AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING
On March 27, 2009, it was cloudy and rainy outside. A big contrast was the warm and joyful atmosphere in the ballroom of the new Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Shatin where the CUWO 2oth Anniversary Celebration Dinner was held.
The Organizing Committee arrived early in the evening to carry out necessary preparation. About 60 guests joined the celebration dinner including present and previous members, spouses, and friends. Each guest received a souvenir package for CUWO's 20th Anniversary in which there were a bookmark, a key chain, and a ball pen all marked with this event.
Our MCs, Gillian Kew and Lisi Tsao, started the wonderful evening at 7.30pm and added to the programmes with fun and humor. The series of programmes began with the Welcome Speech by CUWO's present chairperson, Scarlet Suen.
The first climax was brought by our Guest of Honor and CUWO's founding chair, Mrs Gwen Kao. She gave an inspiring speech on Women and Fellowship in which we learnt about how women struggled and gained respect and equal status as men in the last century.
Mrs Kao's speech was followed by some sentimental moments. Many of CUWO's previous chairpersons had left Hong Kong but they were still concerned about the 20th anniversary. Some of them sent back congratulatory messages. The messages were read out by the present CUWO EXCO members.
Another climax was reached when our Guest Speaker and CUWO's long time friend, Mr Hardy Tsoi, gave speech on Men and Women. Hardy's talents brought us a humorous and tasteful talk show.
Thanks to the efforts of our member, Dr Chiu Ha Ying and her husband, Dr Lui. A powerpoint presentation was conducted to show the history of CUWO in the last 20 years. Many of our guests were amazed when they saw young looks of friends in the old pictures.
Our previous member and skilful artist, Lonitta Hueng, hand stitched a souvenir for Mrs Kao. A cake of tea leaves was wrapped in a delicately designed and stitched cover of Chinese style. The cake of tea leaves was used to symbolize the long lasting friendship among CUWO members. All other CUWO chairpersons at the dinner received this souvenir.
A Passing Down Ceremony was carried out where a torch was passed from Mrs Kao, as the founding chairperson, down to each of previous chairpersons and finally to the present chairperson, Scarlet.
After the Passing Down Ceremony, a toast was proposed by Scarlet to thank all the guests for joining CUWO's 20th Anniversary Celebration.
We were then hit by a nice surprise when the ex Pro VC, Professor Charles Kao, appeared unannounced. All the guests stood up and clapped their hands to welcome Professor Kao.
To wrap up this extraordinary evening, the members of the Organizing Committee for this event and the members of CUWO's Executive Committee and our special guests went on stage to sing two songs: I Have A Dream and Those Were The Days.
