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Secure a public relations professional from your club to publicize activities. > Make sure your club’s projects are relevant to your community. > Use Web sites and the Internet in your public rela tions efforts.R.I. President Carlo Ravizza exchanges ideas with conference participants in Hong Kong. > In addition to local media, talk to different community groups and local youth about Rotary. > Use Group Study Exchange team members to talk to your community and youth, rather than sending out only Rotarians. In his keynote address, Rotary Foundation Trustee Chairman Bill Huntley discussed the relevance of the Foundation as Rotary approaches its 100th anniver sary. In particular, he out lined the new Rotary Centers for International Studies, a program involving seven universities around the globe, where 70 “World Peace Scholars” will study on a two-year basis to earn Master’s degrees. “You should feel very me proud that The Rotary Foundation can go forward this way in peace,” Chair man Huntley said. He also discussed what comes after PolioPlus. “Have we reached our peak?” Chairman Huntley asked the audience. “My answer is a big ‘no.’ We’re just beginning to realize what we can do. Whatever comes next, we’ll be confi dent because we’re not step ping out into the unknown. PolioPlus has shown us our strength, our power and our possibilities.” Continuing with the theme, regional PolioPlus Committee Chairman and Past R.I. Treasurer/Director Brian Knowles reviewed polio eradication efforts in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. “The ulti- mate success of polio eradi cation hinges on Asia and Africa,” said Chairman Knowles, who also reported that India, with the highest number of polio cases worldwide, has seen a dra matic reduction in the past several years in its south and central regions. “India is the key to our goal of eradica tion in Southeast Asia,” he said. “The strategy of National Immunization Days, targeting all children up to the age of five, is obviously working,” said Chairman Knowles. “If we are to see final eradication, not only in Southeast Asia but in other polio-endemic regions, this strategy must continue. “He concluded that Rotary and its partners are on target to reach the goal of global polio eradication by 2005, the 100th anniver- sary of Rotary International. On the conference’s final day, several Rotarians shared their insight and experience regarding the many service opportunities in non-Rotary countries. “None of this work is easy-but it’s certainly very rewarding,” said Tony Castley, past president of the Rotary Club of Epping, Sydney, Australia, and cur rent chairman of the three district China Australia Friendship Exchange, repre- senting districts 9680, 9690 and 9750. Among the pro jects the group tackled was constructing water-pumping stations and storage tanks in remote Chinese villages. The stations and tanks have become larger and more elaborate, said Rotarian Castley. The group also helped renovate schools that had only dirt floors and no windows. “What we have shown is that it is possible for non Chinese-speaking Rotary clubs from other countries to have very successful and rewarding projects in China, even though Rotary isn’t there to help supervise,” he said. However, he warned, clubs must ensure that the type of aid offered is appro- i priate for the country. They also should work in con junction with a reliable China aid organization, with its own people on site where the project is being conducted, to facilitate communication. In his opening address on the first day of the confer ence, Past District Governor Wong remarked to Rotari ans: “I hope you will enjoy these two days, make a lot of friends and go home more motivated and better equipped than before.” Without a doubt, Rotarians left the conference with those wishes fulfilled. O • Anne Stein is associate editor of THE ROTARIAN. THE ROTARIAN/JUNE 2000 Hong Kong by Anne Stein 25-27 FEBRUARY 2000 TOP PHOTOS BY PETER H.S. TSE; SCENIC BY ANNE STEIN **/ ?> Presidential Conference 2000 Below: Keynote speaker the Honorable C.Y. Leung, convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, S.A.R., spoke on the impact of the regional economy on community service. Right: Past district governors Raymond Wong (left) and Charles Loh address a group discussion session. 4:2000 PRETAT, COTE 000 With the clang of a traditional gong, Past District Governor Raymond Wong convened Presidential Conference 2000: Hong Kong, attended by 460 Rotarians from 19 nations, on 25-27 February. The future of Rotary is in Asia," said R.I. President Carlo Ravizza in his opening remarks at the conference, which was co-sponsored by The Rotary Foundation of R.I. "Twenty years ago, Asia membership was 14.6 per- cent of Rotary membership; today it is 25 percent. Dramatic changes have marked Hong Kong as well; on 30 June 1997, the world witnessed China's resump- tion of sovereignty over Hong Kong. Soon after, eco- nomic pressures kicked in and many...

