| 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 | | ||
| Tsunami toll continues to climb. Have you called President Thomas with your pledges? | ||||
| Chief
Editor : Francis Wann Club Webmaster : John Wan | ||||
Editorial
(I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry) - By Francis Wann | ||||
District Website | RI Website | RI President | TRF | News Room | Global History Fellowship | ||||
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I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry
After seven years of proven incompetence and mismanagement, finally Tung admitted failure. He admitted failure in almost everything from lack of vision to indecision, from policy mismatches to hasty reforms. It certainly was a carefully crafted speech, one that was designed with his critics in mind. There was nothing unexpected when it comes to education, and audiences were subjected to the usual statistics and arguments for the new secondary and university structure, while glossing over the imminent cuts which are causing grave concern within the profession. It was ironic that the rosy picture was delivered on the back of stormy protests by Institute of Education staff and students only the day before. The cut would effectively drive the whole institute up the wall. It would be hard to convince the community that our government is committed to education anyway. And finally the rabbit is let out of the bag - it's the Poverty Commission, or the Commission to Alleviate Poverty. It will be the new focus and probably will be given a high profile with Chief Secretary Donald Tsang at the helm. It would however be difficult to imagine how he would go about his new task, in addition to his many other posts of responsibilities including the Clean Team. For the first time we have the sociological term inter-generational poverty in a Policy Address, giving it an air of academic seriousness. Once access to education was seen as the answer to social injustice, but after decades of compulsory education, the system has already shown signs of fatigue. Today our knowledge-based society means that we are in danger of producing graduates for the sake of it, and universities are competing for students to make up the numbers to justify funding. It is nevertheless heartening to hear that the Government is doing something for the needy, the disadvantaged, and the destitute. As CE Tung said in his introduction, no honest government can ever claim to solve all life's problems in a single stroke, and he pleaded for time. Yes, time he will have. Mr Tung will have at least another two years to prove his words. Amid all the rhetoric and cliches, people want to see results and more effective governance. Not one which only admits failure. | ||||
President's
Column Marketing Mix I recently read a book which reminds me changes in Marketing Mix. Traditionally, Marketing Mix is about 4Ps, i.e. Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Facing the rapid change of economic environment, the new Marketing Mix is 4 Cs, i.e. Customer needs, Cost, Convenience and Communication. In simple words, the Enterprise plays a proactive role on traditional mix while the center of the new mix is our Customers. I am not going to talk about Marketing but I would like to emphasize that all decisions made by the Board and the planned activities are following the concept of the new mix, with all of you as the center. For "Cost", we have just changed the venue of our regular luncheon meeting to Hotel Miramar and our Club Services Director Elsa is always attempting to find a decent venue at reasonable price for our evening meeting because we believe that you wish to minimize the cost of being a Rotarian so as to make more contribution to the Rotary Foundation or our community. For "Convenience", it is always a major factor affecting our decision on - 1. The venues of organizing our activities or meetings. For instance, one of the reasons of selecting Hotel Miramar is because it is convenient to both members working in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island; and 2. The ways of collecting your feedback and fee. Therefore, we'll collect your feedback either through our regular luncheon meeting or Internet or any way that is convenient to you. Regarding "Communication", we are trying our best to achieve a win-win situation through effective communication with you. Lastly, "Customer needs" is always our main concern. Knowing from you that family is a key element, we have organized fellowship dinner and Christmas Party that welcomed the participation of your family. Besides, we are organizing our Vocational Services Seminar because we understand that Rotarians are always prepared to serve the community by their professional knowledge. Please remember that you are always at the center and we shall continue to work out plans & activities according to the new mix. Since "Customer needs" is one of the major elements, please don't hesitate to provide your feedback if you have any. Taking this opportunity, I would also like to highlight the following coming up events which meet your needs - 1. The Centennial District Sports Day to be held this Sunday. It is a family activity that enables you and your family to celebrate Rotary 100th Anniversary through the participation of game booths. 2. The closing ceremony of our" Little Shoes Project" to be held on next Sunday 23/1/05 at the Peak. It is also another family activity that makes your children understand how lucky they are. Thanks for your participation and I wish to see you & your family more in the future. | ||||
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A Collection of Thoughts
Volunteerism would only work if those who subscribe to its principle have regard to what they have pledged and accord it priorities. In the same way, deadlines are meant to be observed. For if they are consistently ignored by everyone, they become meaningless. There was a time when deadlines, commitments and pledges were sacrosanct. There was a time when people took pride in earning meagre wages for an honest day of work. There was a time when traditional values - honour, truth, virtues, respect for institutions and so on - were taken as read and would not be questioned even by the outrageous. Life was so orderly, albeit predictable. Even as I am saying this, I can hear words such as time has changed, one must live with the times, nothing is sacred, and so on. Proponents of these new values would argue that those changes are necessary and indeed responsible for presnt day progress. What progress, one may ask. Has the average man more time to relax or spend with his family? Does he have more disposable income? Does he have more peace of mind? Does he have more time for his God? True, one can measure progress in a thousand and one ways, and the clever person can argue his causes by many means and routes. An average person lives less than a century, and even the most important, influential, powerful and revered person would become predictably less important, less powerful etc with time and eventually dies. But those who are great never die. They are survived by their ideas, deeds and thoughts, often time tested and become institutionalized. These are normally people who always live by what they say, what they believe in and what they have promised, to themselves and others. They could be boringly and consistently predictable, but so is Nature. But Nature also brings destruction, chaoes, deaths and sufferings along with other blessings. The recent tsunami toll will be a constant reminder. I have often thought that Nature does not care about humankind alone. Nature has other priorities too. Human beings would be wrong and short sighted if they think they are the only and most important species in the universe. Many species have inhabited and dominated Earth much much longer than us. In the same breath we argue to preserve Planet Earth, we should not lose sight of the possibility or notion that we are no more than the dominant species of the day. One day, we too could be gone. Such is the nature of Nature and life could be seen as a series of successions with a number of species gaining dominance at any given time. Which is why one can never have sufficient time in one's life to understand Nature. One would be lucky if one can find sufficient time to understand oneself, let alone others. Every time I come to this point, I can only look up to God for answers. Back to the present, I hope you would continue to experience the joy of giving by giving your time and money to agencies and institutions working for the aid and relief of tsunami victims. Do not even try to complain that there are too many agencies around or question whether what you give would eventually go to those in need. I invite you to bear in mind that we can never give sufficiently, just as many of us will never be able to repay what we have gained from life. So give while you can. Once you get into the habit of it, you would feel happier, which could be one of the main reasons why we exist - to be happy and make others happier. | ||||
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
: Thomas Chan | ||||
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