HISTORY OF ROTARY CLUB OF
MACAU AND ITS ACHIEVEMENT
The idea of setting up a Rotary Club in Macau
was raised for the first time in 1938. However, due to the
Pacific War, the idea did not become a reality at that time. In
1946 when Macau and Hong Kong began to recover from the effects
of the 2nd World War, the idea of forming a club in Macau was
resurrected.
Henrique Nolasco Jr., a resident of Macau, was
invited to attend the weekly meeting of the Hong Kong Rotary
Club. He was very impressed by the fellowship and the ideals of
Rotary. On his return to Macau, urged on by his enthusiasm,
meetings were held with the then District Governor (DG) Arthur
Woo and others who gave their assistance and advice for setting
up a Club. On 11th January, 1947, a dinner was held at the Fat
Siu Lau Restaurant at which the 36 founding members appointed
their first Board of Directors. The Rotary Club of Macau was
thus formed and began functioning as a provisional club.
Though still lacking official recognition by
Rotary International, the provisional club set its course to
fulfill the ideals of Rotary by creating ³The Welfare Fund of
the Rotary Club of Macau² which was to help many worthy causes
in our community such as Homes for the Destitute and Aged, the
Portuguese Red Cross, the inhabitants of Taipa and Coloane, the
Canossian Institute, The Salesian Orphanage, Peng Man School,
Kiang Wu Hospital, The Tong Sin Tong Association, primary and
commercial schools and the S. Rafeal Hosptial Maternity Wing.
The Rotary Children¹s Library was also set up for the primary
school children.
On 16th June 1947 the Rotary Club of Macau
received official recognition from the Rotary International and
was chartered as Club No. 6662 with the then District 57. On
12th and 14th March, 1949, Macau had the honour of being the
venue of a District Conference which was attended by hundreds of
Rotarians from the 12 clubs in the Far East. During the 1950-51
Rotary Year, The Rotary Club of Macau had the privilege of
having its Past President Pedro G. Lobato elected District
Governor. In this capacity he attended the Rotary International
Convention in Detroit, USA.
In 1951, as of result of the concerted efforts
of all Rotarians united in the ideal of service, the Rotary Club
of Macau opened the ³Lara Reis Anti-Cancer Clinic². It was
located at ³Sol Poente², the residence of the late Rotarian
Fernando Lara Reis who had bequeathed it in his will to the
Portuguese Welfare Organization Santa Casa da Misericórdia which
subsequently administered the Clinic.
In the beginning of the 1951-52 Rotary Year,
political changes in China affected all the Rotary Clubs in the
area District 57. Only four clubs from District 57 remained
Hong Kong, Kowloon, Macau and Taipei. Being too few in number to
form a district, they composed an area under an Administrative
Advisor nominated by Rotary International. The situation was
brought back to normal when District 345, to which Macau
belonged, was created several years later. In 1988, District
3450 was formed, with Hong Kong and Macau being a separate
district from Taiwan.
The Rotary Club of Macau has been the meeting
place for a wide cross section of Macau society, encompassing
people of various professions and nationalities. A survey of
members indicates that the Club¹s members today are made up of
11 nationalities, who can speak a total of 16 languages. This is
why, for many years now, English has been adopted as the working
language for the Club meetings and proceeding.
In the 70¹s, the development of Macau led to
growth in the Rotary movement here. New clubs were established,
the Rotary Club of Hou Kuong was chartered in 1979, the Rotary
Club of Macau Central in 1984, the Rotary Club of Amagao in
1986, the Rotary Club of Guia in 1993 and Rotary Club of Macau
Islands in 1997.
As mentioned earlier, the Rotary Club of Macau
has always shown a strong awareness of the needs of Macau and
has contributed much of its capabilities to meet those needs
through community projects. In the 60¹s, assistance was given in
building a reservoir at the Ka Ho Leper Colony and in building
and setting up of fully equipped vocational training workshops
at the Boy¹s Home which at the time was being run by the Macau
Police Force. In the 70²s and 80¹s, the Club was involved in the
construction of new shower rooms for the orphan¹s dormitories at
the São Jos? School in Ka Ho. Many smaller projects have also
been carried out including the provision of bus shelters,
children¹s playgrounds, donations and scholarships to students
in need, subsidies to school canteens, old people¹s homes and
refugee centers, and dental health programme for students.