The Green Great Wall Centennial Community Project jointly by Rotary Korea and Mongolia Herbert K. Lau (), Founder and Honorary Member Niislel Rotary Club, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 1 November 2008 Sometimes global problems seem so, well, global, especially when it comes to the environment. It can get downright overwhelming when you are constantly bombarded with headlines that scream, EU Warns of Global Climate Chaos (The Guardian) and, Pollution in China out of Control (Edmonton Journal). And then there are all the alarming statistics: The World Bank projected that, on average, 1.8 million people would die each year between 2001 and 2020 because of air pollution.What the desertification problem means for Mongolia is 140,000sq.km.of unusable territory, 683 streams that have dried up in recent years and a 10% reduction in cliffs compared to 1940. As a matter of fact, the yellow sandstorm is a major health and environmental hazard for the Yellow Dust alert...

Rotary in Formosa The early years of Rotary Taiwan 1931-1960 By Herbert K. Lau () (Rotary China Historian) 1 January 2017 The early history of Rotary in Formosa or Taiwan () can be described in 2 separate and different era: (1) When the territory was in full sovereignty of the Japanese Empire 1895-1945; and (2) when Taiwan became a province of The Republic of China () commencing 1945. The island of Formosa (or Taiwan) , along with Penghu () and Liaodong Peninsula (), were ceded in full sovereignty to the Japanese Empire by theTreaty of Shimonosekiin 1895, as a result of Imperial China (Qing Empire) was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War () (18941895). While Formosa was under the Japanese governing, the Republic of China () was established on the Mainland on 1 January 1912 to replace the fall of the Qing Empire. After the Pacific War in 1945, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies, Taiwan (Formosa)...

SPECIAL REPORT The Hong Kong Workshop Preparing for the return of Rotary T s the R.I. Board of Directors and adjacent non-Rotary countries." able to the Hong Kong Workshop. reviewed the notable prog A second key difference was the ress made to date in extend other goals: to design a comprehen- political stance of governments. The ing Rotary to all parts of the world, sive vision of how Rotary might Vienna participants were experienc its attention was inevitably drawn grow in China; to analyze the diffi- ing new or restored governments to the People's Republic of China culties that might be encountered that were, to varying degrees, very (PRC), by far the largest single non in bringing Rotary to the PRC; to interested in expanding their con Rotary country. Because of its vast discuss the steps that should be tacts at all levels and in all forms size, huge population, rich culture, taken in...

Many FIRSTs in District 3450 of Rotary International By Herbert K. Lau () (Rotary China Historian) 1 February 2020 District 3450 of Rotary International was inaugurated on 1 July 1960 when the code then was 3 digits of 345 only. Commencing 1 July 1991, all Rotary districts are to be identified with a 4-digit number system. This was initially accomplished by adding a zero at the end of each current District number. Since then, District 345 was changed to District 3450 until today. In 1960, the District 345 was originally compiled with 3 territories of the: (1) Chinese province Taiwan; (2) British Crown Colony Hong Kong; and (3) Portuguese Territory Macao. While Hong Kong and Macao were the 2 remaining territories since 1 July 1987 allocated for self-development of Rotary, the independent nation Mongolia (after 6.5 years of non-districted) later initiated to join the District 3450 on 1 July 2000. Further on, commencing 1 July 2013, the...

Rotary International President Percy Hodgson Visit to Hong Kong and Canton in 1949 by Herbert K. Lau () (Rotary China Historian)1 July 2015Percy HodgsonThe Presidential TravelThe pattern for a year marked with inspiration, enthusiasm and achievement, was set by Rotary International President 1949-1950 Percy Hodgson of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.A., when, as President Nominee, he met with and talked to the incoming district governors at the 1949 International Assembly.So enthusiastic were they over the Objectives of the Team for 1949-50, in which President Hodgsonset out the points he believed should be stressed, that they asked him to prepare a similar set of objectives for the clubs. This he did, and each three months sent a fresh copy of the objectives to all the district governors and to the clubs, with a letter reminding them of the importance of these objectives.About mid-year, Hodgsonasked the governors for a frank report on the acceptance of the...