| 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
(For Whom The Bell Tolls) - By Francis Wann | ||||
| For Whom The Bell Tolls These were occasions for nostalgia. As the wheels of Rotary International grinds towards another century of service and commitment, and Kingspark moves into our next decade, there must be enough for us to ponder. At the 44th Annual District Assembly on May 8th, we witnessed the changing of the guards for Rotary. As DGE Alex Mak introduced RI President Elect Glenn E Estess, Sr, his Assistant Governors, Secretaries, and an exhaustive list of Rotary projects, one just wonder how we've come such a long way. Indeed we have come a long way, as the President Elect mentioned in his message, "One hundred year of Rotary fellowship and service is great cause for celebration, and during our centennial year of 2004-05, I will ask all Rotarians to join with me to Celebrate Rotary..." And as the Rotary Centennial Bell moves from club to club, district to district, and country to country, the writing is on the wall, and message loud and clear - Celebrate! We have enough causes for our celebration: we're poised to eradicate polio from the face of the earth next year, we're here to spread the message of what we believe - and what we've achieved, and we're here to reaffirm the humble belief of Paul Harris whose work a century ago has been the inspiration to millions of people worldwide, and will continue to be so. It was also the first time we formally involved the Rotaractors as our service partners at our District Assembly. It's of particular significance to Kingspark as we have long been devoted to youth services, and more so this year as our Rotaract president has become the District Rotaract Representative Elect. At Kingspark, we owe ourselves to the Rotaractors for their initiatives and effort to explore every service opportunity before them. As DG Jones gave a rundown on the various Rotary International and District themes over the decade at our Annual Ball on May 1, and as members rose for the occasion, the sentiment was overwhelming. I was most intrigued by the photos on the cover of the anniversary program, particularly the one which featured CP John against the backdrop of the district motto "Believe in What You Do; Do What you Believe in" - the year when Moses was District Governor. While the Rotary bell is following its designated itinerary, let's hope it will remind us of our challenges ahead, and become the most effective binding force for all Rotarians. | ||||
President's
Column A Busy Month Somebody asked why I haven't written anything about our tenth anniversary. My answer is that I'm sure some of our members will express their thoughts and I don't want to repeat. My prediction was right, and I really appreciate there were totally nine members contributing to our Special Anniversary Edition. Thank you all, especially our first special advisor PDG Raymond Wong. The day before our ball, our two sister clubs from Bangkok and Taipei arrived with a total delegation of thirty. I would extend my gratitude to members who made an effort to attend the various receptions. I wouldn't say our annual ball was perfect, but with all the constraints, we at least managed to put on a good show. I would also like to thank all our organising committee members and Rotaractors for their untiring efforts. My special thanks also go to IPP Anwer who surprised me with a PHF in recognising me and my family. I was particularly moved by the generous attendance of other club presidents, all twenty four of them. President Chan Takling of City Northwest HongKong was taken to hospital while the event was in progress. I would also wish to thank President Jason of the Peak, and President Joseph of HongKong Island for taking care of him. I was much relieved when I received his call from his office the next Monday. On May 5 our Area 4 held the Centennial Bell joint meeting with about 100 members present. Our guest speaker for the occasion was Mr Ronnie KY Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Properties and Convenor of the Hong Kong Development Forum. With the topic "Who can help the middle class in Hong Kong", Mr Chan's message managed to hit the nail on its head, and it was presented with much information and charisma. We did encounter problems during our preparation, nevertheless we overcame them in the end. Despite the poor weather, our club had ten members attending the District Assembly on May 8. As Chairman Kenneth announced there were 555 participants, it was received with a round of applause and it also marked a good start of another Rotary year. Congratulations DG Alex Mak. I was the reporter in the vocational group with PP Gary Cheung as moderator,and PDG Arthur as resource person. Vocational service is an important development in the Rotary movement, and in this respect, our club's achievement over the past years has been well recognised. | ||||
|
By James Huang [James Huang was one of the emcees for our 10th anniversary ball.]
