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KINGSPARK NEWS Club Number: 30119 2005-06 Rotary Year : Issue 3 : 1 August 2005 | ||
| 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
(Old Scores; New Tasks) - By Francis Wann | ||
| District Website | RI Website | RI President | TRF | News Room | Global History Fellowship | ||
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Old Scoes; New Tasks A message to the new District Governor It's been another two weeks since the District Installation and understandably our new DG Peter must have been pondering over his priorities and the tasks ahead. Doing the club rounds and showing his face at meetings and social functions have now become part of his job, as his new role is largely ceremonial and symbolic. One of the most daunting tasks - as most PDGs would agree - would be to accommodate the interests of all parties and, as he claims, to ensure continuity and cooperation. There are numerous obstacles and constraints, and formidable ones too. Personality clashes is one, and value perception another. Will the call of our Rotary ideal "Service above Self" iron out our differences? And can he, as he pledges, motivate his team of presidents and assistant governors? The District Installation has left a trail of unsettled questions unanswered, but naturally the organizing committee must have thought over various issues. The absence of any keynote speeches despite the presence of our guest-of-honour Deputy Director Zhou Jun-ming of the Liaison Office must have raised many eyebrows among fellow Rotarians. As we are still finding inroads to establish our impact on the mainland, we should also be asking if such public relations exercises have helped us forge and strengthen our links. Apparently DG Peter was satisfied with what happened, including the performance of the Image Committee which was behind the ceremony. By his own admission, whether a speech was delivered was irrelevant. The commissioned study by the PolyU on Rotary image and service needs of lower-income families (a report on which can ve accesses via DG's Newsletter under Rotary Image), the first of this kind in our District history, must be seen as a starting point for discussion at club and district levels and a practical catalyst for action. As suggested in this column, Rotarians across the board should start studying the report and reflect their views via every possible means. The money has already been spent. Let's hope it's not money down the drain. The new DG should also realize that while his hands are full, his term is limited. While he appreciates and values cooperation and harmony, there is no room for complacency. There must be occasions when he sees his hands tied. Will he be determined to keep his house in order? He has already acknowledged areas which require immediate focus, and he probably will go back to the drawing board in Joint Presidents' Meetings and also seek advice from the PDG Council before making his next critical decision. While there may still be other repercussions generated from the PolyU study, our immediate concern is a display of global leadership and vision. And as Rotarians turn to him for inspiration and a sense of direction, may God give him strength and wisdom to lead us into our second century of service. | ||
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President's
Column
Our club has organized the Hong Kong Model United Nations (HKMUN) assembly for 3 years and this year MUN will be held from 4th to 7th August, 2005 at the Chinese University. We invited the organizing committee of the HKMUN to introduce the highlights of the programme for this year in our luncheon meeting on 28th July, 2005. There will be about 300 students attending the HKMUN, about 240 from the local schools and 60 from the overseas. I would like to invite all our members to attend some of the programme, particularly the opening ceremony on 4th August, the entertainment night on 5th August and the most exciting International Night when all the participants dressed in cultural costumes of different countries on 6th August. I would like to thank PP Raymond who has been our Club's representative to supervise the organizing of this big event. When you attend one of these events you will realize how much PP Raymond has done in order to accomplish the work. The summer vacation is the busiest time for Short Term Youth Exchange. This year our club has sponsored the Youth Exchange with the Rotary Club of Downtown Pune of District 3130 Pune, India. The inbound exchange student, Vinita Jain, arrived on 26th June, 2005 and left on 26th July, 2005. She was hosted by my family. I took her to our Kingspark camp at Qing Yuan with me and I am sure that everyone shared the joy with her and shared the fun with a girl of a different culture. This is one of the objectives of Youth Exchange. We have our outbound student, Maria Cheng, who is a student of St. Clare's Girls' School, left Hong Kong for Pune on 13th July, 2005 and will be back on 5th August, 2005. For our Student Exchange with our Twin Club, the Rotary Club Canberra Sunrise, our outbound student, Tiffany Li, who is a student of Belilios Public School, left Hong Kong for Canberra on 22nd July and will return on 22nd August, 2005. We look forward to hearing Tiffany to tell us about