GITPA Webmaster, Author at GITPA

News

News from GITPA (October 2018)

October 31, 2018

INDOOR CLIMBING FUN DAY

The indoor rock climbing class 「GITPA — 攀石同樂日」 was successfully held on October 13 2018 (Sat). 27 colleagues, family members and friends joined this funny and challenging activity.

After all participants gathered, they were guided by the professional trainers to do the stretching and warm up exercise together.
[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/201810_climbing_event.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

There were four different pre-defined routes with different level of difficulties. All participants tried to climb and feel the rock wall one by one first. But they could not wait too long to climb to the top, especially for the kids!

The goal of this sport is to reach the highest endpoint and touch the top of the wall. After some practices with the basic route, all the participants gained the fulfillment. Then they challenged the more difficult one. It was a huge discrepancy as some even failed to reach the top at the first try! However, as long as they did not give up and got some rest before the second time, all of them had achieved the target successfully.

It was really an enjoyable and meaningful activity for all the participants. Hope to see you next time if you miss it.

COMING ACTIVITY

We have rescheduled the Luna Lamp Workshop to November 2018 due to the typhoon in September. We finally could see the beautiful art pieces from our colleagues in the next issue.

News

News from GITPA (September 2018)

September 28, 2018

MEETING WITH AP GRADE MANAGEMENT

As stated in our work direction, GITPA will liaise and have regular meetings with AP Grade Management. During the last meeting on 30 July 2018, we discussed various topics including sustainable staff development, succession planning for AP Grade, staff promotion, staff wastage, recruitment, staff relation activities and staff communications etc. The minutes have been uploaded to OGCIO portal, available at this link. We will keep close liaison with AP Grade Management and the next meeting with them will be held in January 2019.

POSTPONED LUNA LAMP WORKSHOP TO NOVEMBER

Due to the strong typhoon Mangkhut (山竹), GITPA had postponed the Luna Lamp Workshop (originally held on 15 September and 16 September) to November 2018. Members and friends who have enrolled in the workshop should have received our notice about the coming arrangement. If concerned members have any questions, please contact our social convener Alpha Wong at 2829-5743 for the most updated information.
[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/moonlamp.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

COMING ACTIVITY

Do you want to take the lead in experiencing the healthy and challenging rock climbing activity before it becomes the hit after the 2020 Summer Olympics? GITPA will first hold a Rock Climbing Fun Day (攀石同樂日) on 13 October 2018 (Sat). Participants would increase the understanding of the sports climbing and hopefully be able to master the basic skills at this event!

Stay tuned for the photos sharing of this event in next issue.
[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/201810_climbing.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

News

News from GITPA (August 2018)

August 31, 2018

FUN ARCHERY CLASS

The fun archery class「GITPA — 射箭體驗班」was successfully held on August 18 2018 (Sat). 27 colleagues, family members and friends joined this event.

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/201808_archery_class.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

The class began with a briefing session held by a professional instructor. Some basic skills, rules and more importantly, the safety rules and measures were introduced. After the demonstration from the instructor, all participants were divided into three groups to practise. It was fun and also very challenging.

The climax came with the competition after three rounds of practice. The three groups were reformed to four teams and then to compete with each other!

It was definitely an enjoyable afternoon with laughter and sweat!

MOONCAKE PURCHASE DISCOUNT OFFER

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. GITPA Ex-Co would like to take this opportunity to wish all colleagues a joyful festival with your beloved family! This year we continue to provide the mooncake purchase discount offer to our members. We have received record-breaking of orders this year! Members who have ordered should be receiving the redemption coupons from us. We thank so much for our members support!

COMING ACTIVITY

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/moonlamp.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

Besides enjoying the moon with your beloved ones on the day, would you like to make your own “moon”? GITPA is going to hold a Luna Lamp Workshop「GITPA – 月球燈手作坊」 on September 15 (Sat) and September 16 (Sun) 2018. The response from last year was so overwhelming. It is time to grasp the chance this year! For colleagues who managed to apply for the Workshop, see you there!

News

News from GITPA (July 2018)

July 30, 2018

MACARON BAKING CLASS

The baking class「卡通造型馬卡龍製作班」was successfully held on July 14, 2018 (Sat). Over 30 colleagues, family members and friends participated!

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/201807_Bakery_Class.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

Based on the instructions from the professional baker, participants made their delicious and cute macarons with their creativity and interest. Especially for the children, they really enjoyed to draw the cartoon face on the macarons! Guess if they would not be willing to eat them afterwards?

COMING ACTIVITY

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/201807_Archery_Class_Intro.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

Looking for a relaxing and healthy activity but preferring the indoor and air-conditioned one in this summer? GITPA is going to hold a fun Archery Class for you to learn and experience the basic skills of archery on August 18, 2018 (Sat)! For details, please read our email “「GITPA — 射箭體驗班」” dated July 20, 2018! As places are limited (25 ONLY!), please act fast to enroll! See you there!

