Community-based
We are a community-based club. That means we belong to no university or college: our members can come from anywhere in Hong Kong, and what they share is the work.
About Rotaract
A small club with a long record
The Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Island East (香港東區扶青社) is a club of young adults in Hong Kong who do community service together. It began in the 1980s. It is being rebuilt now, by a board elected in September 2026.
- Service
- Professional development
- Leadership
- Friendship
What Rotaract is
Rotaract is a worldwide family of clubs for adults aged 18 and over. The clubs belong to Rotary International, and each one is run by its own members.
A Rotaract club does four things. It serves its community. It helps its members in their working lives. It gives them practice at leading. And it makes friends, at home and abroad.
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Service
Volunteering: days spent being useful to somebody else, planned and run by the members.
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Professional development
Talks, skills and contacts for the first years of a working life.
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Leadership
A club small enough that you will be asked to run something.
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Friendship
People you would not otherwise have met, in Hong Kong and in Rotaract clubs abroad.
Who we are
Since the 1980s
District 3450
We are part of Rotary International District 3450, which covers Hong Kong, Macao and Mongolia, and we sit in its Area 3. You may also see us written as RAC HKIE. It is the same club in fewer letters.
English-speaking
We meet in English. In August 2011 the club became the district’s English-speaking Rotaract club.
18 and over
To join ours you do not need to know a Rotarian, and you do not need to be a student.
Back, and ready to serve.
We are small, and rebuilding. A new board was elected in September 2026. We say so plainly because it is the best reason to join now: there is room for you to shape what this club becomes.
6
areas of service
History
The record, from the 1980s to now
3
times this club has been started again
2010
The first return
No members
Early in 2010 the club has no members. It is started again from zero: a first board meeting in August, an installation in October, and thirteen members within six months.
2019
The second return
Fifteen new Rotaractors
The club starts again, with fifteen new Rotaractors. At New Year 2020 they make a service trip to Chiang Mai, and they visit a home for elders in Yuen Long.
2026
Back once again
A new board
In September 2026 a new board is elected: a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and a Community Service Director, with two advisors from the sponsor. The sponsor’s bulletin calls it ‘a rebuilding Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Island East’. It is the third time the club has been started again.
Turn the dial, as you would the dial of a safe. Each stop is an entry from the club’s own records or its sponsor’s bulletins. Where the record says nothing, so do we.
Drag the dial, scroll, or use the arrow keys.
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1980s The first decades
Twenty founding members
Twenty young people, most of them former Interact members from schools on Hong Kong Island, start a community-based Rotaract club. The Rotary club that sponsors it then is the one that sponsors it today.
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1988 The first decades
An anti-smoking campaign
The earliest dated project in the record: a campaign against smoking.
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1990 The first decades
An air pollution project
A project on air pollution. The record keeps the year and the subject, and nothing more.
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1991 The first decades
Career talks in Eastern District
The club holds career talks for students in Eastern District. It comes back to this kind of work more than once.
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1993 The first decades
Elders at Chater Garden
A project for elders at Chater Garden. In the same year, the first District 3450 Rotaract Conference.
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1994 The first decades
Project ‘REHAB’
A project called ‘REHAB’. The record keeps its name and its year.
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1998–2000 The first decades
Work with the AIDS Foundation
From 1998 to 2000: work with the AIDS Foundation, and TeenAIDS workshops.
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1999–2001 The first decades
Christmas parties and a sky walk
Christmas parties at a school for the deaf. A Millennium Sky Walk for the Hong Kong Blind Union. In November 2001, a day of giving blood. By the club’s own account its membership has gone ‘from 25 to 50, dropped to 25 and raised to 30’.
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2004 The first decades
The Asia Pacific conference in Hong Kong
In August 2004 the Asia Pacific Regional Rotaract Conference is held in Hong Kong, and the club takes part. There is another Christmas party at a school for the deaf.
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2006 The first decades
Five or six members
December 2006. The sponsor’s bulletin records ‘only 5–6 members… meeting on the Internet’. They still visit low-income families in Tung Chung, and they host a sister Rotaract club from Japan.
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2007 The first decades
A Christmas party for 130 children
At Christmas 2007 the club holds a party for 130 children at the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital. It is shown on television news, and it is held again every Christmas until 2012.
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2010 The first return
No members
Early in 2010 the club has no members. It is started again from zero: a first board meeting in August, an installation in October, and thirteen members within six months.
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2011 The first return
The district’s English-speaking club
In August 2011 the club becomes the district’s English-speaking Rotaract club. Rotary International awards it a Presidential Citation for 2010–11, the first of four.
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2011–12 The first return
The Changemaker Award
Rotary International gives the club its Changemaker Award for 2011–12.
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2012–13 The first return
Thirty-five members
26 members in October 2012, and 35 by April 2013. An ‘Ace an interview’ talk for 60 students, held with a college Rotaract club. Yum cha with 40 elders. A second Presidential Citation.
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2014 The first return
Members from seven or eight countries
In 2014 the club’s members come from seven or eight countries. Presidential Citations follow for 2013–14 and 2014–15.
