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The Board of Directors with our joint-school friends at the 2011 AGM Dinner & Talk.

The Ontario Chapter’s 2011 Annual General Meeting and Dinner was held on October 15, 2011.  It marked a change from our usual November date, as advocated by our members in an earlier survey.

A total of 40 people attended, including 29 members, spouses, and special guests from King’s College Old Boys Association, Belilios Public School Alumni Association, and Queen’s College Old Boys Association.

The event was held with a focus on health.  The evening started at 6:00 p.m., with a talk given by our special speaker Mr. Neville Lau, who is a registered physiotherapist in Ontario as well as in Hong Kong.  He had also obtained training in Chinese Medicine in China.  The topic of his talk was ‘How to be your own fitness instructor’.   In his humorous and light-hearted way, Mr. Lau gave his understanding of what ‘fitness’ really meant, and he encouraged everyone to ignite and pursue the passion of keeping fit.  I am sure everyone found something helpful in his talk.

As usual, we sang the Canadian national anthem and the QES school song.  Our president, Barbara Yang (FA78), called the AGM to order at about 7:00 p.m., with introductions of our attending guests, and welcoming messages extended to them.  The first order of
business was the approval of the AGM minutes from 2010; it was completed unanimously.  Barbara then gave a report on the activities held in the year.  They included the spring lunch and talk in June, the joint-school BBQ with alumni of KC, QC and BPS in July, two ping-pong evenings in June and July, and QESOSA Ontario’s participation in Run for the Cure in October.  Two more ping-pong evenings are planned for November and December.

Barbara also reported on the award of the QESOSA Ontario Dr. Arthur Hinton Scholarship
to a student at QES Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School.

Roger Kwan (FA78), our Treasurer, then presented the 2011 Financial Report.  He reported that the Association had a small surplus so far this year, and that the financial situation was sound.  The Financial Report was adopted by all the members present.

Some changes to our Constitution were proposed.  They included the following:

• Item 8.4 – the inclusion of emails as one of the voting methods,
• Item 11.2 – approval of changes to the Constitution by two-third majority of membership present  (proxy votes included) at AGMs, or by a two-third vote of membership at Special Meetings called by the Board of Directors (proxy votes included), and
• other minor changes  - mainly typing and grammatical errors.

Copies of the revised Constitution were distributed to all members present.  Barbara highlighted the main changes and explained the reasons for the changes.  The
changes were unanimously agreed to, and adopted by all members present.

The dinner started at 7:30 p.m.  Everyone enjoyed the delicious 10-course meal and had a splendid time talking and connecting with each other.  In between dishes, the election of directors was called.  Nomination forms were collected and tallied.  Six directors were
serving a 2-year term, and therefore would remain on the board; the five outgoing directors and some members were nominated.

The evening closed with a lucky draw and photo-taking.  Most of the people left at about 9:45 p.m., in a jovial mood.  I wish to express my deepest thanks to our guests, our fellow members, our directors, and our advisors, for their unrelenting efforts in making possible this wonderful evening.

Ivy Yan (FA71)

View more photos of the 2011 AGM Dinner & Talk at: http://jliu.smugmug.com/Events/QESOSA-Ontario-AGM-October-15/19563014_xz3gvZ

The 1961 class visits our alma mater.

Fifty years is half a century.  It was about this time, half a century ago, that we received the Hong Kong School Certificates – all 127 of us, constituting the class of 1961 (FA61), Queen Elizabeth School.  We had reached a major turning point in our lives. Less than half would stay on for two more matriculation years leading to university. Others would go on to vocational or professional training, before joining the work force.  Still others would start working right away.  That was a time when send offs at the Kai Tak Airport, for the lucky few embarking on studies overseas, were fairly frequent events.  The farewell scenes on board the S.S. President Cleveland and S.S. President Wilson were most unforgettable.  The romance of friends sailing across the Atlantic, to the far away New World, cast lasting memories on our impressionable young minds.

The Class of 61 are now mostly retired grandparents. They have left their marks in life-long professional careers, as academics, and as leaders of business, industry, and government services.  They are scattered all over the world.  Sadly, a few have passed away.  For ten days in November 2011, some of us gathered in Hong Kong for our fiftieth anniversary reunion.  It was an experience of a life time.  It certainly warrants a brief account for all, especially for those who were not able to attend all or part of the
activities.

