparations of the vocational talk to be conducted on 20 November 2020 and the AGM on 15 December 2020. Lastly, I am inviting you to join us on a simple certificate presentation ceremony on honorary membership to Hu Fa Kuang and PP Sandra Walter in our next lunch on 17 November 2020 in recognition of their contributions and long-term dedications to our Club, great if you may share the joyful moment together.
YIR
P Peter
20.10.2020
Welcome today our 24 members and 5 guests to the luncheon, including PE Ling Wong (RC of SmartHK), Mr Ramon Costa. MD of POSTlogistic.
Congratulations to PP Frankie Lam for winning the silver plate of golf tournament in our fellowship event at Kau Sai Chau on 9 October 2020. The last tournament was held 27 years ago (in 1993!), yet our Rotary spirit is still unbroken with active participations of 10 members and 6 friends. My wholehearted thanks to PP Kelvin Mui for making it possible under the unfavorable conditions of COVID-19. Can’t help looking forward to the next fun time we will share!
“Hong Kong’s Creative Industries in Perspective”, our speaker, Mr. Victor Tsang, Head of CreateHK, outlined us a picture on how creative industries play a role as one of the powerhouses of economic growth in Hong Kong. Significance of creative industry to economy is growing rapidly in many countries, while it’s difficult to define its scope or to measure its values or impact, we are still understanding its relationship in terms of wider economy and society influence. Thank you Mr. Tsang for closing the gap between our understandings to the actual business acumen in the creative industry. I always disagree when Hong Kong is demeaned as a cultural dessert, creativity has no boundary, and what we only need is a platform to foster and nurture growth of unlimited potentials - many out there in Hong Kong. We are all amazed by the comprehensive efforts of CreateHK on promoting of creative industries.
Later the same day, we had an opening ceremony of Art Therapy Exhibition - Art of Forgetting. We originally planned to convene the ceremony at the Rounda but the venue manager recommended us not to do so given the public gathering restrictions. Often flexible to challenges, our Art Exhibition Committee took immediate contingency measure, with instance helping hand of PEN Priscilla Law, we managed to secure a venue at Liberty for an indoor event only few days before the ceremony. I must say, hands down, we have an efficient and fascinating team! Thank you everyone!
Not whiny, we are and will be living in the new normal amid and post COVID-19. Your continuous support is always appreciated.
YIR
P Peter
President Blog Fellowship Lunch Meeting 15 September 2020
Delighted to see you turning up in our fellowship lunch today, our 4th lunch meeting this Rotary year and the last one at the current venue of the Bankers’ Club, where we have shared lots of memories.
We have a fantastic turnout with 23 supportive club members (Seishu and PP Donna joined us via Zoom), 8 guests and 2 roteractors under COVID-19, still we managed to have lunch strictly followed the rule of social public gathering with 4 persons at each table
Last glimpse of the Bankers ’ Club
Uncommon yet incredible, we have two speakers, Rtn Robert Ip and Rtn Connie Lam, to speak to us. Starting with Robert , he guided us through “How a Global Company contributes to helping the Local Underprivileged in HK O n contrary to personal effort, corporate level support, like Konica, allow s a larger impact in a society and they earned my salute . I like their interpretation on “I” in the program s of helping problematic youngsters in Hong Kong “I (young guy) am willing to transform myself to be a better being”. Not only the youngsters but also every one of us, “a better being” bring us together in our Rotary family for “ and it is something we pursue in our whole life
Robert’s speaking. P Present Peter Lau and PE Ankie Mak with
“Art for Impact”, Connie shared about Hong Kong Arts Centre ( and their programmes , believed you are far more than welcome to join them Seldom have we learned there are programmes focusing on ethical minorities in Hong Kong, what a good job of HKAC. Connie told us “Art” is in different forms and it is just life. Within it will remain, we certainly agree and will have an exhibition from 18 October to 24 October 2020 at the Rounda, on how art therapy alleviating Dementia of the elderly in Hong Kong. Stay tuned on details.
Connie’s speaking. P Present Peter L au and PE Ankie Mak with Connie.
Little gift given out by a handsome guy of HKAC to our members and guests. Thank you!
I really enjoyed the interactivity and personal touch of Robert and Connie with all members and guests , like Robert told us to say no to “Gossip” . Different nature of organizations, they have value proposition in common on engagement with our society through dialogues creating an impact. Both Robert and Connie are young members of our Club, taking this chance, I wish you all may know them well and be proud to have such awesome fellows in our Club. Thank you , Robert and Connie, it’s inspirational.
Again, no group photo, the meeting was closed on time after fellow members and guests joined me to rise and drink a toast to Rotary International, coupled with Rotarct Club HKUSU and Rotary Club of Hong Kong.
As I mentioned earlier, this is our last lunch at the Bankers Club at Landmark , we will rejoin them after their renovation completed at the Nexus Building tentatively scheduled for November. Our next lunch will be at Club Lusitano on 6 October 2020. Please join us.
Thank you.
YIR
P Peter
Members Meeting 1 September 2020
It’s fascinating that we find our own way to adapt the challenge we faced under COVID-19. Physical the first, virtual the second and today in the third club lunching meeting of 2020/2021, we have our meeting in a combination of physical and virtual form.
It’s only an hour lunch, still we had quite a hectic schedule and strictly we followed the restriction of public social gathering with 2 persons at each table. Quite astonishing in a large room.
We had 26 participants including 14 of our fellow Rotarians and 10 guests joining us at the Bankers Club, plus we had PP Sandra and PP Frankie joining us via Zoom. As to our guests, it’s an honor that DG Eric and AG Esther joined us today. And DG Eric had a few words before a simple presentation ceremony to our special guests - Principal Hui of Buddhist Wong Cheuk Um Primary School, Principal Ma of Buddhist Chung Wah Kornhill Primary School, Principal Chan of Buddhist Mau Fung Memorial College and Ms Lam Shin Yan May, younger sister of PP Patrick Lam who all had made our additional computer tablets donation an awesome success.
Of course, we do not forget our important Rotarians who are valuable assets to our Club. We sung birthday song to PP Sandra, PP Arun, Seishu, Edwin, Elsie and myself. PP Arun had a few words to us, it’s always delightful when we have long term serving Rotarians along with newly joined ones like Elsie to celebrate together. Happy Birthday everyone!
I showed you our golf tournament trophy, recalling the long tradition we have. I sincerely wish you will join us at the Jockey Club, Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course on 9 October 2020 for engraving our names to this memorable plate.
Special thanks to Tobias on acceptance of speaking to us today when we had been rescheduling several times with him, and he is really busy working at home. Tobias walked us through the new Contemporary Art Space in Central Hong Kong. When he spoke, he stared out the window to the direction of Tai Kwun, obviously, it means something to him and we truly appreciate how much he’s devoted to his work. Tobias shared the difficulties on exhibitions nowadays when PP Arun asked about how duration of each exhibition is determined. He told various online performs have diverted audiences from visiting exhibitions and are still finding solutions to reach out for more. Thank you PP Kelvin for giving out such impressive vote of thanks, too.
I agree that online social media has changed so much on our living style and to the positive side, we may fully make use of it when we transmit our messages to the public and promote ideas on serving the community like we are now investigating the opportunity to provide online tutorial classes to the underprivileged students.
No group photo, the meeting was closed after fellow members and guests joined me to rise and drink a toast to Rotary International, coupled with RC Peninsula, RC Wan Chai, and Rotary Club of Hong Kong
The world is changing constantly and I am proud that our Club is always prepared to accommodate, like this lunch and we will continue to use the form of physical and online so that we will always stay connected, no matter where you are. Please join us next time, in any form.
Thank you.
