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KINGSPARK NEWS Club Number: 30119 2006-07 Rotary Year : Issue 5 : 1 September | ||
| 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
(Visiting
Rotarian) - By Francis Wann | ||
| District Website | RI Website | RI President | TRF | News Room | Global History Fellowship | ||
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Visting Rotarian While in Britain this summer, I took the opportunity to attend two Rotary club meetings with Sabina - the Rotary Club of Kingston-upon-thames, and Rotary Club of Brighton. It was also a refreshing experience for me and it certainly opened my eyes to what other clubs have been doing. On both occasions, we could feel a great deal of Rotary spirit throughout. Formalities may vary among clubs, but it was perhaps their staunch display of optimism in Rotary and their readiness which inspired me the most. The Kingston club has on average 60 members and regular attendance I was told was about 40 plus. Not an inconsiderable feat when compared to our records, and when considering most of their members were indeed very senior in terms of age (*A member died during the last meeting, and we were asked to observe one minute of silence). The guest speaker was a former High Court judge and made everyone sit on the edge with his humour and wit. In passing, President Keith Walker told us he was also District Governor (District 1140) in year 2000-01,and reassured us how this capacity had helped him to understand the ultimate message of Rotary. The Brighton club is smaller with about 50 members, and we were readily received by President John King and Vice-president Rhett Bartley. The topic was prostate cancer and it was delivered in the most practical and caring manner. The speaker who was himself very much an advocate was given a standing ovation at the end of his speech. President John gave me a copy of their bulletin as well as their souvenir flag which I dutifully passed on to our president Patrick. At both meetings, they asked me about Kingspark and suddenly I became our club ambassador. They also talked about membership issues and their community service projects. Kingston has a history of over 100 years and it was only in the last few years that the Board decided to accept female members. Yes, traditions die hard. I was reading their latest hard copy of the Brighton club bulletin and perhaps there might be a few things our members would find relevant - they take turns within the Board to edit and produce their bulletin. Back on our home front, some members might feel slightly disturbed by President Patrick's recent terse message regarding contributions to Kingsparknews. While his approach would receive stiff resistance, or fall on deaf ears in some corners, his message was long overdue. As president, he has the duty - and the official capacity - to put our house in order. Let's hope that these were not empty words. It has been a privilege to be at the helm of our club bulletin, but Kingsparknews as the only regular English club publication in our district accessible on internet, should not only reflect the views of two brothers, and the President. All our past presidents had tried to tackle this problem in one way or another but with little success. Perhaps he'd make a difference this time. Kingsparknews has been much honoured to appear on the District website regularly as the feature club bulletin. This gives us the edge and enhances our club profile. But our special position is not only hard earned, but also easily lost. Advantage Kingspark. | ||
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President's
Column The month of August is membership and extension month. In this issue of the Kingspark News, I would like to report on our Club visit to RC of Zuunmod that took place between July 28 and 31. This was the first official visit to our sponsored club in Mongolia. Since the signing of the pact with RC of Zuunmod about 2 years ago, there were only 2 visits from our Club, if I was correct. PP Anwar was the first club member to visit our sponsored Club in Mongolia during his tenure as President. In September last year, PDG Alexander, accompanied by IPP Dominic, paid the Club another visit. I was honored to lead this first official visit. First of all, let me thank IPP Dominic for arranging the fabulous program and the itinerary with the host club for the 4-day 3-night visit; and also our International Service Director Michael for booking the tightly scheduled air flight and the accommodation at Hotel Chinglis in Ulaan Baatar. I would imagine that Dominic had had spent many lonely nights in e-mail co-ordinating with our host over the past few months. I would also like to thank other members of the group, namely PP Edward, PP Peter, Vita, spouse of our International Service Director and their son, Murray, for making the effort, as well as taking the time and endurance, to join this very well organized expedition. Our flight took off at 5:30 p.m. and was slightly behind schedule. But the 30 minutes delay in taking-off almost ended up with our missing the only connecting flight from Beijing. Once we landed in the Beijing International Airport, our group took a record breaking of less than 25 minutes to go through all the usual very time- consuming airport procedures, for instance the baggage collection, custom check-out and check-in, immigration clearing, to finally boarding the Mongolian International Air. It was a race against time that none of us, I supposed, has ever gone through before, and yet we were still able to make it! And not forgetting Peter had to manage with his almost 30 kilos of baggage through the long corridors and stairways in the airport. This feat was made possible only with the dedicated VIP's assistance and escorts extended by the ground crew of Dragonair in Beijing. The Mongolian flight waited patiently an extra 20 minutes or so for the Kingsparicans to fasten their safety seatbelts. Vita told