her experience in Australia and something about our Twin Club. PP Edward is organizing a bowling and fellowship dinner for all members and their families on 12th August, 2005 (Friday). Let us have another family gathering again after our Kingspark camp. The report on the survey on the social life of the young people falling within the lower income bracket conducted by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is now available on our District website. The District will be organizing several projects as a follow up to the survey so as to raise the Rotary image in Hong Kong. One of the projects will be a Photo Competition and the objective will be to trigger more social awareness amongst Hong Kong young people (what do people think when they hear "Service above Self") and to create more visibility of the objectives of Rotary. There will be more information available shortly. The Kingspark Camp to Qing Yuan was attended by 63. consisting of 13 Rotarians, 9 Rotaractors, 16 children, 25 spouse and guests. It was a big family gathering and those who have joined are the families of myself, IPP Thomas, PP Peter, PP Raymond, PP Tom, PP Ted and his guests (i.e. swimming coach CK Leung and athletic coach CK Liu), Raymond Lam, Calvin, Spark, Kennedy and Joyce. We also had guests from our mother club, the Rotary Club of Kowloon East, PP Winston Tsang and his family, our Rotaract Club President Vivian and her members, Miranda Wong and our exchange student from India Vinita Jain. The hotel facilities were good, namely, swimming, massage, karoke, sport games, etc. and they met the needs of all ages. The food was good. We started with the home style dishes of Pun U when we arrived there and then we had all the specialty meals in Qing Yuan. These specialty meals were very good and inexpensive and they are the speciaties for chicken, seafood, bean curd and mushrooms resperctively. The most exciting adventure was rafting. No one had any idea of how difficult the game would be, but everyone was eager to try. Most of us finished the rough voyage, but some children had to give up in the middle. It was a test to our confidence and braveness and it was fun. The most relaxing programme in the evening was soaking in hot springs. There were 63 pools spread all over the resort, hot, warm and cool. Adults enjoyed the hot spring bath and children enjoyed the games in the swimming pool. We had our Kingspark meeting on the cruise along the river Bei Chiang. The meeting was short, but memorable because we met on the deck under the national flag of China. We stood all through the meeting. Everyone was satisfied with the camp and we left with joy and good memories. | ||
By IPP Thomas Chan I have enjoyed a short break after the installation ceremonies though I am eager to communicate with you through our Kingspark News. In fact, I should have written to you earlier because I wish to express my deepest gratitude to your support to the Club again. Moreover, I would also like to give you more details about 2 important awards that our Club has obtained from R.I. and our District. On international level, we were awarded the RI Significant Achievement Award because of our signature Vocational project "Vocational Services Seminar". It is no doubt that it must be one of our signature projects because it not only provided an in-depth understanding on various professions to over 500 secondary school students, but also involved the participation of many Rotarians. With a potential to extend our service to charter another new Interact Club, our project has contributed to promote the image of Rotary to the public. I am sure the award, which represents the recognition of your effort by Rotary International, can further motivate you to join the organizing committee and / or play the role of speaker in the coming seminar. On District level, the most important award was definitely "The Best Performing Rotary Club of the Centennial Year". This distinguish honour was belonged to you because it was attained through your active participation and outstanding performance in District events. As your continuous participation has enabled us to earn high scores in the District scoring system, we were able to become the best performing club in our District. I wish this honour would encourage you to keep on supporting the Club and making contribution to our Community. Last but not least, I would like to ask you two questions: "Do you want to make more contribution to our Community through our Club?" and "Do you enjoy Rotary?" If your answers of the above questions are "Yes", please extend the Rotary ideal to your friends and invite them to join us because we need new members to make another step ahead in the coming 100 years. | ||
By