YIR
P Peter
Zoom Club Lunch Meeting 18 August 2020
We came back in unity with a Zoom Meeting on 18 August 2020, after a regrettable cancellation of the regular lunch meeting on 4 August 2020 due to the miserable conditions of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. First time ever, over the past 89 years, our Club has met almost every Tuesday for physical lunches. It’s a relief that we were able to proceed with our Zoom meeting without cancellation again as typhoon no. 9 was hoisted later the same day. Lucky start for our 1st online lunch meeting.
Without food, a bit crowd eatery and physical contact, IPP Kenneth, Rotarian Elsie Yung and I welcomed our speaker Dr. Cecilia Lam, Head of Rehabaid Center, in a small conference room. Virtual support was what connected us and kept our momentum going within our Club. Altogether, we had 36 participants, among which 23 of our fellow Rotarians and 13 friendly Rotaractors of the Hong Kong University. We are glad that more of our next generation may join us without limitations online.
Not a radio show….Dr. Cecilia Lam was presenting her speech to our Rotarians and Rotaractors.
Dr. Cecilia Lam shared her presentation on Rotary Rehabaid Centre for Children (RRC) service & development. The premises of the Centre were built by funds from the Rotary Club of Hong Kong. Rather than a stereotype presentation, it’s kinda like we are reading a story book when we saw the old photos, incredible miracle recovery stories and the later difficulties in terms of premises and funding faced by the RRC. I am in particular impressed when I heard Dr. Lam expressed “never give up” to the current difficulties of the RRC, and her kind heart to the patients in need. She told us after our lunch meeting that originally she is about to retire indeed, yet she chooses to help the RRC during their toughest times, we are touched by the emotions of Dr. Cecilia Lam carried on for the RRC. I am so believed that we will all feel the same for her like we do for our Club - to help as much as we can when we see someone is suffering, as displayed in the ad hoc computer tablet donation activity, proposed by Dr. Ankie Mak during our meeting, to raise fund for tablets be donated to children of the low income families who faced difficulties in new school years, which is only two weeks to go, for online classes during COVID-19. Overwhelming feedback. Thank you.
Flag presentation by President Peter Lau to Dr. Cecilia Lam. IPP Kenneth Koon on the left and Rotarian Elsie Yung on the right.
The computer tablet donation is a popped up idea arising from our charity activity “Sham Shui Po Community, Sani-Mist Germicidal Sanitation Service 2020” was in progress on 17 August 2020 and 18 August 2020. We offered two full days free cleaning service with the help of J Life and LBS Hygiene to 60 subdivided units in Sham Shui Po. Taking this opportunity, I wish to express my sincere thanks to our Rotarian Irene Tse and members of our service committee who pulled us together with J Life and LBS Hygiene, making this meaningful service a success, plus, the full support of J Life and LBS Hygiene.
Group photo - Sham Shui Po Community, Sani-Mist Germicidal Sanitation Service 2020
Our red box donation was also conducted in a creative new idea recommended by PP Arun via our internal private whatsapp group. The result is fruitful. For those who committed to donate, don’t forget, Sergeant at Arms PP Arun will collect your donations in our next lunch. Thank you.
A bit worry to technical problem prior to our 1st Zoom meeting, fortunately, it was smoothly convened and closed after we took our 1st online group photo at 2:00pm when fellow members and guests joined me to rise and drink a toast, in different style of drinks, to Rotary International, coupled with RC Wan Chai, RC Admiralty and Rotary Club of Hong Kong.
Group photo - Zoom Club Lunch Meeting 18 August 2020
Interesting experience. I hope you all enjoy it too.
Thank you again for your support.
YIR
P Peter
Installation Meeting 7th July 2020
It is my honour to host my first luncheon meeting as the President of the Rotary Club. Mixed feelings as prior to our meeting, we were all saddened by sudden news of demise of PP Beat’s wife. We silenced a minute, offering Rotary’s heartfelt condolences to Beat’s family.
Pleasant surprise, we had altogether 95 participants, including 32 RCOHK members, 11 district officers, 3 PDGs, 3 CPs ,8 PPs and 9 Ps from 17 Club, 9 Rotaractors and 22 guests. A big crowd, I can see the smiling faces enjoying the fellowship in a bit low ceiling room of the Bankers Club, hectic, exuberant yet warm.
After a few words of congratulations from DG Eric, our Installation Ceremony formally kicked off with IPP Kenneth’s report of his work last year. In recognition to his distinction achievement, IPDG Wilson presented a President with Distinction Award to IPP Kenneth. Exceptional good work. Thank you IPP Kenneth for your fantastic leadership.
When the sash was handed by IPP Kenneth to IPDG Wilson to DG Eric to me, I feel what it means, a succession to heritage - as displayed in the history booklet, “Many FIRSTs in the Rotary Club of Hong Kong”, we gave away to all guests. Thank you, Rotary Historian Herbert, for providing us such epic piece.
“Renaissance”, the theme of my 44 slides presentation, thank you for all your patience, mainly focused on the momentum that helps us build from strength to strength. It will be challenging, just like the conditions in Hong Kong- fortunately, we were able to hold this event as the public gathering limit was lifted, and unfortunately, the news came up the same day with numerous new COVID-19 cases. We will for sure be more cautious in our coming club meetings keeping abreast of the latest development. My new vigorous board members I introduced to you will definitely give you confidence that we will overcome any challenges.
Having such busy schedule, still we managed to close it on time at 2:00pm when fellow members and guests joined me to rise and drink a toast to Rotary International, coupled with RC Peninsula, RC Kowloon West RC Wan Chai, RC Kowloon Tong, RC Admiralty, RC Hong Kong North, RC Central, RC Harmony and Prosperity, RC Hong Kong Island East, RC City Northwest Hong Kong, RC Queensway, RC Metropolitan, RC Financial Centre, RC Smart, RC Innovation Hong Kong, RC Peninsula East, RC North Point and Rotary Club of Hong Kong.
Thank you everyone for joining us to mark our new chapter.
YIR
P Peter
Fellowship Lunch 2nd June 2020
Today we used our innovation and held a fellowship lunch under the social gathering rules that are still in effect due to the coronavirus pandemic. 3 Tables (booked under 3 separate names), 8 each, limited to 24 participants. No podium, no banners, no microphones or powerpoint facilities. Pure lunch with fellowship spirit. Response was overwhelming: all seats were taken up within 3 days of announcement. My apologies to those members who wished to come but could not get a seat. Our VIP guest was DGE Eric Chak. He gave an extremely interesting talk on how to keep healthy and avoid knee, back and neck pain. The talk was intertwined with questions and those who gave the correct answers received a small present from DGE Eric! The talk ended with a light stretching exercise which members found extremely relaxing. We also took the opportunity to induct 3 new members into the family: returnee PP John Lees (Legal services), Lilian Liu (Audit accounting) and Robert Ip (Business solutions). They were proposed by PP Patrick Yeung, PP Selwyn Mar and PE Peter Lau respectively. A few club announcements were also made: (1) As the Bankers Club will be closed from August 2020 to October 2020 for relocation, we have arranged with Club Lusitano to hold our luncheon meetings at their premises during the gap time; (2) Due to the disruption in program this year, the Board has decided to carry forward all unused lunch vouchers in the 1st Half of 2020 into the 2nd Half of 2020. The membership fee invoice for the 2nd Half of 2020 will therefore exclude the compulsory purchase of 60% lunch vouchers for the period. Our next meeting will be held on 16th June, Tuesday, and we have invited Ms Jo Hays, CEO of Habitat for Humanity HK to be our VIP guest. As the Government have extended the social gathering rules to 18th June, we will be having the same arrangements as on 2nd June, seats limited to 24 only. Please look out for the announcement and reserve your seats early. See you all then!
