District Governor 2000-2001

My Dear Action Presidents, Club Secretaries and Rotary Leaders,

In the three months ending 30 September 2000, we have taken on 99 new members, including the intake of 35 members from the Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar and those inducted at District Installation, but we have also lost 85. The membership count on that date is 1,706 and a rather far cry to the membership target of 2,001 we set for ourselves to achieve by mid May 2001.
I would like to thank the clubs and the members in particular that have brought in new members so far. Past Governor Moses Cheng has been visiting clubs talking about the District Membership Challenge – the by now well known Challenge 2001 – and we have designed rather attractive recognition pins for the proposers and new members. They should be ready for distribution soon.
The fact remains that we need to work much hard at membership recruitment, retention and retrieval. While the figures indicate that the District achieved a net increase of 14 members in the first quarter, the shrew readers would notice that we would actually have lost 21 members if we had not had the addition of 35 members from Mongolia. To add to the gravity of the situation, I have unconfirmed reports that we might not have 35 members from Mongolia, certainly not now. This means we are losing members as a District. The situation is serious. We need to address the problem urgently and the clock is ticking.
Consistent and continuing membership growth is one of the four criteria for an effective club. It follows that a district that cannot report membership increases for a few years can hardly be regarded as an effective district. I am calling for an urgent meeting with Membership Task Force Chairman Moses Cheng and the District leadership to address the problem and I am looking for effective solutions. Please tell us what the problems are and what you think we can do to increase our membership.
As we move out of October, I hope you have commemorated Rotary’s Vocational Service Month in a meaningful way. At district level, Past Governor Arthur Au organized a District Vocational Service Seminar during a regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Peninsula. Over 100 Rotarians attended. In Macau, President Cinderella Ngao of the Rotary Club of Guia partnered with a number of government and non-governmental organizations and launched a series of activities in a New Millennium Seminar and Exhibition at the Macau Tourist Activities Centre, featuring life long education, environmental protection, time management and free training on the use of the Internet. I am particularly happy that the events received a good run from the local media, both the printed and the electronic. President Cinderella has certainly created awareness of Rotary’s concern for Vocational Service and has taken action by partnering with other organizations and in the process enhanced Rotary’s public relations and image. These are certainly in line with what President Frank J Devlyn has been urging clubs and Rotarians to do. If you are still thinking about what to do, I suggest you answer to President Frank’s call to provide job opportunities for the disadvantaged and the disabled. It is not necessary to start or complete your projects in the month of October. As I have said before and I am saying again, there is no beginning or end for anyone who wants to do a good turn to others. Anytime is as good. The important thing is to take action and do it.
Now is the time to plan for activities in November to mark The Rotary Foundation Month if you have yet to do so. I urge you to create awareness in your club of the Foundation and the need to contribute to it. I urge you to encourage club members to get accustomed to contributing to the Foundation on a continuing and regular basis. Once again, I am not asking every Rotarian to contribute US$1,000 each year, although that would be very much welcome. I am thinking of a tenth of the amount, but making it a habit. Yes, doing good can be habit forming. I can think of no better and more worthwhile or noble habit than doing good I general and contributing to The Rotary Foundation in particular. If you need help or ideas for giving, please feel free to call any committee member on my District Rotary Foundation Committee or you can call me. We are here to help.
Still on The Rotary Foundation, I would like to share with you – if you have not already heard – the good news announced by the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation recently. Past Governor Y K Cheng and Managing Editor of this very District Bulletin is among the 171 Rotarians awarded the Citation for Meritorious Service for 1999-2000 in recognition of his significant service to the Foundation. As we congratulate Y K for his achievement and the thoroughly merited award, let us pause for a while to think of the service rendered to the needy by these worthy Rotarians through the Foundation. Don’t be left out. Support the Foundation.
I cannot leave without asking you one more time to support the Rotary Zone Institute to be held in Hong Kong from 10 to 12 November. Many Rotarians in the District are working very hard to host the event and to ensure that our visitors would receive the welcome they deserve. I urge you to be part of it, to play host and to make a difference. Talk to you soon.

