The Chinese Society of Nova Scotia, PO Box 29055, Halifax Shopping Centre, Halifax, N.S. B3L 4T8

CSNS NEWSLETTER Vol.1 2005/06 December 1, 2005

1. Annual General Meeting

The annual General Meeting was held on Sunday October 9th, 2005 at Dragon Buffet King Restaurant. The following is a draft of the minutes prepared by the past secretary.

Draft Minutes of The Chinese Society of NS 2005 AGM

Time: Sunday, October 9th, 2005 4:30pm-7:00pm

Location: Dragon Buffet King Restaurant

Present: 52 adult members:

Beaupre Charles, Chen Susannah, Hum Alice, Lui May, MacDonald Katherine, Mah Catherine, Wong Vincent, Chan Michael & Irene, Chen Zhizhang, (David) & Xiaoyan (Lisa) Wu, Cheng Leon M L & Alison Jod, Chung Samson & Kam, Dai Jie & Mei Wang, Dong Zhongmin & Jing Yang, Fong Dow and Sharon, He Qi-ming & Rong Jing Feng, Huang Wen (Wilber) & Tingyu (Seasy), Yun (Sara) Liu, Kwan George & Helen, Lai Stanley & Betty, Lee Fred & Miranda, LeeTony & Anita, Leong Kim See & Joyce, Liu Paul and Hui Li, Lu Charles & Pei Zheng, Lu Youyu & Yu Chunmei, Ng Rowena WafTo & Ming Caleb, Ngu William & Angie, Pan Aiming &Yon Liu, Seto Ping & Linda, Shea Gerry & Gail, Sheng Jinyu & Wu Xi, Sun Genlou & Fang Liu Michael, Tam Ted & Janet, Tan Kok-Heng & Doreen, Tan K Keong & Kwei Ying, Tang Alex & Shu wei chen, Tang Charles & Anne, Tian Mao & Peijuan Ji, Wang Richard & Chou K.Y., Wang Yueping & Guang Yang, Wong Oscar & Rosalie, Wong Paul & Lisa, Wong Peter & Rebecca, Wong Crystal & Robert Yi, Wu Ting & Lily, Xia Fan & Lu, Ying, Xu Kuan & Xiaoli Shen, Xu Jie & Mei Wang, Yang Hua, Ye George & Julia Mao, Yeung Moorix & Wendy, Yeung Pollen & Kim Lam, Yung David & Kathy

1. Approval of Agenda:

Changes: Incoming President’s Speech will be delivered before the Dinner.

Motion: The society approves the agenda of AGM 2005. Moved by Mr. Guang Yang and seconded by Mr. Paul Liu. The motion was carried unanimously.

2. Approval of Minutes of AGM on Oct.9 ,2005:

Moved by Dr. Zhongmin Dong and seconded by Wilber Huang. The motion was carried unanimously.

3. Report from Board of Directors:

Dr. David Yung, Chairman of the Board, reported to members the first year activities (2004-2005) of the Board. He also reported three policies decisions and three recommendations for the Executive and Capital Fund Committees. These policies and recommendations is attached as Appendix “A”.

4. President’s Annual Report:

Fred Lee P. Eng., President of CSNS (2004-2005), was very pleased to report another successful year. The President’s report is attached as Schedule “B”

5. Treasurer’s Report:

Ping Seto, Treasurer of CSNS (2004-2005), presented the Financial Report. This report is attached as Appendix “C”. Dr. Oscar Wong and Dr.David Yung pointed out that the $395.00 dinner expense was not for “Board of Director Meeting” as indicated in the 2004-05 Financial Report. It should read as “The 2005 New Year Party”. It was on this party the Board of Directors were elected. The Financial Report is attached as Schedule “C”. Ping Seto acknowledged the recommended changes and will resubmit the Financial Report with the amended changes.

6. Capital Fund Report:

George Kwan, one of the three members of the Capital Fund Committee presented the Capital Fund report. He reported to the Society that in the last year the market value of the fund increased by 25.13%.

7. Apointment of a member for Capital Fund Committee:

Kam Chung’s terms as a Capital Fund Committee member has expired. As per section 54 of the CSNS Bylaw, Kam Chung was reappointed by the Board after consultation with the Nomination Committee and final confirmation of the General Membership at the AGM. The appointment was for a three year term and was approved unanimously.