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 17th March 2020
Last week the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Countries imposed entry restrictions and international travel slowed down to snail pace. However, amidst all this, we still had 4 tables full of members and guests attending this week. A very good show-up in the present climate. We started the meeting with a moment of silence for the lost of two beloved members: A de O Sales and R N Ratnam. PP O Sales dedicated his life to sports development in Hong Kong and helped us to achieve sporting autonomy after 1997. R N has been a prominent figure in the Indian community in Hong Kong and a dedicated member of our Club for 32 years. We mourn their departure and hope they rest in peace. With departures there are newcomers. In the meeting, PP John Lee announced that he will re-join the Club, following PP Selwyn’s example. Thank you, PP John. Your re-joining is a great encouragement to all of us. We also inducted a new member. Ms. Irene Tse, to the family. Irene has been a regular visitor to our Club meetings and have strongly supported our recent face-mask donation project in her personal capacity. Welcome, Irene. I am sure you will become a great rotarian. Irene is the fourth new member this year. According to PE Peter, chair of the Membership Committee, there are 2 to 3 more in the pipeline. Looks like we can expect a year of abundance. The talk by our Elsie Yung was on “Human Resources – What is in it for me?”. The talk gave insights on how the HR role is evolving and gave us a glimpse into the new areas of HR: not just hiring and firing or looking into employment benefits etc. but helping the operation teams to elevate efficiency with their human touch. It was also interesting to note that Elsie studied English, not HR or business, in University but became a highly successful HR professional. Proves that one’s potential need not be restricted by what they study.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 3rd March 2020
After the pause in meetings in late February to avoid the coronavirus threat, members were eager to get together again this week. However, we had a rough start as the scheduled speaker, Ms. Myat Thuzar Than, CG of Myanmar, had to postpone her visit following health advice by their Embassy in the last minute. Being agile and adaptive, we immediately changed plans and our Hon. Treasurer, Connie Leung came to the rescue. She delivered a speech on “Trust and Estate planning – Hong Kong and China Perspective” which was well received by the audience. PP Kelvin was quick to spot that the threshold for a trust was only $10 million. I am sure a lot of members are considering one after listening to Connie’s analysis of the benefits to be achieved! The eventual meeting was well attended with 3 tables full of members and guests. Everybody was relaxed, away from the tense climate outside, and we had good fellowship and fun amidst all the announcements. PP Kelvin reported on the recent ad hoc service project that we just did on 29th February: donating surgery masks and hand sanitizers to the POLCCF Dialysis Centre; PP Mitzi Leung reported on her progress on the establishment of the Rotary Action Group For Peace for District 3450; and PE Peter came up with an innovative face mask holder that he distributed as souvenirs to all attending the lunch. We also admitted one new member in the lunch: Ms Martha Hao who was proposed by PE Peter. Martha was General Manager at Defond Group and currently Chairperson of the Hong Kong Medical and Healthcare Device Industries Association and a Council Member of the Hong Kong Internet of Things Alliance (HKIOTA). Her classification is Innovation and Technology. Apart from Martha, a number of potential new members also attended the lunch, presumably observing our performance to see if it is worth them joining us! Such renewed interest is all due to the great work done by the Membership Committee under the leadership of PE Peter.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 4th February 2020
We started our first lunch meeting in the Year of the Rat today despite the coronavirus threat rampaging in the City. A lot of District events were either cancelled or postponed, but we decided to live our normal life and keep to our luncheon schedule as much as we could. Our guest speaker was Mr Clement Chan, Managing Director of BDO Ltd, which happens also to be our honorary auditor. Clement has served on many public boards, including the SFC, the HK Mortgage Corporation and the Consumer Council. Today, he addressed us on “What it takes to build a Consumers’ Right’s Culture”. Due to the epidemic situation, I must apologize to Clement for a relatively light audience. We did not have any guests (apart from the speaker) visiting us but still had 15 members attending, 8 of which were past presidents. If we did not make up in numbers, I hope that we made it up in seniority. Clement explained the composition of the Consumer Council, its positioning and its latest strategic goals. It was very inspiring and informative. Apart from the Choice magazines, I was never aware that the Consumer Council was doing so much. During the Q&A session, there was extensive discussions on how vast the products the Consumer Council has been covering (not only consumables, but also service products like insurance, Uber etc.) and whether it should try to expand its activities (and influence) to the Greater Bay Area or not. Clement said that it was one of their strategies to connect more within the Greater Bay Area since in this age of online shopping, failure to do so would be a disservice to the customers. However, how to do it and to what details are still to be formulated. Our next speaker on 18th February will be Ms. Priyanka Chauhan, CG of India and her topic will be “India: 70 years of the Republic”. I suddenly have a thought: India is a developing country and densely populated, just as China, yet I cannot recall it having any major epidemic as SARS or the coronavirus. Why is it so? Maybe Ms. Chauhan can give us an answer?
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 21st January 2020
This week we presented our RCOHK International Service Award to Dr. Clement Leung for his humanitarian work for the younger generation in Sichuan. Dr. Leung is a specialist in reproductive medicine and, apart from his charity work in China, has also been working hard to arouse the public’s attention to the adverse effect that environment pollution has on the fertility of living animals. Environmental pollution is no longer just climate change and bad weather: it affects the very sustainability of many animal species, including the human race! At the instruction of Dr. Leung, the Award prize money of HK$100,000 was donated to Medicare Resources (MR) to support their education work in Sichuan. Mr. Gary So, director of MR, represented MR to receive the cheque. This is the 11th year of the Award which was initiated by our past PP Robert Fung. Special thanks to our Rtn. Anthony Marr who made the revival of the Award possible by a generous donation to the Golden Jubilee Fund for this purpose.
Our speaker for the day was our own PP Bruce Vaughan who addressed us on the challenges he experienced in promoting chiropractic as an alternative medical profession in Hong Kong. His sharing on how his optimism and persistence eventually changed the attitude of people from scepticism to acceptance was very inspiring, especially in difficult times as now. Before becoming a chiropractor, PP Bruce was also a cowboy, looking after herds of cows in Brazil, in his teenage years. After that he served in the military which eventually brought him to Hong Kong which he now calls home. With such a colourful experience, it is no surprise that he is now also an author with 8 books published already (all books are on sale at the Amazon shop). Read his years as a cowboy and his struggle to promote chiropractic in Hong Kong in his first book: “Brazilian Saddle Sores”.
We had 4 tables of members and guests who contributed generously to the red box. The total collection was HK$2,530. Great fellowship in very cosy atmosphere. Finally, I would take this opportunity to wish all our members a healthy and prosperous Year of the Mouse. Kung Hei Fat Choy!
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 7th January 2020
Housing is a major problem in Hong Kong. It has been identified as one of the primary sources of current social unrest. Apart from difficulties in sourcing land, the long time needed for construction also contributes to the difficulties in resolving the problem. Today, we invited Mr Chan Ka Kui, Chairman of the Construction Industry Council, to give us an overview of the current situation and his vision of a New Era of Construction in response to the challenges.
Mr. Chan said the public image of the construction industry is dull, dirty and dangerous. This makes youngsters reluctant to join causing a scarcity in manpower resources. As the average age of the existing working force is very high, the problem will just worsen. The solution is to move as many construction activities as possible from the site into factories where works can be done under better conditions with automated equipment. This is the Modular Integrated Construction (MIC) method and several pilot projects by the Government and the Science Park are being undertaken to test its practicality. An example of such buildings can be seen at the MIC Display Centre at the Zero Carbon Park at Kowloon Bay. The method promises to reduce cost and time and improve quality.
Another new trend is the use of Building Information Technology (BIM) in the design stage. This allows buildings to be designed and built virtually many times before actual construction starts, making sure everything is in order first and thereby avoiding wastage, abortive works and delays.
