Report from Programme Committee (2004 – 2006)
Co-Chairmen: Elizabeth Cheng
Yvonne Chua
In the past 2 years, we are pleased to have arranged for our members, presentations by a number of outstanding speakers covering divers areas. Not only do we have a better understanding of the social service regime in Hong Kong and the housing forecast, we also gained insights into the local film making industry and other interesting areas such as speech therapy, home decors and how women can achieve balance and harmony.
The details are as follows:-
1. Social service needs
On 2nd November 2004, Ms Christine Fang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Council of Social Service, an umbrella organization of over 286 non-governmental organizations providing 90% of the social welfare services in Hong Kong spoke to us on “Hong Kong Social Development Index” and her visions on how we can be united for a better society. This followed from a talk by Ms Esther Lau, Psychologist on 15 June 2004 regarding “When Home becomes a damaging place – A recent professional advocacy action” when she shared with us her counseling experience on marriage and family therapy.
On 6 September 2005, Ms Tiffana Chow, General Manager of Social Welfare Department explained to us the “Successful tripartite partnerships through the services and products offered by disabled people” in 100 rehabilitation organizations in Hong Kong and how her office achieved mutually beneficial business deals with commercial and public organizations.
With the tragic incident in Tin Shui Wai, we invited Mr Wu Ting Pang Sunny, Executive Secretary, Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong and Mr Fan Yiu Chuen Sunny, Centre-in-charge, Tin Shui Wai Centre, to speak to us on “Families Needs in Tin Shui Wai” on 3 January 2006.
2. Housing issue
Hong Kong housing has always been an issue to everybody’s concern. Mr Franklin Lam, Managing Director of UBS Investment Research and Head of Hongkong Equities and a highly regarded property researcher and analyst gave us a critical analysis and forecast of the real estate market in Hong Kong. His presentation stimulated discussions from our members and made it one of our best attended business meetings.
3. Local film industry
We are delighted to have 2 prominent female directors/producers of many award winning films shared with us their personal experiences on film making. Ms Shi Nan Sun (施南生), currently senior advisor to Mandarin Films Limited spoke to us on 7 June 2005 as to “Why Hong Kong is still Great – It all started with making a Film”. On the other hand, Ms Mabel Cheung (張婉婷), gave a very interesting presentation titled “從紐約到北京從童話到皇朝”. Their inspiring talks had fascinated many members.
4. Personal enhancement
“Will your expectations be fulfilled with the making of a Will?” is the topic of presentation on 6 December 2005 by Ms Winnie Chiu, solicitor, Wilkinson & Grist. With the recent abolition of estate duty in Hong Kong. Ms Chiu gave us a clear overview on how to make a will, when its validity would be challenged and what happens on intestacy.
On the other hand, Dr Joy Leo (廖鳳明博士) a Transformation Coach and multi-dimensional spiritual teacher presented her philosophy on “Women in transition: The Quest for Harmony & Balance” on 4 April 2006. We discovered how we could prepare ourselves in this age of rapid transformation and sweeping global changes and reap maximum benefits from the challenges.
5. Our home
In our pursuit for beauty at home, we had two special gatherings at the shop of Heather & March, Prince’s Building on 13 May 2005 and 28 November 2005 respectively when Mrs Wendy Siu, President of Heather & March and Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Merite as appointed by the French President, shared with us her expertise and love for fine living, culinary art and home decoration.
6. Others
Dr Rebecca Lee (李樂詩女士) who has transformed herself from a professional graphic designer and photographer to a polar researcher spoke to us on 7 September 2004 on “三極宣言”. We were truly impressed by her courage and persistence in her pursuit of innovation which has resulted in her being recognized as the first Hong Kong women explorer to reach the Arctic, Antarctic and Mount Everest.
Last but not the least, Mr Anthony Kong, Speech Therapist, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences of The University of Hong Kong explained to us on 3 August 2004 the assessment and treatment given to patients with speech and language disorders.
The past term has been truly meaningful as we brought together distinguished speakers from different sectors of our community. Our heartfelt thanks to all of them for their great support to Zonta Club of the New Territories and for taking the time to share with us albeit their heavy commitments. We sincerely look forward to learning more from them in the future.