8. Election of Director:

Paul Liu’s term as a Director has expired. As per section 17 of the CSNS Bylaw, the election of a Director was carried out. David Yung nominated Paul for another term as a Director. The nomination was approved unanimously.

9. Election of 2005-2006 Executives:

As per section 17 of the CSNS Bylaw, the election of Executive Committee for the ensuring year was carried out.

· Fred Lee nominated Mr.zhongmin Dong, a faculty member of Biology department at St. Mary’s Univeristy to be the next President. He is VP and secretary of the 04-05 executive committee, and served as one of the members of the By-laws Committee. Zhongmin and his family have been enthusiastic volunteers in many of our Society functions over the years.

· Fred Lee nominated Mr. Ted Tam, Project Manager of Halifax Harbour Solutions Project. Ted has served the society in various executive positions, president and other committees.

· Fred Lee also nominated Ms. Kim Lam (Yeung), a Pharmacist Manager, of Sobeys's Inc. Kim has been a member of the Society for 18 years and served in various executive positions. Besides the Chinese Society, she has also been actively involved with other voluntary organization.

· Paul Liu nominated Mr. Aimin Pan, Project Manager of a local company called DNA Technologies. Aimin and his family have been living in Halifax for 7 years and have been enthusiastic volunteers in many of our Society activities over the years. Aimin is also active in other associations and has served as VP of Chinese Student and Scholar Association of Dalhousie University and vice-chair of the Board of Directors of Halifax Chinese Language School.

· Guang Yang nominated Ms. Chunmei Yu (Lu), a librarian in Halifax Public Library. Chunmei has accounting training and previously worked in a Bank in China.

The nominations were approved unanimously.

10. Other Business:

No other business was carried.

11. Remarks from the new president:

Dr. Zhongmin Dong, our new president, thanked everyone for the trust elected him as the President. He thanked all the members for their support in last year and asking for continued support for the new Executive Committee. He assured all members that he will do his best to fulfill the goals of the Society.

11. Dinner.

Please note, since all the appendixes were circulated during the AGM, they are not included in this newsletter.

2. Executives – Fiscal Year 2005-06

The following members were elected to serve for the 2005-06 fiscal year:

Dr. Zhongmin Dong …………………President , 445-2882

Mr. Ted Tam…………………………Vice President and Secretary, 443-3649

Ms. Kim Lam (Yeung)………………… Recreation, 835-2711

Ms. Chunmei Yu (Lu) ………………………… Treasurer, 461-9617

Mr. Aiming Pan ………………………….Communication, 422-6999

3. Remarks from the President

Dear Members,

Now that the CSNS Executive election is over and the official results have been announced, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 2004-2005 Executive Committee for making sure that the election of 2005-2006 Executives process ran smoothly. I would also like to thank all of the members who voted and all of those who agreed to be nominated.

The Society relies on the willingness of its members to agree to volunteer their time and it is always encouraging when we have several individuals willing to put their name forward.  During the course of this election we received valuable comments regarding future improvements.  In particular, some members indicated that, while they welcomed the opportunity to vote, they were unfamiliar with some of the candidates. I believe that this is a reflection of the fact that we have undergone a period of intense renewal of our Chinese community in Nova Scotia, and that many new members joint us in the last several years.  In the interests of having a more informed electorate, I would implement a process to ensure that in future elections each candidate will provide a brief statement indicating why they are interested in serving and what relevant experience they would bring to the position.  Any information that the candidate chooses to supply would then be circulated to the members prior to an election.

The transition from the old to the new CSNS Executive took place in mid October and we had a joint meeting of the old and new executive on 14^th October. From that day, the new executives have taken the job and started to act on behalf of the membership.

Thanks once again to all members who participated in the 2005 AGM.

Best regards,

Zhongmin Dong

CSNS President

4. Revised Treasurer’s Report

The Executive Committee have received the revised report from Ping Seto as per request made during the AGM. The revised report shows that the $395.00 dinner expense is for the 2005 New Year Party and it was on this party the Board of Directors were elected.

5. Upcoming Events

a) Christmas Party

Please don’t miss out on our annual family potluck party. It’s a good way to meet members whom we haven’t seen for a while. This evening will be filled with party games, surprise gifts, Christmas carols, and a sumptuous dinner. Of course, our special guest, Santa, will be there too. So be prepared! We will give you a call to find out how many members in your family will be attending… bigger the number the better!) If you plan to come, please bring and share one of your ultimate famous family traditional dish with us as it will be a potluck supper.

