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Pres. Rudy started the meeting by greeting visiting Rtn. Kurt-Volker Boos from Heidelburg, Germany. He was invited to come to the rostrum to tell us about his city. After his short speech he was presented with our club banner as a souvenir of his visit. He also welcome to this meeting our area 3 AG Ada Cheng (Wanchai)

He then announced that Rtn Kishu Narain now qualify as a Senior Active member having reach the magic number of 85. He congratulated Rtn Kishu.

Pres. Rudy then invited AG Ada to give us her message. She informed us about the Rotary Foundation meeting coming up the Saturday the 13th of November. This meeting will be held in RIC and she encourage everyone to participate and learn about what's new in Rotary Foundation.

Pres. Rudy then asks Acting Sergeant-at-arms Jason to report on the collection, which turned out to be $700.

Pres Rudy then asked Program Chairman Jason to introduce our speaker for today. (Yes, we have multi-tasking members in our club also).

Jason introduced Mr. Andrew Young who is currently the Head of Partnership Development Office of the Institute for Enterprise at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and has a B.Eng. and MBA degree. He has over 20 years of experience working in industries including defense, construction, electronics, plastics, and automotive and service industries both in Hong Kong and overseas. Earlier in his career he worked as project engineer and managed the construction of several major projects for defense industry in Australia. He subsequently worked as a management consultant for over 10 years where he was involved with manufacturing and service sector companies covering automotive, furniture, building material, plastics, and electronics sectors. During this period, he has worked with many companies on strategic planning, development of marketing plan, process improvement and product development.

In his current role as the Head of the Partnership Development Office, he is actively working with the industry on collaborative projects including applied R&D, innovative product development and management and executive development. He has successfully managed the listing of the first PolyU joint venture company Eco-Tek Holdings Ltd (8169) on the GEM board. Subsequently he has formed close to 20 spin-off and joint venture companies between the PolyU and partners.

The subject of his talk this afternoon is "PolyU's Enterprising Activities and Accomplishments". Please welcome Mr. Andrew Young.

Mr. Young said that our University have done many, many good projects but one of the shortcomings of the University is they don't publicize this news to the outside world as much as they should. He then took us through the many good projects that the University have done. Among these were:

He said that the University already has over 62-patented inventions with a total income of over $60 Million last year. The whole object of this venture is not how much money can be made but how to get it into industry. Therefore they have started a number of joint ventures one of which is Eco-Tec. This kind of joint venture company will further the aims of the University.

Mr. Young took some questions from the floor.

Jason then announced that next week's speaker would be Dr Lawrence Cheung of RFID Consultancy Services. And the topic is entitled "Introduction of Radio Frequency Identification"

Pres. Rudy then closed the meeting with a Toast to RI coupled with the Rotary club of Heidelberg Schloss.

District 3450 is contemplating to establish an eClub this Rotary year. It is the right time to reproduce from the RI Website the back ground of an eClub as hereunder for general information.

Among the legislation proposed at the 2004 Council on Legislation in June was item No. 04-18, "to allow attendance credit for a 30-minute interactive club Web site activity."

The passing of this item significantly expand the definition of make-up meetings, and by extension, Rotary activity. Now, if a member misses a meeting, in order to receive credit, he or she can go online. This offers an alternative to making up a meeting at another club.

The Council's recognition both attests to the number of Rotary club Web sites - estimated at 4,000 and growing - and highlights a recent trend in the Rotary world: Web-based clubs that are not merely Web sites of physical clubs but legitimate clubs that exist exclusively on the Internet.

The first e-club, Rotary eClub of District 5450 (Rotary eClub One) was initiated in June 2001 as part of the New Models for Rotary Clubs project and currently has 13 members. The Rotary e-Club of District 7150 NY1 And the Rotary eClub of District 7890 followed under the three-year Rotary eClub Pilot Project (formerly known as Cyber Rotary Clubs Pilot Project).

Twenty-six clubs are now participating in the eClub project, which was adopted by the 2001 Council on Legislation to help extend Rotary to those who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to meet traditional attendance requirements.

The majority of our members are folks who believe very strongly in Rotary and all that it stands for but find that business demands prevent them from meeting traditional club-meeting percentages," says Marlene Brown of Rotary eClub of District 7150 NY1, which has seven members.

Chris Joscelyne, president of eClub One, adds: "Our members have given a total of 150 years of service to Rotary, and eClub One provide the opportunity for them to continue to serve. Without eClub One, these folks would be lost to Rotary.

Joscelyn views the passing of the attendance-credit item in June 2004 as a victory for an idea that the club has championed for some time.

"It's an endorsement of the information-rich attendance experience we offer Rotarians who visit our club on-line for 30 minutes or more," he says. "We hope that the Council on Legislation enactment will encourage Rotary clubs everywhere to embrace the concept of an online make-up as a valid attendance credit."

