Golden News
Volume 14 - Number 03 - 18th July 2000


The weekly newsletter of the Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile, Hong Kong.
Web site: www.rckgm.org

Medical Exams for 600 Members of the Elderly and Disabled of our Community
On Sunday last, 15 Kowloon Golden Mile Rotarians, 9 Rotaractors, 11 Interactors, 25 Rotarian family members and friends, in all 60 volunteers, were awake early for this community service event. The examinations took place  in the Wai Ji  Christian Service Sheltered Workshop in Cheung Sha Wan (thanks Rtn. Silva) and were co-organised with St Paul's Hospital who had trained the volunteers (not Rotarians!) who carried out the tests. Rtn. Brian Van Dale and yours truly had a quick test at the stand which showed people with large tummies. I was the elderly one.... I couldn't help noticing the similarity with the game of musical chairs, but with some 1 to 2 hundred people going through at any one time it was a long game. At 1 p.m. DG John Wan arrived to have a look round and to participate in the formalities ie opening ceremony, speeches and the presentation of colorful paintings by the daytime inmates of the Workshops to the Sponsors, AXA Insurance, St Paul's Hospital and their doctors and other medical staff. I regret that I did not record the name of the Religious Order which also was a sponsor. Also at this time KGM was shown another side of Rtns Ebe Tung and Mazhar Sultana, the two highly professional NICAM@ MC's for the ceremony.
This was an excellent way to CREATE OUR AWARENESS of the needs of two sections of our community and to motivate us into TAKING ACTION to do something about it. At the same time it is hoped that with a little publicity we may create some awareness of Rotary in our community, particularly in Cheung Sha Wan, and get them also into the ACTION.
Thanks Rotarianne Alice So for the inspiration. Thanks President Cassidy for taking up the challenge for us.
                     Last Week's Meeting
Opened in the usual way after the initial fellowship, although peanut consumption seemed to be down of this same meeting last year. President Cassidy opened the meeting from the lone podium and the usual programme ensued; Rtn Clarissa took a dislike to those with jackets and fined them $20; Rtn Silva successfully avoided the cliche'd "collective" in his introduction of Rotarian guests but didn't use alternative words to achieve the required effect of givin' 'em awl a big han' at thur' en' while Rtn. Stormin' Norman must have marshalled the guests of Rotarians with dexterity as your scribe didn't write anything in his notes. President Cassidy then continued his Message to the Nation which had to be curtailed last week due to father time. We were introduced to the RI President's theme for the year, "Create Awareness, Take Action" and President Cassidy's extention of that theme in becoming aware of and concerned with the health of the our Club, ourselves and families and our community and doing something about them. Alas although I can report generally as above, I had difficulty in opening a document from President Cassidy (my fault I suspect) and will report further next week. Next our speakers were introduced by Rtn. Vincent Lam who almost got carried away and made a speech first, but there were noises off. The speakers were Ms EL Chan and Ms Violet Chow who described the very good work that their "Society For Abandoned Animals Limited"  was undertaking. This was, when absolutely necessary, to look after abandoned animals, although when it came to the more well known pets they tried their hardest to persuade those wanting to part with them. This was because they could not and would not ever put animals down but nevertheless had their financial limitations as to how many animals they could accommodate and feed at one time. A brochure is available for any Rotarian who would like to know more details of the SAA's facilities and how to donate. Rtn Carola gave the vote of thanks.
                  Next Fellowship
Irish Night ............ Begosh & Begorra !
The Dublin Jack Pub, 37 Cochrane Street,
Central
(Adjacent to the mid-levels escalator)

From 6:00 p.m. Friday 28 July, 2000.


            Semi-Annual Dues (Repeat notice!)
WANTED - Those who havent paid to do so!!

           Programme for July 19th
Speaker - Cassius Rolfe-Johnson.
Subject - Hair Mineral Analysis
           This Week's Birthday Celebrant
James Tsang - 12th July who shares his birthday with funny man Bill Cosby (1937). Alas I missed this one last Wednesday.

                        KGM Web Site
By PP Vince the Phantom Web Master
Two new features have been added to the KGM Web Site this week, under the "Rotary Information" section. The first is a "Duties of Club Directors & Officers" page, where members appointed to various club positions can find out more about their duties and responsibilities. Note that this section is still "under construction", but should be completed by month end.
The second is a "Download Page" from where standard club forms can be downloaded to your own computer. Perhaps the most useful of the currently available forms is a spreadsheet (in Microsoft Excel format), which lists all current KGM members. This form, which will be regularly updated, can be used by anybody who is organising a club function. The spreadsheet can also be modified to suit your requirements, once it has been downloaded to your computer.
Quote
There are risks and costs to a programme of action. But they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction
Puzzle
How many Golden Milers can solve this anagram? In other words rearrange the letters in  such a way that you will instanly know that you have the right answer? First correct answer received will earn the solver an interesting prize.
"Historic Desk formulae" (20 Letters)
Joke Of The Week
An old bearded shepherd with a crooked staff walks up to a stone pulpit and says, "And lo, it came to pass that the trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot.  And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg.  Indeed, she had been called Amazon Dot Com. And she said unto Abraham, "Why doth thou travel so far with thy goods when thou can trade without ever leaving thy tent?" Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but sayeth, "How, Dear?" And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have and they will reply telling you which hath the best price.  And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)". Abraham had heard somewhere of drumming up sales and decided to give it a try. And Dot said, "There will be a lot of banging in the land".  And Abraham replied, "It is my most fervent wish that this be so". And the drums did bang and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all his goods  at the top price, without ever moving from his tent. But his success did arouse envy.  A man named Maccabia did secrete himself inside Abraham's drum and was accused of insider trading.  And  the young did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Siderites, or NERDS for short. And lo the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums, that no one noticed that the real riches were going to the drum maker, one Brother William of Gates, who bought up every drum company in the land.  And indeed did insist on making drums that would only work if you bought Brother Gates' drumsticks. And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others".  And as Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or as it came to be known, "eBay", he said, "We need a name of a service that reflects what we are". And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators". "Whoopee!", said Abraham. "No, YAHOO!", said Dot Com.
A Buddhist Conundrum
If a Buddhist at the dentists refuses to have an injection is this because he wants to transend dental medication?
URCHIN