An online AGM was held on September 25 during which the following members were re-elected as Board of Directors for 2021-2022:

Augustine Chan

Agnes Man

Dennis Au Yeung

Evelyn Man (HK)

Franki Cheng

Lilian Ma

Maggie Poon

Margaret Law

Raymond Leung

Romeo Au

Tim Cheng

Verdi Yau

Prof Tsui Lap Chee as Honorary Chairman (for life)

Irene Chu and Peggy Sum as Honorary Advisers (for life)

Prof Tsui delivered a speech to thank the board. 

The board and members thanked retiring directors, Wilson Chan and Glendy Sze, for their services on the HKUAAO Board and contribution.  President’s report was shared and financial report approved by members.

All in-person HKJU activities were suspended in 2021 due to the continuation of outbreak of COVID-19.  Members noted that a few online events were held, and looked forward to the return of face-to-face activities in the coming year.

Reported by Agnes Man

2020-2021 Secretary of the HKUAAO

Dear Alumni, 

Thanks for those who have registered for HKJU Nov 7, 2021 萬千楓采嘉年華 from 2:45 – 5:30 pm.  
1.      Topic: JU萬千楓采嘉年華
         Time: Nov 7, 2021 02:45 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
         Meeting ID: 861 9442 9890
         Passcode: NOVEVENT 
         Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86194429890?pwd=M05VcHYrWjZvSXViMDYycG9tSENVQT09

If you haven’t registered yet and know you are available on Sunday, please register with me at romeoyhau@hotmail.com so your name can be put in the lucky draw. However, if you are still not sure and can find time to watch the show on Nov 7, you are welcome to login the link and enjoy.  

Enclosed please find the program rundown for your reference.  On behalf of HKUAAO, I would like to thank our Helen Woo and Amy Lo once again to perform the virtual 4-hand piano piece- Radetzky Marsch.  It sounds easy but with Helen is in Toronto and Amy in Ottawa, it is much more difficult than we thought as they have to make effort to synchronize the audio track and other technical issues. I am looking forward to the performance.

Performance of UST (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Alumni Ontario) is a 2D/3D music + animation show. If you want to experience 3D effect, you need a 3D eye glasses for this. You can pick this up in Teresa Tang Wong’s World Financial Group Office at 9078 Leslie St Unit #4, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3L8 between 9:30 am. – 3:30 pm. until Friday. Please call them in advance to make sure they will reserve a pair for you. We can still watch the 2D version but I am sure it will be more fun to watch in 3D.  

I hope you all will have a wonderful afternoon on coming Sunday in JU萬千楓采嘉年華. 

Please note this is only for reference and actual programs time may change without notice.

Time	Programe	Remarks
2:45 pm.	Online registration starts
3:00 pm.	JU萬千楓采嘉年華 begins
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	Quiz (Kahoot) – Demo & Round 1	禮品由香港經貿處贊助
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	歌曲: 滿場飛	珠海大學: May Hung
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	Chinese Painting	浸會大學: 陳寶文
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	網上廣播劇: 另類慶生辰	理工大學：Franklin Chau, Joe Cho,Teresa Tang Wong, Mei Ling Kwan, Denise Wong, Michael Shiu
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	Quiz (Kahoot) – Round 2	禮品由香港經貿處贊助
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	古箏: 瀏陽河	嶺南大學: JoJo Wong (黃穎君)
3:10 – 4:00 pm.	歌曲: 阿里山的姑娘	聯校; 珠海(陳永隆), 理工 ((Audrey Wai, Simon Li) Guitar)
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	歌曲: 心酸的情歌	城市大學: Nick Wong
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	Lucky Draw Part 1	香港經貿處贊助部分獎品
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	強身健體八段錦	樹仁大學: John Lai, Joseph Wong, Della Tin, Rebecca Chan
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	歌曲: All I Ask of You	聯校: 中大(Judy Wong), 嶺南(Laurence Lai)
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	廣播劇: 三國演義之草船借箭	聯校: 珠海 (陳永隆), 城大 (Nick Wong, Eric Ho), 中大( Macy Chan), 港大 (Winnie Fung), 理大 (Adam Keung)
4:00 – 5:00 pm.	接龍遊戲
5:00 – 5:30 pm.	串燒歌曲: 情花開 /薔薇處處開 / Summer Wine	中文大學: Elga Ng, Gary Tse, Flora Shen, William Lai, Simon Lam(Saxophone), Judy Wong(Guitar)
5:00 – 5:30 pm.	Piano Duet: Radetzky Marsch	香港大學: Helen Woo, Amy Lo
5:00 – 5:30 pm.	Music + Animation: 科大人加港名勝金曲串燒	科技大學: Albert Wan, Christina Ng, Frances Chung, Jason H, Nicky Liu, Natalie Wong, Patrick Hung, Raphaella So, Rita Law
5:00 – 5:30 pm.	Lucky Draw Part 2	香港經貿處贊助部分獎品
5:00 – 5:30 pm.	Closing Remarks	See you all next year