Your Governor John Wan

District Governor 2000-2001

My Dear Action Presidents and Rotary Leaders,

The cover story this month talks about the Rotary Zone Institute to be held in Hong Kong in November – the 2000 Rotary Institute Hong Kong. Traditionally, Rotary institutes are meetings designed for the attendance and participation of past, present and incoming officers of RI resident within the area the institute is to serve. The RI Board attaches great importance to Rotary institutes. They are useful medium of communication for developing and strengthening support, cooperation and understanding between participants. There is an entire section devoted to institutes in the 1998 Manual of Procedure, which again is indicative of its importance in Rotary. Among other things, Rotary institutes provide a forum for learning, discussion and inspiration.
I hope many of you would attend. The last time Hong Kong held an institute was in 1995, and the one before that, a very long time ago. It would probably be a good few years before we would host another zone institute. I hope many presidents, presidents-elect, past governors and present and incoming district officials would attend. I have enclosed with each hard copy of this letter a promotional leaflet with invitation letters from Director Gary Huang, Institute Convenor, and our Past Governor Arthur Au, Institute Chairman. There is also a registration form enclosed. Please make more copies and encourage your members to use them, beginning with yourself.
Before I leave this subject, let me give you one very important reason why more Rotarians in the District should attend, and why you should attend in particular. The reason is that it will better prepare us for the eventual International Convention that we have been lobbying so hard to host in Hong Kong. If indeed we succeed, we would need many Rotarians with the experience that an institute can offer.
From Zone Institute, I move to a recent RI Board decision to restructure service centres. Specifically, the Board decided to close from mid September the Southeast Asia Service Centre in Manila, Philippines. Our District is now serviced on RI and Foundation matters by RI World Headquarters staff at Evanston. Ann Koh and Dora Kordek are now respectively Manager and Coordinator of Club and District Administration for Asia/Pacific. Separate banking information for RI payments and Rotary Foundation contributions have also been made available and sent to all club presidents by the RI Secretariat direct. Please get in touch with your Assistant Governor or District Secretariat if you have other questions.
Still on Rotary news, you would have known by now that RI announced on 11 September 2000 the nomination of Bhichai Rattakul as President-nominee, RI for 2002-03. Bhichai Rattakul is a member of Rotary Club of Dhonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. He was RI Director from 1990 to 1992 and a Trustee of The Rotary Foundation from 1985 to 1986. He served as a member of Parliament of Thailand for nine terms. He was leader of the Democratic Party, foreign minister in 1975-76, deputy Prime Minister for 10 years, and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Bhichai Rattakul is a good friend of Hong Kong and a personal friend of many past governors in the District. He has a distinguished Rotary career since he joined as a charter member of his club in 1958 and is now a member of the 2000-01 Diplomatic Relations Task Force. You can get more details on this distinguished Rotarian from the RI web site.
Back to District matters, the District Rotaract Committee held the Rotaract District Conference on 24 September at Suen Douh Camp in Fanling. It is noteworthy that Committee Chairman Peter Lam (Tai Po) and his Committee had picked September, the New Generations Month, for the event. I went for the opening ceremony, as did Past Governor Joseph Lee and a number of Rotaract advisors. The advisors then met to discuss topical issues in the District, in particular those related to young people, while the Rotaractors had their training session. The advisors reached broad agreement that they should meet more regularly and frequently between themselves and with the District Rotaract Committee and the Rotaract club presidents. I am glad that Joseph Lee and Peter Lam have created awareness of the youth issues and will be taking action to address them.
Also on 24 September, the District held its first ever Swimming Gala in Ma On Shan. It was very well attended. There were well over 400, half of whom spouse and children. It was a day for the family. Full marks to District Sports Committee Chairman Tony C N Kan (Shatin) and the hardworking members of Rotary clubs of Kowloon Northeast and Taipo for putting together such a fine programme, and congratulations to the Rotary Club of Kwai Chung and the Rotary Club of Tai Po for having done so well in the men’s and women’s events respectively.
September also saw a very successful District Rotary Foundation Seminar organized by Committee Chairman Grace Young (Mid Level). There were record registration and attendance. Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator Jackson Hsieh came from Taipei to give the principal input and RI Director Gary Huang also spoke at the Seminar. Both spoke well of the Seminar and the efforts of the organizers and participants. However, we must not rest on our laurels, for there is still a lot of work to be done. Now is the time to prepare for talks and in-house seminars at club level in November, our Rotary Foundation Month, based on the input and experience gained at the District seminar, so that more members can benefit and learn more about how the Rotary Foundation work and specifically how the many humanitarian, educational and cultural programmes operate. The members of the District Rotary Foundation Committee and Sub-Committees are all ready, willing and able to assist. All you need to do is ask.

