Pres. Rudy kicked off the meeting at 13:15 pm. Warm welcome for visiting Rtn Benny Ratnani from HK Northeast. Also welcome back for PP Andrew from Canada & Hawaii and Kishu from India.

Pres. Rudy announced PP George's father PP Philip Leung, was from RC Kowloon Northwest, has passed away in Singapore on last Sunday night. Pres. Rudy has led all members to have a moment of silence in honour of PP George's father.

Dir. Laurence as Sergeant-at-arm to report the Red Box collection is HK$650.

PDG Uncle Peter report there is a discrepancy in the last issue regarding the minimum number of members required in each Rotary Club mentioned by DG Alex. He has clarified with DG Alex and the update details, "Correction of Members Challenge". has attached in the next page.

Pres. Rudy introduced our speaker, Mr. Kennedy Lee, an Elected Member of Wan Chai District Council to talk about the coming Pedestrian Plan for Causeway Bay & traffic plan for Wanchai areas. Firstly, Mr. Lee talked about the Causeway Bay Pedestrian Plan. He said the government promoting this planning for pedestrians is one of the means to enhance the quality of our living environment. As part of the overall Government efforts in enhancing the pedestrian environment, Planning Department commissioned the Study on Planning for Pedestrians in March 2001.

The government consulted the public from January to April 2002 on the principles, concepts and guidelines for pedestrian planning. Based on these, they have prepared a Pedestrian Plan for Causeway Bay (the Pedestrian Plan). They would like to hear your views on the Pedestrian Plan.

Shoppers' Paradise - Our Vision

Causeway Bay is one of the most popular shopping districts in Hong Kong. It is flocked with crowds of people and heavy traffic day and night. However, congested footpaths, pedestrian/vehicular conflicts, noise and air pollution from traffic, difficulties in crossing the roads, cluttered signage and monotonous streetscape make walking on the street not so enjoyable.

With the completion of the proposed Central - Wan Chai Bypass at the waterfront, through traffic could be diverted from Causeway Bay. Opportunities also exist to provide public transport interchanges at some fringe locations to reduce traffic and the inner core. When traffic is reduced, they can greatly improve the pedestrian environment.

The vision is to turn Causeway Bay into a "Paradise" for shoppers. In achieving their vision, they would strive to improve the environment and safety for pedestrians, reduce air pollution and harness private resources to bring about enhancements.

Implementation Time-Frame

Implementation of some of the core proposals like the tram and bus only corridor at Hennessy Road and the public transport interchange (PTI) under Victoria Park is mainly long term and hinges upon completion of the Central - Wan Chai Bypass to reduce through traffic.

The PTI within the Caroline Hill redevelopment project (i.e. redevelopment of the existing Electrical and Mechanical Services Department workshops and adjoining Government sites) would be implemented in the medium term. Most pedestrianisation schemes could also be medium term projects, subject to the completion of the PTI within the Caroline Hill redevelopment project and confirmation of traffic impact.

The various streetscape improvement and footpath widening proposal could be implemented subject to resources availability. Full-time pedestrianisation of Kai Chiu Road and the underground pedestrian-cum-retail link could be implemented in the short term subject to resolution of relevant technical issues.

Pedestrian Priority Zone

The government propose to adopt the planning concept of Pedestrian Priority Zone (PPZ) for the area bounded by Gloucester Road, Leighton Road and Canal Road East. Within the PPZ the priority of the use of road space is given to pedestrians. To achieve the aim, a number of measures are proposed, essentially to provide a pedestrian-friendly environment.

Accessibility to Traffic

Although pedestrians enjoy priority in the PPZ, the needs of drivers are carefully balanced. Private vehicular traffic will continue to be able to access to most parts of the area. For pedestrian safety, however, the speed would be lowered through traffic claming measures. Designed laybys would be provided and loading/unloading activities would be allowed at specified time periods.