2.       HK Baptist University Alumni Association of Ontario will organize a webinar and invites all HKJU alumni to join if interested.

大家是否清楚知道怎樣合資格申請長期護理院（俗稱老人院)？

如何申請？

等待時間？

費用？

政府有否資助…..等等的問題？

浸大安省校友會特別舉辦一網上講座，由具社會工作學碩士學位的安省註冊社工為大家一一解答。時間為11月17日（星期三）下午5時至6時。
有興趣的校友或親友可向

Francis Tam – fcptam@yahoo.com或
Alfred Au-Yeung – alfredaay@yahoo.ca 報名。

Regards,

Augustine Chan & Romeo Au
HKUAAO
Designated Representatives to HKJU 2021 

Originally, we hope the pandemic situation will be improved and we will organize in-person event in the fall. We even had reserved a restaurant on Sunday Oct 31, 2021 to hold our annual gala dinner. However, things are not going our way and there is still uncertainty ahead. To play safe for everyone, we had reluctantly cancelled our booking and hope we can resume in 2022.

Being said that, HKJU went ahead to organize another Zoom event on Sunday, Nov 7, 2021 from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Details are to be announced later and you all are welcome to join. In the event, there is a talent quest item, we hereby appeal to HKUAAO alumni who don’t mind to share their talent like singing, musical instrument performance, magic, dance etc. It will be a pre-taped performance and this will be shown during the Zoom event. Please contact Augustine Chan (416-930-3666) or Romeo Au (416-529-3361) if you are interested.

Date: September 25, 2021 (Saturday)
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Online Zoom Meeting

Cost: Free
Registration: Registration is over. Thank you for your support!

We will elect the new board of directors and executive committee members for 2021 – 2022 at the A.G.M. All members are encouraged to nominate and be nominated for the Board for the coming year.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong University Alumni Association of Ontario will be held on Wednesday, the 25th day of September, 2021 at 7 p.m. by Online Zoom Meeting with the following business to be transacted: –

• To receive and consider the Annual Report for 2020-2021;
• To receive and consider the Treasurer’s Report;
• To elect directors and members of the Executive Committee of the Association for the year 2021-2022;
• To transact any other business.
  AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that any regular member in good standing shall be entitled to nominate another regular member in good standing to the Board of Directors and to be elected to the Board and to cast vote. Any such nomination should be emailed to the Association at hkuaaont@hku.hk on or before September 11th 2021.
  By the order of the Board of Directors
  Agnes Man, HKUAAO Secretary, August 23, 2021

Asset & Estate Planning 101 Sunday, July 25

Hats off to HKPUECA (Hong Kong Polytechnic University Eastern Canada Association). They organize an Asset & Estate Planning 101 webinar for their alumni on Sunday, July 25 from 3:00 pm. – 4:30 pm. They are generous to extend the invitation to all HKJU alumni. You are all welcome to participate. 