The Reunion Week kicked off on November 2, with a lunch at the New Century Plaza, right next to QES.  There was a good attendance of about 40, in an electrified atmosphere filled with excitements of lost friends seeing each other again for the first time since school, and of old friends simply not seeing each other frequently enough.  Yelling of old nicknames filled the room; there was so much catching up on the times past.

A short walk to QES, through the soccer field back-gate, followed.  Camera clicking intensified on the way, as we tried to capture the look of our school today.  Memories of our youth of yesteryears gradually emerged.  The two Assistant Principals, Mr. Tam and Mr. Tse, and the Career Mistress, Mrs. Liu, together with other staffs, gave us a welcome with the full treatment, which included a commentated video of today’s QES, as well as archived pictures featuring most of us.  Shouts like “THAT’S ME, third one left on the
second row!” were repeatedly yelled out many times, with the same teenage passion and enthusiasm of fifty years ago.  Look at those handsome lads with their full heads of hair, and the pretty girls with not a blemish on their faces.  Yes indeed, memories are made of these.  The visit was concluded with a fully guided tour of the school, the new wing, the new facilities, the whole works ……

In the evening, small groups gathered for intimate dinners. These were precious moments, especially for those who would not be able to attend the main event coming up on November 4.

Thursday November 3 greeted us with beautiful weather, giving us a perfect day for our outing to Lamma Island.  Most of the 30 of us made the two-hour walking tour from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Ku Wan, where we had an excellent seafood lunch at the famous Rainbow Restaurant.  While the majority stayed for a tour of the Lamma Fisherfolk’s Village, which is highly interesting and educational, a few rushed back to town for a “mahjong tournament”.

The big day finally came.  Friday November 4 started with a Yaumati Form 1 Reunion Lunch at the Commissioners Club of the Scout Association of Hong Kong.  There
were only a few new faces, as most had gone on to QES after Yaumati.  The 35 in attendance pretty much had an encore of the lunch two days ago, with the same excitement and enthusiasm.

Soon after the lunch, people started moving straight to the Shatin Jockey Club.  It didn’t take long for the mahjong tables to fill up.  The video and slide shows ran non-stop.  The wine started to flow.  Music of the early sixties filled the rooms, only to be interrupted by the karaoke songbirds.  The evening was informal but elegant, structured yet congenial. The resolution to make a commemorative video was quickly adopted.  The speeches were short and heartfelt.  After fifty years, 50 of us had a hell of a party.

As the cliché goes: Never in the history of QES FA61 have so many owe so much to so few. These so few are: Brenda Cheng, Y.K. Chan, Robert Ho, Robin Luk, Ko Yuk Yee, Nancy Lau, Susan Leung, Diana Chan, Wong Wah Kay, and others whom we might have missed or who simply worked behind the scenes.

Y.K. and Mimi Chan enriched the reunion program by arranging a 52 ft. yacht for a boat ride on Sunday, retracing our canoe trip in the summer of 1961.  The veterans of that pioneering excursion of so long ago, and the people taking the upcoming Sanya-Vietnam cruise, were invited to the Chans’ residence Saturday evening, for dinner and pre-trip warm-ups and planning.  No more needs to be said about their extraordinary hospitality.

The half-day boat trip was every bit as adventurous as our seven-day canoe trip in the summer of 1961.  The open sea was rough, and it was probably the last chance of the season for such a trip.  Dr. Muk Noong Cheng provided the most helpful and important tips on sea-sickness.  Passing through the Geopark rock formations was an eye-opener – something we had missed while struggling to manoeuver our 12 foot canoes back then.

For several months before the sail-date, the Sanya-Vietnam cruise had also run into rough
waters.  The local travel agency was incredibly incompetent, uncooperative and bordering on unethical.  But then, all it takes is for none other than our own 7-distinction girl Brenda Cheng to arrive Hong Kong a little earlier to team up with Mimi Chan, add a few spoonfuls of the old QES spirit, and sort things out nicely for everyone.

The day in Sanya was rainy.  But by then a few drops of water wouldn’t have been an issue anymore.  The sea was rough as usual, and the port visit at Hue/Danang was cancelled.  As it turned out, it was a blessing in disguise.  That day was formal night, and everyone got to rest up, dress up and had a wonderful evening at the Captain’s reception and formal dinner.

