Volume 01 Issue 01

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

I hope you all like the look of this new style of Club Bulletin. You might call this the “Cyber Sampan”. The masthead above is an authentic replica of our traditional club bulletin masthead from decades past. Note the District 345 designation, which shows how old it is.

It seems like years since our last luncheon meeting, though it has only been three weeks. Time flies during your presidential year in Rotary. Two Fridays ago we held our evening fellowship meeting, and last week we canceled our regular meeting in favor of a Joint Meeting to celebrate World Understanding & Peace Day. This event was quite successful, with over 180 Rotarians in attendance.

We were one of the host clubs for this event, and as such, I was asked to sit at the head table, and was also given the honor of thanking the speaker, Professor K. Y. Chen, who spoke of need for international cooperation in facing the challenges involved in promoting economic development in the region.

A summary of Professor Chen’s speech is available in District Governor John Wan’s latest letter.

Service:

It is a rare week when our Club is completely quiet on the service front, and this week was no exception. Community Service Director Brian made a Saturday evening journey into China via Macau to meet with representatives from the “Three Schools” project. Planning is already under way for another joint project of the Rotary Clubs of Macau and Kowloon North, to build another school in Du’an County in Guangxi Province. We can expect an update on these plans in due course.

Our Last Speaker:

At our last luncheon meeting three weeks ago, Mr. Bob Lloyd of the Highways Dept. gave us a comprehensive look at the various projects planned by that department, and I would say that we were all rather impressed.

Mr. Bob Lloyd of the Highways Dept.

Vocational Service:

Tomorrow afternoon ten of us will be off to Chep Lap Kok for a vocational service visit to the Air Traffic Control Complex. All of you who are going should have received confirmation of the arrangements by separate email from Brian.

Attendance:

Our club’s attendance has not been what it should be this past year, and I would very much like it to improve. We ranked 41st in the District last year, but we are off to a better start this year. Please keep it up, and if you can’t attend our meeting, be sure to do a make-up.

Tomorrow’s meeting:

We will be formally receiving a donation of 500 British pounds tomorrow on behalf of the Three Schools Project. Ms. Nicole Burt, who is a friend of our own Rtn. Susan, has kindly arranged this donation and will be coming along to present the cheque.

This Friday’s Speaker:

Tomorrow we are pleased to have Mr. D. J. Brittain, Senior Bomb Disposal Officer with the Hong Kong Police. You will recall that Mr. Brittain was scheduled to speak to us a couple of months ago but had to cancel at the last minute when he was called out on an emergency. This should be a quite entertaining presentation.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Yours in Rotary,

President Bill