Interview with PP Choi, 1999 ~ 2000

In my year, my members enjoy very good fellowship, we had about ten nationalities and no arguments. They all supported me when I proposed the service project.
During my year we had no Executive Secretary, Natalie, our South African member volunteered to be my Secretary.

We organized the first trip to GuangXi, China. Ten people including one member from Father Lancelot’s group Luis, traveled to see the schools in that area. This was the first time our Club had left Macau to do a project in another country. We had supported by donating money before but never participated or involved so much in project. The situation in China was very different from what we had heard then, it was in fact, much worse. The schools were in a bad state, not always having windows or even walls. Some were built in my fathers time about 1920. The families had to live with the animals, they had no chairs for the children, they sat on tree stumps. Natalie, my then Secretary, was a big surprise to the children and she was followed everywhere as she was so different, a Caucasian most probably seen by the children for the very first time.

Our membership then was about 40 to 50 and many nationalities, it felt like a family. We met at the New Century Hotel. Raising funds was from the members and friends back then, we did not have funds for big projects. We got support from other Clubs like Kowloon North in Hong Kong to help the projects.
The Ball Chair’s job was not to raise funds but rather to organize the party. We made a rule that the incoming President has to raise funds for his year.

The work for the Leper Colony in Coloane came later, not when I was President but when I was President of the Dental Association in Macau.