Rev. Bro. Paul Sun Education Foundation, Speakers’ Forum 2010-11 held the second of four quarterly charity dinners on Tuesday, 18 Jan 2011. Again, the venue was the Hong Kong Football Club. Following the success of its first event, the Forum was able to repeat this success with some 70 guests turning up in support. Once again, credit must go to our sponsors and supporters.
When the program started at 6.30 p.m., Matthias Li (Chair of the Forum) and the other Trustees of the Foundation were on hand to greet our special guests from the China Liaison Office, Mr. Cai Wen Feng and Ms. Wu Yuan. Other notable guests included distinguished members of the accounting profession and the business community. As MC for the evening, Matthias also acknowledged the presence of Mr. Matthew Poon (Class of ’65, former SJACS teacher and Chair of SJACS alumni in Ontario, Canada), Mr. Paul Yeung (Principal of SJACS), Ms Kwok Wan (Principal of SJACPS), our sponsors Mr. Peter Yip (Chairman of Bright Smart Group), Messrs. Kwok, Ng & Chan, Notaries and Solicitors, and Pro-Cardio Heart Disease & Stroke Prevent Center.
Matthias gave a warm welcome to everyone and introduced the Trustees of the Foundation. He then called upon Trustee, Andrew Li, to give a brief introduction on the Foundation and the life of Rev. Bro. Paul Sun. This was followed by dinner. (Please click here to see Andrew Li's speech.)
Our star speaker on this very occasion was one of our most illustrious alumni, Hon. Prof. K C Chan, SBS, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. KC was Class of ’74 and no one was better qualified to bring him on stage than his good classmate and golf partner, Mr. Chan Chi Hung, SC, who entertained the gathering with a few anecdotes. KC opened by commenting that the performance of the last Forum Speaker, Dr. Allan Zeman, was a difficult act to follow. How true that was, but our own KC was no stranger to the rostrum either. The topic of his talk was ‘Hong Kong's Competitive Edge in Global Finance.’ Being an accomplished public speaker, KC rose to the occasion and gave an interesting and thought-provoking talk on the topic, delivering a very encouraging and upbeat message on the economic future of Hong Kong.
This was followed by a very lively Q&A session with many pointed questions from the floor. The discussion covered many subjects, including philosophical and policy issues, e.g. the threat of inflation, how to educate our young to keep Hong Kong cosmopolitan, when Hong Kong brokerage houses can operate in China, the Qian Hai Project, Hong Kong as a ‘medical tour’ destination and Hong Kong’s so-called six pillars of economic development.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Principal Paul Yeung and Acting School Supervisor, Ms Li Choi Yin, we were extremely pleased to have with us young Josephians, Hau Ka Ho, Chairman, and JonathanMak, Vice Chairman of the SJACS Students Association, along with Yeung Tsz Kiu, last Chairman of the English Society. It was a great experience for these young men, and Jonathan posted a most thoughtful question during Q&A.
After this very entertaining session, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Peter Yeung (Class of ’75) presented KC with a memento. The proceedings would hardly be complete without acknowledging donations. Trustee Andrew Li acknowledged major donations from Mr. Chan Chi Hung, Ms Kate Lam and Mr. Matthew Poon (representing alumni in Toronto, Vancouver and US West) and invited them on stage for pictures with the Speaker.
An enthusiastic photo session with the Speaker followed with guests taking turns to post for the photographers. The party drew to a close at about 10 p.m.
Please click here to see Andrew Li's speech.
Please click here to see more photos.