Your Governor John Wan

District Governor 2000-2001

I would like to begin by officially announcing the results of the Ballot-by-Mail that all Action Presidents had participated in July 2000. I said officially because I had actually announced the news on 7 August through an open letter uploaded on the District Website under the title “Why we are Rotarians”. Further, I had the letter faxed to the Presidents who were not known to the District as having operating an e-mail address. Now, the results.
On Friday, 4 August 2000, the Balloting Committee, comprising Past District Governor Dr. Jason Yeung (Kowloon West), Past President Stanley Mok (Hongkong Sunrise) and Past President Ted Ho (Kingspark Hong Kong), met to examine the returns from club presidents in respect of the Ballot-by-Mail for the 2000-2001 Per Capita Levy towards the District Fund. In attendance were Past Governor Anthony Hung, Governor-elect Johnson Chu, District Secretary (Returns) Edmond Chan and myself.
Committee Chairman PDG Jason Yeung sent me the formal report on 5 August 2000 which included the following findings. First, all the 48 clubs in Hong Kong and Macau returned their ballot which were all determined by the Committee as valid. Thank you very much, Action Presidents for the part you played in creating awareness and in taking action in the exercise. That every club in Hong Kong and Macau responded without exception is an unprecedented show of solidarity and a reflection of the seriousness the clubs attached to the exercise. I am proud of all the Action Presidents.
The 48 clubs together mustered 66 votes based on RI rules. Of these, 45 voted for, 20 against and one abstained. This means that the clubs in the District have now voted by majority for the 2000-2001 District Budget. Specifically, the Per Capita Levy towards the District Fund from 1 July 2000 now stands at HK$1,100 for a Rotarian in Hong Kong, and HK$830, Macau.
In my open letter dated 7 August, I went on to address the issues raised by clubs and members related to the District Budget in general and to the process in particular. I would not repeat the arguments here. You are welcome to visit our District Website for Issue 27 of my Letters. Indeed I would urge all Action Presidents to visit the site at least once a week if possible.
From the Budget, I move to my series of Official Visits. Many of you would have noticed that I have started the visit program. Indeed, I have been exchanging notes with a few Action Governors on what some people have called a necessary routine. Well, it may be a routine for the fact that every governor visits his clubs this time of the year, but to the people concerned, particularly the principal protagonists, they should be anything but routine. Let me explain.
To start with, an official visit must not be seen as an end in itself. Rather, it is a means of achieving an important objective of Rotary International, which is to ensure that clubs in a district would continue to observe the Object of Rotary and remain effective clubs. Members of the twenty or so clubs I have officially visited so far would recall that an effective club in this context is one that would have sustained membership growth, meet the needs of the community, continue to contribute to the Rotary Foundation and provide leadership beyond the club level.
I quickly point out that it would be unrealistic to expect a one-hour visit can achieve this objective, or for that matter, anything substantial. The leadership at Rotary International have been aware of this, and this is where the District Leadership Plan (DLP) has come in handy. Under the DLP, governors can appoint a number of assistant governors to handle some of the administrative workload and for greater flexibility in official visits. The plan is designed to strengthen Rotary at the district and club levels by making possible faster and more responsive support for clubs, a larger supply of well-trained district leaders, better communications within the district, and so on. As far as official visits are concerned, governors can now visit clubs individually or in multi-club meetings conducted throughout the year for the purpose of focusing on important Rotary issues, motivating Rotarians to participate in service activities, and so on. The DLP also envisages that these visits should take place at a time that maximizes the governor’s presence, including charter nights, induction ceremonies, new member orientation programs, citation or award presentations, special programs, Foundation events or intercity meetings.
Under the DLP, therefore, it would be up to the clubs and members to make full use of the Governor’s Official Visits for the purposes of the respective clubs. After all, each club has its own special culture and characteristics and is its own best judge for its performance up to a point. If there are problems, the club leadership, in consultation with the assistant governor, would be best placed to find solutions.
As we are moving out of August, Rotary’s Membership Development and Extension Month, I would like to remind all members of the urgency and need to redouble our efforts to recruit, retain and retrieve members. The statistics so far are not encouraging. We took on 35 new members at District Installation and we added another 30 or so members on 1st July from Mongolia, but our total membership ending July was not a lot to write home about. We need to bring in drastic and dramatic measures, and PDG Moses and I are all ears.
Before I sign off, I would like to announce that nominations for District Governor Nominee 2002-2003 are now open. Clubs have up to 13 November 2000 to propose candidates for consideration by the 2002-2003 DGN Nomination Committee. Club Presidents can call me for the forms and other details. The Committee will meet on 1 December.