To earn an attendance credit, Rotarians usually log to the Web site, read online material on a range of subjects, post comments, and submit a form to the club secretary. "The overwhelming comment from visitors is that our on-line programs educate, inform and inspire. That's a great outcome for an investment of a 30-minute visit to our Web site," Joscelyne says.

Joscelyne says in a typical week, eClub One welcome come 2375 visitors, 715 of whom participate in a meeting program and apply for a make-up credit.

But full-time members of Rotary eClub like to emphasize that their clubs offer more than just a quick make-up. "A make-up visit to Rotary eClub One is not a 'quick fix' but a real opportunity to become a better informed Rotarian," Joscelyne says.

As fully functional and legitimate Rotary clubs, eClubs pay dues, participate in community projects, and function much like any other traditional club, except that a Web site serves as the only meeting place.

This virtual gathering has some Rotarians criticizing online clubs as lacking fellowship, while others fear the replacement of weekly Rotary meetings altogether with online activity.

John Minter, the founding president of Rotary eClub, answered critics of the cyber clubs recently on his club's Web site: "We do not advocate the online make-up venue to replace anything but rather to expand and enhance the wonderful world of Rotary."

The eClubs are also attracting new kinds of full-time members, who enjoy opportunities for service they would have otherwise missed.

The Rotary eClub of District 7890 currently has 10 members and is made up of Group Study Exchange alumni who were inspired to join Rotary following their experience.

"I had an incredible experience and was excited to continue my involvement in Rotary when I got home," says Ruth Ursone, a member of the D-7890 club. "That I can communicate with my fellow Rotarians through the Internet, at times convenient with my work and school schedules in a perfect fit."

The club's membership is a diverse group of young Rotarians, all new to Rotary, says Emma Lee Smith, president of the D-7890 club. "Our members come from a wide variety of professions - teachers, journalists, graduate students, entrepreneurs."

Full-time eClub Rotarians counter concerns of lost fellowship online, saying that the unique nature of eClubs actually encourages greater interaction among members. "We have daily contact with each other online, and in many ways we interact to a greater degree than a traditional Rotarian who only meets with his or her club once a week," says Smith. The club meets socially at once a month and club members participate on a regular basis in community service activities, individually and with other Rotary clubs.

EClub members are so excited about the new way to experience Rotary that they are going beyond minimum requirements for membership.

"Several of our members exceed the minimum 12 hours personal service per calendar quarter by many hours each quarter, a tangible demonstration of commitment to our ideal of service," says Joscelyne of eClub One, currently involved in projects ranging from youth skills training in East Timor to foster parent support and Vocational Service teams. The club also is participating in the Ranfurly Library Book Aid project for the Pacific Islands.

The future of eClubs seems bright, especially to members who are hooked on the concept. "I'm sure the numbers of eClubs will grow throughout the world, but I don't see them replacing the regular in person meetings. I see eClubs as more of an option to keep extremely busy professionals involved in Rotary, "says Brown of Rotary eClub of district 7150 NY1. "As more and more folks become aware of the eClub option, the membership of, and involvement in, Rotary will increase dramatically."

Paul Harris could have never imagined eClubs when he founded the first club nearly 100 years ago. Whatever the future holds, no one can doubt that eClubs are providing a whole new way to experience Rotary and bring new members into the Rotary World.

As the recent earthquake rocked Niigata, Japan, a huge damage was done to the whole prefecture. President Rudy emailed our sister club, the Rotary Club of Niigata, and conveyed our deep concerns about the safety of their members with our best regards.

In a prompt email reply on the 27th October 2004, it is reproduced hereunder the original message which reads as follows:

All of the members of Niigata RC are safely but there are many people who suffered the earthquake damage. As Rotary members, we would like to make efforts to help the citizens.

Please give the best regards for PDG Peter Hall, IPP Henry Chan, PP John Kwok, President-Elect Robert Lai and International Service Director Eddy Wong.

As published in the Government Gazette, we are given to note that our PP David K. F. Li has been awarded a "MEDAL OF HONOUR" by the Hong Kong Government in recognizing his contribution towards the development of the profession of Accountancy in Hong Kong.

We all are proud of you David and every member of HKIE sends you our hearty congratulations on your achievement.


(L to R) PDG Uncle Peter, guest speaker Mr. Andrew Young, & Pres. Rudy at the left head table.	(L to R) Hon Sec. John, AG Ada Cheng, & Prof. Dr. Kurt-Volker Boos (Heidleburg Schloss).


AG Ada Cheng encouraging us to attend the Rotary Foundation Seminar coming up on the 13th of November.	Prof. Dr. Kurt-Volker Boos telling about his city, Heidelburg, Germany.