Volume 02 Issue 21

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

We had a good turnout this week to welcome our newest Rotarian, May Chan – with 20 members, several guests, a visiting Rotarian and a delegation from the District.

Our guests this week were PP Papu’s sons Mukesh and Manoj (both of whom have visited us before), Mr Ian Petersen who last week was the guest of PE David (I wonder who gets the honour next week) and Rtn Dan’s guest Dr Len Lees, a Director at the VTC School of Business & Information Systems. Also with us were PP Alan Jones from the RC of Portlethen & District (near Aberdeen), who coincidentally was with the Blue Funnel Line shipping company at the same time as VP Nic, and a delegation from the District comprising DG Johnson Chu, DGE Gloria Chan, AG Amy Ho and DS Jones Wong.


Rtn Dan with his guest Dr Len Lees

President Ramesh kicked off by wishing the club a Happy Deepawali (the Indian Festival of Lights) and Rtn Howard a Happy Birthday for the previous week. Our Sergeant at Arms was this week pleased to report takings to the box of HK$1,050 (bolstered by demands that he fine himself, although what his transgression was, I missed).


PP Alan Jones in an exchange of banners

After exchanging banners with PP Alan, President Ramesh then performed his “most pleasant duty”, the induction of new Rotarian May Chan. May was fortunate to be inducted during the DG’s visit to our club and after being presented with the “Object of Rotary” and “The Four-Way Test” plaques, received her Rotary pin from DG Johnson. Rtn May’s classification is Financial Analyst. Welcome May!


New member May Chan


Rotarian May receives her pin from DG Johnson

Finally, there are a number of important news items and diary dates in this week’s issue, so please do read on.

Till next week …

Yours in Rotary,
Nicole Burt


SPEAKERS

Last Week (16th November) DG Johnson Chu visted the club with a delegation from the District. VP Nic introduced him with the fact that in 25 years as a member of Rotary, DG Johnson has achieved 100% attendance. An achievement indeed! He joined the RC of Peninsula in 1977, was President of that Club from 1984 – 1985, and was District Secretary during the year that PDG Joseph was the District Governor (1989-1990).

DG Johnson told us that he views Rotary as a business with its aim being to improve the quality of life for everyone. Its product is service and its members are the assets. He listed the priorities in this Rotary year as: increasing membership by bringing worthy individuals into Rotary; initiating new community and international service projects; and enhancing the image of Rotary. Fellowship and service are equally important in projecting a good image and he congratulated our Club in our achievements with our many excellent service projects.

Of course, new members are vital to ensure the future of Rotary and he felt that all Rotarians should view it as a privilege and duty to sponsor new members. However, membership development is not just about classification – the right people have a certain quality of heart. Additionally, he felt that it was important to attract young members to bring vitality and new ideas to a Club.

As one of the goals for Rotary this year is for each District to sponsor at least 3 new clubs, DG Johnson was happy to tell us that the Rotary Club of Ulan Batuur are sponsoring a new club. A President, VP, PE and Treasurer have already been elected and the fledgling Club meets on Thursday evenings.

He then went on to discuss Rotary Foundation, to which a certain amount had been pledged by the District. He thanked IPP Bill in particular, who has regularly contributed a substantial amount. With his generosity, he has helped the Rotary Club of Kowloon North become the No.1 Club in the District for both annual fund giving and annual per capita donations and DG Johnson presented President Ramesh with 2 banners commemorating this fact.


DG Johnson presenting President Ramesh with banners


DGE Gloria, Rtn May, President Ramesh, DG Johnson, PP Gary & DS Jones

One of the District projects this year is a project in China called “Protect Our Mother Rivers”. The District has pledged HK$500,000 of which half has already been donated and the other half will be given at the completion ceremony.

Finally, he encouraged our participation in both the Intercity Meeting on 3rd December at which RI President Rick King will be the guest of honour and the District Conference at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel on 16th March next year.

This Week (23rd November) will be the Joint Meeting with Rotary Club of Macau to discuss the Guangxi Schools Project. VP Nic advised that the venue had changed and will now be held at The Mandarin Room at the Lisboa Hotel. Don’t forget to mark your diaries with the new venue. So far, VP Nic has received 20 confirmations of attendance.

We shall be meeting at the Macau Ferry Pier at 5.30 pm for departure on the 6.00 pm jetfoil. This only allows enough time to get through Immigration, so don’t be late! (But if you do have any problems, please call VP Nic on 90228301 or President Ramesh on 94689162.)

Friday 30th November: Dr Mark Houston – Traditional Chinese Medicine & the Fitness Industry
Friday 7th December: Mr Terry Hart, MLI Limited – Investments & Life Assurance
Friday 14th December: TBA
Thursday, 20th December: Christmas Dinner Meeting
Friday 28th December: Annual General Meeting – Election of Officers for Rotary year 2002/3

VP Nic is planning your programme for speakers for next year and he would welcome any names and addresses of speakers for January and early February.