Your Governor John Wan

District Governor 2000-2001

Continuity Column
August 2000

Whys and Wherefores

Governor Dipo asked me to start a column in his newsletter. I have no problem with that. Indeed, I think this is good news for our District. It shows that Governor Dipo is intent to answer President Carlo’s call for continuity in Rotary, in form and in substance. Over the past few months, Dipo, Anthony Hung and myself had been attending Rotary functions and going places together. In fact, we three decided in March to meet at least once every month to discuss matters of a strategic nature, including medium and long range planning and projects straddling more than one or two years. At the July meeting, we also resolved to keep notes of these meetings to enable future district leaders to follow what we have been doing or not done. In short, we are getting very serious about continuity which we see as vital for the healthy and continuing development of Rotary in our District.

So far, the initiatives that can be attributed to we three working together include the District Electronic Communications Committee which seeks to bring the district up to speed in the use of information technology as far as possible; the District Projects Task Force which will identify, plan, implement and evaluate District projects of a continuing nature or with recurrent consequences; and the appointment of Past Governor Anthony Hung as District Youth Services Co-ordinator, in recognition of the importance we attach to youth services in general and youth development in particular.

In my presentation on leadership at the last District Assembly, I stressed that leaders must lead and follow, as the situation requires. Indeed, the nature of our institution is such that we would all take turn to lead and follow, for the common good and in furtherance of the Object of Rotary. That is why it is essential that the district leadership should endeavour to focus on more important and district-wide issues. Only then would we be able to allocate and apply our limited resources to deserving projects and the really needy. Governor Dipo has said that successive governors ought not be competing to out-perform one another. I totally agree. He also said that life is too short for unproductive and meaningless activities, which I also agree. I would add that when our Rotary leaders work together towards clear and well understood objectives, they would the better be able to create the very much needed synergy to take our District collectively to greater heights. I think this is what continuity is all about.

District Governor 2000-2001

Governor’s Monthly Letter
July 2000

Be proactive with membership development and extension,
enhancing Rotary’s image and building partnerships

My Dear Action Presidents and Rotary Leaders,

This may be the first time I write to you in this particular format, but I hope this is not the first time you come across my thoughts in writing. During the past 12 months, I contributed to a “Continuity Column” in Governor Dipo’s Monthly Letter. In addition, I started a letter series through e-mail round about that time to talk about Rotary, my life and life generally. Both series are available on the District Website.