Full-Time Pedestriainsation of Kai Chiu Road

Kai Chiu Road is the main pedestrian corridor from Sogo to Times Square, to key pedestrian attractors in Causeway Bay. At peak times, pedestrian flows reach 13,000 persons/hour. The pavements on both sides of the road are highly congested and pedestrians are forced to walk on the carriageway causing serious pedestrian/vehicular conflicts. In addition, heavy vehicles maneuvering into/out of Hennessy Centre's loading/unloading bay pose serious safety threats to the pedestrian crowd.

For pedestrian safety and comfort, we propose to pedestrianise Kai Chiu Road on a full-time basis. This would require closure of the carpark at Hennessy Centre and relocation of their loading/unloading bay at Jardine's Crescent.

The government intend to negotiate with the owner of Hennessy Centre to allow suitable conversion of the carpark for commercial uses and, in return, to achieve a comprehensive pedestrian improvement scheme at this location covering:

· Closure of the carpark
· Relocation of the existing loading/unloading bay to Lee Garden Road to remove the pedestrian safety hazard
· Building setback at Hennessy road for footpath widening
· Provision of a ground floor passageway connecting Hennessy Road and Kai Chiu Road for better pedestrian circulation

Underground Link Across Hennessy Road

Hennessy Road is a major barrier to north/sought pedestrian movements in the heart of Causeway Bay. The pedestrian crossing at Hennessy Road/Yee Wo Street fronting Sogo is highly congested throughout the day. The government propose to construct an underground pedestrian-cum-retail link, preferably to connect Hennessy Road, Sogo and the MTR station. The link will relieve the congestion and integrate the existing retail facilities on both sides of Hennessy Road. This pilot scheme will test the viability and potential of developing a network of underground shopping facilities in Causeway Bay.

Everyone is cordially invited to provide comments on the concepts and the broad proposals to improve the pedestrian environment of our Causeway Bay. Your views on the suggestion of tapping private resources to implement the Kai Chiu Road and underground link projects are welcome.

Then Mr. Lee continue to talk about the coming traffic plan for Wanchai. The major changes will be the driving direction for Hennessy Road & Lockhart between Percival street and Arsenal street. The government Transportation Department has proposed the following arrangement to improve the traffic condition between Wanchai to Causeway Bay.

1. Lockhart Road driving direction will be from West to East only with 5 traffic links.
2. Hennessy Road driving direction will be from East to West only.
3. Build a built pedestrian bridge From Fleming Road, Dai Yau Commerical Complex all the way to Central Plaza.
4. Design part of Johnston Road to be Pedestrian Priority Zone or full-time Pedestrianisation.

Then Mr. Lee end his presentation by answering a question raised by Kishu requesting to reduce the number of buses and mini buses in the Causeway Bay area.

Pres. Rudy then presents Mr. Kennedy Lee a picture in action and asked Dir., Laurence to formally thanks the speaker. He urges the government to make Causeway Bay & Wanchai into a fantastic shopping & entertainment area like Shinjuku in Japan.

Pres. Rudy add a comment that when government improving the environment in Causeway Bay & Wanchai, they should maintain the existing attraction areas in Wanchai. This is because Hong Kong is not only for shopping, it should be a place for fun as well so that we can attract different kinds of tourist to Hong Kong. Without those attraction, it will create a lot of unemployment. Especially, Pres. Rudy said he like Wanchai a lot! Then he adjourned the meeting with a toast to RI coupled with Rotary clubs of Hong Kong Northeast.

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Rotary Information

Although the Foundation Month falls in November, yet we have to promote the Foundation in advance, such as the theme of "Every Rotarian, Every Year".

An Inter-City meeting cum Foundation Night was held on the 9th August 2004 in honour of the visit of several RI dignitaries, viz., RI Director John J. Eberhard, Past RI Director and Past RI Foundation Trustee Jose Alfredo Pretoni and Past RI Director John G. Thorne at the New World Hotel, Kowloon.

The highlight of the meeting was the recognition of the following major donors of this year, namely:

1. PP Ram Tolani of the R/C of Wanchai donated an accumulated sum of US$25,000.00 to qualify for a 2nd level donor;
2. PP Nelson Lee of the R/C of Kwun Tong donated US$10,000.00;
3. PP Dominic Chu of the R/C of Tsuen Wan who pledged to donate US$10,000.00;
4. PP Solomon Lee of the R/C of Kowloon East who pledged to donate US$10,000.00 and
5. District 3450, DG Alexander Mak of the R/C of Kingspark, Hong Kong who pledged to donate another US$10,000.00.