Francis Wann On any typical day, DG Peter Wan returns to his office in Prince's Building at around 8:30am, checks emails, answers them if necessary, signs audit reports, attends meetings, and goes to lunch meetings, Rotary or otherwise. "Life hasn't changed a lot for me. Only busier as I now have more meetings to go to." I remember PDG Alex resigned from Ernst Young before taking up the post. Has he ever considered that? "No, whether I resign or not would not affect my performance, and it's also not fair to expect me to follow my predecessor anyway," the new DG assured me. How does he see his new role? Does he have an agenda? Peter told me he's got an analytical mind, and his work with PriceWaterhouseCooper probably has made him a problem spotter. Indeed he was the first DG who initiated the idea of the high profile Image Committee. Well, the Installation Committee was also under the Image Committee, and I asked if he was happy with its work that evening. "Yes, the Installation was exactly what I had expected. I appreciate the work of the members and everyone who has helped. It's enormous work…" I pointed out that our Guest-of-honor did not deliver any speech, which I would have thought was something natural. "That was only part of our arrangement. Anyway he doesn't know much about Rotary." I understand it's sensitive, and of course having a high-ranking Mainland official at our installation does have its political overtones. At least we want to tell the world that at least the Chinese Government has endorsed the work of Rotary. But press coverage was almost close to nil. Peter then reassured me there were some reports, though not as much as I would like to see. I asked if that's what the Image Committee had expected. "Of course it could be better handled. But I don't want to criticize anyone. I want to get as many people involved as possible. They've all tried their best." The new DG would not budge when I asked him if there's anything he didn't like. He said he believed in cooperation and continuity, and that he needs the support of all his assistant governors and presidents. By and large, there wasn't anything he's not satisfied. Are there snobs within Rotary? What about those clubs, which are consistently undersubscribed - some with membership below ten? Will he be more resolute? "I don't know if any "millionaire's" clubs exist at all. I think it's all a matter of personality. Rotarians are all professionals and they should know what's the best. I can only say if anyone visits a club with only a few members, it's not likely for him to experience a real Rotary club in action. But I cannot do anything as long as they pay the dues. I cannot suspend their registration or ask them to disband. They would just wait until my term expires…" Peter was extremely tactful, and is definitely good at public relations. Maybe years of experience in the stiff commercial world have given him the polish. "I'm very transparent. Of course every organization has its rotten apples. I know within Rotary, some are wasting resources… and some are indeed pulling us backward and it's not going to benefit neither the club nor anyone. I think as DG, I have to be very careful in whatever I say…" Indeed he was. So much so that at times I thought he was avoiding my questions. I asked if it was his decision to commission PolyU to work on the image report and in what way did he think it helps to boost our image, bearing in mind that academic studies seldom make news. He said indeed the decision was made before he took office with the consent of then DG Alex. Does he think $100,000 is too expensive? Again, different points of view, and he told me it's already a discount. "You have to remember they are professionals, and that I can say they're doing us a favour," the former Hong Kong Polytechnic accounting student was quick to allay my worries. What are we doing next? "It (The report) is only the beginning of the exercise. The study can help us in several ways. First, it helps us realize the possibility of developing other service areas, and the collaboration with other service organizations and committees. It helps us to determine areas which Rotary has a role to play, which is indeed functional as it's a scientific study. I'd probably table it at our JPMs and have it discussed as widely as possibly before we map out our plans. Hopefully the report will help unite all Rotarians, … and which will result in further press coverage…" It was only ten days after the District Installation and Peter was right - give him time to prove. When I told him his DG's newsletter was a nice departure from the past and it should make interesting reading (if it's updated promptly), he said he'd been a keen reader of KingsparkNews, and at times found the comments a bit harsh. As we finished our coffees at Clipper Lounge, Peter told me he'd return to his office for another meeting. Then he would head for the meeting of the Rotary Club of Kwun Tong. Not a bad way to round up a day's work. The new DG would have less time with his family, and with his horse, and golf. But what can be more rewarding than being the leader of Rotary, steering the world famous organization in the way he chooses. And how would he want to be remembered? "A respected leader". ...There was a bit of a struggle before the right word came... | ||
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Letter
to Editor By Florence Hui [Florence was inducted in RC of Macau in July 2005 - Ed]
