PDG John Wan – GML – November 2000

District Governor 2000-2001

My Dear Action Presidents, Club Secretaries and Rotary Leaders,

The Nominating Committee for District Governor 2002-2003 met on 1 December 2000 and selected Rotarian Gloria Chan of the Rotary Club of Queensway as District Governor-nominee. As we congratulate Gloria Chan for her achievement, we thank members of the Nominating Committee for the work on the one and Gloria for her willingness to serve Rotary in general and the District in particular on the other. From now till the RI Convention meets in San Antonio, Texas, USA in June 2001 when she will be elected District Governor-elect which office she will hold for one year till 30 June 2002, Gloria Chan is our District Governor-nominee and should be addressed as such. Congratulations, DGN Gloria Chan.
While in the congratulatory mood, let me share with you the happy news that also on 1 December, a bouncing nine-pound baby girl was born to President Shane Parmanand. Both mother and child have been doing well. Congratulations and well done to the Pamanands.
In the month of December, each club would be going through procedures to elect its club officials, including the president, president-elect and secretary. I hope all of you would take the process seriously and elect the best people to these and other offices. This is the first planning phases for the next 18 months, for each club should identify now its club president for 2002-2003, in the same manner that the District has identified Gloria Chan our leader for that year. I am aware that a few clubs had problems, but please be assured that your respective Assistant Governors and I stand ready to advise and assist as and when necessary. Our objective is to make ours an effective district, and it is never too early to plan. Please remember to forward to the District Secretariat the names of the Rotarians elected before the end of the year so that we can forward them to the RI Secretariat in good time for their inclusion in the Official Directory 2001-2002.
As we move out of November, our Rotary Foundation Month, let me invite all of you to congratulate the clubs that had contributed the most to the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation for 1999-2000. The top two clubs were Kowloon North, 102,000 and Kowloon East, 28,000. We had two clubs in the third place and they were, Hong Kong and Kowloon Golden Mile, each having contributed 11,600. The top three clubs in terms of per capita giving in the same period were, Kowloon North, 3,777.78, Kowloon East, 528.30 and Wanchai, 288.57. All figures are in US dollars. Congratulations to all the five clubs. I would be sending round the banners and congratulatory letters from the Rotary Foundation Chairman Herbert Brown as soon as practicable.
November was indeed a busy and momentous month for the District. We hosted the Rotary Zone Institute under the leadership of RI Director Gary Huang who was Convenor and our Past Governor Arthur Au who was Chairman. Convenor Gary said at the Closing that it was one of the best and best attended Zone Institutes. The last count for attendance was 499 including 86 spouses. Of the total, 154 were from our District, 175 from all seven districts in Taiwan, and 170 from the rest of the districts. The attendance figure for our District did not include the Rotarians and spouse who helped out in various sessions on various duties. The District, in particular, myself, owe a lot to all of them. I would like to thank all those who have assisted before, during and after the event in making it a success. I would also like to thank the Action Presidents who had risen to the occasion and encouraged their members to participate in the Institute. And I thank everyone who was there for whatever reasons. Once again, it is testimony of the collective strength and leadership inherent in the membership of the District. Between our members, I am confident and I feel assured that we can rise to the occasion to take up any challenge for the greater good of Rotary in general and of our District in particular.
RI President-elect Richard King and President-nominee Bhichai Rattakul who were in Hong Kong for the Zone Institute visited Beijing immediately afterwards at the invitation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. They were joined by President Frank Devlyn and General Secretary Edwin Futa. You can read about the visit from the RI website, in particular President Frank’s website. Briefly, President Frank reported that it was a very successful visit and that he was hopeful that the visit could mark the beginning of and lay the foundation for the re-establishment of Rotary clubs in China eventually. President Frank also said that he would be seeking approval from the Board of Directors for provisional club status for the Beijing Fellowship Group which has been meeting regularly for five to six years. The District China Committee chaired by Past Governor Moses Cheng had since met to discuss the various implications to the District and I would be communicating these views to President Frank direct. Among other things, I would assure the President that he can expect unqualified support from the District and the membership for any decision on this subject as long as our views are duly considered in the process.
Before I sign off, I would mention my third visit to Mongolia within six months. I went there on a rather cold weekend in November to play host to RI President-elect Richard King and Cherie, Secretary General Edwin Futa and visiting Rotarian Christopher Bramsen who is also the Danish Ambassador to China, Mongolia and Northern Korea. I thank District Secretary Edmond Chan (Channel Islands) and Deputy District Information Co-ordinator Herbert Lau (Tolo Harbour) for accompanying me during the trip. We were there for just under 24 hours, but we discussed a wide range of issues and visited a few places including a project made possible by contributions from clubs in the District and the District Designated Fund, and matched by the Rotary Foundation. It was a meaningful way to celebrate the Rotary Foundation Month.
Talk to you soon.

Your Governor John Wan