I spoke to many people that evening and in the subsequent week and a half regarding my performance. I got feedback such as “good work”, “excellent”, “you’re a professional”, and so forth. Believe me when I tell everyone that being the MC of a major event like the Annual Ball is not an easy thing. The butterflies going in my stomach from about 5 o’clock in the afternoon until the event was over was due to my wanting to put the best face on for our Rotary Club to our guests from near and far. But to be honest, public speaking does not bother me in the least because I was properly trained. While in university in the United States, I had to take a public speaking course whereby we had to present lectures, presentations and oral recitals not just in front of my fellow classmates, but also at major organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the American State Department. Our professor assigned each of us a topic for the semester that we were responsible to research and to defend. These topics could be controversial or very benign. My topic was on the continued funding of infrastructure development to third world nations. This was a very hot topic in Washington, D.C. because most people feel that we should not spend tax payer’s money to bail out poor and corrupt countries. I needed to defend the moral and logical reason for helping less advantaged people catch up with more developed nations. It was not an easy task, but I think I held my own because I passed the class with a straight A. I think that public speaking is a very important subject for people to master. By communicating ones thought clearly and thoughtfully, you allow the audience to be attentive and to grasp your point. Public speaking is an art that all people, whether they are in business, education, charitable work or public service, should learn to perfect. Communicating ones idea goes a long way in making everyone feel comfortable with you. I look forward to my next MC duties for our Rotary club. I will strive to prepare more the next time and to try and attend more OC meetings. But, even with the best laid plans, things change on the fly. This is when my lesson in public speaking comes in handy. Until next time . . . | ||||
The Centennial Bell and The Middle Class By PP Edward Lau On 5th May, just one day after the arrival of the Centennial Bell to Hong Kong, all seven clubs of Area 4 gathered together for a Joint Meeting to celebrate the arrival of the Centennial Bell in Hong Kong. Over one hundred Rotarians, district officials and dignitaries, including DG Jones and many PDGs, and friends congregated at Regal Hong Kong Hotel for an evening of celebration, fellowship and fun. The organizing committee was chaired by Kingspark and, as far as I can tell, President Peter did an excellent job. Thank you, President Peter. Kingspark Hong Kong was well represented with 14 members including CP John, PP Edward, PP Alex, PP Ted, PP Raymond, IPP Anwer, President Peter, PE Thomas, VP Dominic, Feroz, Joyce, Patrick, Raymond, and Sunny. We were told that, as part of Rotary Centennial celebration, 5 Centennial Bells have been created specially for this occasion. Since July 2003 and for thr following two years till June 2005, the Bells have been and will travel to different parts of the world, returning to Chicago in time for the RI Convention on 18-22 June 2005. The Asia Pacific Centennial Bell arrived in Melbourne on 1 July 2003 and has been making its way around Asia, stopping at the RC of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 22nd April, before arriving in Hong Kong on 4th May. It will continue to Macau on 14th May and Mongolia on 27th May. Besides our Area 4, all the other areas in the District will also be organizing Joint Meetings to celebrate this event. We were also told by DGE Alex that the District have decided to concentrate all the celebration events for the Centennial Celebration around the week of 23rd February 2005 in order to maximize impact. DGE Alex mentioned a few events but kept the rest up his sleeves, to be announced at a later date. At the District Assembly? Of the ones he did mention, the two most high profile projects are the time capsule and the Jockey Club Rotary Centennial Cup. Instead of just boring us with the usual speeches and the many photo sessions by the seven clubs, the organizing committee gave us a beer drinking contest (Kingspark was a close third) and a round of bingo. Coupled with the bottles of wine donated by AG Meggy (thank you AG Meggy!), we all had a rather good time. However, I believe most members would agree that the highlight of the evening must be the speech by Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Group, Hong Kong Development Forum, and many other organizations. His speech is entitled "Who take cares of the middle class?" Mr. Chan defines the middle class by means of a number of characteristics: educated, hard working, successful (achieved through his/her hard work), strive for equal opportunity, have some wealth, pays tax, low profile in politics, objects to "hand outs", and so on. They prefer to operate under a steady and strong economy, and a low tax regime. As defined, the middle class is a minority in Hong Kong, rather like the middle layer of a pyramid. To illustrate, only 17% of the population pay salary tax and 7% pay over 92% of all taxes. In developed countries, the middle class is the majority and can be compared to the middle and bulging part of an American football. Mr. Chan argues that no political party in Hong Kong looks after and takes care of the interest of the middle class. Rather, the political parties go after the lower or grass root class as their target audience as they represent the majority of the population. Some 51% of the population lives in government subsidized housing and Mr. Chan also claims that the grass root class is less educated, with some 50% having education standards below Form 3. Mr. Chan then answers the question of "Who takes care of the middle class?" and suggested that it was none other than the Hong Kong Government, which has pursued a steady economic policy, one that is favourable to the middle class, since 1997. Mr. Chan argues that our economic slowdown was caused mainly by external factors and Hong Kong's performance was no worse than Singapore or Taiwan. He also argues that Mr. Tung's economic policy is sound but the problem lies mainly in the execution of it. Indeed, he felt it is better to have sound policies poorly executed than superb execution of bad policies. Mr. Chan gave us a very powerful presentation but, as some members noted afterwards, even though he is not an objective speaker, he does give us some food for thought. | ||||
