1994-95: PP George Li
Message from President George Li
In my year as President, two babies, both very close to my heart, were born a few days apart. They are my son, Jonathan, and our daughter club, the Rotary Club of Quarry Bay.
The inauguration dinner of the Rotary Club of Quarry Bay was something I will remember for a long time. It was held in the Regal Hotel, Causeway Bay. On that evening, I had two other functions. The Turkish Consul General’s cocktail party at the Hong Kong Country Club, and a company dinner for Chinese Officials. I had the latter organised in a Chinese Restaurant at the Regal Hotel complex, so that I could attend both dinner functions. When everyone found out about the arrival of Jonathan, my son and heir, the toasting and Yam Shing seemed to go on forever. With the lethal mixture of Chinese and Australian wines, I was very surprised that I managed to get home. All credit should go to the driver, I suppose. The story did not end there, my daughters at home were expecting to play trick or treat when I got home. They were naturally disappointed and complained when they visited Shirley in the hospital the following day.
The year passed very quickly. All I could remember was that I was always either coming from the airport for a club meeting or going to the airport after a meeting. Luckily for me, we were then still using the old Kai Tak Airport. No doubt our PPs, Niels Kraunsoe and John Moody in particular, have had to stand in for me a number of times.
In order to distinguish ourselves in District events and Rotary Balls, DG Lui Lit Mo and the Presidents in the District agreed to wear a silk vest and matching bow tie of Violet. I think I still got it somewhere.
Jonathan got introduced to Rotary very early in life. I took him to the Sandy Bay Fair when he was only about a week old. I also took him to the Little Sisters of the Poor’s Aberdeen Old Peoples Home over Chinese New Year to give out Lai See packets.
We continued our support to Mother’s Choice and I had a good tour of their facilities in Borrett Road when we gave them the cheque. The Vocational Service committee organised club members to give career talks to the students in Lui Ming Choi Secondary School in Aberdeen. I of course told them everything about the exciting and interesting life of a professional accountant. With our long standing relationship with the Hong Kong Sea School, I paid them the official annual visit and received a briefing of the students we sponsored. On behalf of the club I also attended the Southern District Sports Day. I think apart from the sponsorship we had a team running in the 4X100 relay. We also co-sponsored an anti-corruption workshop with ICAC and hosted the annual RI student exchange programme. The typical programme included visits to the infamous Stanley prison and BAT’s cigarette factory in Aberdeen.