The following two articles remind me of your editorial "Rotary on the Couch" and CP John's "Attendance" and "The Perfect Rotarian". I would like share them with you: RENOVATION OF A TEMPLE Once there was a king who wanted to renovate a Buddhist temple in the capital city. Two different groups said they could do so: a group of famous craftsmen and a group of monks. Since the king wanted to know whose skills were better, he told them to renovate two small temples opposite each other in three days. Then he would return for inspection and choose the better group. The craftsmen asked for all kinds of pigment and tools. The monks just requested cleaning rags, brushes and buckets. 3 days later, the king returned. He was happy that the craftsmen had turned their temple into a magnificent one. When he looked at the monks' temple, he was speechless. The original colour of the temple was revealed although it was just cleaned with water. Its shinning surface reflected the natural beauty of the surrounding: blue sky, trees, birds and the craftsmen's temple. The king was touched and everybody knew which group was chosen. The temples are our hearts. What we need is to let our true colour/ internal beauty show without any artificial addition. ALPHABET SOUP by Douglas Rudman, former and only Chair, History Fellows, Rotary's Global History Fellowship Rotary is replete with acronyms. There are RI, RITE, RYLA, PDG, PETs, REACT, WCS, TRF, PHSM, and many more, too many to mention. I ran across an acronym the other day that I wish Rotary would adopt, or at least some members should adopt: PMA. PMA, Positive Mental Attitude is an essential ingredient in the makeup of a Rotarian, as opposed to a member of a Rotary club. Just as becoming a District Governor doesn't bestow infallibility on the RI officer, neither does becoming a member of a Rotary club make the member a Rotarian. To go one step further, becoming an officer or director of a Rotary club doesn't make one a Rotarian, rather, it requires a healthy dose of caring, sprinkled freely with the 4-Way Test at frequent intervals. A third perspective would be physics related. History has shown that the best Rotarians are proactive, not reactive. In economic terms, Rotarians have applied the principle of Zero-Based Budgeting. But, enough of the jargon, clichés, acronyms and alphabet soup. Read your history. Look at how Paul Harris envisioned it. Rotarians try to live up to that ideal. The temples can be our Rotary image, too. Oscar Wilde said, "One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art." How about Rotary, be one or wear one when our soup has more and more alphabets? Recently I can't find the District Rotaract Committee in the organisation chart of our District. (Featured in the DG's newsletter section, District website. I still can't find it as at today!) Isn't it one of the District Committees? There is "Rotarian Relationships" under the flag of "Rotary Image Committee". How about "Rotaractor Relationships"? More questions come into my mind: To what extend do we want Rotaractors to join us when they are over 30? Are we losing track of our children/partners in service while we, the mother clubs are striving to recruit new members? If we can't even retain our fellow Rotarians/ Rotractors, how can we enrol newcomers? Are we proactive or reactive? We're having "marketing myopia". | ||
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Come to the waters
I certainly was very much impressed. At the end of the interview, Climpson asked the ladies to say something that Rotary should do in the next 100 years. As the camera panned on Argon, the confident young lady broke into a broad smile and urged Rotary to stay young and to accept more women, to a roaring and approving audience. Aragon's message seemed so simple and so obvious and very few would disagree. The world simply must listen more and more carefully to women and to youths, and by inference, young ladies. Our district is not short of young ladies. There is a noticeable trend that these young ladies are gaining increasing prominence in the district through active participation and their positive outlook to life in general and to problem solving in particular. I was in Macau over the weekend on Rotary business and I met a number of young ladies in a young club there. It is obvious that these young ladies have been putting life into the club and are running the club which in turn has become a going concern. It is also clear that they all know what they are doing and are keen to make a difference in the community. It is also interesting that the contributions to our bulletin so far this year - other than those from within the membership or from members of our sponsored clubs - have come from a young lady. My brother editor asked me to look out for her when I was in Macau over the weekend. Unfortunately, I had yet to meet her. As I have intimated last time, leaders must keep their ears close to the ground if they are determined to bring in changes that would benefit the district in the long term. There has been a lot said in Kingspark News over time, but we have yet to see any responses one way or the other. There must be a better way for leaders to communicate with the masses. They can either contemplate on yesterday's reading from Isaiah "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;" or they can start following the examples of the young lady I have just alluded to. | ||
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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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Chief
Editor : Francis Wann The Board of Directors President
: Dominic Ko | ||
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