President Henry kicked off the meeting by extending a special welcome to AG Meggy Tseung. PP CY formally introduced our visiting Rotarians: Senior Active Hudson Chong from the Rotary Club of Vancouver Chinatown, PP Mahmood Rumjahn from Admiralty, PP Henry Fetigan from Vancouver Chinatown and AG Meggy Tseung from Peninsula Sunrise.
President Henry came up to the rostrum to extend his welcome to PP Hubert who had just returned from his trip to the Gold Coast in Australia and to Shanghai. Hairy crabs, anyone?
Next came announcement time. President Henry, Rotarian Heron and Rotarian Paul had met with Professor Ko, Chairman of the school council of the Victoria Park School for the Deaf, to discuss the proposal for enhancing the current land use of VPSD in order to conduct other educational related activities. The aim of the proposal was to preserve the school building, which HKIE donated, and to provide employment opportunities to the current VPSD staff. Professor Ko was receptive to the proposal and further meetings with the school council were planned.
PP Mahmood came up to the rostrum to make an announcement. For a minimum of HK$200, members can donate ten medical kits (HK$20 each) to the Hepatitis B prevention project. For each donation, members will receive a certificate which can be re-assigned to whomever members would like to designate. At the conclusion of the project, each donating member will also receive a special certificate highlighting the number of lives the member has touched as a result of his generosity.
Rotarian Tony and PP John Luk introduced our distinguished speaker Mr. Pauli Makela, Consul General of Finland , by humming the tune of Finlandia by Sibelius. Mr. Makela then gave us an informative overview of Finland…
Finland declared her independent from Russia on December 6, 1917. Finland is a multi-language nation with both Finnish and Swedish being the country's official languages. There are 5.2 million people living in Finland. Finland is a homogenous country where only a very segment of the population (~2%) is of foreign origin.
A member of the Nordic zone since early 50's and a member of the European Union since 1995, Finland is an advanced knowledge-based society that is currently ranked among the world's most competitive countries. Finland leads the world in telecommunications technology. Nokia, one of Finland's leading companies, dominates global hand phone market. Finland is also rich in natural resources. Trees and water are the most obvious features of Finland's natural landscapes. Forests cover 75% of the land, and lakes and rivers account for almost another 10%.
Major export sectors of Finland include electronics, metal and engineering, and forest industry. With an excellent education system that provides free university level education to her citizens, Finland enjoys a robust economy with a growth rate of 4% in 2003.In Hong Kong, there are over 600 companies that are doing business with Finland. There are also over 300 finns living in Hong Kong.
At the conclusion of the presentation, PP Hubert came up and officially thanked Mr. Makela for giving us such an informative talk. Hubert also related some of his stories when he visited Finland several years ago.
Sergeant-at-arms Rotarian Andy reported that a total of $1,100 had been collected for the red box.
President Henry adjourned the meeting with a toast to the Rotary Club of Vancouver Chinatown.
RI District 3450 District Conference A District Conference is a yearly Rotary event of the district. Every one of Rotary's 529 districts worldwide has a conference annually. These meetings are considered so important that our RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe selects a knowledgeable Rotarian as his personal representative to attend and address the conference.
The Annual Conference of district 3450 will be held on 15th and 16th November 2003 at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre, Hong Kong. The conference's main attractions are as follows:
1. Our bosom friend PDG Jackson Hsieh of District 3520 will represent
the RI President at the District Conference;
2. Professor Ng Ching Fai, President and Vice Chancellor of Hong
Kong Baptist University will be the Guest of Honour;3. The D.G. Banquet to be held in a style of Hepatitis B Project
Fund Raising Ball and4. Display of Hepatitis B Immunization Project in the House of
Friendship.In order to accommodate more members to be able to participate at the district conference, District Governor Jones Wong has modified the programme to suit everybody.
The opening ceremony starts from 2.00 p.m. on the 15th November 2003 which is just after office hours providing an opportunity for everyone to attend. While on the next day which is a Sunday and should pose no problem at all. The curtain of the district conference will be lowered at 5.15 p.m. on the 16th November 2003 with Auld Lang Syne.
In case you find yourself able to join the District Conference at the last minute, it is acceptable to register on site.
The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
November is The Rotary Foundation month and most of us are familiar with new or multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors, Major donors and also sustaining members. Up to the present time this Rotary year, we have already six (6) paid up new or multiple Paul Harris Fellows in our club.
Just to refresh your memory, the Rotary Foundation was started in 1917 by the then RI President Arch Klumph who told the delegates to the Atlanta Convention that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world. The mere figure of US$26.50 was received from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, which was the balance of the Kansas City Convention account.
The sum started to snowball in 1947, upon the death of our founder Paul Harris as memorial gifts poured in to honour the founder of Rotary. The fund of The Rotary Foundation was managed by fund managers with good earnings from investments. In recent years, the economy was in a downward trend worldwide and earnings were rather unsatisfactory.
In order to improve the funding of The Rotary Foundation, the trustees of The Rotary Foundation have adopted six goals for the 2003-04 Rotary years. Rotarians are encouraged to support the Foundation in the following ways:
1. Fulfill our promise to eradicate polio;
2. Lend a Hand to support 2003-04 RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe;
3. Educate Rotarians about The Rotary Foundation;
4. Encourage Rotarians to expand their help to children;
5. Increase effective use of foundation alumni and
6. Every Rotarian ,Every year: increase contributions to the Annual Programmes Fund.
Joke & Cartoon A lady goes into the local sporting goods store to buy a fishing rod to give to her husband for his birthday. A salesman wearing dark glasses with a dog is behind the counter and asks, "Can I help you ma’am?" "Well, I'd like to buy a fishing rod, can you tell me about this one", she answers. The salesman replies, "I'm sorry ma'am but I am blind and can not see the rod you're referring too. However, if you'll drop it on the counter I'll tell you all about it as I can tell from the sound it makes." The lady picks up the rod, and does what he says and drops it on the counter. He belts, "That's a Zebco 2500, fiberglass, 6.5', medium action - $15." The lady says, "Wow!" She finds another and does the same. "That's an Orion 35C, graphite, 6', light action - best used with ultralight tackle - $20." Very impressed, the lady decides to buy the second one. As the man is ringing up the sale, the lady makes a rather large noise as she passes gas but feels no need to apologize as the salesman is blind and has no
idea who she is. Salesman says, "That'll be $25." "TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS! YOU SAID $20"
"That's right ma’am, $20 for the rod, $3 for the duck call, and $2 for the fish bait".
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(both from Vancouver Chinatown) |
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