me later that some of the Russian mafia-looking passengers in the cabin were apparently not so patience with these few Chinese-speaking foreigners. Although it was after mid-night when we landed in Ulaan Baater, the reception in the airport given by the host club was more than friendly and warm. We were welcome by a troop of over one dozen Rotarians whom were led by President Renzen and IPP Bertsetseg. We were then driven off in 3 cars in darkness to a ker camp, known as Gobi Mon, about 40 minutes from the airport. When we got out of the car, we were welcome by the cool steppe's air. The air smelled so fresh that my tiredness was instantly swept away. Looking up, the sky was clear and the stars were seemed smiling to the few cosmopolitan first time visitors from Hong Kong. I thought we could all retire to bed after a very hectic and exhausting trip, but the party was not over yet. Our friends from RC Zuunmod hosted a little party and called a meeting in the Gobi Mon restaurant to formally welcome the six of us. Usual Mongolian hospitality in the form of salads, tea and vodka, were served. I made a short speech as President, but now forgotten what I had said in the meeting after a round of (45% alcohol and 80% proof) vodka. The next day was the highlight of the tour. In the morning, we first went to an English school to present to the villagers of Zuunmod the water well project. It was a community service project jointly sponsored by the RC Club of Sunrise, Canberra, RC of Zuunmod and our Club. According to the time schedule, we arrived early but we were welcome by Mr. Nobody! It finally took longer than 20 minutes for the villagers, young and old, men and women, to stroll leisurely and to gather into the school hall. After speeches and Q&A session in Mongolian, and of course with IPP Bertsetseg acting as interpreter, we were then driven to the site. The site was located a mere two minutes drive from the town center. The water pump is contained in a 7' by 7' brick house. The electrical pump, looked a bit old to me, brings clean water deep from the well underground to the more than 3,000 inhabitants living in the village standing on the slopes. The houses were standing about 100 to 300 feet away from the pump, and were about 30-80 feet above the well level. In those days, villagers used to carry the well water in buckets up the slopes. In the long and harsh Mongolian winter, I can tell that this is a very demanding and tough physical task, only if the water is not frozen. While we were at the site, there was an ugly looking, but always-smiling old local lady demonstrating to the visitors the act of carrying water in buckets. It was comical to watch! I was not sure whether she was actually paid for the act. We were then driven to visit a kinder garden school. This time, we had a teacher and a cute little girl of around 4 years old waiting and welcoming us in the classroom. We were told that it was Saturday, and that other students came to school early at nine and had left school for home. Anyways, I quickly went through the ceremonial act of presenting stationary sets to the little girl representative, and departed for lunch back at the camp. In the afternoon, we were taken to visit one of the local families to hold the official sheep presentation ceremony of our Sheep Project. Our Club, through the Paul Harris Fellow Foundation, donated a total of 125 sheep to five local families. One representative from each family came to receive the donations. Ceremonially, a herd of about 40-50 sheep showed up for the ceremony. I must say that this was the largest herd of sheep I had very close countered with. Dominic, Peter and Bertsetseg completed the ceremony in the open under the brisk Mongolian wind blowing from the north. In the evening, the members of the RC of Zuunmod hosted a sheep feast in a ker camp. The tourist camp was located on the hillside in a beautiful valley. We presented souvenirs that were brought all the way from Hong Kong. We also helped Peter to unload the 20 kgs. of our Club rosters, printed reports and newspapers covering the District Handover Ceremony. Rounds of vodka were exchanged. Our only female tour member Vita was so courageous to accept the rounds of vodka challenges from the Mongolian Rotariannes. We were shocked to see that Vita could withstand the toasts without the slightest trace of drunkenness on her face. We later discovered that Vita and Michael were so cunning that they cheated water with vodka without anyone knowing. Well done, Vita! We were proud of you. You helped save face for the few Hong Kong Rotarians. The last thing I knew was that I was still able to find the way back to my bed and went to sleep quietly unusually early at 10:30 p.m. and quite drunk. That was the best I could do given my very modest capacity for 80% proof vodka. All in all, I think that we had consumed more vodka in one evening than we had in our entire life. On the last day, we hired a local guide to bring us sight seeing. The young man brought us to a natural-park about one and a half hours' drive from the capital. The natural landscape in the countryside was clean and serene. We came across fewer than half a dozen cars in the natural park. Pollution did not seem to be a problem in the wild open. Describing the scene there was not difficult. Try picture yourself traveling in the countryside in Switzerland, but take away the motorway, streams and rivers, the Alpine rocks, the steep valleys and the tall mountains, and there we saw the green and gentle rolling valleys, with wooden chalets and ker built side-by-side. I could have easily mistaken myself traveling somewhere in Europe. Before we went to see a traditional Mongolian musical opera show in the evening, we were able to squeeze in 30 minutes to go shopping Mongolian cashmere knitwear. In the short and lunatic buying spree, I estimated that Peter, Dominic and myself altogether had spent a total of a few millions in local currency buying just