News

News from GITPA (June 2018)

June 30, 2018

GRETTINGS FROM THE NEW GITPA EX-CO

At the beginning of the new term, we wish to take this opportunity to thank members and friends of GITPA for your support and participation! We will continue to serve our members and listen to your voice. Please do not hesitate to express your views and convey your ideas on matters relating to the Analyst/Programmer Grade. Every opinion counts! Members are more than welcome to contact any of us. Do keep in touch with our Ex-Co members, watch out for GITPA news and visit the GITPA Blog on Knowledge & Information Collaborative Platform (KICP) and our website: https://gitpa.org.hk/!

COMING ACTIVITY

The new Ex-Co will continue to help maintain Work-Life Balance for members. We are gearing up for the activity plan with a bunch of exciting activities to enrich and liven up your spare time throughout the year!

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/activities_preview_2018.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

The first exciting activity we have planned will be the macaron baking class 「卡通造型馬卡龍製作班」on 14 July 2018 (Sat). This activity welcomes members to come and enjoy together with their friends and family. As of today, we have received overwhelming applications from our members! We will share our happy moments with you in our next issue. For those who have registered, see you there!

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/macaron_bakery_2018.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

Stay tuned for the upcoming events. We look forward to seeing you!

News

News from GITPA (May 2018)

May 31, 2018

GITPA Newsletter 2017/18

GITPA Newsletter 2017/18 has been published! In this issue, you can know more about GITPA’s work in the last year. Besides, we have invited members to share about their “off-the-job” profession and their passion in different aspects. You would be inspired from their wonderful stories! You can access the Newsletter on the KICP.

Enjoy reading!

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum Annual Dinner was held on 16 May 2018 (Wednesday) at the Hong Kong Medical Association Club House (Wanchai Premises). In the meeting, the ExCo gave an account of GITPA’s work as well as the financial position in the past year.

The new ExCo 2018/19 was successfully elected. We also presented the prizes to the winners of best-of-three masterpieces from “Valentine’s Flower Workshop”, which were voted by our colleagues. The dinner was conducted in a pleasant atmosphere. All participants enjoyed the game session very much, and some even won the attractive prizes!

Let’s meet the new ExCo:

https://gitpa.org.hk/gitpa-executive-committee-2018-19/

Events

News from GITPA (April 2018)

April 30, 2018

News from GITPA (April 2018)

Membership Renewal Exercise 2018

The GITPA Membership Renewal Exercise 2018 was successfully completed. We sincerely thank all of YOU for your continuous support to GITPA. The results and the full GITPA membership list will be announced shortly. For those who are not our members yet, please DO consider joining GITPA – the only official staff association that represents YOU. To do so, you may contact your site representatives or send us your completed membership application form with payment in cheque. Further details and the application form are available at our website: www.gitpa.org.hk > About Us > Join Members.

Annual General Meeting cum Annual Dinner

Thank you for your support over the years. Time flies. It is time again for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and get-together in May every year. In addition to sharing with you our work this year, the current and the to-be-elected Chairmen, as well as other Ex-Co members, are keen to meet you on this occasion.

The AGM cum Annual Dinner will be held on 16 May 2018 (Wednesday) at Club House, the Hong Kong Medical Association (香港醫學會宴會廳). All GITPA members are cordially invited to join! As always, your participation is instrumental to the success of GITPA. If you cannot attend the meeting in person, please submit your e-proxy form, which will be sent to you under Lotus Notes email.

Lastly, to sustain and develop GITPA to better serve AP grade colleagues, we would like to invite members to join the new Ex-Co of 2018-19. If you are interested to join, please don’t hesitate to send us an email before the AGM.

Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM cum Annual Dinner.

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Events

News from GITPA (March 2018)

April 3, 2018

GITPA 新春行大運

The GITPA’s Lunar New Year hiking activity (GITPA 狗年新春行大運 (鶴藪、沙螺洞、鳳園)遠足活動) was held on 3 March 2018 (Saturday).

A total of 26 colleagues and their family members had joined the activity. Departing from the Hok Tau (鶴藪) barbecue site in Fanling at around 2p.m., we walked along Hok Tau Tsuen (鶴藪村), Hok Tau Reservoir (鶴藪水塘) and Sha Lo Tung (沙螺洞), and arrived at Fung Yuen (鳳園) at about 4:30p.m.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle, we enjoyed peace and fresh air. It was quite cloudy and foggy in the beginning, but sunshine started to greet us during the hike. The 2.5-hour hike was relaxing and refreshing. We even got the chance to have “afternoon tea” at Sha Lo Tung!