When asked amidst all the advantages of MIC and BIM, what are the disadvantages? Mr. Chan explained that both methods will need the design to be finalised at an earlier stage. No more changing the design as they are being built. A small price for lower costs, speedier construction and better quality.
Today we also admitted a new member: Ms. Connie Lam, MD of the HK Arts Centre, into our Club. Connie is proposed by PE Peter and is well known to PP Sandra and me. Her vocation is “Arts Management” and her joining will definitely bring more colours to our Club. Welcome, Connie!
Since the beginning of this Rotary year, our Youth Services Director, Dr. Ankie Mak, placed a donation box in her clinic to accept donations on our behalf. To date the box collected around HK$3,000 for the Golden Jubilee Fund. Thank you, Ankie. Please continue doing so. We also had 4 tables of members and guests for the lunch who all contributed generously to the red box. A collection of HK$6,150 was achieved making the total donation received for the day to be $9,150. A very good start for 2020.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 17th December 2019
Today we held our last Members Meeting of 2019 in grace with the Officer Commanding of The Salvation Army (TSA) Hong Kong and Macao District, Lieut- Colonel Bob Lee as our speaker, sharing with us the visions and concepts of their new educational projects to be implemented in Hong Kong. Lieut-Colonel Lee came with his lovely wife, Lieut-Colonel Wendy Lee and their Development Director, Mr. Wilfred Leung. His speech illustrated TSA’s concept of how education should be delivered, covering not only the Government curriculum, but also other core topics like environment, innovation and socializing: an overall approach. Education in Hong Kong is one of the most pressing issues and it is great to see Institutions taking active actions in improving it. During the Q&A session, the cost to provide such desired education facilities was discussed. I pointed out, and the Colonel confirmed, that extra curriculum facilities are not subsidized by Government and will have to be supported by private donations. Rotarians with a heart in educating our next generation please take note!
TSA used to arrange a children choir to sing Christmas carols in our last meeting before Christmas. This year the arrangement had to be cancelled due to risk in transport because of the uncertain conditions in Hong Kong this year. What a pity! We look forward to Hong Kong returning to normal and we can revive this tradition again next year.
We had 3 tables full of members and guests, meeting our target of minimum 3 tables for each regular meeting. Rtn. Mark Tse brought his daughter, Lingsi, who is also a Rotaractor. Happy to see members working hard on our succession planning. At the end of the meeting, PP Frankie Lam surprised us all by a call to the Lieut-Colonel to join our Club, stating that it has been a tradition that the Officer Commanding of TSA is a member during his term in Hong Kong. Lieut-Colonel Bob Lee gracefully agreed to seriously consider! We will definitely follow up on this.
Merry Christmas to all members and looking forward to see you more often in 2020.
YIR
P Kenneth
Annual General Meeting 3rd December 2019
Today we held the AGM for our two operating entities: the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Ltd (RCOHK) and the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Golden Jubilee Fund Ltd.(GJF). 20 Members attended in person, meeting the quorum requirement without the need of proxies we collected beforehand. Thank you all for coming. Your attendance is a great encouragement to all the Board members. Our Honorary Treasurer, Connie Leung, reported on the finances of the companies which were audited by our Honorary Auditor, BDO Limited. I must take this opportunity to thank PP Selwyn for bringing BDO in as our Honorary Auditor. Their involvement has made finalization of the accounts so much smoother than previous years. The accounts were adopted as is by the members present.
The highlight of the meeting was PE Peter Lau’s presentation of his 2020-2021 Board and his vision to further strengthen the Club under his presidency. His plans might seem very bold but, as we say: “Shoot for the Stars if you want to land on the Moon”. PE Peter is bringing his business acumen into his Rotary work. So happy to be part of his team. Note that the 2020-2021 Board still lacks a PE. The PP Council are working on potential candidates but any member looking to contribute more to society can still come forward.
On Club matters, we announced that we will award the revived RCOHK International Services Award to Dr. Clement Leung for his charity work in Sichuan and the Faith Hope Love School there for the children of the Yi minority community. We have also nominated Mr. Jeffery Andrews to the District for the ONE Humanitarian Award for his humanitarian work in respect of refugees, asylum seekers and ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
Christmas is approaching and for the next meeting we have invited the Salvation Army children choir to come and sing for us as in last year (subject to street conditions). Come and join us to enjoy the festival sensation.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 19th November 2019
Today with the help of our honorary member, Mr. Henry Litton as speaker, we returned to the grandeur of our old time lunches. With 83 members and guests attending, we had to move the venue from our customary Bankers Club to the Hong Kong Club to accommodate all.
The title of Mr. Litton’s speech was “Is the Hong Kong Community Mesmerized by Slogans?”. It was a timely expression by a respected legal practitioner on the current situation in Hong Kong. He touched on the five demands insisted by the protestors and deliberated on how some of the demands appear to contravene the Basic Law. On their call for amnesty because protestors are not acting for their own benefit but for society, he expressed that the Law should be blind and hard edged but sentences can always be compassionate according to the circumstances. He criticised the judiciary system itself as he believed that if the judiciary could work faster, the harsher sentences handed down to rioters who caused damage versus the more lenient sentences to peaceful protestors who were just tagging along would help society form consensus on what actions are acceptable and what are not.
In a twist to the legal arguments in his speech, Mr Litton showed his passion for the younger generation when he suddenly mentioned the milky way and the stars in the sky. How children in the Australian Outback can rely on the stars to lead their way whereas teenagers in Hong Kong can only rely on their iPads or iPhones to guide them. He also mentioned a documentary that described how teenagers found camping in the streets together during the 2014 Occupy Movement gave them a sense of freedom and solicitude. We have a lot to do to mend the deep flaws in our society.
It was a pity that due to time restraint we had to drop the Q&A session. I know that a lot of members were burning with questions to ask. Luckily Mr Litton stayed on for a while after lunch and I hope members had the chance to talk to him directly to discuss.
To close, I would like to give special thanks to Mr Litton for his generosity in matching the red box collections (up to a ceiling of HK$6,000). We collected over HK$9,000 and, adding Mr. Litton’s donation, made a total collection over HK$15,000 to be used on our service projects.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 5th November 2019
Kicking off our Honorary Member month, we had Professor Samuel Leong, co-founder of the UNESCO Glocal Peace Centre, speaking to us on “Glocalizing Culture for Peace. Together with Rotary and our PP Mitzi Leung, the UNESCO Glocal Peace Centre in Hong Kong have been doing a lot of peacemaking work over the years by bringing children of different cultures to work and play together and create mutual understanding and respect. Professor Leong’s concept is to achieve global peace, we must start locally. When challenged in the Q&A session on how his idea will work in the present Hong Kong chaotic situation, he gave a very convincing answer with vivid examples of why, in situations of unrest, we need to maintain control and peace within ourselves first otherwise not only that we would not be able to help the situation, we will be intensifying it, causing it difficult to calm down. Bravo to such wise words.
We also had PDG Eugene Fong to come to introduce the ONE Humanitarian Award that is being organised both by Rotary International and Rotary District to us. What a coincidence with our Peace theme for this lunch. Deadline for nominations is end of November.
We also had a “happy” problem. Due to Professor Leong’s draw, an unexpected number of members and guests attended and the Club had to rush in additional tables, chairs and meals to cope. As a result, the meeting started and finished both by 10 to 15 minutes late. That caused inconvenience to members who had made appointments relying on the punctuality of our luncheon meetings. To those affected, I give my sincere apologies and promise to control the schedule better in the future!
Following PP Selwyn’s suggestion, we started a new practice on the red box. Red boxes will be placed in each table for volunteer contributions. No more arm twisting by the Sergeant at Arms. We collected over $3,000: good proof that Rotarians do not need pushing to do good deeds.