WELCOMING COMMITTEES

Friday 23rd November: Raju Wadhwani & Daniel Hackston
Friday 30th November: Nigel Montague & Albert Lam
Friday 7th December: Howard Davies & Steve Lan
Friday 14th December: Joseph Lee & Frank Kleinteich
Friday 21st December: David Lindsay & Patrick Shum
Friday 28th December: Raj Mirpuri & Nic Robinson


NEWS – NEWS – NEWS

CLUB NEWS

Nomination of Directors

With only 2 responses received as at Friday, PE David reminded members that an e-mail has been sent to all members inviting us to nominate directors for the 2002/3 Rotary year. We can nominate up to 10 people for various positions. Since the Annual General Meeting is to be held on Friday 28th December (which is only 6 weeks away) he needs to receive your nominations in plenty of time to sort through them all. Please don’t neglect this important request.

Camp Quality Christmas Party

The Camp Quality Christmas Party this year, will be held at the Karting Mall on Sunday 9th December. There are currently 87 children registered for the party, not counting the ones which will be picked up from the hospitals on the actual event day, which should boost numbers to approximtely 150.

Tomy Toys has sponsored most of the toys for the younger children this year and they have donated 6 boxes of toys. Sponsorship is also being sought from suppliers for toys for the older children.

The fun will start at 10.00 am at the Karting Mall and will include karting races with Trophies, caps and t-shirts for the winning team; a Children’s Corner with a clown, balloon artists and cartoon characters; a buffet lunch; and finally, a visit from Santa himself with gifts for all the children.

Our Club has always participated in this Party and we hope this year there will be plenty of volunteers on hand to make this a special day for the children.

St James Settlements

International Service Director Brian Wong has sent an e-mail to all members attaching a Service Report from St James Settlements regarding their household maintenance service for the elderly. Our Club has donated HK$50,000 as one of our community service projects and St James Settlements are arranging a visit to decoration/maintenance sites at 10.00 am on Sunday 25th November so that we may see what their volunteers do. Anyone who would like to attend, should contact Rtn Brian as soon as possible.


MEMBER’S NEWS

Our Dolphin Visit

At 10.00 on Saturday morning, VP Nic, his wife Winnie, Rtn Brian Hodgson (from the RC of KGM) with his wife and 2 daughters, my friend Vanessa and I, assembled at the main gate of Ocean Park where we were met by Dr Christa Rayner, one of the marine mammal vets at ‘the Dolphin University’, and escorted to the secluded pools to visit the dolphins – a young male called Popeye, Ada and her calf Hoi Kei (meaning “gift of the sea” as she was the world’s first AI cetacean birth), Gina and her calf Max, and Jessie and her calf Maya.


Jessie & Maya

The weather was glorious and we all had a wonderful time. Hoi Kei and Max were conceived through assisted insemination but Jessie’s calf Maya was conceived through controlled natural breeding. At 5 months old, the calves were all very playful and fascinated (if shy) by their small band of visitors. Dr Fiona Brook demonstrated the ultrasound scanning technique on Jessie (a large Taiwanese dolphin and the leader of the group) and we watched whilst they were all fed with their daily diet of fish and ice-cubes.


Jessie, anxious for her food

Christa told us that the facility imports 13,000 tonnes(!) of frozen fish a month, to feed the 18 dolphins currently in residence at Ocean Park. The fish are imported from Japan and the US since the local fish have a very high heavy metal content from Hong Kong’s sadly polluted waters and the dolphins are highly sensitive to the effects of the pollution.

We then moved on to visit with Popeye, who is Jessie’s first calf. At 7 years old and about 8 feet long, he was in a separate pool. After he had been fed and after carefully disinfecting our hands, we enjoyed the rare privilege of stroking him. His skin, though slightly scarred from the bites dolphins frequently give each other when playing, was beautifully smooth and his belly was a beautiful iridescent pale pink. He thoroughly enjoyed the attention he was receiving, whistling softly and laying quietly by the side of the pool so that the youngest of our party could easily reach him.

It was a wonderful experience for which I heartily thank VP Nic for organising and Drs Fiona Brook and Christa Rayner for hosting.


THE YANTU PROJECT UPDATE (written on 14th November 2001 by Veronique Faure)

6th Yantu update: “only” 1000 miles to go!

Dear all,

Yes, since yesterday (13th November), our two rowers now have less than 1000 nautical miles (1850 km) to row until they reach Barbados. This was another psychological milestone for them as they are slowly starting to see the end of the tunnel! Their chosen route is 2760 miles long (5100 km) so they are almost two thirds of the way. With an average of 50 to 55 miles a day, this means they should arrive in Barbados in the very first days of December.