In this day and age, effective communication is vital. This monthly letter cannot therefore be the sole communication tool between us. To encourage the use of the Internet, I am deliberately limiting production to 300 hard copies for each issue. I urge you to advise your members to go for the Website version that is linked to the District Album. Over time, maybe we can print even fewer hard copies or do away with them altogether, thus saving some trees. In the meantime, you are free to make copies for members and friends who prefer to read them as such.

Now, first, my wife Rosita and I would like to wish you well. We wish you prosperity, good health and happiness. Once again, I can no better convey to you the Rotary message for the year than to quote what our leader of leaders Frank Devlyn said to his team members on the first day of the Rotary year. This is what our President said,

“Today is the first day where we officially begin the work of our “Action Team”. All of you are aware of the importance I have placed on our theme . . . “Create Awareness . . . Take Action” . . . In our clubs, In our Community, In our world. It is now up to each of you to give life and meaning to our theme during our year. Let us never forget it is our time to make things happen. If we are to be successful in our goals, it will depend on you and me. Good luck and best wishes for a very successful Rotary year.”

I would like to believe that our Action Team had started work before 1 July 2000. I said in my article “Is there a beginning or an end” that to the committed Rotarian, life is a continuing quest to follow the heart, as opposed to a quest for fame and fortune. I also said that any time is a good time for service, such that there is no beginning or end in the enterprise of service. Nevertheless, it is useful to start a new year with new goals and defined objectives. One suggests this is what the annual Rotary themes seek to achieve.

Specifically, President Frank Devlyn has asked us to focus on the following priorities during 2000-2001.
First, keep our current RI and Rotary Foundation programs in motion. In particular, keep up the momentum on programs such as PolioPlus.
Second, be proactive in our membership development and retention efforts.
Third, work hard to enhance Rotary’s public image
Fourth, build partnerships
Fifth, find innovative and proactive ways to address the world’s many pressing concerns.

August being Membership and Extension Month, President Frank Devlyn has reminded us of his 21st Century Challenge issued in July, which will recognize those districts and clubs that achieve the highest net gains in membership between 1 July 2000 and 15 May 2001. President Frank has also challenged each Rotarian to bring in a new member during the year. He asked each club to create two teams—one focusing on recruitment and the other on retention. In short, he has asked clubs and districts to think corporate and to think big. “If every club meets the 21st Century Challenge,” notes President Frank, “the results will be felt worldwide, as an ever-growing force of Rotarians strives to Create Awareness and Take Action.”

The Presidential Membership Goal for this Rotary Year challenges each club to increase its net membership by five Rotarians. I am happy that many clubs in the District are taking this most seriously and are working hard on it. I am hopeful that we can achieve our District goal of 2001 members and I hope that at least one of our clubs in the District can receive from the hands of President Frank the award at the 2001 San Antonio Convention in June 2001.

Past Governor Moses Cheng is our District Membership Development and Extension Chairman. He has been working very hard on the program and will no doubt issue guidelines and a District Award Scheme. Watch this column. In the meantime, feel free to write to him or me if you come across ideas on how to take the matter further.

From membership development, I move to Rotary’s image. To start with, one must bear in mind that enhancing Rotary’s image is not an end in itself. It is a means to promote Rotary and to bring Rotary closer to the people that need our service most. In corporate parlance, it is a marketing strategy in the business plan. Building image takes time and money. It follows that we would achieve economy of scale if this is taken up at the District rather than at the club level. Once again, we welcome your views.

Another way of enhancing Rotary’s image is through building partnerships with other organizations. I suggest we have made a good start by signing Friendship and Co-operation Agreement with four service organizations at our District Installation in June. These four organizations are the Lions Clubs International District 303, Zonta International District 17, Hong Kong Junior Chamber and the Agency for Volunteer Service. We would follow up with these service organizations with a view to developing joint service projects that would not only benefit more people, but would also help enhancing our image and our public relations. This is a new area and once again, will need to be proceeded at the District level.

In the words of President Frank, there’s so much to do. So we must take action early and be proactive. Talk to you soon.

Your Governor John Wan