In our next luncheon on 19th Nov. we will have another Honorary Member, Mr. Justice Henry Litton, coming to speak to us. His title will be “Is the Hong Kong Community Mesmerized by Slogans?”. Due again to great interest by members and guests, the lunch will be moved to the Hong Kong Club to accommodate the increase in numbers. Register immediately if you have not yet done so as only a small number of seats are still available.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 15th October 2019
This Tuesday we had Ms. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center, to come and speak to us on the background of Asia Society and how the Hong Kong Center, an architectural masterpiece, came to be established. The Society was established in 1956 in New York by John Rockefeller with an aim to promote knowledge of Asia to the USA. Today, apart from offices in USA, the Society has a number of offices in Asia including: Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Asked why establish offices in Asia as they seem to conflict the original intent? Alice answered that unlike that of the West, Asia has more diversified cultures and the primary role of the Asian offices is to promote knowledge of different Asian cultures to each other. In addition they also do community services by promoting arts, business, culture, education, and policy in a local sense. It seems that the policy of Asia Society blends well with our Rotary theme of “Connect”. Steve Dekrey gave the vote of thanks and mentioned that Alice was one of his former MBA students. Well done, Steve. Train more business leaders for Hong Kong! The following month in November will be dedicated to our Honorary members. First in 5th November we will have Prof. Samuel Leong on “Glocalizing Culture for Peace” and in 19th November we will have Mr. Justice Henry Litton on “Is the HK Society Mesmerized by Slogans?”. Register early for the talks as seats are limited!
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 8th October 2019
Upon request from a number of members, we held a special lunch meeting on 8th October, the second Tuesday of the month. The meeting was in the form of an “open platform” for any member to express and discuss club matters covering membership, attendance, services etc. any related topic. It was a Club Assembly with no fixed agenda. No speaker was invited.
As expected, the discussions were kicked off by PP Selwyn Mar, first on membership. PE Peter, the Membership Chair, took the opportunity to introduce his strategy of attracting new members. Quality must be upheld as we, being the first Club in the District, have always enjoyed a reputation for high standards. That should be the way to differentiate our Club from others. PP Sandra expressed that new members must be dedicated to the Club and one way to ensure this is to require that they sign up to one of the Club’s committees upon joining. PE Peter agreed and advised that this has been taken care of. The revised new member admission forms that was recently approved by the Board was tabled for everyone’s information.
The next topic was on attendance and PP Selwyn expressed that all Board members should act as a role model in this. He suggested that at least 50% of the Board members should be present in every lunch meeting. Luckily that day, we had 70% of the Board members present!
PP Kelvin and Dr. Ankie gave a short report on the Club services being done. The Art Therapy for dementia elders is now our main project after the successful completion of the Test for Life Mobile Clinic last year. With the current unrest in Hong Kong, we will be focusing more on local projects by involving our rotaractor clubs.
I also announced that, with the help of Rtn. Anthony Marr, we will revive the Club’s International Services Award this year and invited nominations by members for suitable candidates before the end of October.
The meeting went on with a very cheerful atmosphere. I believe everyone enjoyed the fellowship it offered. PP George Koo was right in expressing that sometimes in our eagerness to secure prominent speakers, we neglect the opportunities to listen to and understand our own members. Point taken and will be considered in the future programs.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 17th September 2019
Whilst I was absent in the week due to travelling, IPP Donna stepped in again and saved my day. Thank you IPP Donna for your unrivalled support!
I know that Simon Mak, CEO of Friends of the Earth HK, gave an inspirational speech on the environment and what we can do to become more sustainable. All policies work towards changing the mentality and habits of people on how to lead their daily lives in a more environmentally sustainable manner. My trip was a pilgrimage trip that took me to the second or third tier cities in Italy. Throughout the journey, until we reached Rome, the skies were blue and the streets were clean. The residents showed a strong sense of sustainability concepts that we find so difficult to promote in Hong Kong: in one case, the hotel staff came out and demanded that our driver turned off the engine of the tour bus even though it had just stopped for a short while for us to board. It was a great first-hand experience on how serious people in Europe are taking the environmental crisis. Hong Kong has a long way to catch up.
One thing, however, took me by a bit of surprise. We visited 30 churches in 12 days and attended mass every day. Even in the most remote cities, our tour guides were very interested about the situation in Hong Kong and asked us what caused all the unrest. Even a priest, after hearing the confession of one of our members, asked about the situation in Hong Kong and what is to become of it. We are now famous. Hong Kong has definitely made the headlines on the international stage in the past few months.
What can be done? A difficult question. A statement by St. Benedict which I found in the monastery at Montecassino might guide the way: “Ora et Labora” - Pray and Work Hard. As with so many things in life, we can only wait it out and hope for the best. May God have mercy on Hong Kong.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 3rd September 2019
We were very fortunate to be able to get hold of Dr. Leo Cheng and his wife Hilary during their short stay in Hong Kong to come and talk to us on the humanitarian work of the Mercy Ships which provide free surgical operations to the sick and poor in Third World Countries on board their floating hospital. Dr. Leo, a cancer surgeon, has been using his annual leave from his hospital job in UK to serve on the Africa Mercy for the last 12 years .He has been on the vessel 16 times. The Africa Mercy is the flagship vessel of the Mercy Ships and has been bringing hope and healing to the people of West Africa since 2007. We had 3 tables full of members and guests, all who were deeply moved when seeing the many cases of patients suffering from oversized thyroid and neck tumours and other deformations that were cured, restoring their health and dignity. Also glad to know that a new Mercy Ship is being built in Tianjin which is expected to come into service in 2020. Being so close to us, this new ship will definitely provide opportunities for our Rotary Clubs to participate in its humanitarian missions (Rotary District 1260 in UK is a major sponsor of Africa Mercy).
Mrs. Hilary Cheng, wife of our speaker, gave an inspiring Positive Peace Sharing Moment for the lunch. She expressed that in Church, we give blessings to each other by shaking the hands of the persons next to us. This simple gesture brings us closer and promotes harmony of peace. A good example of how easily we can promote peace in our everyday life.
We also had our happy moments. Happy birthday to PE Peter and Director Seishu who were the birthday boys present in the meeting. And a new member - welcome Elsie Yung to the Rotarian family. Elsie is a very respected Human Resources professional and her classification is “People Development“. Nowadays management of people is one of the most difficult tasks. Our Club will benefit a lot from Elsie’s participation.
The speaker in the next lunch meeting on 17th September will be Mr. Simon Mak, CEO of Friends of the Earth HK. After listening to medical attention to humans, let’s go further to medical attention to the Earth itself. Please mark your diary for another interesting talk.
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 20th August 2019
While P Kenneth and PE Peter were handsomely representing RCOHK in Mongolia and checking our signature project, we gathered for our Rotary luncheon at the Bankers Club overlooking beautiful Victoria harbour. A full house celebrated many things – PP Patrick Yeung’s birthday, the Club’s continued awarding as a certified green club, a media article featuring RCOHK’s organisational resilience. Thank you, our service support partners and Rotarians.
The theme “Rotary connects the world” was well represented in the talk from our honourable guest Consul General Kim of the Republic of Korea. The CG began his speech by sharing that he had decided not to issue a travel warning to Hong Kong despite the recent protests, winning over the audience immediately. He then took us through the economic relationship between Hong Kong and Korea, insights into the current political situation in the Korean Peninsula, then finished off with his forward looking view on the trade tension between Korea and Japan.
In the Rotary luncheon, we covered current topics involving 3 influential economic power houses in North Asia – it is truly good to be a Rotarian where we can learn in the fellowship of business leaders. Special thanks to PP Connie for inviting the guest and being the enthusiastic host throughout, and PP Frankie for giving an impressive vote of thanks in RCOHK style – thorough, candid comments based on quantitative rationale and facts, the similarities between Rotary HK and Korea, and respective achievements.
