Members Newsletter Mar 2011 / Issue 2 EXCO Column 2011 marks a special year for HKWPEA! It is the 15th Anniversary of our Association as well as the year we are hosting the fifth tri-annual Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award. With the help and participation of a lot of members, we have already launched the Outstanding Women Award nomination and kick started a series of planning activities to celebrate our 15th Anniversary. One important production is the 15th Anniversary Souvenir Album. The Album will feature the development journey of HKWPEA since its incorporation in 1996. It will also feature our membership list with each member s information. Please remember to submit your updated information to the secretariat by April! We hope to be able to share all your beautiful photos in the member information section. There will be an advertisement drive for this Album which the Committee will urge your support and your business partners or suppliers support to subscribe to our advertisement. A press conference was held on 13 January 2011 to launch the Outstanding Women Award, to the public. The first stage of work in this Award focused on awareness building, publicity by media & direct mailing and seeking nominations. In the next quarter, the Committee will be busy in the selection process. We have also been active on the Public Affairs front. President Agnes representing the Association attended the Legco meeting to express our comments on the healthcare reform on 11 December 2010. A response paper to the 2nd Healthcare Reform was submitted on 7 January, 2011. There is a Task Force led by Christine Koo on Competition Law. The Association invited Mr So Kam Leung, Gregory, JP, Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development to speak on Competition Law. To further facilitate our members to respond to the bill, the Association also invited Mr. Huen Wong, JP President same subject matter. In addition, the first quarter of 2011 was also marked by Chinese New Year gatherings, fellowship events, talks, new member tea gathering Please read on From EXCO Team Issue 2-1
Recent Events 2011 Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award press conference was held on 13 January, 2011 This event aimed to promote public awareness of this Outstanding Women Award Press Conference Agnes, Eva and Marina introduced our association, the award and judging panel. We were most honored to have the presence of Professor Vivian Yam Wing- Wah and Ms Chong Kin Wo and Dr. Polly Cheung as the honorary guest speakers. Thanks to Sylvia and Anna May for being the moderators of the event. Also, thanks to Angel and PR Network for putting the whole event together. The event was well covered by Headline Daily News, Hong Kong Daily News, Hong Kong Economic Journal, HK Economic Times, Oriental Daily News, South China Morning Post, The Sun, Wen Wei Po and Cosmopolitan. We are also working with Metro Broadcast, HK Economic Times, Cosmopolitan and Outstanding Women Award Press Conference Tea-gathering with new members Number of Attendants: Exco/Chairpersons and 6 new members (Cindy Chan, Sharon Yau, Callie Ko, Jennifer Cheng, Cindy Young, Ivy Tong) our EXCO members and chairpersons and 6 new members. We warmly welcome the following six new members in joining our association : 1. Ko Ka Li, Callie Specialist in Ophthalmology, Hospital Authority 2. Cindy Chan Registered Clinical Psychologist, Cindy Chan Psychological Services 3. Jennifer Cheng AVP, Marketing, Citibank(HK) Ltd 4. Tong Po Po, Ivy Executive District Director, AIA 5. Sharon Yau Executive Director, Hong Kong International Institute of Educational Leadership 6. Cindy Young Managing Director, Sunflower Travel Service Ltd Issue 2-2
Programmes & Fellowship 2nd Joint Function On 21 February, we celebrated Chinese New Year of the Rabbit at The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. The spring dinner was also an evening where we invited Mr Allen Ho, Food Safety/ Quality Assurance Director of Dairy Farm to give us a talk on Nutrition Labelling. We had special guests from the China Liaison Office (Song Wei) and (Choi Qing Ai). All 22 members and guests enjoyed an informative seminar and festive fellowship gathering. International & Local Liaison tee of in the Spring Dinner 2011 The large scale event was held on 28 February, 2011 at the Grand Hall of the Convention and Exhibition Centre. We had a table and attendants included President Agnes, Mabel, Helen, Vivian, Pamela, Merlinda, Becky, Cindy, Susanna and Anna The Officiating Guests of the event were, GBM, JP The event helped our association to raise our profile amongst the commercial sector and also provided good networking opportunities for all who attended. Issue 2-3
Women s Day Celebration Cocktail It has become a tradition for our association to support to celebrate Women's Day. This year, the cocktail celebration at the Convention and Exhibition Centre had a great turnout, with the presence of representatives from a wide spectrum of women dressed in Chinese costume, have enjoyed a good time during the event. Issue 2-4
Public Affairs Events : Two Competition Law sharing sessions by two distinguished guests : Mr. Gregory So, JP, Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development and Mr Huen Wong, JP, the President of the Law Society of HK As Chairperson of Public Affairs Committee, Janice had a busy quarter. After the submission of response paper to the 2nd Health Reform consultation, Janice quickly focused on the Competition Law subject. She 2011. We were honored to have Mr. Gregory So Kam Leung, JP, Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development to speak to us on the Competition Law. There were altogether 36 members and guests joining this dinner symposium with active interaction between the guest speaker and the audience after the talk by Mr. So. luncheon talk by Mr. Huen Wong, JP, the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong on 23rd March, 2011, again at the CGCC to provide our members other aspects of the Competition Law, thus giving us the full picture of the issue. This has certainly enriched our understanding of the proposed Law, thus facilitating our response towards this Consultation Paper. In this regard, we are glad to have Christine Koo, our Legal Chairperson leading our Task Force in responding to the HKSAR Government on this matter. For any further enquiries or comments, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Janice Tsang at jwhtsang@gmail.com Mr.Greg So, JP speaking on the Competition Law President Agnes, VPs, Sandra Mak, Angel Hon & Rebecca Choy, presending souvenir to our guest speaker, Mr. So, JP Participants at the talk of Greg So Mr. Huen Wong, JP, the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong speaking on the Competition Law Issue 2-5
