Last week's Proceedings -
24th October, 2007
Last week's Proceedings -
24th October, 2007
The meeting today was held in the Victoria Room, 3/F, Regal Hotel, with President Laurence in the chair. 15 members and 4 visitors were in attendance and the meeting started at 1 pm.
PE Andy introduced HKIE Rotaractor Jackal Lee and his friend Ms Kam Liao, who would share with us their proposing project in community service in Hong Kong in the next meeting.
Our speaker was Ms Juliana Hagembe, who was in our meeting two weeks ago. Juliana was the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, sponsored by the RC of Marquette, Michigan, USA and hosted by RC of Peninsula Sunrise. She studied in the US and had a MSc in Biochemistry and was in HK to study public health.
Also present was Rotary Ambassadorial applicant Clarence Cheung for 2008/9, sponsored by RC HK Harbor.
SAA Dir. Heman reported intake of the Red Box at $1,000. President Laurence announced that on 5th December 2007 we would have Professor Dennis Lam as our speaker, on eye-care in HK and mainland China and this would be an event of joint meeting of 4-5 clubs. We received a banner from Juliana, of her sponsor club of Marquette, Michigan.
Juliana Hagembe came from Nairobi, Kenya, and she introduced her country to us. Kenya was a big and diverse country at the east coast of sub-Sahara Africa and was bisected by the Equator.
It was called the cradle of humanity as the earliest human was said be found in the country. It became a republic from Britain in 1963, and was one of the stable countries in Africa, with great relationships with her neighbors. The name Kenya came from the highest mountain in the country, Mt Kenya (5199 meter), which meant Mountain of Whiteness.
The population stood at 30 Million, with 40 ethnic groups. The largest was Kikuyu of 6.8 M, then Luhya, who were darker in complexion. The famous Masaai, tall, nomadic, long distance runners were mainly in the outback and numbered only 2%; and 2% were non-African. Languages included English for education, business etc and Swahili for everyday usage. The flag had black (people), red (blood) and green (land) with a Masaai shield and spears in the middle.
Geographically, the country was sloping eastward towards the Indian Ocean where white sandy beaches abound. The west was mainly mountains, and the Great Rift Valley ran through the land. It shared Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, with Uganda, Tanzania.
The climate was tropical with 2 wet seasons and a hot season (Jan to March, best time to visit). Apart from the big cities (Nairobi, Mombasa etc) the country had savannah landscape and diverse wildlife. 2/3 of the population lived in the rural areas and worked on farming and fishing.
The education system was that of the British style, and the currency was called Kenya Shilling (=HKD8.6). Famous sports included long distance running, soccer, rugby, cricket etc. Juliana prepared many beautiful pictures for us but was stumped by the
difference between Windows and Mac systems. Because "a picture is worth a thousand words" (Quiz: what is the origin of this saying, in Chinese?) President Laurence promised to let us view the pictures in the e-edition of Tung Feng.
Additional information about our World Leader of RI (2009-10)
As reported in the last Tung Feng Bulletin, John Kenny of the Grangemouth club in District 1020, Scotland has been nominated as RI President for 2009-2010. John will be the 5th Past RIBI President to lead the Rotary world after Sidney Pascal, Tom Warren, Bill Carter and Bill Huntley, John, however, will be the first Scot to lead our organization.
The Scots have played a full part in Rotary's history over the past 102 years. Most Rotarians know that Paul Harris' wife from Edinburgh, Scotland and is buried in the city. Paul and Jean's home (Comely Bank) in the Chicago suburbs is named after the street in Edinburgh where she grew up. Many Rotarians also know the first convention out with North America was held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Edinburgh Convention of 1921 also saw the first draft of the fourth object of Rotary which still plays its part in defining our international service aims and the Rotary Foundation's mission. The simple words that declare the maxim of "World peace and understanding" was penned by Donald MacRae from Nova Scotia. MacRae is the next best thing in Scotsman - a Canadian Scot ! Just ask our own Rotary Foundation Chairman Bob Scott whose strong and unmistakable Scots accent adds a certain punch to his speeches.
Scottish Rotarians worked tirelessly to help establish RIBI. The territorial unit's first headquarters were in Edinburgh where Edinburgh club members Tom Stephenson and Alex Wilkie played a key role in developing the unique institution. John Kenny's home town of Grangemouth lies about 20 miles west of Edinburgh on the River Forth - a large estuary that flows into the cold and icy North Sea. The river historically divided the highlands from the lowlands. As we travel upstream from Grangemouth, the river becomes easily negotiable to cross over on small bridges. This area in Central Scotland was a key strategic battleground in the fighting between Scotland and England in the middle ages. Battles such as Fallkirk, Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn have been told many, many times in countless books and Hollywood movies.
To-day, we live in a different age where there are different battles to be fought. Battles over the final eradication of polio and poverty and ill health and lack of opportunities are there to be fought - by Rotarians everywhere. John Kenny is the one man ideally equipped to lead us in 2009 as we fight against the many injustices and unfairness of the world.
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Electronic
Make-up Questions
Bubba the Mortician
A man who just died is delivered to a Kentucky mortuary wearing an expensive, expertly tailored black suit. Bubba the mortician asks the Deceased's wife how she would like the body dressed. He points out that the man does look very good in the black suit he is already wearing. The widow however, says that she always thought her husband looked his best in blue, and that she wants him in a blue suit. She gives Bubba a blank check and says, 'I don't care what it costs, but please have my husband in a blue suit for the viewing.'
The woman returns the next day for the viewing. To her delight she finds her husband dressed in a gorgeous blue suit with a subtle chalk stripe; "The suit fits him perfectly". She says to Bubba, 'whatever the cost, I'm very satisfied. You did an excellent job and I'm very grateful. How much did you spend?' To her astonishment, Bubba presents her with the blank check. 'Dere's no charge,' he says. 'No, really, I must pay you for the cost of that exquisite blue suit!' she says. 'Honestly, ma'am, Bubba says, 'it didn't cost me a thing'.
You see, a deceased gentleman of about your husband's size was brought in shortly after you left yesterday, and he was wearing an attractive blue suit. I asked his missus if she minded him going to his grave wearing a black suit instead, and she said it made no difference as long as he looked nice.'
'So, I just switched the heads.'
24th October, 2007
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PDG Uncle Peter, Ambassadorial Scholar - Juliana Hagembe from Kenya & Pres. Laurence Chan |
Acting Sec. PE Andy Wong, SAA - Rtn Heman Lam & Hon. Tres. PP Rudy Law |
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L to R: Visiting Guest, Rotaractor Jackle & his friend Kam Liao sitting with our club members |
L to R: Rtn Tony Loy, Ambassadorial Scholar applicant - Mr Clarence Chan, Rtn Jason Chiu & PP David Li
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Our Speak - Ms Juliana Hagembe exchange banner with Pres. Laurence Chan |
Juliana present a introduction about her beautiful country - KENYA
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Rtn. Eric Chin gave a vote of thanks to Juliana Hagembe |
Group picture with guest, speaker & members |
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Kenya Map with Capital Nairobi and Mount Kenya at the middle and Indian Ocean at bottom right. |
National Flag of Kenya |
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Beautiful snap shot of natural scenery in Kenya |
Diverse culture can be found across Kenya; in the picture are the famous Masaai people who only constitute 2% of the population in Kenya |