We learn a lot from each other, within our club, inter-club, locally and internationally. Rotary connects the world, indeed.
YIR
IPP Donna
Members Meeting 6th August 2019
We pride ourselves to be the first choice of visit for oversea rotarians visiting Hong Kong. Today we had Rtn. Alan Cheng from Rotary Club of Vancouver visiting us. Originally we also expected P Arvind Batra and Rtn. Raj Jain both from the Rotary Club of Jaipur Central, India. However prior to coming, they inquired about the safety in Hong Kong and eventually cancelled their visit. It is really sad to see Hong Kong’s image dropping to that equivalent to a Third World Country!
As our Club has registered as a Rotary Peacebuilding Club, I initiated a Peace Experience Sharing Moment into the Lunch Meeting. PP George Koo followed up on it to discuss the dire situation in Hong Kong. PP Selwyn asked what I think we could do. I replied with a quote from the senior partner in my previous Partnership Firm: “Work hard and pray hard”. We all need to have faith in Hong Kong.
Our speaker on the day was Mr. Sam Kong from the Hong Kong Productivity Centre (HKPC). His topic was “Industry 4.0”. Industry 4.0 is dubbed the fourth industrial revolution that makes use of the latest IT, AI and IoT in manufacturing to deliver products just in time and tailored to need. HKPC have been working in partnership with Fraunhoter IPT of Germany to assist SMEs in Hong Kong to upgrade themselves to meet the Industry 4.0 criteria since 2015. Hong Kong is pushing hard on innovation, but innovation without a high value manufacturing base to follow up makes it difficult to realize all those great ideas we have. It was great to hear the work HKPC is doing in this area.
I will be away for the next lunch meeting on 20th August, joining DG on his trip to Mongolia. IPP Donna has kindly agreed to step in for me. Thank you Donna. In the next two weeks there will be a host of events. Starting on 14th, Wednesday, we will have a Club visit to the Rotary Club of Admiralty as part of our “connect” efforts. On 19th, Monday, we will be holding the fellowship event “ Age 5 Masters meet The Masters” at the Opera Art Gallery at Wyndham Street where we will be awarding prizes on behalf of the Rotary Club of Kherson, Ukraine to the winners of the Stamp of Friendship International Art Competition. On the 20th, Tuesday, will be our regular lunch meeting. Our speaker on that day will be the Consul General of Korea. Given the recent situation between Korea and Japan, his speech will be very interesting. Then on 20th, Tuesday again, after the lunch will be a fellowship event to visit the European Office in Hong Kong for a deeper understanding of this entity that has made the news since the announcement of Briexit. There must be an event that you like!
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 16th July 2019
Today we had overseas visitors, Rtn. Mike Hebert and his wife Diane from Rotary Club of Brunswick, North Carolina. We also had Ms. Elike Hon, our ex-member who initiated our signatory “Test for Life” project whilst she was with us, Rtn. Jones Chan from RC Admiralty and Rtn. Sherman Chan from RC Lan Kwai Fong plus other guests by members.
The speaker was our own PP Kelvin Mui. The title of his speech was “Design and Business”. IPP Donna has always said that our own members are masters in their fields and their insights are as good as any prominent speaker we can get from outside the Club. Listening to PP Kelvin’s speech proves that point. He took us through the process when he approaches a project, be it a shop, an office or residence. His principle is the design has to be balanced between irrational desires and rational facts. E.g. in a shop, how to balance the desire to show as many merchandise as possible and still keep the shopping environment spacious and comfortable? In offices, how much common areas should be provided so that it encourages collaboration but at the same time allow sufficient space for focused work? PP Kelvin’s studio get around these problems by using statistic approaches like measuring the time spent by staff on focused work and collaboration discussions and plan it accordingly. Such scientific assistance to their artistic design work ensures that the completed environment will play its part in enhancing the business, making it more profitable or efficient.
The Q&A part was also interesting. PP Selwyn Mar, who used to run one of the largest department stores in Hong Kong, asked how to design and improve the business of a “Tai Pai Dong” or a street stall in “Women’s Street”? The vote of thanks was given by Rtn. Dr. Ankie Mak whose clinic was designed by PP Kelvin himself. She said the environment of the clinic is so comfortable that her patients tend to stay on after their treatments for their daily gossips. Nothing better to a professional than commendation from his customers!
YIR
P Kenneth
Installation Speech 9th July 2019
DG Wilson, VIPs from the District, Presidents and Past Presidents from fellow clubs in Area 2 and Area 7, all guests, welcome to our Club Installation Lunch.
It is indeed my honour to be elected as the President of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong, the first club to be chartered in District 3450. I joined Rotary quite early, admitted in 1991. In those days we met every Tuesday at the Mandarin Hotel and often had 8 to 10 tables full. PP Vernon told us in our Annual Gala Dinner that Radio Hong Kong used to broadcast the speeches made by our speakers. Those were before my days, but I do remember groups of reporters waiting outside our dining area for an interview with the speaker after he or she delivered the speech.
I am a surveyor and was made a partner in my firm at the age of 30, the youngest in its history. After I was made a partner, I was told by my senior partners that I now had to go out and find jobs for the firm. So they ushered me into the Rotary Club to establish connections. I made a lot of good friends in Rotary, but I never managed to get a job from it. However, Rotary did open my eyes as it allowed me to establish a network beyond my industry and build up my confidence in social connections. These assisted me greatly in the build-up of my career. For this, I am indebted to the Club. So after I retired and Donna asked me to take the role of President-Elect, I could not find any excuse to turn it down and therefore deliberately took on the challenge.
We pride ourselves in doing community services. Last year we had a full year of activities including visits to Guizhou to see the Left Behind Children, medical support visits and improvement works to Elderly Homes for the Salvation Army. We started an Art Therapy project together with our Rotaractors to assist elders with dementia. We eventually managed to accomplish our pledge to retro-fit a 6 by 6 Land Rover into a mobile clinic suited to roam desert terrain and deliver it to our partner Club in Mongolia to provide cervical cancer screening services after more than 3 years of hard work.
I found that Rotary is more than doing services. RI President Mark Maloney said: “you do not have to choose between Rotary and family. You can have both”. To ensure I can have both, I deliberately asked my wife, Ellen, to come and join me today as endorsement of her support for me to act as President. There is also truth in P Maloney’s statement from a different angle. Rotary is not just a club that brings professionals together to uphold business ethics and pay back to society by doing community work. The Rotary principles can also be a way of life. The 4-way test: Is it true? Is it fair? Will it build goodwill and friendship? Will it be beneficial to all? These principles can be applied in life and business also. Nowadays, social inequality has caused confrontation on a worldwide scale. A “Us” versus “Them” mentality keeps spreading. In EU, locals reject immigrants. In America, the working class are indignant that they are stripped off by the elites in Wall Street. In Hong Kong … I do not know what to say. Why should society be seen as so unfair? So lack of goodwill? Applying the Rotary principles in life could make our society more stable and sustainable.
In the coming year, we will continue with our existing work and at the same time adopt “Peace Making” as the core theme in planning new services. We have already started by registering as a Peace Builder Club with the Rotarian Action Group for Peace and will be setting up a Peace Committee in our Club to drive the movement. Initially, we intend to work with our Rotaract Clubs and Interact Clubs to build peace by providing mediation skill building to youngsters so that when they have disputes, they can think in each other’s shoes. We believe that if one can understand the underlying restraints of the other party, disputes can be avoided and mutual agreements can be more readily made.