BEEPS Project The Environmental Committee s pilot project Building Environmental and Energywise Professionals and SMEs (BEEPS) was officially launched in December 2010 and currently has 35+ participating SMEs and lady professionals in the fields of Accounting, Law and Medicine with practical suggestions on energy and cost saving measures in today s increasingly challenging environment, According to the latest assessment records obtained by Tai Po Environmental Association through the free half day office audits at the participating companies, the average company could save up to 10 tons of carbon per year, which is the Joining the BEEPS Program will not only save the Earth, but help reduce company costs as well! The visit quotas are provided on a first-come-firstserve basis. Please visit http://www.beeps-hk.com/ for more information on the programme. BEEPS Project Issue 2-6
Upcoming Events Don t miss this upcoming Life Nourishing Qigong Talk 6 April, 2011 6/F, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, 24-25 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm The Association has invited the renowned Qigong Master Zhou Rong Xiang to give our Mandarin. Master Zhou will introduce valuable knowledge to improve, protect and maintain health and explain how Qigong revives life energies. Participants will have opportunity to practice some Qigong techniques and will benefit from the improved Qi field induced by collective practice and under the guidance of Master Zhou. Issue 2-7
Feature Story As many of you would know, our Past President, Eva has recently retired from Amway after a most distinguished career with the company. As she is starting to embark on a different stage of her life, we have asked her to share with us some thoughts of herself at this juncture. My retirement...by Eva Cheng After working 34 years in Amway, I decided it's time to retire from all my executive management positions and Amway Hong Kong to Executive Vice President of Amway Corporation, a US$9.2 billion American direct selling global enterprise has been nothing short of fascinating. When I stepped down in January 2011, I was most expansion, giving me the chance to learn and grow with the company the lives of many people in Asia economic transformation, and made my fair share of contribution as a Chinese In fulfilling my role and responsibilities, I am indebted to the Founding Families and all my colleagues at Amway Corporate HQ in Grand Rapids, USA, for their support, encouragement and wise counsel over the years, and I'm particularly grateful to the management teams in Greater China and Southeast Asia who have been so loyal and dedicated, so intelligent and capable. They did 95% of the work and let me take 100% of the credit. They tolerated my very demanding and almost meticulous management style, and never failed to make me look so much better than what I really am. Today, I retire with a light heart and clean conscience because I know that under the very capable leadership of my successors, Amway Greater China and Southeast Asia will grow bigger, better and stronger yet! On a personal level, it's frankly not easy to transition into a daily life when I don't have to check and respond to emails all the time; chair meetings, sit through videoconferences; give motivational speeches on stage, interact ). I know I'm important to the Amway organization but I also know that I'm not indispensable. I know I can be a workaholic but I also know that deep inside me, I'm yearning to be free like a bird! I know this is the right time Issue 2-8
Many friends are interested in my future plans. Well, I have chosen to retire from Amway, but I am not resigned courses offered by the CU School of Continuing Studies this spring, one on "Introduction on I-Ching" ( I'm also planning to have lots of fun, and that would include touring places in the world with my husband, and And last but not least, I'm very happy to have a continuing role in the Amway Family as Non-executive Chairman of Amway China and Chairman of the newly established Amway Charity Foundation, PRC. I guess all of the above will be more than sufficient to keep me busy, not to mention that I must reserve time for HKWPEA activities too! It's actually hard not to be sentimental when I talk about retirement because I do miss all my ex-colleagues and people around me more often than I had done! I hope now is not too late! Eva with granddaughters Chloe Cheng and Reina Cheng Issue 2-9
Members Achievements We would like to congratulate Anne Chen for being recognized for the Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award by the Law Society of Hong Kong Anne is the President of Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). doing community work. In addition, Anne also motivates not just women lawyers, but also their children and other young generation (law students) to women, she led efforts in empowering underprivileged women such as support to young women drug addicts to rehabilitate from drug addiction ; 3-gen project having mentors working with mentees to serve the old service to special needs students and old aged in elderly homes. We also want to congratulate Jessie Yu for being chosen as a winner of the Outstanding Poly U Alumni Award. The following is the press announcement of Jessie s outstanding achievements: Issue 2-10
EDITORIAL TEAM Helen Kan Chairperson, Newsletter and Communication committee / Honorary Secretary Maggie Lam Newsletter and Communication committee member Angel Hon, Constance Lei Design and production of Newsletter Helen Lau HKWPEA Secretariat Po Po Chan HKWPEA Secretariat HKWPEA Secretariat Address: Room B, 18/F Kingswell Commercial Tower, 171 173 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. Tel: 852-2882 2555 Fax: 852-2882 4673 Email: info@hkwpea.org Website: www.hkwpea.org