Halong Bay was the last port-of-call.  Instead of an 11-hour excursion to Hanoi, the group opted for a scenic boat ride, or a countryside visit of local rural family, regrouping at a local restaurant for some excellent and inexpensive seafood.  After the meal, we walked back to the cruise ship along the seashore.

Looking at the cruise ship alone, the Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas offers nothing to write home about.  Compared to other ships in the Carnival, Princess, Norwegian fleets, and not to mention the mega Royal Caribbean Oasis, one could easily enumerate a dozen shortcomings.  Yet this cruise could be ranked the best I have ever had.  I know, deep down, my travel companions made the entire difference.

Any 50^th anniversary would likely be a once in a life time affair.  Ours has been so memorable and eventful in so many ways, it simply cannot possibly be duplicated.  Yet everyone is now all worked up on future reunions, annual and five-year smaller affairs of course.  To lead the way, and to assure success, Brenda and Muk Noong agreed to look into hosting the next one, possibly a Panama City/Caribbean Cruise combo in January of 2013. Southern Ontario and California may also be good hosting sites.  Now that the story is
told, would future reunion hosts and excursion organizers please stand up and be counted?

Henry Lee

中国崛起成为经济强国，中国的社会文化是应该每个人都关注的。下面是资中筠老师讲的“中国文化复兴和启蒙”。我个人不会完全同意她的见解，尤其是对于推崇西方制度方面。但是，在我們民族需要些甚麼? 缺少了甚麼? 我觉得她有許多可取的意见。她指出外族统治中国时，常捧出孔夫子儒学来束缚民间思想，这个很值得回味。

http://v.ifeg.com/history/wenhuashidian/201111/87dfcd48-4f4e-40e4-bd96-5c636e3f144f.shtml

I have never truly believed in the so-called “freedom”, “democracy”, “human rights”, etc., which the western powers tried to lead us to believe that they were protecting. Over the past decades, there were ample examples to show that these were mere facades put forward to disguise their true intent of promoting their own self-interests. However, I have never expected this to deteriorate so far and so fast. The enclosed article shows us this sad and horrifying trend of no-return. For those who have unshakable faith in the West and in its democracy, I urge you to read on. The murdering of its own citizens happens here too, only the government officially justify the act and put themselves above the law.

The author of the article is no “anti-war protester” or “terrorist sympathizer”. He was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal, and professor of economics in six universities.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/04/the-day-america-died/

QESOSA Ontario members and friends are invited to two special events in October:

- October 2 (Sun) – Join the QESOSA Ontario team in Run for the Cure - annual charity walk/run for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

- October 15 (Sat) – 2011 AGM Dinner & Talk. Topic: “How to be your own fitness instructor” by Mr. Neville Lau, Registered Physiotherapist and Acupuncturist

Click QESOSA Ontario_Newsletter_Fall 2011 for details.

Run for the Cure – October 2 (Sun)

• 1-5 km walk in Richmond Hill area, flexible distance, no time demand
• team meets at 9:30 a.m., walk starts at 10:05 a.m.
• online registration: http://www.runforthecure.com/site/TR?fr_id=1292&pg=entry)
• offline registration (please notify us; see p.3 of newsletter for instructions): Run for the Cure_Registration Form; Run for the Cure_Donation Form
• $40 registration fee (will be waived if walker/runner commits to raise at least $150)
• free T-shirt (with team name if 10 members register before September 16, 2011)
• registration deadline: September 16, 2011
• dim sum lunch together after the walk
• recruiting both walkers and donors
• team target: at least $1,000

2011 AGM Dinner & Talk – October 15 (Sat)

• venue at Regal Palace, 350 Hwy. 7 E., Unit 101, Richmond Hill (Bayview/Hwy. 7)
• 6-7 p.m.  Talk + Q&A: “How to be your own fitness instructor” by Mr. Neville Lau, Registered Physiotherapist & Acupuncturist
• 7-9:30 p.m. AGM Dinner
• $38 per head
• registration deadline: October 8, 2011 (email support@qesosaont.ca)

Stay fit and see you in the walk and talk!

Barbara