To finalize, please let me introduce to you my Board Members: To start, IPP Donna Buckland who has also kindly consented to be the Programme Director; Hon. Secretary Janice Leung who we all rely on
to keep ourselves in line and in compliance; PE Peter Lau who has kindly agreed to take on the Membership Committee Chair shouldering the arduous task of getting new members. Peter is out of Town and cannot join us today; PP Dr. Frankie Lam, our Foundation Chair and link to the RI Foundation; Priscilla Law as Vice President and Public Relations Director; Connie Leung as our Hon Treasurer. Connie is in China and cannot join us today either; we have a strong services team consisting of PP Kelvin Mui as Services and PPE Director, Dr. Ankie Mak as Youth Services Director and Seishu Tanetani as International Services Director. Both Ankie and Seishu are also overseas and cannot join us today. I am deeply indebted to all of them for their unrivalled support and pledge herewith that I will do my best to keep up with the great work that my predecessors have done in keeping the Rotary Club of Hong Kong thriving for the past 88 years.
Thank you.
Kenneth Poon
Installation Lunch 9th July 2019
Today we held a modest lunch to conduct my installation as the 89th President of the Club. Before the lunch, we had a meeting with DG Wilson and other members from the District to report on our work in the last year and our plans for the coming year. I would herewith express my thanks to DG Wilson for his acknowledge of the great work done by IPP Donna and his encouraging words regarding my plans.
Over 50 Rotarians, guests and Rotaractors attended. I am particularly happy that my wife, Ellen, and my daughter, Stephanie, attended also to witness my installation. The ceiling in the Bankers Club is a bit low therefore the venue was as noisy and exuberant as a Chinese restaurant but it was great to see everybody enjoying the fellowship.
The Installation eventually started off with IPP Donna reporting on our work in the past year. Instead of speaking, she used a video and it was amazing to see everyone quieting down to watch it. Good move, Donna! She was followed by a speech from IPDG YC, then by my installation speech and finally an address by DG Wilson. The message from DG was membership growth is important (and encouraged by RI) but membership quality is equally important. Take good care of your rotaractors and encourage them to join Rotary when they feel they are ready as it will be definite that they share our same value. The whole Installation process, including the mini raffles draw, ran smoothly. Thanks to the hard work by our Executive Secretary, Yancy!
The event was closed by a toast to all the Clubs who had members present. These include: RC Admiralty, RC Central, RC HK Bayview, RC HK financial Center, RC Kowloon Golden Mile, RC Kowloon Tong, RC Lan Kwai Fong, RC Mandarin HK, RC Metropolitan, RC Peninsula, RC Peninsula South, RC Smart HK, RC Victoria, RC Wanchai and Rotaract Club of HKU.
Over the past few days, I attended a number of installation dinners and found that every Club has their own style. Some started with singing the Rotary song and some held a solemn oath taking pledge by the new Board. The only part that is the same is the passing of the sash from the IPP to IPDG to DG and then to the incoming President. Great diversity with a common core!
YIR
P Kenneth
Members Meeting 2nd July 2019
Today was my first luncheon meeting as President of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong. A bit clumsy in my handling but I will improve at it. I was warned that attendance might be light as it was the first working day after a long public holiday weekend. And what a holiday it was, as we witnessed half a million people protesting down the streets and riots in the Legislative Building until mid-night! Many must have been worried and stayed up late at night to witness the events.
I took the advice and arranged a “Review and Preview” session instead of inviting a guest speaker. IPP Donna gave a review on the magnificent work done under her leadership in 2018-2019 (her full report is uploaded on our website) and I took the chance to have a direct discussion with the attending members on what I planned to do in the coming 2019-2020 year and invited their comments. The meeting was attended by 15 members and we had a very good discussion with members proposing many ideas on how to raise members’ commitments and attendance. Our senior members shared their valuable experience on how they managed to run the Club when it had near to a 100 active members. Very inspiring and helpful for my future running of events.
The next meeting will be our Club’s Installation Meeting on 9th July, Tuesday. We expect visitors from District including DG Wilson and Presidents from friendly Clubs to attend and witness the event. Looking forward to meeting you all on this big day.
Yours In Rotary
P Kenneth
Membership Fellowship Sustainable Service meeting 18th June, 2019
The final luncheon meeting of the Rotary year 2018-2019 was dedicated to our members.
We celebrated our long serving members. There are 25 members in our club with over 25 years of Rotary under their belts, with the longest serving member being Rtn James Wu with 52 years in service. Collectively there are over 880 years of Rotary. As a club, we have approx 1280 years of Rotary service among our current members.
A wise man said it’s not the number of years in your life that matters but the life in your years. I do hope that our members have filled and will continue to fill their years with more meaningful Rotary fellowship and service life.
Guest speaker Dr. Kit Sinclair helped us reconnect with international rehabilitation service projects RCOHK supported in the past. A good session to understand occupational therapy - it was wonderful to see Rtn Adrian reconnecting with Dr. Sinclair and PP Vernon.
Members are our biggest asset. Our members define our prestigious club - a diverse hub of business leaders. The achievements our club enjoyed this year in Rotary service making global and local impact, is owing to the members’ continuous support. It was my true previlege to have served you as your club president - I will sign off on that note and look forward to a great year ahead under P Kenneth’s leadership.
YIR / P Donna
District Conference 18th May 2019
The 59th District Conference concluded with 500 participants and with representatives from RI. 7 delegates from our club was present to showcase our club’s achievement in the house of friendship. Special thanks to PP Arun who attended as the mother club’s CP delegate. We marched in first- after all, our founding members brought Rotary, an international service organization, to this part of the world. Our new addition to the club DDS Connie did a marvelous job of introducing the guest of honour - Mr Ronnie Chan, GBS. Ronnie spoke to us about the current situation of US and China with future context. For me personally, I was humbled that we had 7 delegates and 1 Rotaract president representing our club. We are 88 years old but we are not sleeping! Rotary is a big family and like any family, a gathering like this makes you realize we have challenges but also an opportunity to pave way for district’s future. We, as a mother club, do our bit by participating.
See you next Tuesday for a joint meeting at Grand Hyatt. Let’s participate in the fellowship and service Rotary stands for.
YIR / P Donna
Membership Fellowship & Sustainable Service Meeting 7th May 2019
We had the pleasure of having Mr. Leon Naidoo, South African Consul to Hong Kong join us, one day before South Africa's national election day. I know the votes are still being counted as we speak - oh the thrills!
It was lovely to see Rtn HJ Isler joining with Rotarianne Lucy Isler- a South African compatriot. I value the international nature of our club- a hub for diverse and laser sharp minds, we meet for friendly meals and work together to support services.
And speaking of services, three cheers for our services team with IPP Kelvin relentlessly executing the shipment of our mobile clinic to Mongolia. The renovated mobile clinic can now continue its journey providing cancer screening services to Mongolia’s poor. The recent 88th anniversary charity Gala’s fundraising success has greatly contributed to the financial resources needed to enable the shipment - thank you all members who supported. Service and fellowship is what our club is about. And building on this, perhaps an element of genuine friendship too. We had a cake for Rtn Janice and HJ’s birthdays, and also for Mother’s Day- one for PP Marta. All the best for your new arrival in June PP Marta - you are making history again.
The next club meeting will be a 3 Generation joint meeting at Grand Hyatt. Please mark your diary for the 21st of May and let’s be there for fellowship, service and friendship.
YIR / P Donna
Membership Fellowship & Sustainable Service Meeting 16 April 2019
April’s last luncheon was truly happy occasion to welcome back PP Selwyn Mar. We celebrated with PDG Jones Wong, who was the DG when PP Selwyn was the President for RCOHK. He joined us in short notice to re- pin PP Selwyn. PP Patrick Yeung gave a warm welcome note of a good friend coming back and all of this was witnessed by visiting Rotarians from Minnesota and Mumbai. Hats off to Rtn Benjamin and PP Steve turning up for Rotary luncheon on their birthday too ! Attendance matters as it is reenergizing to see good friends for lunch. And for a junior Rotarian like me, I learn from my conversations with senior Rotarians at lunch. 😊 Amongst this fellowship we made sure we are reminded that we here to serve- our guest speaker shared remarkable service stories for people in need in China. Our club will form a due diligence committee to learn more about this service project in Sichuan so we can be of help in a best way possible.