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2016 The first return
Visits with St James’ Settlement
Members visit elders with St James’ Settlement.
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2016–17 The first return
Nothing in the record
For 2016–17 the record says nothing about the club.
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2019–20 The second return
Fifteen new Rotaractors
The club starts again, with fifteen new Rotaractors. At New Year 2020 they make a service trip to Chiang Mai, and they visit a home for elders in Yuen Long.
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2020–21 The second return
An installation held online
The installation of the new board is held online. In January 2021 members walk Causeway Bay at night to meet homeless people. In June 2021 there is a project for abandoned dogs.
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2021–22 The second return
Dogs, food and a district role
In 2021 and 2022, service at a stray-dog shelter, and its renovation. Recovering surplus food. A member of this club serves as District Rotaract Representative for 2021–22. District awards follow in June 2022.
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2022 The second return
The last post
October 2022: Hike for Hospice. The club’s notice for it, posted on 16 October 2022, is its last public post.
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2023 The quiet years
‘Succession problems’
December 2023. The sponsor’s bulletin: ‘our Rotaract Clubs had some succession problems’.
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2024 The quiet years
Not mentioned
In 2024 the club is not mentioned in the record at all.
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2025 Back once again
A relaunch begins
In August and September 2025 a relaunch begins, with a joint installation and a vocational talk held with a college Rotaract club.
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2026 Back once again
A new board
In September 2026 a new board is elected: a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and a Community Service Director, with two advisors from the sponsor. The sponsor’s bulletin calls it ‘a rebuilding Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Island East’. It is the third time the club has been started again.
Use the left and right arrow keys to move one entry at a time. Home goes to the 1980s and End to the latest entry.
The next entry has not happened yet.
Sources: the club’s own former website, the weekly bulletins of its sponsoring Rotary club from 2003 to 2026, and district directories.
The record in numbers
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20
founding members
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130
children at the hospital Christmas party of 2007
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13
members within six months of starting from zero
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35
members by April 2013
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15
new Rotaractors in 2019–20
Every number about the club’s past is from its own records or its sponsor’s bulletins.
Awards
Five awards from Rotary International
After the first return, Rotary International recognised the club every year from 2010–11 to 2014–15: four Presidential Citations and one Changemaker Award.
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2010–11
Presidential Citation
Rotary International
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2011–12
Changemaker Award
Rotary International
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2012–13
Presidential Citation
Rotary International
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2013–14
Presidential Citation
Rotary International
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2014–15
Presidential Citation
Rotary International
4
Presidential Citations from Rotary International
1
Changemaker Award from Rotary International
- A Presidential Citation is recognition from the President of Rotary International for a club that meets the goals set for that year.
- In 2021–22 a member of this club served as District Rotaract Representative, the Rotaractor who speaks for every Rotaract club in the district.
Sponsor and district
Our Rotary family
Four wheels turn together, and ours is in the middle. Drag any one of them and the others follow.
- Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Island East Us. A club of young adults that runs itself: its own board, its own plans, its own service days.
- Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island East Our sponsor since the club began. A Rotary club chartered in 1954.
- District 3450 The Rotary and Rotaract clubs of Hong Kong, Macao and Mongolia. We are in its Area 3.
- Rotary International The worldwide organisation that Rotary clubs and Rotaract clubs belong to. Its motto is Service Above Self.
Drag any gear and the others turn with it. Each gear is described in the text beside it.
Our sponsor
Two members of our sponsoring Rotary club sit with our board as advisors, and some of our service days are joint days with its members.
We run our own club. They make sure we do not run it alone.
Questions
What is Rotaract?
Rotaract is a worldwide family of clubs for adults aged 18 and over, and part of Rotary International. Its members do community service together, build skills for their working lives, practise leading, and make friends in Hong Kong and abroad.
How is Rotaract different from Rotary?
Rotary clubs and Rotaract clubs belong to the same organisation, Rotary International. A Rotaract club is for young adults and is run by its own members. Ours is sponsored by a Rotary club, which advises us, but the board that runs this club is made up of Rotaractors.
What does community-based mean?
Some Rotaract clubs belong to a university or college and take their members from it. A community-based club does not. Anyone aged 18 or over who lives, works or studies in Hong Kong can join ours.
When did the club stop, and how did it come back?
A club like this is handed from one board to the next. In December 2023 our sponsor’s bulletin recorded succession problems, and for 2024 the record says nothing about us. A relaunch began in 2025, and in September 2026 a new board was elected. It is the third time the club has been started again, after 2010 and 2019.
Is this a website of Rotary International?
No. This is the website of the Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Island East, run by the club. Rotaract and the Rotaract logo are trademarks of Rotary International.
Can a school or organisation work with you?
Yes. Over the years this club has served at a school, a hospital, a home for elders and an animal shelter, and has recovered surplus food. Write to us through the contact page and tell us what you have in mind.
Does the club take money through this website?
No. There is nothing to pay and nothing to give on this website, and we will never ask you for bank or card details here.
The record needs a next entry
It will be written by whoever is in the club this year.