| This
is the biweekly bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong Club Website: http://www.rotary3450.org/kingspark-hongkong | ||||
 | Kingspark News Rotary
Club of Kingspark |  | ||
| Chief
Editor : Francis Wann Club Webmaster : John Wan | ||||
Editorial
(The Rain in Spain) - By Francis Wann | ||||
| The Rain in Spain As more than 11 million people braved the rain to take to the streets last Friday to denounce the Madrid train bombing which left at least 200 dead, and as people went to the polls for the general election yesterday, many would just wonder - will there ever be peace? The sheer size of the turnout would have made history in itself, but it is sad you often need something of a catastrophe to get to the hearts of people. Two and a half years ago after the September 11 incident in America, they bore witness to history and were united in anger and grief. While realpolitik may be another round of power struggle, the suffering of the victims and their relatives are real. Most people don't understand the ideology or rationale behind the acts of terror, and what they - and most of us - want may simply be the freedom to run their lives, without fear and hindrance. For the past two weeks,scores of intellectuals and wordsmiths gathered in Hong Kong for the MAN Hong Kong International Literary Festival, trying to put the world right. At one of its closing sessions, National Book Award winner Maxine Hong Kingston, and Pulitzer Prize winner Ian Johnson shared their views under the banner of "Politics of the Word". Moderator Michael Vatikiotis, Editor for Far Eastern Economic Review began with the question "Do writers have a responsibility to change the world?" It was a resounding Yes, and in various degrees. Maxine said she'd taken on the responsibility and burden of a writer to create a better world, but hastened to add though she wanted her writings to help shape the world - which might take a whole generation's time to materialise, it didn't mean she was conscious that she would be writing something for eternity. As she said, " Writers must enjoy freedom to write anything they please. Non-utilitarian subjects, Even good-for-nothing..." Ian who just published his new book Wild Grass about grassroots struggles in China, said his books were witnesses to history. When asked about her future directions, Maxine confessed that writing is like a path, "I don't know what my word will take me to, but my task is to explore. I don't know what it is... Maybe after thousands of words..." Shakespeare would have never thought of the prospects that his plays have now become classics. As Rotarians, we should never give up our way to influence the world, albeit in a small and insignifant way. As Michael Vatikiotis quoted from existentialist Albert Camus his acceptance speech for the Nobel prize of literature in 1957: "Whatever our personal weakness may be, the nobility of our craft will always be rooted in two commitments, difficult to maintain: the refusal to lie about what one knows and the resistance to oppression." After all, we have much in common. | ||||
President's
Column An Interim Report Club Service (1) X’mas party was held at Happy Valley restaurant with 140 members and guests. The club sponsored $10,000 for the event. (2) Luncheon meetings : 5 guest speakers have been invited by our club to deliver speeches in our lunch and dinner meetings. Joint club meeting with R.C. of H.K.City North & Admiralty at Chinese club with 40 members from 3 clubs. (3) Kingspark News - 14 issues have been published with contents including report from members, Rotaractors, and 3 interactor club Presidents. (4) Sports activities - Our club has joined the District sport day and our members and their family members won 14 including gold, sliver, and bronzed medals from various games. (5) Happy hours – organized by Club Services Director Ted Ho. (6) 14 members attended the District Conference and 4 members namely – Louis Chan, Sultana Feroz, Joyce Mak, & Raymond Lam received the P.H.F. certificate during the delegate luncheon. Community service The club has (1) Successfully sponsored the new interactor club in S.K.H. St. Benedict School in Choy Hung with 80 members. (2) Sponsored HK$3,000.00 to our sponsoring club Zuunmod in Mongolia for their visiting Hong Kong in 3 days. The total expenditure was $14,000 and the balance of fund was shared by Alex. Mak, Peter Lo, Anwer Islam, and Thomas Chan. (3) Kicked off the Big brother & Big sister (B.B.B.S.) project by Rotaractor with St. Benedict School. (4) Sponsored $ 3,000 to ‘Harmony House’ for their Daisy Campaign project, which was held in Shatin City Hall. (5) Sponsored $ 2,000 to ‘Golbi Litch Race for Hepatitis B’ fund raising project in China. (6) Sponsored $ 3,000 to Walkathon in the Peak for ‘Hepatitis B’ fund raising project in China. (7) Matching Grant project with Zuunmod for ‘Sheep donatio ’ to poor families in Mongolia. (8) Simplified Grant project with ‘Salvatory Army’ namely ‘Parent’s reading corner ’ which was