³Preserve Planet Earth², which has become Rotary
International¹s motto since 1990, has been implemented in Macau,
with our club closely cooperating with local environmental
activists, by supporting their purchase of equipment to measure
pollution, developing a civic education campaign for keeping the
city clean and beautiful and also by organizing tree planting
activities. Other community service included a van donated to
Caritas for the distribution of meals to elderly people living
alone. Vegetarian meals were offered to the blind and elderly
people at Chinese New Year when ³Lai See² were also offered.
Special equipment was sent to the Concordia School for the
hearing impared.
The Rotary Club of Macau does not only confine
its activities to those in need in Macau, it also plays its part
in helping the world at large in the true spirit of Rotary
International. The Club has taken an active part in the campaign
against famine in Ethiopia, and in disaster relief in Columbia,
Bangladesh and China. In 1997, we donated funds through our
District to provide water storage facilities in outlying
provinces in China that suffer from a short rainy season and a
consequent water supply problem.
In 1999-2000, the Rotary Club of Macau together
with the Rotary Club of Kowloon North, the Rotary Club of Taipei
North, the Ama Rotary Club in Nagoya, and the Macau Catholic
Social Services, built three primary schools in remote mountain
villages in Du¹An, Guangxi province. The 2001-2002 Rotary Year,
in a joint project with the Rotary Club of Kowloon North, two
more primary schools were built, the Yan Ma and the Jian Qiao
primary schools. In addition, the completion of the unfinished
building and the construction of new facilities and a dormitory
for the Experimental Middle School n Du¹An Town had its
ceremonial inauguration that August. We have also provided funds
for the disaster relief that have been administered through both
the Catholic Social Service and through Rotary District 3450. We
will continue to make funds available for such emergency relief.
Our Club is honoured with 34 Paul Harris Fellow
and 4 Benefactors, who have made contributions to the Rotary
Foundation, and through which the Rotary Club of Macau has
sponsored promising young men and women to further their studies
abroad in order to better serve Macau on their return. In 1978,
Dr. Alfredo Ritchie was awarded a scholarship to study endoscopy
in the USA and on his return, he was pioneer of this technique
in Macau and later became the head of the Endoscopy Department
in the Macau Government Hospital. Dr. Ritchie became a Rotarian
in 1983 and was the President for the 1987-88 Rotary year and
2001-02 Rotary year. Another scholarship was awarded to Dr. Tito
Lopes who went to Australia to specialize in geriatrics, a
specialty much in demand in Macau. For the Rotary year 2001-02,
our Club sponsored Dr. Mok Toi Meng, who went to Melbourne as an
ambassadorial scholar and furthered her studies in the field of
cardiology.
With the increase of females in the professional
world, our Club inducted its first female member in 1992 and by
this year our Club has 9 active female members. Out of the 9
female members, Stella Kan became the first female President for
the Rotary year 1996-97, followed by Synthia Chan as this year¹s
President and Fatima Ferreira as President Elect for the year
2004-05.
To commemorate our 50th Anniversary, a special
post mark and specially designed envelope was introduced to the
public on our birthday, 16th June, 1997, in Macau. Another event
to mark the 50 years movement in Macau, the ³Blind-Aid Charity
Concert² was held on 13th December, 1997, at the Macau Stadium,
Taipa, to help blind persons in Macau and China. The concert was
co-organized by the Macau Catholic Social Services and the Orbis
Charity, with the support of Macau Government. The effort put
into this concert by our Club led to the award of ³The Best
Achievement in International Service² that year.
For 3 consecutive years since the Rotary year
1999-2000, Rotary Club of Macau has organized Christmas Parties,
together with the 3 Centers of the Macau Association for the
Mentally Handicapped, where we share during this festive seasons
our love and care to these special children and their families.
In the Rotary year 2001-02, the 5 Rotary Clubs in Macau with the
cooperation of the Blood Transfusion Center, joined together to
formed the first Blood Donation Day on 13th January, 2002 where
88 persons donated blood on that single day. Last year, the 2nd
Blood Donation Day was held on 23rd March, 2003 where there was
an increase in the donors. Hence, this has become an annual
event for the 5 Rotary Clubs in Macau and shall continue to be
so.
Now, Rotary Club of Macau has began its 57th
year where we are certainly looking forward to continuing
serving and ³Lend A Hand² to the local and international
communities in the best Rotary Spirit ³Service is the
commitment we shall always be faithful to².
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