March is Magazine Month
Birthday Boys and Girls - A "Nil Returns of the Day"
Again!!
Meeting on 7th March, 2001
Guests were Nasreen Ting and
Levina Mahtani, Rtn David; Eric Thomas, PP Louis; Money Pitz, Rtn
Balu; and Ronni Bellani Rtn Neerja.
There was one Visiting Rotarian,
Rtn Mukesh Gopal, Classification - Managing Director, from
Mauritius.
The proceeding were underway by
1.10 p.m., some of us being midway between Cream of Asparagus, Chicken or
Vegetables and ... wait for it ... a symphony of Strudels! I have it on
good authority this has nothing to do with our recent choir practices.
Acting Sgt at Arms, Rtn Elissa managed to get red ones from the finees ...
but I forget what was the indiscretion involved. President Cassidy announced
that dollars and clothing were required for Mongolia, gave details of the
forthcoming District Badminton Competition as well as the coming Tree Planting
day and walkathon and warned of an impending increase of the weekly lunch
from $200 to $220. An announcement was made on behalf of the Ball Committee,
reminding us of our obligations to bring many guests/participants, to arrange
Souvenir Programme sponsorships, to donate prizes and anything else calculated
to make our ball the best ever ... in the District!! Attendance was
average!
Rtn David then introduced the
speaker, Dr Wesley Shiu to
speak on Cancer Treatment. Dr Shiu obtained his undergraduate degree MB.,
ChB., and post-graduate doctorate degree, Doctor of Medicine from Manchester
University in the U.K. He is also a post-graduate fellow in many colleges -
MRCP (U.K.), MRCP (Ireland), FHKAM, FHKCP, and is a member of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr Shiu was the Chairman of the Department of
Oncology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1982-1992), the Hon. Consultant
in Oncology at the Prince of Wales Hospital (1987-1992), Hon. Consultant in
Oncology at the United Christian Hospital (1989-1992), and is currently the Hon.
Professor in Oncology at the Shanghai Medical University China.
Dr Shiu is more than just a
Western Medical Doctor specialising in the treatment of cancer, being the
first medical doctor in Hong Kong to combine the very best of Western Medicine
and Chinese Medicine in the treatment and management of cancer, with remarkable
results. He is also a staunch believer in
preventive and holistic medicine - an area too often ignored and neglected by
health practitioners. For instance, he is well versed in the area of
anti-oxidants, a most popular topics these days. Dr Shiu covered these points in
depth during his talk and generated a very active question and answer session at
the end of his talk. Regretfully his busy schedule drew him away very swiftly
after the meeting and I was unable to seek notes of references to include in
this report. I will keep trying.
Prospective
Members
The Membership
Committee and the Board of Directors have approved applications for Active
membership in favour of:
(a)
Mrs Nasreen Ting; membership
classification - Trading - Health and Beauty,
(b) Miss Romela (Romu) Bellani; membership classification - Exporter -
Childrenswear
Any club member
who wishes to lodge an objection to either of these proposals is required to do
so in writing to the Club Secretary within 7 days from the date of this
notice (i.e. on or before 27th March, 2001), setting out the reasons for their
objection.
If no objections are
received within the specified period (and subject to advance payment of the
ruling joining fee), Mrs. Ting and Ms Bellani can be inducted as an Active member
of KGM on or after 27th March, 2001.
Racing Fellowship Final Alert &/or
Reminder
21st March 2001 (Tomorrow!!) in Happy Valley,
Venue: Box E806 Section E ("E" denotes the lift no.),
8th Floor, Member Stand II. Time:
Box opens 6.00pm, dinner starts 6.30pm, racing around 7.30pm. Phone Hans at 90393094 if you are interested but haven't booked yet
although I think it is probably too late! But then again you could be
lucky!!
On Vocation! With PP Bryan Van
Dale
Classification - Advertising - Media
Sales
"Life is good - My Vocational
Voyage"
Jennifer and I will
have been in Hong Kong for 10 years this summer. This is the longest I have lived in one
place in my life. My father was in
the US Army, which required us to move about every 3 years. Growing up, I lived in Germany, Ethiopia
and all over the United States.
Even today, every 3 years or so I get an “itch” and start packing. Jennifer was a bit shocked the first few
times she woke in the middle of the night to find me emptying drawers into
boxes…
I was born in
Minnesota, USA. After graduating
from High School in Oklahoma, I decided to go to University in Minnesota --
to find my roots. After
discovering during my first year at university that beer and Rock n Roll were
more important than calculus, I changed my mind about becoming a physicist and
got a degree in business finance. I
also learned how to trap beaver (very large dam building rodents with big teeth,
fat tails and popular fur) and ice-fish during those “all-important” years at
university.
Right after I
graduated in 1984, I became a US Army Officer and after some training in
Georgia, I was posted in Hawaii. In
addition to gaining a thorough understanding of the Waikiki nightlife, I spent a
lot of time here in Asia. Despite
an “Asian experience” that consisted of being in places most people have never
even heard of, I developed an interest in seeing more of Asia --
without a uniform and rucksack.
