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KINGSPARK NEWS Club Number: 30119 2005-06 Rotary Year : Issue 22 : 17 May | ||
| This
is the biweekly bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong Club Website: http://www.rotary3450.org/kingspark-hongkong | ||
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| Chief
Editor : Francis Wann Club Webmaster : John Wan | ||
| Editorial
(Talk,
Talk, Talk) - By Francis Wann | ||
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District Website | RI Website | RI President | TRF | News Room | Global History Fellowship | ||
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Talk Talk Talk When the Poverty Commission was established early last year, many were skeptical about its roles and feared that it might eventually find itself giving out a hell of hot air and the whole commission would degenerate into a talking shop. Or will it be another layer of bureaucracy within the government bureaucracy? There has never been any shortage of research statistics on the issue poverty and how the figures are interpreted could have far-reaching implications. When DG Peter took office last July, Rotary also commissioned PolyU to undertake a research to examine the problems of poverty among our youths and to identify areas where our expertise could be better utilized. It would not surprise anyone if the commission members should find themselves at loggerheads over the fine tuning of terms like poverty line or minimum wage, and tied up in their own ideological minefields. Exactly how many live in poverty could be anyone's guess though the Hong Kong Council for Social Services puts it at 1.25m in its last estimate. The commission, however, has come up with 24 poverty indicators. When queried by Emily Lau in Legco late last year about the progress, or rather the lack of it, of the commission, Financial Secretary Henry Tang put the figure at around 950,000 which, according to him, was not enough for policy deliberation and planning, and suggested a "multi-dimensional approach" to tackle the problem of poverty. But of course the commission has time on their hands. It would be easy to argue that whatever policy the commission adopts, it must be thoroughly discussed. In May 2005, the Commission established the Task Force on Children and Youth with a more focused agenda. There're no official figures as to how much the Commission has cost us, but what the community wants to see is a strong government commitment with realizable targets and policies. There are certainly areas the NGOs, the businesses, or Rotary can be involved, but this time let's not do it in a piecemeal fashion. We'd like to see the big picture rather than spin offs like Mentorship Fun Project, or Adopt-a-School, etc. The Government has to convince the public of its determination to make poverty history. Pie in the sky? At the Task Force's fifth meeting held last week, members raised the possibility of establishing a Child Development Fund. At the same meeting, a discussion paper entitled "Intergenerational Poverty and Intensive Community Mentoring" by Dr Charles Chan of Department of Applied Social Sciences (Network for Health and Welfare Studies, PolyU) was considered. In its press release, Chairman Dr Philemon Choi mentioned the diverse expectations from the community on the subject, and that "the Task Force will arrange a sharing session to gauge the views of relevant parties on ideas of a meaningful and feasible arrangement.." Deja vu? Who knows how long we have to wait before the body gives us something more definite. And while we're waiting, children of poverty would suffer in silence. Not long ago, a motion to increase pension payment to HK$2,400 to let our elderly live in dignity was defeated, like many of its precedents. Sometime ago world poverty expert Professor Peter Townsend was here to share with us his work on poverty in the UK for over two decades. Last Sunday Kinspark marked its 12th anniversary and I hope you all had a great time. This Wednesday Rotary will discuss with the EMB a new initiative called "Partnership with Rotary". Let's hope our involvement would make it different. | ||
President's
Column April was a very busy month for Rotary and I was not able to submit my President's Message in time for the last 2 issues of the Kingspark News. I am going include some of the points which should have been reported earlier in this issue.. The Joint Meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Area 8 was held at the New World Renaissance Hotel on 6th April, 2006 and we were the host club. The Chief Executive, Dr. Lawrence T. Wong, was invited as our Honorable Guest Speaker to talk about Football Betting in Hong Kong. In general, the meeting was held successfully, but there were some comments that there were 2 big pillars in the venue blocking part of the stage and the serving of Chinese dinner was a bit disturbing. There were about 150 Rotarians, spouses and guests. However, most of the attendants were happy with the Joint Meeting and some were asking if more joint meetings could be held in the future. Our club jointly hosted the Group Study Exchange team from Perth from 10th to 16th April, 2006 with our mother club, the RC of Kowloon East. The team consisted of 3 members, Gemma, Nhu and Kylie headed by Rtn. Wayne. Rtn. Kennedy was providing host family for 1 of the members. We invited them to present in our luncheon meeting on 13th April, 2006 and arranged vocational visits for them to the Tai Fook Securities Group, David Woo Memorial Day Nursery and Windex Hong Kong Hearing and Speech Centre. PP Peter and I took them to tours and visits to the Legislative Council, the High Court, Hong Kong Museum of History and the Lantau Link Visitors Centre of Tsing Ma Bridge. Thanks for PP Peter and Rtn. Kennedy for