By Elsa Law [Elsa will run a regular column from next edition – Ed] The Rotary Club of Kingspark, to my mind, stands for love, care and team spirit – in effect, one big family that anyone would be proud to be a part of it. This takes me down memory lane. During my early years with the Club, there were a number of projects held by the Club. Two stand out in my mind. The first was a Children-Parents Communication Workshop organized by the Club held at the Sheraton Hotel. We joined hands with the Social Welfare Department. It was a delight to see the parents sharing, after the Workshop, of how the Workshop had helped them with communicating with their children. The second was a party hosted by the Club for children who suffered from Spinal Bifida. It was most satisfying to see the loving parents playing with their suffering children with joy and happiness. Personally, the Club has given me endless support and encouragement. I recall receiving a huge bouquet of flowers from the Club when I first started my then job with the KCRC. The flowers were most certainly lovely but it was the support and friendship that count most. Whilst I was absent from the Club, our ever informative CP John had diligently and faithfully sent regular bulletins to keep me posted of the latest development of the Club. Apart from that, other members such as Ted and Tom stayed in touch. Particularly worth mentioning was DGE Alex, to whom I owe my deep gratitude. I recall in 1998, shortly after my return to Hong Kong and looking for a job, Alex had very kindly faxed me an SMPC advertisement for an in-house counsel job with Ryoden (Holdings) Limited. It was through this advertisement that I had the honour to work with Ryoden. At the end of my memory lane stands our President Peter. I met Peter on the MTR last summer; he was my re-connection with the Club. My re-joining the Club became clear when so many old friends greeted me at the Christmas Party last year. Here I am, folks. I am back. As I will be dealing with club services in the coming year, I will have you know that I am committed to create fun and happiness in all of our activities and I would most sincerely invite you to join me to create fun and excitement. | ||||
Leadership [William Tong is President of the Interact Club at Wah Yan College, Kowloon - Ed] What is leadership? Different people would give different answers to this question. Somebody has said that leadership is the ability to challenge the process, build personal credibility, communicate clearly and effectively, develop strategic direction, manage conflict, enable others to perform through empowerment and recognize and rewards performance accomplishments. Undoubtedly, these are all essential elements for a leader. To Mr Albert Lam Kwong Yu, the retired Director-General of Civil Aviation, the most important element for a leader is to accept responsibility. On 3 May 2004, it was our honour to have Mr Lam, who is also an alumni of Wah Yan College, Kowloon, to give a seminar on "Leadership and Management" to all our schoolmates in the school assembly. This was one of the planned activities of the Interact Club of Wah Yan College, Kowloon to promote leadership training. We expected Mr Lam, as a successful leader in our society, to be a very serious person. To our surprise, he was full of humor and very friendly. The seminar was filled with laughter, joy and warmth, and the content of the seminar was marvelous. "If your colleagues do something wrong, it is the responsibility of you, the team leader, to accept the consequence because you are on top of the program. A real leader should not find excuses to run away." As the president of the Interact Club, I was deeply impressed and I totally agree with what Mr Lam said. The seminar lasted for an hour and it was a great success. On behalf of the Interact Club of Wah Yan College, Kowloon, we would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr Albert Lam Kwong Yu for his great presentation and his kind support to our club. | ||||
|
The Rotary Foundation
For 2003-2004, Governor Jones Wong has pledged to RI and TRF an Annual Giving Goal at $160,000 (all figures quoted in this article are in $US). By 31 January 2004, contributions to TRF from the District stood at $63,545, of which $50,800 was for Annual Giving, the remainder being contributions to Restricted Giving. It meant that we were rather far away from the District Goal. At the time, the TRF had yet to receive anything from 34 of our clubs. I alerted the DG to the situation. The DG said he would remind club presidents of their pledges during his club visits and I understand PP Kenneth Chow had spoken at the March Distrcit Management Committee. The position at the end of April was as follows: TRF had recorded total Annual Giving from District 3450 for the first ten months of the Rotary Year at $121,300 and another sum of $20,223 towards Restricted Giving. The District Annual Giving Goal was therefore 75.81% achieved. As far as contibutions from individual clubs are concerned, 26 clubs had yet to give anything and eight other clubs had each contributed between $100 to $1,000. It was a slight improvement of the situation three months before, but not a lot to write home about. Of note is that contributions to the Permanent Fund stood at $1,000, from one club and one club only. The Sub-Committee Chairman with responsibilities for promoting the Permanent Fund was a past governor, Anthony Hung who could not find time to attend most of the District Rotary Foundation Committee meetings and who consistently did not produce reports, written or verbal, on the District position, apart from telling the Committee that Rotarians in the District do not like contributing to the Permanent Fund. Turning to home, our club made headlines two years ago by becoming a 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club, but contributions to Annual Giving so far this year had come from three members only, totalling $3,600, barely meeting the per capita $100 under the "Every Rotarian, Every Year" programme. It is obvious that our club can do more and I appeal to the club leadership to invite the other 33 members who had yet to contribute to TRF this year to contribute at least $100 now, thus helping the DG towards meeting the District Goal. Remember, it is never too late to do good. I made a similiar appeal last week to members of a club to which I was invited to speak and I was glad that at the instigation of a club leader, each member present did pledge a contribution of $100. Let us hope that other clubs would follow suit. | ||||
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 | ||||
| Return to Contents | ||||
| Send
a message to Chief Editor Francis Wann 2003 Issues, Back Issues, Home | ||||