located in Tung Chung. The total project sum is $24,000 for purchasing bookshelves & books. Members are encouraged to donate their used books for the project before the end of March. Vocational service The vocational seminar had been held with S.K.H. Lam Kau Mow Middle School in Shatin City-one. The theme of the seminar was ‘How to equip yourself for better future’ . Mr. Andrew Leung – Chairman of H.K. Industrial Federation, delivered the keynote speech and there were 14 speakers who gave their talks in 14 subjects who came from different clubs, organization, or private sector. There were totally 600 students who have attended the seminar in that afternoon. International service The (3 Clubs Alliance Agreement) suggestion was agreed by our sister club Sathon – Bangkok and Chung Yuen – Taipei, and the signing ceremony will be held in our club’s 10th Anniversary Ball on 1 May 2004. Membership (1) PP Edward Lau re-joined Kingspark in January. (2) The 1st membership orientation was held on the 5 March. (3) Ex-charter member Miss Elsa Law and new friend Mr. Spark Lam were approved by the January broad meeting for reinstatement and new membership, There were inducted at the 11th March lunch meeting. (4) The total membership now stands at 35. Two members – David Cheung and Victor Chong – have left and one member is re-joining. (5) The total attendance (Jan to March) is around 50%. (6) The membership roster will be re-printed by PP Tom Hui and will be completed by the end of March. Recognition The Four Avenues of Service citation was granted by RI President to PP Ted Ho and which was presented by PDG John Wan in our February joint club meeting. | ||||
President-Elect's
Column Anticipating the Celebration Last month at the Anaheim assembly, RI President-elect Glenn Estess Sr. has unveiled the Centennial year theme “Celebrate Rotary”. He explained to 525 incoming district governors from 72 countries gathered at this important training meeting that the new theme was inspired by the desire to celebrate in the centennial year the ideals that Rotary’s founders stood for and that over the years have influenced generations of Rotarians to do good throughout the world. Outlined by RI President-elect Estess, the 2004-05 presidential emphases are “water management”, “health concerns”, “literacy” and “the family of Rotary”. The emphases address major social or development issues facing billions of people on earth. Apart from the presidential emphases, the three major goals for the coming year are “moving forward on PolioPlus”, “significantly increasing membership” and “reaching US$100 or more per Rotarian in giving - Every Rotarian, Every Year - to the Annual programs Fund of the Rotary Foundation”. Approaching the 100th anniversary, its time for us to celebrate Rotary through our Club’s projects and centennial activities. As I believe you all share my view that its our privilege to serve our community and the world as a Rotarian, I encourage you to actively participate in both our Club’s and District’s activities. Your involvement will definitely make a significant contribution to create a more peaceful and better world. Facing the request of RI, our Rotaract Club has also responded proactively because it has already inducted 8 new members this year and its President Eddie has been nominated as the DRR (District Rotaract Representative) for the centennial year. Although the coming year is a very special year when our PP Alex will be the District Governor and our Rotaract President Eddie will be the DRR, this year is also a milestone of our Club since we are going to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Being the Ball chairman of our Annual Ball to be held at Sheraton Hotel on the first of May, I would like to make an appeal for your support by either sponsoring gift items for our lucky draw or placing advertisement in our 10th anniversary special. Thanks to your generous support because it will unquestionably make our Annual Ball a successful one. | ||||
Rotaract
Update [Eddie Yau is President of Rotaract Club of Kingspark Hong Kong - Ed] The 2003-04 Rotary Year still has 3 more months to go, before Rotary steps into the next centenary. For our club, 2004-05 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Club when the president sash will pass to our 10th President. Let us take stock of what our Rotaract Club has done in the past few months. At the end of December 2003, we held an X'mas party with our long-term service partner, Spina Bifida Concern Group. We invited members of the Rotaract Club of Victoria to join us so that they would know more about this disease. On the same day, we organized the young envoy scheme day camp training. The different games were led by our Community Service Director, Vinky while the community service training, by a professional trainer. The young envoys organized 2 activities in February 2004 as their contribution to the community. In 2004, we arranged a joint club service function with the Rotaract Club of Peninsula and