Date and Time: Sunday, December 4, 2005, 5:30-9:00 p.m.

Place: Canadian Martyrs Church, 5900 Inglis St. Halifax

b) Chinese New Year Banquet

We will celebrate the Chinese New Year to welcome the year of The Monkey on January 21, 2006 at the Casino Nova Scotia Hotel. This is an event where we invite guests from outside of our Society to join us in the celebration. The seating will be limited by the size of the ballroom. Tickets are available now. Book soon….so you won’t be disappointed. Advertisers and sponsors will again feature in this coming year’s entertainment program. Please contact any of the executives for advertisements and sponsorships and contact Mr. Ping Seto at 479-2461 if you or your friends wish to purchase tickets.

Ticket price (each): Members $55.00, Non-members $65.00

Place: Casino Nova Scotia Hotel, Halifax

Date & Time: January 21, 2006 from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Please check the website www.cs-ns.com for further details.

6. Friday Gym Schedule

The Fairview Junior High School (FJHS) gym and library (155 Rosedale Avenue, Halifax) will be available for members of the Society on most Fridays during the school year. Our regular gym hours are from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm for the following days (the schedules are subject to cancellations on short notice from the School Board for special school events or snow days):

December 2, 9 and 16, 2005.

January 6, 13, 20 and 27, 2006.

February 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2006.

March 3, 10, 24 and 31, 2006.

April 7, 21 and 28, 2006.

May 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2006.

June 2 and 9, 2006.

7. Notice to Members

· Any suggestions/news – Do you have any ideas on how to keep the Society vibrant and growing? Do you have any likes or dislikes about our regular programs? Please send us your comments via postal mail, CSNS P.O. Box 29055 Halifax Shopping Centre, Halifax, NS B3L 4T8 or by e-mail to chinese@cs-ns.com. All comments are valuable and greatly appreciated. We look forward to receive your wisdom. Your identity will be kept confidential unless you advice us otherwise. Also, if you have any news of our members that you would like to share with others, please drop us a line or give us a call.

· Membership list – We are now collecting membership information and will soon share the membership list with all the members. Please note that the list is only sent to the Society’s members and will not be posted on the Society’s website. As a society, we respect your right for privacy, so if you do not want your address available to other members, it will not be published. Please e-mail or write to us if you do not wish any of the following information to be published: telephone number, home address or e-mail address. If we do not hear from you before January 15, 2004, all the above information will be published.

· Photos on the Website – Special events will be posted on the website for viewing. Please e-mail or write to us if you do not wish to have your name or picture(s) on the website. Again, if we do not hear from you before January 15, 2004, we will post everything.

· Membership fees – The membership fees are now due. Please remit your payment by mail or drop it to one of our executives at the FJHS Friday Gym. We will also be collecting membership fees during the Christmas party. The membership fees remain the same as before, as follows: single - $20; family - $35.

· Membership drive – Our membership drive is an on-going effort. Please introduce our Society to your friends, neighbors and co-workers. New members are always welcome. Our Society is one big happy family in Nova Scotia.

8. Welcome New Members

We would like to welcome the following new members:

· The Ginsburg family: Ray Ginsburg and Carol

· The Li family: Yan Li and Yi‑Jing

· The Ng family: Rowena Wafto and Ming Caleb

· The Shea family:Gerry and Gail

· The Yan family: Sen Yan and Min Huang

· Mr. Shao-Pin Luo

· Ms. Susannah Chen

· Mr. Xu Gie

9. Announcements

· CHU, Chun Yip - 94, mother of Fred and Linda Chu, California, passed away October 30, 2005, in QEII Health Sciences Centre, Halifax. Our condolences to Fred and Linda Chu for their lost.

· Congratulations to Mark and Alana Fung for the new arrival of their grand daughter.

· Congratulations to Tony and Anita Lee for the new arrival of their grand son.

· Congratulations to Herbert and Hayley Li for the engagement of their daughter Iris to Andy Banh P.Eng.

· Congratulations to Don S. Lim, a veteran, on having completed 1,000 hours of Voluntary Community Service with the St. John Ambulance Brigade.

· Congratulations to Alex and Diana Young for the new arrival of their grand son.

· Congratulations to David and Kathy Yung for their son Jason’s marriage to Heather Smith

· Congratulations to Peter and Rebecca Wong for the marriage of their two daughters Maisie and Michelle