Consultation Exercise – Extension of Service of Civil Servants

As you may have learnt from the circulation from the administration unit or personnel section of the B/D that you are serving, the Secretary for the Civil Service has launched a consultation paper on extension of the service of civil servants who joined the Government between 1 June 2000 and 31 May 2015. The consultation paper sets out the proposed implementation framework of the new initiative. (The paper is available on the website of the Civil Service Bureau at http://www.csb.gov.hk/english/publication/2695.html).

If you would like to provide your views and comments on the consultation paper through GITPA for us to present them in one go to the OGCIO, you may send them to us at GITPA/OGCIO/HKSARG on or before 9 April 2018 (Monday). Looking forward to hearing from you!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (February 2018)

March 1, 2018

GITPA 情人節 「永生花」浪漫手作坊

How was your Valentine’s Day? A romantic dinner and gorgeous flowers might be indispensable to show your love to your beloved one. GITPA organised 「GITPA 情人節「永生花」浪漫手作坊」 on 3 February 2018 (Saturday) for colleagues to make their own preserved fresh flowers to show their forever love.

42 colleagues, family members and friends participated. Due to the overwhelming response, two classes were arranged. The classroom was like a world of flowers, filling with colourful, beautiful and aromatic flowers of various types. It was such a pleasurable environment to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The instructor introduced the techniques to make the preserved fresh flowers and shared precautions and tips to maintain the flowers. With the help from the instructor, the participants created their own lovely masterpieces. They elected the best ones in their class to be the candidates for the coming voting at KICP. Stay tuned to our voting!

Coming Activity

Our annual activity 「新春行大運」 will be held on 3 March 2018 (Saturday). This time we have chosen a 2-star hiking route 粉嶺鶴藪圍 → 鶴藪水塘 → 沙螺洞 → 鳳園. Do come and join us to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

May we take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families:

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

Year of the Dog!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (January 2018)

February 1, 2018

Mindfulness Activity

The mindfulness activity 「GITPA 嘉道理農場靜觀遊」 was successfully held on 7 January 2018 (Sun.). 30 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

As always, GITPA consider members’ mental and physical health as our first priority. We therefore, conducted a mindfulness introductory class to our members, allowing them to relax themselves in the beautiful and tranquil environment in Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.

To begin with, the instructor led the participants to cultivate mindfulness through some relaxation and breathing exercise which is a systematic method of focusing their attention appropriately. The participants were asked to walk around to look for a little thing in the garden, giving them a chance to sense and observe the characteristics of the nature that they otherwise would not observe. They had an exercise of tasting a raisin slowly to feel it deeply and appreciate the food.

After lunch, the participants were guided to have a silent walk in the garden. They had to walk in an extremely slow pace without chatting so that they can enjoy the quiet environment, sense their intimate connection with the nature, and observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. They also had a painting exercise to express their mind through the colorful paints.

Through a day of nourishing mindful experience, participants were able to establish awareness and focus, and recognise their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Hope that they can continue to practice and apply the skills into their daily life.

GITPALeaks

GITPA held an orientation gathering, GITPALeaks, with the newly recruited APIIs on 9 January 2018 (Tue.). Over 80 of the new recruits had joined. In the 2-hour gathering, GITPA ExCo had a frank and open discussion with the new colleagues on topics which they concern, such as career development and continuous study. It was glad to meet our smart and enthusiastic “new blood”!

Membership Renewal Exercise

It is time for GITPA membership renewal again! GITPA’s site representatives (site representative list: https://gitpa.org.hk/site-representatives-list/) should have approached you for membership renewal already. Have you renewed your GITPA membership? If you haven’t done so or haven’t joined GITPA yet, please take this opportunity to join this only professional association that represents AP grade staff.

Your continual support is essential to sustain the development of our staff association. Surely GITPA will not succeed without your recognition, support and participation. Please continue to join and support GITPA as only you have the power to make GITPA serve and speak for you!

Members’ Benefit – Discount on HK Computer Society’s Membership

We are pleased to inform you that the Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) continues to offer membership discount to our GITPA members. Details are as follows:

Current HKCS Membership Renewal

Discount of 20% off on annual membership fee (To enjoy the discount offer, you should indicate that you are a GITPA member in the “Discount on Annual Membership Fee” section of the renewal form)
$700 (Full) / $350(Associate) for 2 years membership (i.e. discount of 30% off) valid until 31 March 2018.
Offer until 30 September 2018

New HKCS Membership Application

Entrance fee ($300) + Discount of 20% off on annual membership fee
Entrance fee ($300) + $700 (Full) / $350 (Associate) for 2 years membership discount (i.e. discount of 30% off)
Offer until 30 September 2018

You can find the application form on GITPA’s website (https://gitpa.org.hk/discount/). HKCS may verify the GITPA membership status of the applicant.

Thank you for your long-term support to the GITPA!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18