Contents

Editorial (RI Convention) - By John Wan
President's Message - By President Raymond Sin
Letter to President Raymond - By Nora Fung
Letters to Editor
Also in the Members Only Version - Editor

editorial

Rotary International Convention

If you have been following what is happening in the District or if you were at the last District Assembly, you would not have failed to notice that our District is preparing to bid for the Rotary International Convention to be held in Hong Kong in 2009.

Some have said that it is an ambitious project, while others have said that 2009 is too far ahead. Ambitious, no doubt it is, for Hong Kong has never been host to an RI Convention, but nothing easy is worth the efforts of business and professional people united in service and dedicated to peace. To those who say that 2009 is too far ahead, we would say that this is not, for both RI and the host cities require long lead time to ensure maximum success, and this is how has been planning international conventions to ensure that decisions are made at least five years ahead.

Looking round and about us, Seoul, Taipei and Singapore have all hosted RI Conventions in the recent past, in 1989, 1994 and 1999 respectively. Tokyo did it in 1978 and will do it again in 2004. All these economies have held Hong Kong in high esteem and as the bastion for free economy. All these economies are competeing with Hong Kong for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the region to stimulate and sustain economic growth, but Hong Kong has stood out head and shoulder above them all. International Monetary Fund approved statistics have shown that Hong Kong's inward FDI is the combined total of Japan and Korea and three times that of Singapore, with Taiwan trailing at a far distance. While the governments in the respective economies could claim some responsibilities for the success or the lack of it, in the case of Hong Kong, which prides itself in small government and least government intervention, few would dispute that the business and professional people have made that happen, and quite rightly so. Now, who are these people? Are we not talking about the likes of ourselves, Rotarians? If we or our likes have contributed to such phenomenal success, why have we not been able to bring an RI Convention to Hong Kong so far.

The reasons cannot be our membership numbers or lack of government support. Singapore has about one-third strong our number of clubs and the Government of the HKSAR has been supportive. Indeed we learnt that the Chief Executive is keen to have an RI COnvention held in Hong Kong and had personally put such questions to a visiting RI President in office. More relevantly, Lions Clubs International (LCI) held its International Convention in Hong Kong in 1992, attracting 25,000 participants and spendings of $500 million. LCI has decided to hold its convention in Hong Kong again in 2005, and has estimated that 30,000 members would come to spending over $1 billion. The LCI District 303 has fewer members than us.

It is therefore gratifying to note that the District is putting a bid for the 2009 RI Convention to be held in Hong Kong. There is a lot of work to be done. As a start, we should put our act together and think District, think international and think global. There is no room for personal differences or personal achievement. Any achievement will be an achievement of all.

Return to Contents

President's Message

By President Raymond Sin - Published on 22 May 2002 in Members Only Version

Many things happened to the Rotary Club of Kingspark in the past 2 weeks. On 4 May 02 (Saturday), Kingspark celebrated its 8th Birthday at Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It was a joyful and full of enjoyment evening. Almost all members were present and had enjoyed each other's fellowship. The MCs, Terlence and Janny, did a good job in leading the programs very smoothly and professionally. Thomas and Sunny ran the floor very well. Of course, the Ball Chairman PE Anwer had done a lot to give us an unforgettable evening. We all left the place happily. I am sure that the happiest ones that night must be Rtn David Cheung and his wife for what he had accomplished during the auction. Happy birthday to Kingspark.

Following the Annual Ball, Kingspark held a large-scale Vocational Service project on 9 May 02 (Thursday). Rtn Amy Chow, our Vocational Service Director, organized a Vocational Seminar for the F4 and F6 students of TWHGs Wong Fat Nam School. It was very meaningful and successful in many aspects. The most important of all was the high involvment of membership. More than 80% of the membership were involved in organizing the programs and in giving talks or in small group discussion during the event. If I recalled correctly, that would be the first time in Kingspark history involving so many members in a single service project (excluding some sport or fellowship events). The number of participants was also a remarkable figure. Over 260 including students and their parents attended the event. The impacts of this magnificent project were profound. It was not the knowledge or information that the speakers tried to convey to the students that I am referring to. Rather, it was the teamwork and the spirit of voluntary work which have created the meaning and impact, not just in thestudents but also in our members and friends. You may understand how the students thought about the project by looking at the results of the questionnaires. It was a successful project by any standard. Chairlady Amy and members of organizing committee deserve a big round of applause. Well done.

We will still have some more projects to get together soon. Of course, 2002 is the year of soccer. World Cup is just round the corner. I have asked Club Service Director, Rtn Sunny to organize some fellowship for us to get together to watch the games. If you are football fans or just need a break in your busy life, you are most welcome to join us. On 28 June (Friday) evening, we will have our club installation at Ritz-Carlton Hotel. See you soon.

Return to Contents

Letter to President Raymond

By Nora Fung

(Nora Fung is the Chairperson of the Intellectually Disabled and Education Advocacy League)

I was very honored to be invited to your annual dinner party on May 4th. Throughout these years, the Rotary Club of KingsPark has supported the work of IDEAL in helping the children who are intellectually disabled. Last year the Rotary Club of KingsPark helped to raise a total of $150,000 for our Center. Indeed, your financial as well as moral support have made many of our activities not only possible but also successful. These include the setting up of six PCs and related equipment in our Library and Computing Room. Numerous computing courses have been arranged for our children, and all these PCs have access to Internet resources. Now the children have grasped some skills of information technology.

On behalf of all the committee members and concerned parents of IDEAL, I must express our gratitude to you again for your generous help in the past. In particular, special thanks to Mr. Tom Hui, Mr. David Forshaw, Mr. Clarence Au, and Mr. Ted Ho. And, as the new chairperson of IDEAL, I look forward to your unfailing and valuable support in the coming year so that more work can be done to help the less fortunate children. Thank You!

Return to Contents

Letters to Editor

You are welcome to write to 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.

Return to Contents

1. The Classification Principle - From ABCs of Rotary
2. Jokes - From District Website
3. Vocational Project Survey Results - By Club Secretariat
4. Report of Vocational Service Project - By Thomas Chan
5. Obituary - By Club Secretariat
6. Board Composition - From Club Website

Return to Contents