the Rotaract Club of Kowloon Golden Mile. During this function, we were honored by the presence of DRR Ruby and our CP and PDDR Jimmie. In addition, we have 2 Australian Rotaractors, Natalie and Kelly, both being the community service directors from Rotaract club of Sydney City. We shared a lot during the night and we taught our foreign friends Mahjong 101. I’m sure that they will practice well and have a joint IS project on this. The Chinese New Year fell in January this year, and we arranged a spring dinner during our January General Meeting. With the help of Rotarian Michael Au, we had a very nice place for the gathering. Of course, there were very much welcomed laisees from our married Rotarians, President Peter, President-elect Thomas and Rotarian Joseph. As mentioned earlier, our young envoys conducted 2 different community service projects after the training. One group of young envoy organizied a carnival so that the children and family could get closer. Though it was a small scale project, there was much creativity in the project. Meanwhile, the other group organized an English day for the new immigrants, with very positive results. To round up the whole event, a closing ceremony was held on 29 February. We are delighted to have PDG and CP John Wan as our Guest of Honor and President Peter to present certificates to the young Envoys. But this is not the end of this program, I believe the young envoys will make good use of this experience to serve the community in future. Our Professional Development Director Andy invited a Korean lady to share her experience in Hong Kong and to teach the making of the traditional Kim Chi at our February General meeting. During the meeting, 4 new members were inducted by PE Thomas. Last but not least, the Rotaract District celebrates the World Rotaract Week by promoting Organ Donation. Later, the District will organize a training session for the incoming presidents and vice president on 28 March (Sunday). We would welcome all of you to join this event. See you there. | ||||
Interact
Update [Eddie Ng is President of Interact Club at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong - Ed] Walkathon 2004 Date:
Sunday, 29.2.2004 Expected
number of participants: More than 500, including students from Wah Yan College,
Hong Kong, Pun U Association Wah Yan Primary School, past Wahyanites, parents,
Rotarians The Annual Walkathon is one of our school’s most prestigious functions on our year calendar. Walkathon 2004 was finally held on 29th February this year. Due to the SARS outbreak last year, this traditional annual function was cancelled last year. We are happy that we were able to hold this function again to raise money for charity. This year, we tried to put more emphasis on promotion, and we are very pleased with the results. We have raised more than $300,000, which amount of donation was third-highest ever. In the past few years, Walkathon was a joint function between Wah Yan College and Wah Yan Primary School. Each year, the total amount of donation reaches a six-digit sum. Proceeds of the event will always go to the charity. We believe that the Walkathon provides a connection between Wah Yan College and Wah Yan Primary School, and we would like to keep this tradition. On the day, all Interact Club committee members were asked to arrive at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, the starting point, two hours before the commencement of the walk. With the help of the Red Cross and the Scouts, we were able to run the programme smoothly, except for some unpredictable incidents. Back to the rundown, at around 9:15 am, we started our Opening Ceremony with opening speeches by Mr. S. P. Tam, our Principal; Mr. T. P. Lam, Principal of Pun U Association Wah Yan Primary School and Mr. Peter Lo, President of the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong. There were six checkpoints at which participants could take a rest and obtain information. There was one checkpoint for water and two for games. The Closing Ceremony was held at 11:30am to mark a full-stop to WALKATHON 2004. | ||||
Youth
Exchange Update [Eric Armstrong is the youth exchange student sponsored by RC of Kingspark - Ed] My name is Eric Armstrong and I have recently completed one leg of a youth exchange between Hong Kong and Canberra. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kingspark in Hong Kong, I was placed in an all boys’ school situated on Hong Kong Island for 5 weeks. The program itself, being the first of its kind initiated between Kingspark Rotary and the Sunshine club in Canberra, has given me a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a lifestyle and culture unique to Hong Kong; an experience from which arose a broadening of cultural horizons and also an understanding and new found respect for a totally different lifestyle and work ethic. Being placed in a school so different to mine gave me a practical tutorial in the importance of adaptability to totally different environments, and what nerves I previously had soon left me after I was met with such hospitality from students and teachers alike. Fitting in and making as many friends as I did was so different from any experience I had ever had in Australia, yet this venture outside the comfort of my normal life was a fruitful one as I have made lifelong friends in Wah Yan, and this has consequently showed me how many positives can arise from simply doing your best to adapt, integrate into and enjoy living and learning in a such a different environment. Outside the school environment the program exposed me to the busy lifestyle of Hong Kong through a placement with a Cantonese host family. I think that this was very important as I got to further experience first hand the Hong Kong work ethic, but in terms of being a participant in an exchange this placement was great as my host family was so hospitable and kind while letting me live the life of a student in Hong Kong. The experiences I had and the things I learned while living in Hong Kong are too many to list in a report such as this, so I am just hoping to express how successful this exchange was and how much I got out of it, as well how grateful I am to the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong for working so hard to get me there. I feel I can now say how Youth Exchanges contribute so much to the individuals who participate in them, as well as the communities they affect, not to mention the importance of such exchanges’ contributions to relations between countries, clubs and people on both sides of the exchange. Thank you Kingspark Rotary, and especially to those who worked so hard to make this exchange so wonderful, I am really looking forward to hearing of the future successes of this exchange and many more like it. | ||||
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Children and Youths
In Rotary, youth projects take many shapes and forms, and I am glad that our Rotary Club has maintained all these years the tenets and flavours of youth service in our programmes. From Day One, we have been working with young people, initially because most of our members were young, but later, because we believe in and subscribe to the essence embodied in "Every Rotarian an Example to Youth" adopted by the Rotary International Board of Directors in 1949 as an expression of commitment to children and youth. There is so much work to be done. Almost everywhere in the world, and not just limited to war torn areas, there are children underfed, children going to bed hungry, children out of school, walking in the streets purposelessly, in rags and without shoes. Some of them may never have the use of clean water and a bar of soap. But they are our tomorrow, our future. I have heard many young adults saying that they would prefer not to have a family if they can help it. I can understand their sentiments, but I cannot agree with that, and I feel sad every time I hear that said. Are they too afraid of themselves? Are they unwilling to take up responsibilities of the human race? Are they seeing and copying examples of the adults? Or are they simply afraid of everything? Christians are now in the Lenten season and Pope John Paul II has a message for Lent 2004. His Holiness has selected from Matthew 18:5 this year's theme, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me." Pope John Paul has urged Christians all over the world to reflect on the condition of children, reminding them that Jesus had always a particular love for children because of "their simplicity, their joy of life, their spontaneity, and their faith filled with wonder." In the years of His public life, Jesus often insisted that only those who become like children will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In his teaching, young children were images of the disciples whom He had called, "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." Let us think of the children and more importantly the childlike simplicity in our prayers during Lent and seek to continue to be an example to youth so that they would grow up to copy us and our example. | ||||
Views in any article in Kingspark News reflect those of the authors. They are not necessarily the views of the Rotary Club of Kingspark or of District 3450. You are welcome to write to Chief Editor Francis Wann or Club Webmaster John Wan on any topic, particularly in response to articles published in Kingspark News. We would publish all contributions as long as the authors identify themselves, the contents are not offensive or abusive, and would not offend common decency or common sense. You need not be a Rotarian to write to us and you have a choice to withhold your name in the published version. Where the contents make reference to statements or policies of individuals or organizations, we would try to obtain a response fro the latter for publication in the same issue if possible. | ||||
Chief
Editor : Francis Wann The Board of Directors President
: Peter Lo | ||||
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