Please feel free to join as scheduled.
Topic: Asset & Estate Planning 101
Time: Jul 25, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 

Join Zoom Meeting 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84099665701?pwd=Z3VsOHBKampCQnVuU2ZmcDhtS08xUT09

 Meeting ID: 840 9966 5701 

Meeting ID: 840 9966 5701 
Passcode: 7406703 

Regards,
Augustine Chan / Romeo Au

Designated Representatives to 2021 HKJU

*******************************************************************

All HKJU activities were suspended in 2019 as the pandemic took over the globe. Starting in February, HKJU committee has been met regularly to evaluate the possibility to organize activities for all JU alumni. As we saw no hope to organize in-person event, we decided to organize a Zoom Events on Sunday afternoon June 27, 2021. Various activities were included like individual exercise challenge, martial arts and singing performance, quiz competition and lucky draw. We even invited a professional chiropractor to show and teach us practical exercises to improve our body flexibility. All participants spent a fun and meaningful afternoon.

You can see the event in the following link: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/LecSLrL7FCu0jq3d0C4Fl8kPsx2viQxThzF93HRmjTje_Hu7yswdPAPn6hGnVm2C.Sp82PvDZXV6EMwpM?startTime=1624821524000
Passcode is HKJU2021#

Reported by Romeo Au

親愛的JU朋友:

疫情期間，相信各位朋友在家的煮食時間比以往多。有見及此，本會將於4月份舉辦一個網上烹飪交流講座。

我們有幸邀請理工校友Ronnie Wong與各位在網上分享烹任心得及即場示範兩款菜式。屆時參與者可以觀看煮食過程，或跟Ronnie同步烹調亦可，也歡迎即場提問烹飪心得。

如欲跟Ronnie同步煮食，須事先預備以下食材及煮食工具：

A. 簡易迷迭香蒜焗雞
準備材料:
1.雞一隻,預先洗淨
(半小時前放室溫)
2.鹽
3.黑胡椒
4.迷迭香
5.蒜頭(切碎)
6.橄欖油
7.檸檬 1個

工具:
1.鐵鍋(大小可放下雞)
2.利較剪
3.切菜板
4.砧板(生和熟各一塊)
5.切刀
6.隔熱手套

B. 普羅旺斯焗甘藍
材料(全部洗淨):
1.甘藍 10粒
2.甜椒 6隻
3.紫洋蔥 半個
4.黑橄欖 六粒(去核)optional

講者Ronnie Wong背景：
-畢業於George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology，修讀Chef Training Program與食物及營養管理學

-曾代表加拿大參加 6th world Championship of Chinese Cuisine in Bejing 及獲得 Bronze Medal of Hot Dish Category.

-曾於 French Cuisine in Carefirst Seniors & Community Services 任教

日期：4月24日（星期六）
時間：下午4點至5點
如欲報名，請按以下連結登記：

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsf-uvqTouH9BaLFwVT8YgwZLwmJQJ4hOY

登記後會收到確認電郵，內附當天烹飪講座的網上連結。歡迎踴躍參與，祝大家身體健康

HKPUECA

Romeo Au
Designated Representative to Hong Kong Joint Universities Alumni Ontario
Hong Kong University Alumni Association of Ontario 

The webinar of “A Dialogue on Aging: Genetics and Environment” 誰主衰老？基因共環境？was successfully held on March 6, 2021. Our two HKU Alumni and globally acclaimed speakers, Professor Lap-Chee Tsui 徐立之教授, HKUAAO Honorary Chairman, and Professor Chi-Chung Hui許志忠教授, University of Toronto and Sick Kids, shared with the participants their expert knowledge on genetics and the aging process. Since this is a very popular topic, within a short period of less than 2 weeks, close to 95 people registered for the event and 75 participants showed up. Notably, there were some participants joining from Hong Kong, other than Professor Tsui. They included Bernadette Tsui and Monica Wong of HKU Department of Alumni Affairs Office. Although our webinar was held on a Saturday evening at 7pm Toronto time, it did not deter those attending from Hong Kong, as it was an early Sunday morning at 8 am Hong Kong time.
Lilian Ma, HKUAAO President, started off the webinar with a welcome to all.
Professor Tsui began the webinar by presenting some basics in genetics and how genes control our bodily function using a simple and easy to understand language. A few slides of Professor Tsui’s presentation are attached below for sample information:

Professor Hui then shared with us current scientific understanding about the aging process. He explained the importance of mitochondria and how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to aging. He further suggested that exercise, healthy diet and “intermittent fasting” are a few ways to improve the function of mitochondria. Three of Professor Hui’s presentation slides are shown below for brief reference.