Easter break is great to reset after busy Q1, I hope most of you are going to have a relaxing one. For me, I finished my annual market visit, so will enjoy my Easter in HK- travelling 8 countries in 8 weeks was tough but I got my energy back from Tuesday lunches. Look forward to seeing you on the 7th May, for fellowship, service and knowledge. Happy Easter Everyone !
YIR / P Donna
Membership, Fellowship &Sustainable Service Meeting 2 April 2019
As a corporate person, I have a habit of looking for an organisation’s unique value proposition. For our club, I think it’s “International, Prestigious & Heritage bound”. April’s first meeting indeed demonstrated this quality, where we had visiting Rotarian from San Francisco (world’s #2 club) and from Kyoto (very prestigious)- they enjoyed meeting our members of RCOHK the #1 Rotary club in Hong Kong ( I would say this, right? 😄). We enjoyed learning about media in digital era presentation by our guest speaker- P Derek of RC Wanchai, our daughter club.
Rotary indeed is a big international family and I enjoyed singing the birthday song together with you all at the lunch for our loyal, long serving members, Rtn Benjamin and PP Steve. They share the same birthdays and between two of them, there is 56 years of Rotary service. Amazing dedication indeed.
Dear members - with 2 months left to go in this Rotary year, I am delighted to see more of you turning up at the regular lunches. It gives me that “push and pick me up”. I truly believe that the membership of our club is our biggest assset. You, the members, make and define our club’s unique value proposition.
Next regular luncheon is on the 16 April and we will have one of our previous member coming back on that day officially, so let’s “be there”.
YIR / P Donna (Writing from Hong Kong !)
Membership Fellowship & Sustainable Service Meeting 19 March 2019
Re-connection, reintroduction and recollection was in the air today. We welcomed two great members into our club, PP Connie Leung and Rtn Danielle Hou. We look forward to your contribution to our club and fellowship. The induction of the two members was made special by having 11 PPs present to witness the special occasion. As the oldest club in the District, we are lucky to be guided by the wealth of knowledge and advice PP Council provides in order for us to reconnect with our heritage while reinventing ourselves to stay relevant. Much to our delight, PP Selwyn Marr announced coming back today - a great example of our members reconnecting. The credit goes to you all loyal members, your years of dedication to our club’s service and fellowship is an huge intangible asset to Rotary in Hong Kong. Special thank you to Rtn Ankie, our new PHS member, for your charming introduction to skin health. Everyone enjoyed Dr. Ankie’s talk, I got some tips today too :) Fellow Rotarians, did you know Rotary was the first genuine social network? Through the fellowship and friendship we develop through Rotary, we can achieve some amazing things for our community. Let’s celebrate this in style at the upcoming 88th anniversary charity gala on the 10 April at Hong Kong Club. Chat soon.
YIR / P Donna ( in Bangkok)
Membership Fellowship & Sustainable Service meeting 5 March 2019
First meeting of March was full of international affairs. Rotarians from US, UK, Mexico, and Germany came to visit, among our international club members who all call Hong Kong home. Rotary is special in connecting people internationally, for those of us who travel a lot, it’s nice to be able to find a Rotary club everywhere you go, to broaden your network and build social and cultural capital. Rtn Joseph Pang I hope you enjoyed our members and the international visitors singing birthday song for you- your dedication to our club and the stellar attendance record is a real example and inspiration. For those of our members who celebrate birthdays in March, hope to see you at the next meeting. This month, we have another member joining us, PP Connie Leung, who is an international woman leader in her field. I look forward to welcoming her formally at the next club meeting on the 19 March, we have 4+ tables organized for the induction. Befitting to this occasion, our very own Dr. Ankie Mak will be the speaker to share her areas of expertise. I look forward to seeing as many of you.
YIR / P Donna ( writing from Hochimin )
Membership, Fellowship & Sustainable Service Meeting 19th February
Today was rather an auspicious occasion. Full house luncheon to celebrate the birthday of loyal members, including PP Vernon, on the eve of our 88th club birthday. 88 years is a long time of service and fellowship. Thank you PP Mitzi, PP Sandra and PP George, for sharing your tribute and fellowship memory of Rtn Randy Kwei. Rtn Adrian, thank you for educating the younger member of the club like myself, on the club's heritage. As you may have read in the club's half year newsletter full of club's achievements, we are reinventing ourselves, built on the solid foundation we inherited. The guest speaker of the luncheon talked us through the financial and marketing innovation linked to social values. I looked at the interaction between our members and the speaker and thought, 'where else would you go to find a group of business and community leaders, who genuinely believe in developing themselves, through building social capital and contribute to our community'. Rotary is a special place and I am proud to be part of this club, who brought Rotary to Hong Kong, 88 years ago. I look forward to coming back to Hong Kong this weekend to volunteer at our service partner event, UNESCO peacemaker's celebration. See some of you this weekend and the next club lunch 5 March.
Yours in Rotary P Donna (writing from Thailand)
Membership Fellowship Sustainable Service Meeting 8 January 2019
New Years’s Fellowship Meeting was full of happy reconnection. We celebrated the anniversary of the 18th birthday for PP Frankie and PP George. Brilliant.
Then we ran the happy broadcast sergeant- Rotary tradition I brought from New Zealand.
Rtn Ray Bera - announcing successful operation- he has iron man legs now! So good to see you back.
Rtn Michael Duck - announcing his daughter’s wedding in June, we wish for a magical one.
PP George - just celebrated 60 years wedding anniversary. That’s truly diamond standard loyalty, trust and love.
PE Kenneth - just had his first grandson, PE Kenneth good things keep coming to you !
PP Steve - spent family Christmas in HK first time in 20 years and is launching EMBA course focused on Russia. Legends don’t rest - they keep going ! Rtn Adrian wished everyone happy new year as his portion of happy broadcast. Visiting Rotarians PP Alex Leung and PP Connie Leung also shared happy news and the redbox got full with over HK 2,600. Well done RCOHK - Sharing the happy news and giving towards community service.
The next club meeting on the 15th will be run by our PP Arun, as I will be professional duty-bound to attend the AFF. I may spot one of our own PPs there on the stage too. 😄
Dear Rotarians, let’s keep reaching out to each other, we all want to hear and share.
YIR / Donna
Membership Fellowship Sustainable Service Meeting 18 December 2018
The last meeting of 2018 was made special by many factors - the Salvation Army colonel’s message of giving, the children’s choir, and visiting Rotarians including a PDG from the US. But most importantly your presence made it special for me.
Dear fellow Rotarians, my heartfelt thanks for the great turn out at the AGM. Your voice and endorsement matters. As a volunteer to this organization, your feedback is the most meaningful motivation. The board of directors worked hard to do justice to the heritage of our club and their hard work crystalised into a great outcome of our club once again getting recognized as a leading club by the district and by international Rotary leaders.
To take this momentum to the next level, I can’t be more thrilled to have our VP Kenneth Poon as our President Elect for our 89th year. Our membership is stable, our fellowship is strengthening and our services continue to make sustainable impact. So well done Rotary Club of Hong Kong, the club is made of you, by you, and for you.
Let’s have another great 6 months. We have our 88th year anniversary, community services projects and great fellowship events ahead. Merry Christmas to you all and see you on the 8th of January for our New Year lunch.
YIR / P Donna
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