The "Every Rotarian Every Year" scheme is an easy way to help the Rotary Foundation to carry out its various projects each year. Just donate a small sum of US$100 per year. Simply hand over US$100 to PDG Peter Hall and he will do the rest for you.

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Correction to Members Challenge

With reference to an article appeared in the Tung Feng Bulletin Vol. 52 No.5 dated 18th August 2004 under the heading of "Members Challenge for our Centennial Presidents" which reads as follows:

"The Council of Legislation has recently decided that the minimum membership in a Rotary club should be 20. As a result of this, our clubs with a current membership of less than 20 has a challenge to reach this minimum number within this year, preferably by 23rd February 2005 in time to celebrate Rotary's 100th birthday. In line with the RI goal of a significant increase in Rotary membership this year, the District has also set a goal to have 2,000 members for our district to celebrate Rotary's 100th anniversary on 23rd February 2005."

The question of a minimum number of 20 members per existing Rotary club has caused concern to many small clubs which have less than 20 members, hence the question had been referred to D.G. Alex for clarification.

Accordingly, D.G. Alexander Mak put forward this subject to RI for detailed explanation, and a prompt response has been received as follows :

"There is currently no firmly established minimum number of members for a Rotary club to be considered functioning. However, article 2.010.2 of the Rotary Code of Policies states: "The first month in any Rotary year that a club reports fewer than twenty members, the governor shall contact the club to ascertain the reasons of low membership and what steps are being taken to rebuild its membership .The governor shall report to the RI President the result of his investigation and indicate what assistance he has given to the club in helping it to solve its membership problems."

From the above information received from Rotary International, the question of a minimum requirement of 20 members per existing club is well understood.. Anyway, please don't sit back and relax . Remember our aim is to recruit potential members, the more the better. Membership is the asset of the club.

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Club News

The late Mr. Dennis Yuen, second son of our founder, PDG John Yuen, passed away in hospital, on the 20th August 2004 due to a sudden illness of cancer. Funeral service was held on 27th August 2004 at the Hong Kong Funeral Home. A large gathering including members of HKIE, filled the funeral hall with family members and friends to pay their last respect. His Eminence Bishop Kwong offered the blessing while the St. Paul's Church choir chanted the last journey hymns.

R. I. P.

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Joke

I did all that?

After a particularly poor game of golf, a popular club member skipped the clubhouse and started to go home. As he was walking to the parking lot to get his car, a policeman stopped him and asked, "Did you tee off on the sixteenth hole about twenty minutes ago?"

"Yes," the golfer responded.

"Did you happen to hook your ball so that it went over the tree and off the course?"

" Yes , I did. How did you know?" he asked.

"Well," said the policman very seriously, "Your ball flew out onto the highway and crashed through a driver's windshield. The car went out of control, crashing into five other cars and a fire truck. The fire truck couldn't make it to the fire, and the building burned down. So what are you going to do about it?"

The golfer thought it over carefully and responded...

"I think I 'll close my stance a little bit, tighten my grip and lower my right thumb."

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Photographs of Our Meeting
on

25th August, 2004

Our guest speaker today was Mr. Kennedy Lee Kai Hung of the Wanchai District Council telling us about the development in Causeway Bay Area.

(L to R) PDG Uncle Peter, Mr Kennedy Lee, & Pres. Rudy.	(L to R) Hon Sec John, PP's Andrew & Desmond.

Pres. Rudy starting the meeting.	Hon Tres. Laurence thank the speaker.

Pres. Rudy presenting the photo to the speaker.

(L to R) Rtn Kenny, Rtn Benny Ratnani( HKNE), Dir. Andy, Dr Tony, Hon Tres. Laurence.

Our group Photo of PDG Uncle Peter & Pres. Rudy with guest Benny & our dedicated Rotarians of our club on 25th August, 2004.

 

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