After the presentations, many participants eagerly and enthusiastically joined in the discussion of this hot topic. A total of 10 questions were received before the webinar. Irene Chu, HKUAAO Founding President raised the first question of “the recent technological advances and its relevance on aging”. Other questions included “Any way to reverse aging process”, “How to delay memory loss?” and “Intermittent fasting” etc.

Professor Tsui further referred the audience to the Mayo Clinic article titled “Memory Loss: 7 tips to improve your memory”. Please click here to access this article.

The atmosphere during the event was lively and enjoyable. Due to the time constraint, we ended the event at 8.45pm (Toronto time) with a closing remark delivered by Denis Au-Yeung, our past president.

HKUAAO would like to extend our deep gratitude to Professor Tsui and Professor Hui for generously sharing their time and expert knowledge with our members, so we are more informed of the relationship between genetics and aging.

———————————-

Presenters

Dr. The Honourable TSUI Lap-Chee, GBM, GBS, JP   徐立之教授  

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui was the 14^th Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) from 2002 to 2014. Prior to this appointment, he was the Geneticist-in-Chief and Head of the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program of the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids).

Professor Tsui, a world-renowned molecular biologist, received international acclaim in 1989 when he identified the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis, which is a major breakthrough in human genetics. He has also made significant contributions to the study of the human genome, especially the characterization of chromosome 7, and identification of additional disease genes. His work paved the Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project. To recognize his accomplishments, Professor Tsui was honoured in sculpture and with a floor plaque in the University of Toronto’s Donnelly CCBR building.

In addition to his many national and international awards, which include the Orders of Canada and Ontario as well as 16 honorary doctoral degrees from prestigious universities around the world and the 2018 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Royal Society of London and Academia Sinica. He is also an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), a Foreign Member of The Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Laureate.

---

Professor Chi-Chung HUI   許志忠教授

Dr. Chi-Chung Hui is Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, and Senior Scientist, Developmental & Stem Cell Biology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

As an expert of mouse genetics, his research focuses on several signalling pathways (e.g., Hedgehog signaling, Iroquois homeobox genes) in development and disease. His laboratory, Hui Lab, has generated a variety of genetic mouse models of human congenital malformations, cancer, and obesity.

Professor Hui has received a number of prestigious awards, including a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Mouse Development and Disease Modeling, Research Scientist Award of National Cancer Institute of Canada (1999-2005), Terry Fox Young Investigator Award and Premier’s Research Excellence Award of Government of Ontario. He is also the Director of International Partnership at SickKids Research Institute and has been actively involved in promoting research and education collaborations between SickKids/University of Toronto and several leading universities in Asia and China such as University of Hong Kong and Zhejiang University. For further details about Professor Hui’s research work, please visit his web page at the Sick Kids.

———————————-

Reported by the organizing committee:
Augustine Chan, Verdi Yau, Maggie Poon and Glendy Sze

The webinar event on “Mental Health and the Pandemic” presented by our alumni members Dr. Peter Chang and Dr. Ted Lo, well known psychiatrists to Asian Canadians in Ontario, and moderated by Dr. King Fun Siu, another alumnus practicing family medicine in Ontario, took place on January 16, 2021, 7 – 8 30 p.m.  using the ZOOM platform.   The agenda included the three areas: impact of COVID: bio psychosocial aspects of the pandemic; Coping with the Pandemic and getting ready for the new-normal.

It was a well-attended event, with 95 registered and 87 attending, with participants from HKUAAO members, families and their friends as well as members from the HK Joint Universities Alumni members, in Ontario as well as other parts of Canada such as B.C.

The event began with a welcome to all and introduction of the presenters by the HKUAAO President, Lilian Ma.   Moderator Dr. KF Siu then took over the proceedings. 

