27. April 10
This is a short summary, for the full Bulletin in PDF, click the following link:
President John opened the meeting by extending a warm welcome to our guests and fellow members.
Four Way Test was deferred to latter in the meeting.
Acting Sergeant at Arms Charles Lagrange welcomed:
Visiting Rotarians:
- Rtn. Jim Firmin, RC Morgan City, LA. USA
- Rtn. Tom Mack, RC San Mateo, CA, USA.
- Rtn. Teresa Borton, RC Delta Waverly Lansin, MÍ, USA.
- Rtn. Wayne Tycker, RC Blenheim, New Zealand.
- Rtn. Sue Truman, RC Nelson, New Zealand.
- Rtn. Juliet Morris, RC Toronto Eglinton, Canada.
- Rtn. Ming Zheng, RC Toronto Eglinton, Canada.
- Rtn. Allen Lin, RC Taiwan.
- Rtn. Lee Tzu Yao, RC Taiwan.
- Rtn. Kerry Burton, RC Shanghai, China.
- Rtn. Zoran Zic, RC Zagreb Sljeme, Croatia.
- Rtn. Serena Chao.
And visiting guests:
- Mr. William Baker, guest of Rtn. Priscilla.
- Ms. Wicol Lo, guest of Rtn. Priscilla.
- Mr. Patrick Yao guest of Rtn. Priscilla.
- Mr. Julian Fisher, guest of Rtn. Alan.
- Mr. Alexander McCrae, guest of Rtn. Alan.
- Mr. Bund Legrand, guest of John
- Mr. Piper Tseng, guest of Rtn. John.
- Mr. Curtis Carter, guest of Rtn. Einar.
- Mr. Stephan Interthal, guest of Rtn. Einar.
- Mr. James Poyser, guest of Rtn. Helen.
- Mr. Gary Permenter, guest of Rtn. Josephine
- Mr. Allan Coussell, guest of Rtn. Wayne.
- Mr. Yanming Firmin, guest of Rtn. Jim.
- Mr. Matthew Borton, guest of Rtn. Teresa.
Banners were exchanged with the following Rotary Clubs:
- RC Zagreb Sljeme, Croatia.
- RC Delta Waverly, Lansing, MI, USA.
- RC Nelson, New Zealand.
- RC Toronto Eglinton, Canada.
Reports & Announcements:
Induction of the new member: Ms. Enoch Li
Ms. Enoch Li was inducted as a new member of the Rotary Club Beijing after Rtn. Thomas gave an introduction about Enoch’s achievements and interests. Enoch is on sabbatical this year and has an ambitious agenda of things she wishes to accomplish including working on some servicd projects as a Rotarian. After the induction, Enoch led the 4 Ways Test and thanked the Club for accepting her as a new member.
Guang Ai Orphanage report
Ms. Nicole Lo and Mr. Patrick Yao, members of the Dulwich Interact, gave a wrap-up report on the Guang Ai Orphanage project. In total they raised 50,000 RMB in two months and provided 89 homeless children with health check-ups. They have funds left over which will be used to provide healthcare to those whose check-ups revealed a problem. They showed a video clip and gave a presentation detailing activities done and future events to be held at the Orphanage. The project was covered by three media outlets and was the page one article on the China Daily Metro Page and the BTV News. It was commented that this was by far the best managed project seen to date within the Club, and the two project leaders and Nicole’s parents Michael and Priscilla should all be commended.
Rotary Ball
Ball Committee member Rtn. Thomas Buchman strongly encouraged members to bring lots of their friends to the upcoming Ball. His words were echoed by 2010 Ball Chairman Rtn. Raphael who reminded that although every member of the Club is committed to buy at least 4 tickets (this year 1,000 RMB per ticket) he hopes people will think about buying tables. Raphael is also asking people to look in their closets for donations for the raffle. Rtn. Charles will be collecting money and Mr. Roman Lafond, a volunteer, will be helping wit organization. Any projects which wished to be featured at the Ball should contact Raphael. Raphael reminded all that the food and wine will be spectacular and that the globally themed event will be lots of “fun”.
Kempinski Hotel Managing Director speech
Mr. Stephan Interthal, Managing Director of Lufthansa Center/Kempinski Hotel gave a brief speech about his and the Kempinski’s history in Beijing and the world. As a former member of Rotary in Budapest he is especially happy to have the RC Beijing at the Kempinski and looks forward to attending meetings when time permits.
Herman Heid
President John read the e-mail sent by Rtn. Hermann Heid for the picture the club sent him for his birthday. He thanked the members of the Club for remembering him on his 70th birthday and made some smart remarks about various members which were appreciated by all.
Speakers Program:
President John introduced today’s speaker, Rtn. Matt Siu, Managing Director of the Real Estate firm APS.
Matt gave an excellent presentation on the Beijing real estate market. He shared his research on pricing data for both the commercial and residential markets. He indicated that there could be a 5 – 10 % drop in residential prices in the near future if government policies are tightened and inventory continues to rise. He stressed that the real estate market in China is much more affected by government policies than market forces and the government will has a difficult task in front of it; how to prevent a bubble without adversely affecting local government finances and GDP which depend heavily on revenues from property leases. John thanked Matt for his speech.