Christian says that with their sore bums, they are not going to sit around enjoying the trip, but are intending to get to Barbados as soon as possible!

The weather has been relatively cooperative, no big waves or strong wind. The main difficulty has remained, as for the last few weeks, a very high temperature. Rain is now a blessing for them, but it is rare. There is little they can do against the temperature, apart from preventing dehydration and sunburn: they wear hats, long-sleeved shirts, put on lots of sunscreen, drink a lot of water with mineral supplements, and stay in the shade of the cabin with a little fan on when they are off their rowing shift. Sometimes they go for a quick swim to refresh themselves. Sun Haibin is a triathlete and likes swimming a lot. They always go alternately, so that there is always one of them on board, for safety, … and to watch out for sharks!

Psychologically, things seem to be going up and down, and I have the impression that they are starting to get seriously bored, now that their life on board has become a real routine. Apart from an old seagull that usually visits them in the morning, they have very little external distraction and whatever they start thinking about, whether positive or negative, usually remains on their minds for hours: not like for us on land, who are constantly distracted!

However, in the last few days their morale has been up as they have continued to move up the rankings, securing the 11th position, and getting close to the 10th boat. This of course helps a lot to keep them going.

Thank you for your support
Veronique


BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

Saturday 24th November:
We have one birthday to celebrate this week, that of VP Nic, who shares the date of his birth with vertically-challenged Moulin Rouge artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864), public speaker and motivator Dale Carnegie (1888) and Glaswegian funnyman Billy Connolly (1942) .

Quotes ….
Dale Carnegie: “Believe that you will succeed, and you will.”
Billy Connolly: “The great thing about Glasgow is that if there’s a nuclear attack it’ll look exactly the same afterwards.”

On this day in history ….
1615 – French King Louis XIII married Ann of Austria. They were both 14 years old.
1642 – Abel Janzoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).
1759 – Destructive eruption of Vesuvius (one of many in the history of this volcano’s activity).
1859 – Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, published “On the Origin of Species.” It was the paper in which he explained his theory of evolution through the process of natural selection.
1952 – Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” opened in London
1963 – Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald live on national television.
1971 – Hijacker Dan Cooper, known as D.B. Cooper, parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom.


DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday 23rd November: Rotary Club of Kowloon North and Rotary Club of Macau Joint Meeting to be held at the changed venue of the Hotel Lisboa, the Mandarin Room. Bring your spouses and families or friends with you so that we can enjoy an evening of fellowship with our Rotary friends in Macau, followed by a relaxing weekend in Macau. Reservations have been made of the jetfoil leaving Hong Kong at 6.00 pm and for those who are returning, the jetfoil leaving Macau at 1.00 am.

Sunday 25th November: White Ribbon Day – the International Day for the Prevention of Violence Towards Women.

Saturday 1st December: Wear a Red Ribbon today to commemorate World AIDS Day

Monday 3rd December: Rotary International President Rick King, will be guest of honour at a District 3450 Inter-City meeting to be held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Tsimshatsui at 19.00. This will be a unique opportunity to meet the incumbent RI President. In addition, this will be the induction of Mr Tommy Tam, so please make the effort to show support for a new member to our Club and let President Ramesh know by 22nd November if you wish to attend. After all, it’s only one evening out of 365!

Sunday 9th December: The Camp Quality Christmas Party will be held at the Karting Mall this year. Everyone will meeting at Kowloon Tong KCRC Station at 9.15 am to get to the Karting Mall for 10.00 am. After safety briefings and practice races, the kart races will start at 10.40 am with the final championship race at 12.00. After the awards ceremony, there will be a buffet lunch at 12.30 pm followed by a visit from Santa Claus. The party is expected to end at 3.00 pm.

Saturday 5th January: The Annual District Mahjong Championships will be held at the World Trade Centre Club at 38/F, 280 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay. The event starts with a 12.00 pm buffet lunch with the competition starting at 1.30 pm. The fee is HK$500 which includes lunch and dinner. For further details, contact Mr. Frederick Ng on 90427077 or Tony Hui on 94610814.

Sunday 13th January: The District Sports Day will be held at the Wanchai Sports Ground from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Saturday 16th March: District Conference to be held at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel.


FROM THE BREADBASKET

LEADERS
(Submitted by Art McCullough)

During our District conference I picked up a great list of things a leader does. This was written by the 9 year old granddaughter of the speaker Chuck Ferguson.

WHAT A LEADER DOES
Trust
Tells the truth
Obeys the signs…”Stop” ,etc.
Sometimes does things they do not like to do
Helps people do their best
If someone is hurting – they help them
Shares what they have with others…Money …Goodwill…church
If something is poisonous, they tell the people
When they make a mistake they say “Sorry”
They always say “Thank you”
They’re a good sport…never a quitter
They Say…”Good Job”

Chelsea Ann Ferguson
Age 9.


AND FINALLY ….

Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.