their help. We are glad that we have inducted one new member, Stephen Tsai, on 20th April, 2006. He is the Past President of Rotary Club of Quarry Bay and he was the Past RYLA Chairman and also Deputy District Rotaract Chairman. His classification is Training and Development. He has attended our luncheon meetings many times and we welcome him to be one of our members. After the induction we shall have 29 members. The 46th District Conference was held at the Airport Regal Hotel on 22nd and 23rd April, 2006 and it was completed with a big success. There was no star speaker like Michael Hui of last year's Conference, but it was a different one as compared with the conferences of previous years. There were a spouse and family programme for a visit to a school in Tung Chung and a fun day organized for 50 children selected by Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Tung Chung Integrated Services. The introduction of our future leaders, DGE Tony Wong and DGN Peter Wong was in the form of interview and the presentation by the New Generation, namely Rotaractors, Interactors, RYLA and Youth Exchange was in the form of discussion in stead of formal reports. The 7 inbound Group Study Exchange teams have added a lot of colors and international sharing to the Conference. Our 2005-2006 Presidents showed our team spirit and support to our District Governor by our "DG DG Peter.." song sung in the La Bamba melody during the Governor's Banquet and it gave our Governor a big surprise. The banquet was ended happily by the energetic group dancing led by AG Baagii from RC of Zuunmod of Mongolia. We had our visit to our sister club, RC of Sathorn on 28th April, 2006. Under our 3 Clubs Alliance our sister club, the RC of Taipei Chung Yuan and our Club should visit Thailand this year. There were 17 in our delegates, consisting of PP Edward, PP Ted, PP Peter, PP, IPP Thomas, PE Patrick, & their spouses, PP Raymond, Joyce, Kennedy, Alex Ka, myself, my wife and my son. The Taipei Chung Yuan delegates consisted of 7 and were led by PE Freezer. The Sathorn delegates were certainly the biggest group and there were more than 25 Rotarians led by President Kolkit. Day 1 - Upon arrival at the Club Andaman Beach Resort at Phuket, a 3 Clubs games competition was organized to warm up all the participants. The games were Chopsticks with Ping Pong, tug of war, 4 men 4 legs and goals shooting in blindfold. Taipei Chung Yuan and Kingspark were the joint winners and we won a big trophy. It is now kept by Taipei Chung Yuan for half year and we will keep it for the remaining half. We were given Hawaiian shirts for men and Hawaiian dresses for women for the welcome buffet dinner party at the garden restaurant. The party started with the welcome speech by President Kolkit, President Nominee Dennis and me, an exchange of souvenirs and then followed by singing, karaoke and dancing. The Thai Rotarians are very nice people and they have a lot more female Rotarians than males. They are really nice and they love singing. We had a very enjoyable evening. Day 2 - We were given light blue T-Shirts to start off our visit to the 2 schools for which we organized our World Community Service project. The purpose of the project is to provide humanitarian aid to students and the families who have suffered from the damages of Tsunami. The 2 schools are situated in Phang Nga province in coastal areas of Southern Thailand. The total project required 460,000 Thai Baht (i.e. about US$12,000). Our Club and Taipei Chung Yuan, each of us contributed US$1,000 and the remaining was funded by Sathorn and its associates. On top of our Club's contributions, Ted, Peter, Joyce, Patrick, Thomas and I together gave some personal donations of 25,000 Thai Baht to the project to show our love and care. The schools and the usage of the funds are: 1. Ban Pak Weep School -Support scholarship, repair computers, buy uniforms and stationery. 2. Ban Tung Rak School - Support the building of a farm and fish pool, renew a shelter, buy chairs, tables uniforms, stationery and books After the service visits we went to the Fantasea show in Phuket where we had our dinner. Day 3 - We all went to the Coral Island for swimming and snorkeling.. Only Ted and my son Vincent went golfing with Urai and Piyabut. We all left Phuket for Hong Kong right after our relaxing program in the morning except PP Ted and Dora, PP Edward and Alice, Joyce and I. We went to Bangkok to meet our Partner of the Matching Grant project, the RC of Bangkok Banglamphu. Our club and the Rotary Club of Bangkok Banglamphu of District 3350 have successfully completed the Matching Grant project of "The Gift of Sight" by the delivery of the eye surgical instruments acquired. Eye surgical equipments costing a total of US$28,600 are now being used by the cataract-surgery volunteer teams in the mobile surgical camp. The RC of Bangkok Banglamphu and the medical volunteers have been working on the Gift of Sight project for 4 years to provide cataract surgery for the poor people living in the remote rural areas of Thailand and they have supported 1,300 cataract cases so far. With the acquisition of the medical equipments, the mobile cataract surgery volunteer team will be better equipped to restore vision and prevent the crippling cause of blindness in Thailand. The Rotary Club of Kingspark HK was warmly welcomed by our Partners at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel on 1st May, 2006. What a perfect match! The Kingsparicans were nicely treated at the Queen's Park. The welcome party of our Partners included PDG Saowalak of District 3350 (2003-04), DGE Kasemchai (Sam) and his Ann CP Wilai (2005-06); PP Anotai, the President Elect and the President Nominee of the RC of Bangkok Banglamphu; 3 medical doctors; and Presidents and Rotarians of other Clubs. We