The presentation was in three parts: the impact, the coping and preparing for the future.

Dr. Peter Chang started with the “biology” part of the subject, citing that the COVID virus can affect the body in many ways – including the mind – by affecting our nervous system.    Body and mind are interrelated and work as one.  There is a lot of psychological impact due to the pandemic, some due to prolonged stress, which can also lead to other physical symptoms such as increased hypertension.   At times these may be reversible but there is no cut and dry answer to each case.    Negative stress has been shown to shorten telomeres in our DNA which regulate how long a cell can keep dividing – thus its life longevity.  Epigenetics also come into effect in deciding on the expression of genes. In other words, environment is an important factor in affecting our overall health.   Doctors are expecting a pandemic on mental health issues following the COVID pandemic.

Dr. Ted Lo followed up on giving examples that he encountered during the pandemic.  He talked about how we can deal with the problems.   The participants also shared their experiences during the pandemic, such as some reporting having a lot of dreams and disturbed/interrupted sleep.  One should not hesitate to seek mental help support  if one feels onset of anxiety, depression and a sense of hopelessness. These can be triggered and compounded by economic hardship, necessity to learn new ways of doing things, and lack of social interaction/support felt by many during the lock downs. One can call organizations such as Hong Fook which specializes in helping Chinese Canadians in their mental health issues in the language of their choice.   One important factor is to keep a schedule of activities every day – particularly important if we are doing working from home.  With a schedule we can keep ourselves busy. Also we must include exercise in our schedule – exercise is crucial to keep ourselves not just physically fit but also mentally fit.    A daily walk, with a family pet if any, will do anyone good – the fresh air and sight of nature can be most beneficial. Dr. Lo also shared his tool kits with the audience.  Dr. Lo also explored the future as a result of the pandemic.  While this topic was not fully elaborated due to time, he suggested that there will be a new normal, which we have to adapt to with the learnings we derive from the pandemic. We need to prepare by looking for changes that would help our communities as well as our personal lives. 

Throughout, the presenters were happy to answer questions. The webinar and discussion lasted 1 ½ hours.  The HKUAAO would like to thank the presenters for donating their time and expertise to us all so we are better informed to take care of ourselves and our families during these difficult times.

Reported by Lilian Ma

——————-

Presenters

DR. PETER PAI-TAK CHANG
Dr. Peter Chang graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of HKU (1968), trained in Castle Peak Hospital and in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He obtained his specialist qualifications in Toronto, Canada and in London, U.K. In 1992, he graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and started a law practice here in 1994.
Around forty years ago, Dr. Chang joined Dr. Lo and others in starting Hong Fook Mental Health Association because they discovered in their own psychiatric practices that there was a general lack of awareness of mental health needs within the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities, and that there were serious barriers to getting mental health services in these populations.
Dr. Chang changed jobs several times in his career, worked in about three provincial psychiatric hospitals and several general hospitals since he moved to Ontario from Hong Kong. In his administrative roles, he was drawn into the legal issues pertaining to mental health reform and the patients’ rights movement in the 1980’s, which might have induced him to join the legal profession about 26 years ago. 

DR. TED HUNG-TAT LO
Dr. Ted Lo graduated from the uFaculty of Medicine of HKU (1971), trained in Castle Peak Hospital and in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He obtained his specialist qualifications in London, U.K., and in Toronto, Canada.
Along with Dr. Peter Chang, Raymond Chung (both HKU alumni) and others, they founded the Hong Fook Mental Health Association (hereinafter referred to as “Hong Fook”) between the late 1970’s and early 1980’s for the purposes of promoting mental health among the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities in the Greater Toronto Area, and improving access to mental health services in general. Both of them have continued to work within Hong Fook in various capacities as called upon. Recently Dr. Lo organized a series of webinars on mental health in the pandemic called “Together We Thrive” for the Asian communities.
Dr. Lo has also joined the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto to design training in cultural competence for the psychiatric residents, and to further develop the field of cultural psychiatry in Canada.

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