cashmere scarves, cardigans and sweaters. Who says women love shopping? We, men, also loved shopping and bought big time when our wives were not around! I think the euphoria was worth it. I was told that the cashmere, as raw material, is no longer allowed to export from the country. The local retail price of a piece of knitwear compared with the price in Hong Kong is about one third. I believe this is an investment worth the value! The next morning, we had to go to the airport early and we departed the hotel at 4 a.m. The stopover at Beijing was a hundred times more problematic than when we came. There was a terrible rainstorm when we landed in the Beijing airport. Rain was pouring so hard that the airport had to shut down for almost 4 hours. Peter, Dominic and myself were stranded in the airport for 5 full hours before the connecting flight was able to take off and brought us home. Edward was so lucky that he was able to catch the scheduled connecting Hong Kong flight because he had carried his own baggage into the cabin. He did not have to wait for the unloading of his baggage, and that was the reason we were delayed. I think I have written too much this time and I have to stop here. Our Chief Editor should be very happy if other Rotarians could contribute articles of similar or even longer length, and may be of even higher quality. Before closing, I'd like to share few observations with my members - 1) On the lighter side, our group was politely invited to a treat of sour horse milk each time we visited a Mongolian family in a ker. I was told that horse milk, 3% alcoholic, is a healthy drink and is very rich. Horse milk is seasonal and produced only in the short summer months. Dominic was the first brave Kingsparican to try it last year. I followed this year. We did not have diarrhea. I hope drinking it would make me as strong and healthy looking as the Mongolian. Better go try it next time, it should not do any harm to our body. 2) Dried horse dung, and not dried wood, was used in our ker as burning fuel the first night. This is absolutely a brilliant idea to conserve fuel. Flies loved and were crazy about the stunning scent that was released from burning the fuel. I would not forget the experience of sharing the ker with a companion of many dozens flies that night. The scent of the "Parfume de Horse Dung" did not suffocate us. At least, I was able to sleep peacefully that night! 3) On the solemn side, I felt that the exchanges of visit with RC Zuunmod are not mutually convenient and economical. Someone might think otherwise. Mongolia is quite a distant from Hong Kong. Local flights are usually scheduled at odd hours, and are not frequent. The airfare is relatively expensive to many of the members. Our RC Zuunmod friends were expecting more of our members to visit them to build friendship. Who is ready for the next trip? 4) On the serious side, we do face communication and language problem with our friends in the north. Only a rare few of them can speak English, and none of us speak Mongolian and/or Russian. Their access to e-mail is like our going to the Cable & Wireless, at the Mercury House in Central about 30 plus years ago, to make a long distance call i.e. e-mail and desktop are not readily accessible to our friends in Zuunmod! Again, my compliments go to Dominic. I understand that he single-handedly arranged and taught RC Zuunmod to complete all the necessary Rotary papers relating to the successful application for matching grant. I am sure that Dominic had spent dozens of lonely nights helping our sponsored Club to fill the reporting gap that they are incapable of doing. 5) As the sponsored Club, our friends in the north habitually looked to us in the affluent south for financial sponsorships. At the site of the water pump and on the spot, RC Zuunmod gave us an idea for next year's project. They suggested our Club to consider sponsoring their purchase of a new truck to replace the 30-year old Russian-made water truck. They have plenty of projects in mind that they need financial assistance and/or sponsorships. They were expecting our Club to help them source funding. After this visit, I have three questions for our readers - First. Should we still play an active role to spoon feed RC Zuunmod? Second. Is it still a good and feasible match between our two clubs? Third. Do we ever need a sponsored club given the tight resources that we have today? I invite those PP's who played a role in this partnership to generously express their views. Other members are also more than welcome to express their opinions. I am sure that our Chief Editor should be very excited to fill the Kingspark News with your responses and comments in the next few issues. | ||
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Secretary's
Column By Rotarian Kenneth Tsang As the Secretary for Rotary Year 2006-07, I must first thank President Patrick Wong, the fellow Board Members and all fellow Rotarians for placing their trust in me to undertake this role. When I accepted the role, while I was aware that the job required a strong commitment in both time and effort, I admit that I did not fully understand the scope of duties that were associated with being the Secretary. That all changed when I attended the inaugural Joint Secretary's Meeting (JSM). JSM is a bi-monthly meeting to coordinate administrative affairs of the all Rotary Clubs in District 3450. The meeting was extremely useful as I was able to fully appreciate the role as Club Secretary and meet other club secretaries for the first time. Duties of the Secretary are varied, including being the key point of contact between the Club and the District on an administrative level, supporting the Club President to fulfill his Presidential Citation and other miscellaneous duties such as coordinating DG/AG visits and membership/attendance reporting to RI. Interestingly, I found out I was not alone. I noticed that many other fellow secretaries from other clubs of the District were also undertaking this important role for the first time, some having a relatively young career within Rotary such as myself. Importantly however, I realized that there was a common thread. That is, the thought that despite the realization of the work involved and challenges ahead, we were determined to carry out our duties for the good of their respective clubs and RI. The night was also a good opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians and to foster relationships with other clubs, Under the guidance of the District Secretariat, and with the help of our fellow Board members (and no doubt I will be seeking plenty of that), I will endeavour to fulfil my duties as the Secretary of Rotary Kingspark for the Rotary Year 2006-07. | ||