were served with Thai food. We were very much honored to be received by such a big party. PDG Saowalak gave a very impressed welcome speech and so did DGE Sam. PP Anotai, the coordinator of this project, presented a video report on the project and Professor Dr. Chanida also gave her report. We started to realize how much Rotary and the volunteer doctors have done for the poor people in Thailand and how the Gift of Sight project is one of the best projects in District 3350. It is on going project for them and we have been asked by PP Anotai if we will continue to support the project next year. Finally on behalf of our Club I gave our sincere thanks to them. PE Patrick, Joyce, PP Peter and Amy, PP Ted and Dora and their 4 daughters, PP Thomas and his son, and I attended the Little School Bags Folk Songs Sing Along Concert organized by our Rotaractors held at the Mcpherson Stadium on 6th May, 2006. I enjoyed the concert very much and I am sure everyone including the 800 students did so. The concert was only one of the sessions of the project held at different time and different venues during the English Festival. The program has provided a good training for children in English and a good opportunity for them to show their care and love to the children in need in China. Thanks to PP Mahmood of the RC of Admiralty who has produced a CD as the teaching kit for teachers and he was leading the children to sing in the concert. The project has created a lot of publicity in schools, teachers, children and parents in Hong Kong. There is a Sing Along session on 15th May, 2006 and that more than 80 schools and 25,000 students have been invited to participate singing together at the very minute. It has offered a win win situation for both the Standing Committee on Language Education Research (SCOLAR) and the Rotaract Club of Kingspark HK. Congratulation! President Vivian Choi and the Project Chair Olivia Choi, you have done an excellent joy and it is a significant achievement of the Rotaract Club of Kingspark HK. We are proud of you. | ||
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Love
In his Introduction, the Holy Father quoted "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16). He referred to the Book of Deuteronomy in which the Israelites were told to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul and with all their might, and to the Book of Leviticus where it says, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" , pointing out that Jesus has united the two into one single precept as the two Greatest Commandments. The God in Christianity takes many forms in the Bible, but it would be nice to register God as love and a loving father rather than as a vengeful master keen to mete out punishment for his ungrateful creatures even though that is what they probably deserve. The Pope noted the problems of language and translation and went to great length to identify and distinguish the different meanings attached to the word "love" which has become "one of the most frequently used and misused of words." Love can refer to "love of country, love of one's profession, love between friends, love of work, love between parents and children, love between family members, love of neighbour and love of God." However, the one single meaning of love which stands out is "love between man and womanm where body and soul are inseparably joined and human beings glimpse an apparently irresistible promise of happiness." There are three ancient Greek words for love, eros, philia and agape, each carrying rather different meanings. Eros would be the most appropriate word which epitomize the love between man and woman that is "neither planned nor willed." "Philia" can describe the love of friendship, as recorded in John's Gospel of the love between Jesus and his disciples. Agape refers to a higher order of love that can loosely be referred to as sacrificial love. The Pope speaks of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others. In short, love is a duty, a responsibility. In Part 2 of his Encyclical Letter, the Pope speaks of the practice of love by the Church as a "community of love." He said that charity is a responsibility of the Church. "Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual" and the Church at every level. The Pope then discussed justice and charity and outlined the duties and rsponsibilities of those responsible for the Church's charitable activity. Other religions have discussed love in broadly similiar terms. The Buddhists for example speak of loving kindness or metta which is defined as the love shown by a mother looking at her only child in her arms. Erich Fromm in his Art of Loving spoke of love as the ultimate answer to the human existence. What about Rotary? I have often said, "Rotary is love" and I would like more people to believe that. Rotary is love because of the work of dedicated and committed Rotarians who offer their time, energy and resources selflessly to help the people who need their service, people whom they may never have met or may never meet in their life. It is such work, belief and commitment that have distinguished us as a service organization. Specifically, it is the belief in the Ideal of Service, the belief that Rotarians united in service can bring world peace and international understanding, and the belief that they can make a difference, that have kept service-minded men and women going all these years. If that is not love, what is? | ||
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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 from the latter for publication in the same issue if possible. | ||
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Editor : Francis Wann The Board of Directors President
: Dominic Ko | ||
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