RAAS Chair PDG emailed the following invitation to all the Club Presidents and District leaders on 10 February 2014:

Dear Club Presidents and District Leaders,
The Mock Court 2014 Series of Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) and Education Bureau (EDB) have successfully invited Customs & Excise Department (C&E) to be our service partner. The first ever and most meaningful educational activity is collaborated with C&E and a visit to Customs Headquarters Building will be conducted. The purpose of this collaboration is to let students know that C&E works hand in hand with Police Force to combat smuggling activities, narcotics interdiction, copyright infringing activity etc so as to protect Intellectual Property Rights.

Apart from enriching students’ Other Learning Experiences, this program offers an invaluable opportunity for participants to comprehend the work of C&E, to fortify civic education and as a consequence, it is expected that students should avoid defying the law or becoming lawbreakers due to their ignorance.
The Mock Court 2014 Series include:

a) 1 March 2014 (Saturday) from 9 a.m. to 12 noon
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Visit of Customs facilities at 9/F & Visit of Exhibition Gallery at 10/F, Customs Headquarters Building. Officers of Hong Kong Customs provide guided tour to participants
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon – Presentation on Case Processing by C& E Officers

b) The subsequent Saturdays in March
RAAS will arrange volunteer solicitors / barristers to provide further training on the Saturday(s) in March to those students who will attend Mock Court Trials. Intensive training to Prosecution Team and Defence Team will be organized.

c) 29 March 2014 (Saturday)
Mock Court Trials at the Court Rooms of the High Court.

Information on Enrolment:
C&E offers 180 vacancies only for the Visit of the above-mentioned item a) on 1 March 2014. Therefore, please enroll soonest as it is first-come, first-served.
Please note the follows:

• 1. Mock Court Trial participants must attend the Customs Headquarters Building visit and the Presentation on Case Processing session on 1 March 2014.
• 2. RAAS partnering schools and non-RAAS will be accepted. Each school comprises of maximum 8 people including 1-2 Principal / teachers.
  • For Rotarians and their children would like to participate this event, please enroll soonest. If it happens that your Rotary Club has one or more target schools interested to know more about RAAS or have a chance to be partnering, please feel free to invite their students joining this activity. Seats are subject to availability thus kindly take immediate action now.
• 3. Deadline for enrollment will be 20 February 2014.

Certificates of Participation will be issued by EDB to participants accordingly.
Please return the duly completed Reply Slip to PP Wendy Mung ( wmung@hkstar.com ) at your earliest convenience.
Successful applicants will be notified individually. Please contact us should you have any query.
With best regards,
PDG Tony Wong
Rotary Adopt A School Committee Chair

*********************************************************************
REPLY SLIP
Name of Rotary Club:
Name of Rotarian in charge:
Mobile phone No:
Email address:
For the security reason, all participants visit Customs Headquarters Building must provide their names.
Name list of participants 1.
2. 3……8.

_{Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) Information By RAAS Committee}

RAAS Chair PDG Tony and his team wish all of you a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous Year of the Horse and beyond!
Mock Court 2014 in March

RAAS Committee members had a meeting with Customs & Excise Department (C&E) to discuss the possibility and sustainability of the collaboration with RAAS and Education Bureau (EDB). The officers of C&E indicated their great interests and passions working with RAAS as they aim at providing civic education to students on Anti-smuggling, Narcotics Interdiction and Intellectual Property Rights Protection etc.

On top of that, EDB was excited to partner with C&E for Mock Court 2014 series thus a meeting with RAAS had been taken place to study the feasibility. Further information will be coming soon.

_{Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) Information By RAAS Committee}

A. Mock Court 2014 in March
Mock Court 2014 will take place on the Saturdays of March. Details will be announced shortly.

B. Update on Carol Singing Festival 2013 ( 聖 誕 頌 歌 節 2013) Non-stop Rotary Performance 扶輪頌歌唱不停大匯演 to support Child Development Matching Fund (CDMF) on 15 December 2013
CDMF thanked Rotary and updated the donation record on 27 January 2014 and photos as below:

Name of Donors
Amount received
PP Michael Kwan
$50,000
DG Eugene Fong
$20,000
PDG Tony Wong
$10,000
Rotary Club of Happy Valley
$20,300
Rotary Club of Metropolitan Hong Kong
$4,000
Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour
$3,200
Total
$105,100

It has been the 3rd consecutive year that RI District 3450 supported CDMF Carol Singing Festival with a marathon caroling event. Within these three years, our District recruited over 3,000 performers and raised nearly HK$400,000 to support the disadvantaged youths in Hong Kong. The funds raised are used towards matching the personal savings of deprived youths, as a part of Child Development Fund, an internationally proven poverty alleviation programme.

We had over 1,000 participants from RAAS partnering schools and Rotary family members to sing on 15 December 2013. Besides carol singing, Non-stop Rotary Performance also included sessions of Chinese drama, poetry recital, and Kung Fu performance. This event provided a platform for students to show their talents and to support their disadvantaged peers.

Photo 1: Chief Secretary of HKSAR, Mrs. Carrie Lam presented the Highest Number of Performers Award to Rotary District 3450, in recognition to their “Non-stop Rotary Caroling Performance”. Representing Rotary District 3450 to receive this award were PDG Tony Wong and PP Michael Kwan at Carol Singing Festival 2013 Official Launch Ceremony on 8 December 2013 at 1881 Heritage.

Photo 2: Guests of Honour: District Governor Eugene Fong, Mr. Paul Chan, MH, JP Secretary for Development Bureau of HKSAR, Mr. Jimmy Ma, JP, Legal Adviser of Legislative Council Secretariat and PDG Tony Wong officiated the “Non-stop Rotary Caroling Performance” together with Ms Vena Cheng, daughter of PDG Moses Cheng who came on behalf of her father, Mrs Amy Chan, Dr. Anthony Yeung and Mr Tony Pang of CDMF Directors and Member at East Point City on 15 December 2013..

_{Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) Information By RAAS Committee}

A. Visit the Green Technology Consortium Campus on 18 January 2014 at No. 12 Kam Chui Road, Kam Tsin Tsuen, Sheung Shui, N.T.

B. The 4th Hong Kong Bowling Tournament For All Cum The 3rd Hong Kong Blind Bowling Tournament on 19 January 2014 at South China Athletic Association Bowling Centre

_{Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) Information By RAAS Committee}

A. Visit the Green Technology Consortium Campus on 18 January 2014 – Full House
The visit of the Green Technology Consortium Campus (GTC) will be started from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at No. 12 Kam Chui Road, Kam Tsin Tsuen, Sheung Shui, N.T. 上水古 洞金翠路 12 號. Many thanks for PP Winnie Yuen of Rotary Club of Happy Valley who sponsored the coach for this event.

B. The 4th Hong Kong Bowling Tournament For All Cum The 3rd Hong Kong Blind Bowling Tournament on 19 January 2014 (Sunday) from 10:00a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at South China Athletic Association Bowling Centre – Full House
DG Eugene Fong, Ms Vivien Lau, Vice President of HK Olympic Committee, Mr. Peter Sun, Artists Robynn & Kendy, 張致恆 and 洪杰 will officiate the Opening Strokes Ceremony. Chairman of Rehabilitation Advisory Committee Mr. Hui Chung-shing, Herman, BBS, JP, PDG Tony Wong and AG Andy Li are the Guests of Honour to present souvenir to winners. Mr. Wu Siu Hong, Hong Kong Elite Bowler, will share his experience on how to overcome difficulties to reach the elite athlete level at the Prize Presentation Ceremony.

_{Rotary Adopt A School (RAAS) Information By RAAS Committee}