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The
Story of Kingspark Three years ago, our club became the mother club of Rotary Club of Zuunmod in Mongolia. We are currently sponsoring their Sheep Donation Project through the TRF matching grant as well as another Water Management Project jointly sponsored by R.C. of Canberra Sunrise, Australia. Our club visited Zuunmod in July 06 on their invitation. During my presidential year, members of R.C. of Zuunmod visited Hong Kong and when we passed Happy Valley,I talked about the history of the Jockey Club and told them I was not a horse owner because I couldn't afford it. They said they would give me two horses, one for me and one for my wife. Therefore this time they kept this promise and handed over a horse which was duely named "Kingspark". I hope you'll like this decision and I hope one day Kingspark will make a name in Happy Valley. My dear kingsparcians, next time you visit Mongolia, please don't forget to see Kingspark our horse. And if you have your way, bring him back here - to your home. Thank you. | ||
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Business As Usual
I attended the last club meeting after an absence of more than a month. The attendance does appear to be business as usual. I saw the same members at the meeting and I did not see others who normally would not turn up. I do not know whether Preisent Patrick is smiling or holding his breath. We seem to have some more articles than usual. President Patrick has recently written to all of you and announced his policy intention of "One Member, One Kingspark News". I believe he means "One member, one article for Kingspark News." He went on to say that he was encouraged by the contribution from members so far and was hopeful that the trend would continue, and stressed that this would be the very least thing a member could do for the Club, and which would be fair for everyone. President Patrick has used some rather strong words in his appeal. He said that bearing the name of a Rotarian or Rotarianne but without doing something for the club is not the way a responsible member should act. "Paying club dues alone is not acceptable. RC Kingspark is not a charitable organization. Paying your dues and not committing to the Club is meaningless to me. You drag down our Club's attendance rate. I do not thank you," said President Patrick who then urged all members to attend the Club Assembly scheduled for September 7 and challenged all those who do not agree with him to attend the Club Assembly and make their view open publicly. To encourage members to read Kingspark News regularly, President Patrick said he would arrange to print some hard copies of the Kingspark News for easy reading at our regular meetings. Meanwhile, President Patrick wrote a long article for the current issue; and I am impressed. I am impressed not by the length of the article or its rich contents, but by his sincerity and commitment to Rotary and the club flowing between the lines. In particular, I am impressed by the three questions he posed to members at the end of his article. They are indeed food for thought. No doubt, the three questions would be addressed at the next meeting. Without prejudice to the views of the membership or of the Board, let me offer here my first line response, for what it is worth. First, these are highly relevant questions, the fact that the answers to them would not and could not change history and hence the fact that Kingspark is the sponsor club or mother club of Zuunmod. Second, for the record, I had expressed my two-cent viewpoint on whether Kingspark should sponsor Zuunmod or for that matter any new club at the time when the Board was contemplating the matter. I cautioned against such a move for a number of reasons. Third, one should be aware of the relationship between a mother club and the club sponsored. Specifically, one should make clear to each other the duties and responsibilities between the clubs and people involved. For that matter, the RC of Hong Kong could be regarded as the mother club of all clubs in Hong Kong and in District 3450. Whether the club perceives or achknowledges itself as such is neither here nor there. In practice, it is not possible for RC of Hong Kong to develop and maintain any meaningful relationship with any other clubs in the district, even for the few clubs which it direct sponsored. Closer to home, RC of Kowloon East is the mother club or sponsor club of Kingspark. We are OK, they are OK and there was never any problem between us and the three questions articulated by President Patrick therefore never arise. Regardless of the discussion that would emerge at the next meeting and the decisions of the Board which follow, it is high time the club develop and resolve a way forward that would clearly define the relationship and responsibilities between the two clubs and between Zuumod and the district. Burying the issues and calling it business as usual would not be doing anyone including ourselves the justice we deserve. | ||
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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
: Patrick Wong | ||
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