Annual General Meeting and Dinner, 2007

On the evening of February 24, forty-six QES alumni and friends gathered at the Royal Garden Restaurant in Newark, California for our annual meeting and dinner.  Since it was the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, we also celebrated our “birthdays” by handing out lai see envelopes, each containing a SuperLotto ticket.  The Royal Garden restaurant was the location we used for the 2006 annual meeting, and we were so pleased with their food, service and amenities that we came back a year later.

We were honored that a large contingent of the class of 1975 joined us for the evening.  They had a special table with festive decorations all to themselves. We look forward to seeing them again in the near future.

The evening started at 6 o’clock with the singing of our school song.  Then various directors took turns giving brief summaries of association functions, financial and membership status during the past twelve months.

A question was raised as to whether contributions to the QESOSA scholarship funds were tax-deductible.  The answer is no.  Our association is not registered as a non-profit organization because of a) we do not know how to apply for non-profit status, and b) no one has the time or energy to pursue this goal.  But we do know that once we achieve non-profit status, we have to file income tax returns every year and our books will have to be officially audited.  Since all our board members are volunteers with full-time jobs, no one is able to take on this added responsibility.  However, if and when someone volunteers to tackle the process of applying for non-profit status, we will be happy to look into this issue again.

Edward unveiled his “stealth” project – he has uploaded 50 years’ worth of QES school magazines (from 1955 to 2004) onto our website http://www.qesaausa.com.  By clicking on this link, one can download the school magazine of any year one wishes to see.  This is a really useful and welcome feature for everyone.  Our schoolmates from 75FA were particularly proud of this announcement since the 2-CD set of school magazines was the result of the hard work of one of their own – Chan Chung.

The entertainment of the evening was a guessing game using ten very old photos of Hong Kong.  Some pictures were giveaways – well-known landmarks such as the TsimShaTsui train terminal (taken in 1946), the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (in 1936) and the Peninsula Hotel (still under construction in 1926).  But the one that had everyone scratching their heads in bewilderment was a photo showing acres and acres of rice paddies.  It turned out to be TinSuiWai as it appeared in the early 1980’s, before it became a thriving new town where the QESOSA built 5 schools. 

Everyone, including the waiters, all enjoyed this game.  Some members complained that the game was too hard because the photos were taken before they were born!   Connie Lee won first prize in this game, with 8 points.  Andrew Lau (husband of Kathy Lau) won second prize with 7.5 points, and there were four third-prize winners, each with 7 points – Y K Leung and his wife Agnes, Shuet Keung Leung and Beth Pao.

We thank everyone who voted for the new board of directors for the 2007-08 term, both those who cast their ballots at the dinner and those who voted via email.  We are grateful to those members who donated gifts for the Lucky Draw.  We credit the evening’s excellent turnout to Louisa Leung who tirelessly contacted many members and encouraged them to attend.

Shortly after 10 o’clock, we sang Auld Lang Syne, said goodbye to friends, and concluded another successful annual dinner.