I left the
Army in May 1988 and took a job with a real estate brokerage company in
Singapore. I opened a Taipei office
for the company in September 1988.
I worked for that company for 2 years and spent another year in Taipei
working for a car rental company (I can now name every part of a car in
Taiwanese).
Jennifer is mostly
the reason I/we live here in Hong Kong.
We met in July 1990. She
spotted a classified ad in an international newspaper for a regional advertising
manager based in Hong Kong. I
applied for and got the job. We got
engaged in December 1990 -- while driving around Taipei one night,
in a refrigerator truck (I was driving), looking for an open video store. (I was lucky to find a woman as romantic
as me…) We were married in August
1991, in Jennifer’s hometown, Philadelphia. We have lived in Hong Kong ever
since.
My work here
has been interesting, varied and educational. I left the publishing company in 1995 to
take a position as the GM of a private shooting club. I was involved in the gun club business
in varying degrees until late 1997.
I then spent about one year working at a small local trading
company.
The best thing
I have ever done (except getting married to Jennifer) was to start my own
business. A lot has happened over
the past few years and I now look forward to seeing what each new day will
bring. My little company does lots
of “pretty cool” stuff. We do a few
things for the Hong Kong Government
-- Mostly in the area of
communications and electronics. We
are involved with some technology that can track a GSM telephone anywhere in the
world on a map through the Internet.
We also import/export aviation chemicals and spare parts regionally. Most recently, we have started offering
an onsite computer service for companies big enough to need such a service but
too small to require a full time person.
Why Rotary? I like the idea of giving to the
community and I love the feeling of accomplishment --
no matter how small the deed.
I think the things that Rotary stands for are admirable. Rotary International has a fantastic
tried and tested platform for a service club, which is evident by its astounding
worldwide success in serving the world community and the world’s
communities. But I have to say that
for me, the main reason I belong to a Rotary Club is because of the people of
KGM. Attending regular meetings and
other events stopped being a commitment or duty a few short months after I
joined. I am spending time with
good friends -- doing good things as well as having a
great time!
My words of
wisdom for every KGM Rotary member are:
Attend, and you will enjoy.
From the
Webmaster
aka The
Phantom
In a never-ending quest to
continually improve and refine our web site, particularly in my ongoing effort
to simplify navigation (and to ensure that our main page loads as quickly as
possible), your fearless Webmaster has made additional changes.
For starters, some of the
information previously available on the main page has now been moved to
sub-pages, however these can still be easily found, because I have expanded the
hyperlinks at the very top of the main page.
For example, previously you had
to click on "Member's Stuff", then "Club Calendar" then "Regular Meetings"
to see the name and topic of our forthcoming guest speaker. However now you
merely need to click "What's On" at
the very top of the main page, and you will be immediately whisked
away at warp speed to a brief summary of upcoming events. If you need
further information about other events in the future (or to review past events),
supplementary links are provided.
Similarly, if you need to find
Rotary Links and Information, there
is now a dedicated link available from the very top of the main page. Ditto for
the basic (non-confidential) Club
Roster, the Bulletin
directory, the Club
History and so on. Of course, our Search function is still an easy way to find
information on any topic available on the web site.
If you haven't visited the KGM web
site for a while, go take a look at the new format.
By the way, our web site is now
comprised of 193 separate pages !! Of course, this includes about 70 pages of
Club Bulletins, however this still means we have over 120 pages of other stuff,
which undoubtedly makes the KGM web site the most comprehensive in District
3450.
Finally, the "HK Links" page has been further expanded, and
there are now links to over 200 Hong Kong related web sites. Awesome, even if I
say so myself :-)
The Phantom.
Presidential
Quotation
Lord, Forgive Me When I
Whine
By Og Mandino
Today, upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl with
golden hair, I envied her ... she seemed so gay ... and wished I were as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; she had one
leg and wore a crutch; but as she passed ... a smile! Oh, God forgive me when I
whine, I have two legs. The world is mine!
I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who
sold it had such charm. I talked with him. He seemed so glad. If I were late it
would do no harm. And as I left he said to me, "I thank you. You have been so
kind. It's nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind." Oh,
God, forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes. The world is
mine.
Later, while walking down the street, I saw
a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play. He did not know
that to do. I stopped a moment, then I said, "Why don't you join the others,
dear?" He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear. Oh,
God forgive me when I whine. I have two ears. The world is
mine.
With feet to take me where I'd go, with eyes
to see the sunset's glow, with ears to hear what I would know ... Oh, God
forgive me when I whine. I'm blessed indeed. The world is
mine.
We heard a recording of Og Mandino reciting
this, at or near the end of the meeting.
Jokes That Make
You Weak
A kipper walked into a
Doctor's surgery and said, Is it true what I keep hearing about smoking being
very bad for you?". "Yes," replied the Doctor, "I'm afraid it has been proved
true". "Funny," said the kipper, "smoking has completely cured me".
Brain
Teaser
A Professor of Zoology
having measured a python announced that it's length was 5 meters plus half
its own length.
How long was the python?
URCHIN